Photoshop Assignments 2nd Nine Weeks
Surreal Animals
Create a surreal or fantasy animal by combining parts of at least three different animals into one by using at least one layer mask. The finished image should be blended smoothly and look like the parts actually belong together. Place your surreal animal in a setting that would not be its normal habitat.
1. Find images of animals on the internet and save as jpeg files in your folder. Do not try to take them from the internet directly into your Photoshop files. Make them the same resolution.
2. Open the file of the main animal you want to use. It will show up as a background layer. Duplicate the background layer. Work only on the copy layer.
3. Open the second animal. With the move tool (pointer) drag the animal into the first window.
4. Move the background copy (the original animal) to the top of the layers palette.
5. Create a layer mask on the background copy layer. Lower the opacity of the fill layer until you can see both layers.
6. Use the brush tool to paint in black where you want the other layer to show through. Fix any mistakes by changing the brush to white.
7. Use selection tools to add a third element from another animal and also to place the new fantasy animal in an unusual background.
Ad Parody Assignment
A parody is a literary or artistic work that imitates the characteristic style of an author or a work for comic effect or ridicule.
Create your own parody of a national print advertisement that will not only
grab an audience's attention but will subvert or undermine the original purpose of the ad. Most good ad parodies are funny, but funny is not essential. A parody that is unsettling works too. The key is to point out a deeper truth, something
the real ad is not telling you, or else to turn the meaning of the ad in on itself.
Ideally, your parody should be more than a joke; it should make some sort of
critical political/cultural/social statement. Whether the issue is related to the environment, health, labor, media influence, or another cause, you might want to do some research to support your point. Make sure that the criticism of the product or the ad is clear. Before you decide on an idea, ask yourself: If my parody ran in a national magazine, would readers understand the point I am making? If you are creating a parody of a specific ad, include the original ad in your folder.
Changing Color to Black and White
1. Grayscale
Image > Mode > Grayscale
2. Desaturate
Duplicate the background layer so you do not lose the original color information. With the duplicate layer selected, choose Image > Adjustments > Desaturate.
Then go to Edit > Fade Desaturate. When the dialog box appears choose color from the mode box. This will cause the desaturation adjustment to affect only the colors in the image, not the brightness values, giving a higher quality black and white conversion with more detail remaining in the image than using only destaturate.
*To get a hand colored photo look, before closing the fade dialog box, lower the opacity to about 80 % which will allow some of the color to show through.
3. Black and White Adjustment
Click on New Adjustment Layer at the bottom of the layers palette and choose black and white from the menu. This will bring up six color sliders. These sliders adjust how bright or dark each color will appear in the black and white version, and you can use them to emphasize or de-emphasize certain objects or areas in the image, brightening areas to bring attention to or darkening less important areas, based entirely on the original color of those areas. For example: to darken the sky, move the blue slider to the left. To lighten skin tones, move the red slider to the right. Be careful not to lose detail in the highlight areas.
Choose one of your photo essay pictures with as many colors as possible and perform each of the black and white conversions and the hand color effect on copies of the same photo. Make a new folder titled black/white and save your photos as jpegs. It should contain 1) the original, 2) grayscale version, 3) desaturated version, 4) hand color effect, and 5) black and white layer adjustment version.
Improve 5 Photos using any combination of the following techniques. Save both the original and the improved versions in a folder labeled “improve.” Remember, everything does not work for every photo.
If necessary, crop your photo using the CROP tool on the left tool palette. This can help remove any distracting background. Remember the composition rules.
Once cropped, click on IMAGE > ADJUSTMENTS > AUTO LEVELS. Once you have done that, back to adjustments and this time select AUTO CONTRAST. And again, under adjustments, run AUTO COLOR.
Under the image menu, CONTRAST and BRIGHTNESS may improve the image if it only needs a small change.
To lighten or darken specific areas, use the BURN and DODGE tools on the left palette. Generally, the larger the brush, the more naturally blended the look. Be sure to specify the brush exposure and choose shadows, midtones, or highlights.
After you have tried these, bring up the curves palette with Ctrl+M or open CURVES through the image menu. Drag the diagonal line until you get the balance that you like. Be careful. It is easy to go too far.
On your main image layer, click the FILTER menu. Open the SHARPEN sub-menu and run UNSHARP MASK. 100%, choose one to two pixels and two to ten threshold levels to make your images look much sharper. You can probably only do this once, before the image becomes too pixelated. Sharpen can only do so much.
Use Image > Adjustments > Curves (Cmd/Cntl-M) and click the Auto button (this finds the lightest part of the selection/layer and makes it white and finds the darkest part of the selection/layer and makes it black). Further contrast can be added by creating an ‘S’ shape out of the curve.
To save a seriously underexposed photo, make a duplicate layer. From the menu in layers, choose screen. To save a seriously overexposed photo, make a duplicate layer and from the layers menu choose multiply.
Don't overdo it. Sometimes adding too many effects to a photo can ruin the photo completely. Don’t torture it. People will be focused on the effect(s) rather than the subject of the photo.
Design a logo for your company.
A logotype, or logo, is a trademark or identifying mark that represents a person, place, or company. Logos often incorporate initials, objects, and symbols to create a new meaning that is understandable to a large number of people. Most businesses spend considerable money on advertising to make their name recognizable. The company’s image is how it is perceived by the public. Its identity is what it does. A logo is a reminder of that image. It delivers a clear, well-defined message of uniqueness and individuality.
The first step in designing a logo is to identify the need. What do you want to tell people about yourself? The next step is to brainstorm ideas. Don’t reject anything at first. Then sort your ideas into categories; Good, Maybe, and What was I thinking? Narrow down your ideas until you have a distinct and memorable symbol of you and what your company does.
A checklist for your final logo:
§ Visibility Will it stand out in its surroundings to provide quick and memorable identification?
§ Application How well can the symbol be used in a variety of applications? Consider scale. Does it reproduce equally well on the side of a truck as on a small business card?
§ Distinctiveness Is it distinguished form the competition? Not only do you have a unique product or service, it cannot legally resemble another logo.
§ Simplicity/Universality Is it easy to identify while remaining readable? Don’t forget to consider cultural or religious connotations the design may convey.
§ Retention For a customer to identify with the logo he must play a mental game of discovering something. If a symbol is too easy to read, the viewer will feel no sense of discovery and thus no personal relation with it.
§ Color It is a good practice to design in black and white first, while keeping in mind the color application. It must work in a number of technologies that are unable to display color or subtle differences in colors. If it does not work in black and white, color will not save it.
§ Descriptiveness Does the symbol reveal the nature of the company or product without being an exact literal translation?
§ Timelessness It was once hoped that a successful trademark would last from fifteen to twenty years. Now complete turnovers of identity programs often occur within a five-year period. But be careful not to rely on trends. They have a very limited appeal.
Design a Logo for Your Company
Your logo must:
*include text
*include a picture you created (not a photo)
*represent a company or service
*reproduce equally well at business card size, letterhead, billboard
*use a color scheme appropriate to the business
*use a font that reinforces your message
* use either the pen tool or custom shapes