For this project, I utilized Adobe Photoshop as a baseline for developing an image for a metaphor I think about often. In terms of the metaphor “justice is blind,” we often visualize a blind woman in the form of a statue representing Justice holding the scales, though I visualized a more modern and personified approach where the Scales needs a white cane to navigate its environment.

For this project, I found that envisioning a concept such as this requires a certain degree of imagination. It was not difficult to imagine this concept, but the amount of originality that should always go into graphic design weighs on the conscience of the designer, so it’s important to find accessible yet copyright-appropriate material.

I found it easy to pick two images that seemed to show compatibility and fluidity, and it was similarly easy to remove a background from a white cane and a set of scales and add it to another image with a simple maneuver.

I found it challenging to place my blind scales in an orientation that made sense to the rule-of-thirds, which I heavily considered.

I’m still not entirely familiar with the rule-of-thirds and I feel as if I could have done more to line up my figure appropriately. That, and my methods of desaturating the colors in the scale may be a little rusty as I am not reacclimated to using Photoshop from the time I used to use it more frequently.

Simple does not always mean easy; the limitation to short metaphors can stifle the envisioning process of the designer and the process can often feel rushed. Perhaps extending the criteria to longer metaphors (or even idioms) can help with a visualized design that makes overall sense.

Should my employing director make a point of allowing me to create a fantastical design, I’ll be more aware of the process that leads to a successful product and fit as many subjects as needed into the image to make it seem appealing.

I took heavy inspiration from other students’ work. I feel as if their simplicity for their projects helped me to look outside the box.