Handmade Assignment Reflection

Handmade Photoshop

Assignment Reflection

Emma Illerbrunn

Photography/Photoshop

Monday, September-17-12

Technical

During this assignment there was only one new technique that I used, which was changing the style of the layer (from normal to colour burn, multiply etc.).  I found that this technique really helped me to get the look I was hoping for in the assignment.

Idea/Concept

The idea that I eventually ended up using for my work was to follow a country and nature theme while still including a handmade aspect.  For the country and natures aspect of this idea I used photographs of country scenery for background pictures.  To help include the handmade aspect in my work, I tried to incorporate many different doodle brushes, fonts and handmade looking objects such as ripped paper. 

Throughout this assignment my idea did change and develop a little bit.  My original idea was to have an old and antique themed cover, by including pictures of older items, using typewriter fonts and filters to make the entire thing look older.  After working on this assignment for a little bit my idea changed to doing a rustic nature and country theme, by using filters on top of photographs of nature and country scenes to make them look older.  However, after much difficulty with this idea and not being to do with it as I intended I switched the idea that I ended up using for my final piece.

Influences

For this assignment, I did not have a visual artist as an influence, however I found that the style was influence by the artist I picked to model my CD cover for, Taylor Swift.  I found that while working on this assignment I often found myself trying to relate the style back to the artist and the music it would be for, and since Taylor Swift’s music all has some country in it, I was greatly influenced to use a country theme for my piece.

Composition

For this piece I chose to balance it asymmetrically since I find that easier for myself to create interesting and eye-catching pieces.  On the front part of my CD case, I think your eye moves around because of the placement of the brushes and by using the colour of the brushes which I was able to achieve by using the Vivid Colour style on the layer.  I also think that the ripped paper the title is on helps to move your eye around to piece because of the way the edges are jagged and pointing in different directions. 

Motivation

Beyond filling the requirements of this assignment, I was motivated by the idea of the assignment, to use the computer to create something handmade.  At first I thought this sounded very controversial, but then saw it as an interesting challenge, which greatly motivated me.  By seeing this as a challenge I was motivated because I saw this as a way to push myself and to try something new.

Critical Assessment

I feel that the most interesting and successful part of my CD cover is the title positioning and style.  I think that this makes it the most successful part of my cover because with the colour and positioning it really makes the title easy to see but it does not take away from the background of the case.  With additional time I would have worked more on the back of the case to make it connect and match a little better to the front.  I also would have spent more time to make the back more creative with more photos and brushes.