Web Page Take One

For our mid term in Visual Journalism we had to make a mock up of a homepage for a website. I am currently taking a web design class it was fun to use the new things I have learned and apply it my work. I decided to make a rough draft of my photography web site. I am going to build a online portfolio for my final in web design this assignment came as an opportunity to put my ideas on paper. I found some photography websites that I really liked. I wanted something simple to make it more about the photographs.  It helped me think of the page as more then just the photographs but the entire layout Is it visually appealing, is it easy to navigate , can it be read easily? There is definitely room for improvement but this is a good start of what  I would like it to look like.

Can you tell the difference?

Above are both the same photograph. One is the raw image straight from the camera. The second is the same image after I worked on it in photoshop. I cropped a little improved the color  and the over all tone. I feel like the image has definitely improved.  More aesthetically pleasing and more of what I want the photoshop show not all the extra stuff on the ends.

Copy Cat

This project we were introduced to photoshop, a program I am actually very comfortable with. The past few assignments working with new programs like Indesign can be difficult. This one since I have been using photoshop since high school was a breeze. We were all given the same picture and we had to improve it. Add better color, get rid of all the noise and unwanted spots in the background.The picture was not in too bad of shape it could have been worse like this portrait.  Over all I think it was a good improvement. The goal I think with any photo restoration is to improve the photo but not to leave any traces behind, brush stokes tings of that nature.

Top Ten Deadliest Eating Habits

For this project we were given to articles to choose from and we had to convert the information into a graphic. I choose to do a simple graph . I felt with all the information that overlaps it would be easier for the reader. After completing this project I can see why publication choose to display it in an informational graphic as opposed to a long article. It makes the information concise and to the point, lets the reader do a quick glance but keeps there attention. The original article was a lot longer and has a lot more fluff the informational graphic I created got right to the point.

Composition

For this project we were each given a page out of a magazine at random. We then had to replicate that page as best as we could using Indesign. Overall I feel it came out well. The most trouble I had was getting the size right. With the photographs if the size or resolution is off the whole image will look distorted. Also the font if the size is too big or too small the whole layout is thrown off. The style of font is important too, some are easier or harder to read. The most important thing is you have to keep your audience in mind, thats whose buying the magazine after all. There are dozens of magazines out there some of my favorites are National Geographic or Digital Photography. I never realized how much work goes into a single page.

Just a little color

For our next assignment we were to take our black and white work and add color. I thought the easy part was that I did not have to change the originally work just add color to the shapes. This turned out to be harder than I expected. As I was adding bits of color to each piece I found myself wanting to move things around. It’s amazing how adding certain colors throws the whole composition of if it’s in the wrong place. The  difference in the color of the circles makes each piece unique. In the cool  one the big piece falls back and the free form shapes take over. With the warm tones the red really pops but the big circle in the upper left is still the main focus.It was interesting to me to see how the different shades work with or do not work with one another. A website I found helpful was 
http://www.colormatters.com/colortheory.html. When you look at the color wheel together you can see what works and what clashes.

Shapes of Shade

The first project for Visual Journalism had its challenges. The biggest was getting use to Indesign; anther adobe program was rather difficult. I consider myself well trained in both Photoshop and bridge but with anything new it just takes practice. After I got the hang of the initial tools in Indesign my black and white piece started to come together. I chose to use circles to be the dominating shape but I incorporated some free hand flowing shapes to break up the pattern. Anytime you use back and white I feel that everything becomes simplified and you really begin to focus on the layout or the shapes themselves. Overall I am satisfied with my first attempt at creating something with Indesign.