Poster Assignment #1

 

Color Scheme 1: Compounds

                                                                  Color Scheme 2: Triad

Color Scheme 3: Split Complementary

This week's assignment was the poster assignment with Illustrator which involved choosing a picture, image tracing it, choosing a valid color scheme, coloring it, and adding text. I did this process for 3 separate posters with 3 different types of color schemes. I ran into issues right away when the initial picture I chose did not work well with the image trace tool. This made me pivot to the image above which allowed for more picture definition and more shapes to be created. The effect of this can directly been seen by looking at how color schemes 1 and 2 have more shapes/color than scheme 3. The picture I chose depicts me on the boardwalk in Wildwood, New Jersey looking at a Zoltar while he is giving me a fortune. Since Zoltar is known for telling fortunes about the future, I added a slogan on my arm to each poster conveying a similar idea. I also tried to add my own shapes at a point to further color my picture but quickly realized the weirdness that goes on while trying to connect the pen tool with the image trace and decided against it. Overall, my triad color scheme poster was definitely my favorite. I felt the colors along with the text popped and enhanced the contents of the picture well. My least favorite poster is my split complementary because my picture lost definition during image trace processing which lead to less shapes as well as I do not love the color scheme. In the end, I am happy with my results but also am excited to try Photoshop and see how much easier the process can be.

Calligram

 

My Letter

Dear future Nicole,

    As I am writing this, it is 2025 which means this letter won’t reach you till 2045! As of recently, my life has been in the transitional period to what feels like adulthood. Right now, I am in my final semester of my senior year of college, so I am dealing with all the emotions and what feels like requirements of entering “real life”. By the time you are reading this, you will be well into this adult life, and I hope you look back and see how silly it was to ever worry. In the next 20 years, I hope to have many changes and new stories added into my life. To start, you better have travelled your heart out and went to multiple countries by now. To list just a couple, I'm hoping to have been to Thailand, Japan, Italy, Australia, and sooo many more. If you aren’t well traveled and well cultured by now that's upsetting. Besides traveling I hope your computer science degree paid off and you are somehow combining philosophy into whatever you do. I hope you are making some good money and able to use it to further your experiences and the people around you. Besides just money and experiences, I hope you have many people to share these experiences with, both new and old. I hope you are living every moment to the fullest and doing spontaneous adventures whenever you can. You better have owned a motorcycle, gotten a tattoo, surfed, gotten to go in a hot air balloon, honestly anything of that nature. But besides just me, I hope the state of the world is also going well. I hope science has continued progressing, (hopefully an answer to why/how the wave function collapses), as well as medicine and human kindness and decency progressing. You also better never forget the realness and emotions found in the little things in life just because you have experienced them more. Live everyday with wonder and whimsy like it's your first day alive while also living with passion and strength like it is your last. Overall Nicole, I wish you all the happiness, health, wealth, love, and kindness and just know that past Nicole will be behind you every step of the way!

Business Card/Logo Assignment

 

The assignment this week was to create logos along with a matching business card and 3D shape set. I did this process for two logos, my handmade logo and my AI generated logo. The first pink and purple logo is my AI generated logo. This logo features a computer with a swirl on the inside and is supposed to represent a UI design business. I prompted the AI for a computer and a swirl due to this representing all the possibilities capable on a screen. I edited the AI generated version by changing the colors to the pink and purple you see. I choose those colors because I felt they were bright, fun, and represented me well. My handmade logo consists of a magic hat with stars and eyes peeking from the back. This logo was made with a magic/magician business in mind. I chose these colors because blue and yellow are two vibrant colors that remind me of magic. The horizontal and vertical business cards I made trying to follow the same or similar color scheme. I added catchphrases for each business on each card to try to further encapsulate what each business was about. Similarly to the cards, I colored the 3D shapes trying to follow each's color scheme. Overall, I had fun trying to figure out my logos and cards, but I also found this assignment more difficult due to the immense number of possibilities. In the end, I feel like I spent so much time just trying to pick a solid idea for a logo and color scheme rather than perfecting one vision.

Shape and Pen Tool Assignment

 

I had a good time working with Illustrator for the first time. It was definitely a bit overwhelming at first because of how many tools and possibilities of options there were, but after watching the explanation and knowing which tools were needed, I felt less overwhelmed and on the right track. I thought it was very cool to see how the pen tool works as I wasn't aware tracing would be line based with curves being possible through manipulation of these straight lines. I enjoyed this because being able to trace using lines instead of fully tracing by hand removes the need for artistic ability and a steady hand which I do not have anyways. I also found choosing a color scheme fun as I was able to choose out of what feels like endless possibilities while still trying to make cohesive decisions. This assignment didn't take me too long, I would say I finished in around 2 hours. I do feel like I gained a decent grasp on how these tools work, but I also recognize how many possibilities there are, as I know I am just at the tip of the iceberg with the software. Another use I can see for the shape and pen tool is tracing out the background of a picture and then being able to then color the individual pieces leading to many more possibilities. For example, in the background of a photo and by using this tool, I can take a picture with the background being of normal trees and then trace and fill them pink and blue to look like a whole different nature scene.