Project Production Process One: Things Images

 In this post I will just go through the production of the images of things - these will be the images I will use in my photo/text book.  In the end, I used my Olympus EM-10, Mark II.  I used a combination of techniques and settings which I will go through here. I began by making a contact sheet which I completed on Photoshop just by going to 'File' in the top menu then 'Automate' and 'Contact Sheet'.  When the dialog box opened I chose my file from my desktop and clicked 'OK'.

The 'things ' here are not usually how I work as they are more random than I would like however these are domestic items that I live with everyday and so they made sense in conjunction with the text I produced.  I was creating my book on Blurb so I have bookwright software on my computer and I had already created the mock up so I just needed to replace the images with my own.

Here is the first one I used the camera and camera settings are above as can be seen I used a wide aperture and fairly slow shutter, I was also shooting using a film grain filter to create a more moody look. I like the silent words and deafened ears and you imagine this with the headless women.

The second image I used from this set again with the same camera a wide aperture again but not as wide as the previous image and a slightly faster shutter as there was more distance here and I needed this to be sharp - I used the same film grain look.  The little creatures here have various items around the use these make me smile they sit above my desk, I bought them in a small shop in Angouleme, France- the big head was the top of a bubble bath.

The one above is pinned to my pinboard and contains instructions not to be revived or kept alive by machines signed off by a doctor.  Similar settings as above and I also added a slight vignette effect to draw attention to the centre. 

I used a couple more images from this set but these are good example and the technical details that are quite similar for the additional images used.

I believe these images work quite well and enhance the text that has been produced.

Website: UX Testing & Feedback

 I created a UX Testing and Feedback form that I added to my website so that I could test and get feedback before assessment.  I will go through the questions and responses here

Here, I got a mixed response to the website design therefore I do need to consider whether this needs to be altered - what I think I may do it wait for more responses to gauge whether there is a design issue

Mostly a good response but there does seem to be an issue with the flipbook and this maybe why the responses in some cases are as the flipbook did not work - at present the book is not published and this could be the issue as the link for the mock up was just a practice - I intend to publish the completed work this weekend with the final images and this should fix the book issues.

Mostly people thought this was good and I also got a just 'okay' from one respondent therefore I will relook at the about section - I had a look below and reread and considered this section - I am unsure exactly what people do not like however this could be just a personal subjective view - I will have a further think about this though

The portfolio design is mostly good however again the book itself was not working so this response is expected at this stage. 

As above this is still a work in progress!

I was quite pleased that the responses here were all good/excellent as the contact page can be a little boring and I am hoping that it is at least well designed and a pleasure to use. 

This was mostly excellent/good and all the social links are clearly working so this very good

Again really pleased with this feedback as it means the site as a whole works and people are enjoying it!

All respondents used a desktop so I do need to test the mobile view further 

Really liked these comments as it was true the tree was overlapping the writing and by subheading had misaligned - I have now fixed this and attached the subheading to the header so it does not move and in the editor I have moved the quotation so that it does not overlap the tree.

I thank everyone who has given me feedback as this has been really useful and I will continue to get more feedback and hopefully make this website the best it can be. 

Photoshop Graphic Design Concept Board

 I was creating a Graphic design concept board for my project 'Owl Publishing'  I began by create a canvas by clicking on 'File and then 'New' in the top menu on Photoshop and then I went to the dialog box clicked on 'Print' and 'view all presets' and then clicked on A4.  I chose portrait orientation, 300ppi resolution for high quality and then just a white background.

I wanted to design the background so I wanted something not too distracting so I chose a pale abstract design from Unsplash.  I then open this in Photoshop.  Went to 'Select' and then Select All' in the top menu and the 'Edit' and 'Copy'  I then went back to my original canvas and clicked on 'Edit' and 'Paste'.  I then used the transform controls to move the design over the whole canvas and then lowered the opacity to 75%.  I then added a title and subtitle using the text tool from the left hand menu.  I clicked into the canvas and I used Footlight MT Light 60pts for the Titles and the same font at Footlight MT Light 48pts for the subtitle

I then added a logo I had made on Adobe express by opening this file with removed background to Photoshop and again using Select All and copy and paste into the design. I placed this in the top right hand corner. 

I then added my image using the same method as above and used transform tools and gridlines on the page to place this correctly in a position that I thought would make this work as a layout.

I then added my main bost of text just by going back to the Text tool and ensuring that the font and the size worked in on the board. 

I made three boards in total with the idea I can really sell this brand through brand story and logo design

I quite liked the brand story here and if I was completing this as my project I would have a more diverse range of logo designs for the publishing company that I could showcase to the client.

Photoshop Concept Board/Flipbook

 Today I created a fashion concept board using Photoshop for my fashion Collection 'Dandy 'Rock'

I began by creating a canvas, I clicked on 'File' and then 'New' in the top menu on Photoshop and then I went to the dialog box clicked on 'Print' and 'view all presets' and then clicked on A4.  I chose portrait orientation, 300ppi resolution for high quality and then just a white background.

I wanted to design the back ground and my collection had a orange colour in the design so I went unsplash and chose an orange abstract image.  I then open this in Photoshop.  Went to 'Select' and then Select All' in the top menu and the 'Edit' and 'Copy'  I then went back to my original canvas and clicked on 'Edit' and 'Paste'.  I then used the transform controls to move the design over the whole canvas and then lowered the opacity to 75%.  I then added a title and subtitle using the text tool from the left hand menu.  I clicked into the canvas and I used Stencil Regular font at 48pts for the Titles and the same font at 24pts for the subtitle

I then added a logo I had made on Adobe express by opening this file with removed background to Photoshop and again using Select All and copy and paste into the design. I placed this in the top right hand corner. 

I then added my image using the same method as above and used transform tools and gridlines on the page to place this correctly in a position that I thought would make this work as a layout.

I then added the main boy of text that describes my concept using the same stencil font at 18pts.

I downloaded and saved this as both a psd file and a jpeg so that I could edit and use easily.

I was quite happy with this design and concept and if I was creating this I wanted to use this still of illustration as I think it is simple and expressive and would be a consistent illustrative style to appeal to the target audience/fashion buyers. 

In class we also practiced adding a flipbook to the website - at present my computer is not working well so I will add this later at home.

Production: First Draft of Photo/Text Book

 I began my production by writing the words to my text book and then thinking about layout and the kind of images I wanted to use in this small project.  I opened Blurb and created a small square book.  I used the layouts and added text and images where I wanted them.  I used the 'Lora' font throughout.  I have saved the project and exported a pdf proof just to review this.  All the words here are my own, the images are all copyright free and I am just using these as a mock up example.

The draft here is okay, this does give the sense of what I want to achieve.  I will be working on the production of images shortly.

Creating a Website: Gallery/Portfolio Page

 I have now created my gallery/portfolio page ready for my project this term 'Still Mortality'.  I began my going onto the Portfolio page on the Wix Editor and I added an Image thar represents my project I clicked on the 'Add' in the tools menu and then clicked un Image and upload image. Then I used transform controls on the page to place image in  the correct position.  I then went back to 'Add' in the tools menu and chose 'Button' I then chose a button and dragged this into the page. I then renamed it the title of my project.  I then went back to the 'Menu' button and created a new page and named this by the title of my project I then placed this under the portfolio page and clicked on the dialog box and chose 'subpage'.  Then I went back to the portfolio page and clicked on the button link to link this to my page

I saved and previewed this to check that the button worked and appeared in the submenu.  I then check the mobile view and checked this worked. 

Once I have completed the project I will add a back button onto the project page so that the navigation is smooth.  I also did a quick mock up of my project page - see below.

I also added a back to portfolio button by clicking on 'Add' then dragging a button into the page.  I then set the link to the 'Portfolio' page and then I saved and tested that this worked well.  I also customised the design to ensure the font and the colours matched my website design.

I also adjusted my mobile view by decreasing the size of the button and text and centering the title and main body of text.  I saved and previewed this and now this should work when we test live next week.

I completed the final updates and added some earlier work so the portfolio is now more populated - the final work is now published on Blurb and is embedded into the site.

Here is the other works I added

I also adjusted my mobile view and now all links and work should be working - for this term I think is now completed!