Draft Logo

My subject of my blog is myself so thinking about a logo to represent myself was a difficult process. I started by using my sketch book to draft some ideas. I started with circular and round I knew I wanted a very clean and sharp design. I also wanted my logo to show the type of person I am and the way I see the world. With this said I finally decided that my logo should represent an important ideal I hold close to my heart. I have included the phrase “elevate your mind”. This is a way of life to me and incorporate it in my thinking every day. I believe it is important to always try and see the world from new perspective. I choose to use vector triangles as the shapes for my logo because they provide a simplistic shape to accompany my complex phrase. I made these vector triangles from a tutorial I found on YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfqGs8zmA8A. This tutorial clearly explained how to evenly make a rectangle by holding down the shift key and then highlighting two end points of the triangle. After I highlighted the points a chose the arrange option from and then selected the “both” option from the drop down menu. This action created the even vector triangle shape. I then reversed this process for the triangle in the center. I choose this color scheme because it coordinates with the colors of the theme of my blog and creates a unified look. I played a lot with the font for my phrase and landed on one the make the text stand out from the background. I also made the text black to compliment the black triangle in the back of my image. I believe my logo accurately represents my blog and the person I am.

Updated Final Graphic Collage

 

Self Critique for final draft-
As this was one of my first projects, I wanted to pick a topic that was close to my heart. I chose my recent trip to San Francisco because it was only my second time there and I got to see so many cool things! When deciding on a layout, I wanted something that was visually appealing while also organizing everything into an easy to follow narrative. As I was sorting through the pictures I took, the Golden Gate Bridge stood out to me as a monumental image. I felt that it would serve as an appropriate pillar for the rest of my college, and so I decided to use it as an anchor. The center images tell more of a story of what happened. The bottom right image is of me and my boyfriend with whom I spent the weekend with. The one to the left of that is of a delicious breakfast we had at Mama’s on Washington Square. We had to wait in line two hours to be seated but was so worth it! The top image is of Union Square at night time. All of the buildings surrounding the square are lit up in such a magical way, to have the chance to stand on top of one to capture the surrounding beauty was overwhelming. My goal with the first draft was to have a well balanced collage that told a great story. With this said after completing my first draft I realized that I had some room for improvement. My peers provided very helpful feedback that I took into consideration when completing my final draft. My peers pointed out that the collage looked well balanced and said that my photographs fit very well together. In addition they also said that my collage told a nice story and was visually appealing. Some of the criticisms were that my arrangement of photos was not creating a nice flow. This was what I choose to focus on the most for my final. I played with the sizing and placement of the images and even used a drop shadow to create depth. In addition I also placed a one pixel boarder around the images to make them stand out from the background. I also changed the background text entirely. The original text was in white and lacked any design principles. I choose to make the text two different sizes to highlight the subject of the collage. With the changes I made I have created a much more visually appealing collage. I also think I did a good job at showing what the trip mean to me and highlighting the most memorable parts of it. I feel very satisfied with my final collage.

Final Graphic Collage

 

Self Critique for final draft- I choose a wonderful trip I took to San Francisco for the topic of my collage. My goal with the first draft was to have a well balanced collage that told a great story. With this said after completing my first draft I realized that I had some room for improvement. My peers provided very helpful feedback that I took into consideration when completing my final draft. My peers pointed out that the collage looked well balanced and said that my photographs fit very well together. In addition they also said that my collage told a nice story and was visually appealing. Some of the criticisms were that my arrangement of photos was not creating a nice flow. This was what I choose to focus on the most for my final. I played with the sizing and placement of the images and even took one out to have an even symmetrical number. I made sure that the images placed on the sides of the collage were the same dimensions and the ones in the center as well. There is definitely a more balanced look and a better flow throughout the collage. I addition to the resizing I also changed the background text entirely. The original text was in white and lacked any design principles. I choose to make the text larger and all caps to emote the excitement and happiness I have about the trip I took. I also changed the color of the to match the shirt color in the photo on the far left hand side. I believe this change makes the collage look much more unified as a whole. With the changes I made I have created a much more visually appealing collage. I also think I did a good job at showing what the trip mean to me and highlighting the most memorable parts of it. I feel very satisfied with my final collage.

Draft Graphic Collage

As this was one of my first projects, I wanted to pick a topic that was close to my heart. I chose my recent trip to San Francisco because it was only my second time there and I got to see so many cool things!

            When deciding on a layout, I wanted something that was visually appealing while also organizing  everything into an easy to follow narrative. As I was sorting through the pictures I took, the Golden Gate Bridge stood out to me as a monumental image. I felt that it would serve as an appropriate pillar for the rest of my college, and so I decided to use it as an anchor. To balance the image, I tried to find something that stood tall as the Golden Gate Bridge did. The closest image I could find was of this beautiful green building that was lit from the outside at night. I stopped in the middle of the street so I could get a good picture of it, and felt that this would be a good use for it. Once I had my pillar images on either side, I selected other more square shaped ones that would work well to fill the center.

            The center images tell more of a story of what happened. The top left image is of me and my boyfriend with whom I spent the weekend with.  The one to the right of that is of a delicious breakfast we had at Mama’s on Washington Square. We had to wait in line two hours to be seated but was so worth it! The bottom image is of Union Square at night time. All of the buildings surrounding the square are lit up in such a magical way, to have the chance to stand on top of one to capture the surrounding beauty was overwhelming.

            I used Photoshop to layout my images and resize everything. In future projects I look forward to learning how to better use the program to create a narrative. Although I am happy with my first project, I hope to next time create more offset images and more texture in the design.

Photo Collection

Photoshop Tutorials

Here are my completed Photoshop tutorials: 

The Spread of Kindness

This is a blog that showcases my personal journey as a sophomore at Washington State University. I decided to come to Washington State University because of the exceptional communication program. In addition I also enjoy the location and feeling of living in a small town. I had a wonderful experience as a freshman last year which makes me beyond excited for the upcoming year. I met a grand amount of people who completely changed my life and the way I view the world. I also learned an incredible amount about myself and the person I am and I know there is still a wealth of knowledge awaiting me.

I strongly believe in spreading kindness to everyone I come into contact with. I believe that the world can be an extremely sad and lonely place for many people. This is why every day I try and remove that negative energy from as many people I can. If everyone followed this life style I think the world would be a much more peaceful and pleasant place. With this said, my blog will largely include my day to day experiences and impressions of the people I meet. I plan on sharing their stories, life experiences, hardships, and triumphs. Many of life’s biggest questions can be answered by simple everyday interactions with others and taking the time to simply listen.

I also I want to share some of the adventures I have while in the unique little town of Pullman, Washington. Although Pullman is a rather small town, it holds many gems and has such incredible scenery. I equally enjoy taking frequent trips to the neighboring town of Moscow Idaho. This town has an array of shops and scrumptious places to dine. There is also a wide variety of residents in this close nit town that make it a warm and inviting place.

I aim to get people thinking about a new and more desirable way to live and get the most out of our years on this planet. My largest goal is to show the benefits of practicing kindness and the powerful impacts that come with this decision. I am thrilled to be able to share my impressions of this time period of my life and all of the beautiful people surrounding me.