TDO420

Creating Autism Awareness Postcards: A Journey of Challenges and Joy Designing a series of Autism Awareness postcards was an incredibly rewarding and heartfelt experience. With a goal to craft four unique postcards that celebrated acceptance, love, and understanding, the process became more than just a project it was a meaningful way to convey the message of inclusivity and empathy. Challenges of the Photoshoot Photographing a young autistic boy came with its own set of challenges, but these were opportunities for learning and growth. Here’s what stood out: Patience and Timing: Children, especially those on the autism spectrum, can be sensitive to new environments, sounds, and activities. Creating a comfortable atmosphere was essential. It took some time to establish trust and make the boy feel at ease with the camera. Capturing Genuine Expressions: His expressions often shifted quickly, making it tricky to capture the perfect shot. Instead of posing, the focus was on catching natural,...

  Behind the Design: Crafting Ads for the Kissimmee Festival of Lights Lesson 1: The Power of Color The first thing that stood out to me during this project was how much colors can influence a design. The festive palette of red, green, white, and gold wasn’t just pretty; it created a warm, inviting, and seasonal vibe. Each color served a purpose: Red: Bold and eye-catching, it evoked excitement and holiday cheer. Green: Added balance and a subtle connection to nature and tradition. White: Provided clarity and contrast, making the text pop. Gold (from the bokeh background): A touch of elegance and sparkle, giving the ads a magical glow. By keeping the colors consistent across all three designs, I was able to maintain a cohesive look, ensuring the event branding felt unified and professional. Lesson 2: The Importance of Text Placement Text placement can make or break a design. I learned that titles need to be bold, centered, and highly legible, especially in the full-page ad where th...

  Frosty Insights: Lessons Learned from Designing a Photoshop Magazine Cover Creating a magazine cover featuring Frosty the Snowman isn’t just about making a jolly snowman look great, it’s about embracing Photoshop’s powerful tools and pushing creativity to its limits. As I wrapped up this project, I realized how much I’d learned along the way. From blending colors like a true pro to mastering the ruler tool, this frosty endeavor has turned into a true Photoshop learning adventure! Here’s a breakdown of the highlights (and some unexpected fun) from my journey. Blending Colors: The Art of Harmony The frosty winter landscape demanded a perfect balance between icy blues and warm festive hues. To achieve this, I dove into Photoshop’s color adjustment tools and discovered some magic: Layer Adjustments Save the Day: Vibrance and saturation adjustments helped me enhance the blues and whites while ensuring Frosty didn’t look like he’d just stepped out of a highlighter factory. Gradient Mag...

The Fun and Challenges of Designing Ads for the Festival of Lights Designing three distinct advertisements for the Festival of Lights —an 8.5 x 11" Full-Page Magazine Ad, an 8.5 x 5.5" Half-Page Ad, and a 2000 x 2000px Instagram/Facebook Ad—was a creative and rewarding journey. While each format had its challenges, it was equally exciting to experiment with layout, typography, and visuals to fit each platform's unique needs. Here's a breakdown of the process, challenges, and why this project was so much fun Challenge 1: Balancing Details on the Full-Page Magazine Ad (8.5 x 11") The Fun: This was the largest canvas, giving me plenty of room to play with bold, festive visuals. The glittery lights background perfectly captured the holiday vibe, and having ample space meant I could feature clear, easy-to-read text and create hierarchy with a big, bold headline like "Kissimmee Festival of Lights." The Challenge: The biggest hurdle was deciding how much infor...

Creating a Fiery Poster for “Bowsette”: A Fun and Exciting Journey Working on this poster design for "Bowsette" was an absolute thrill! The song has such a unique, playful, and mischievous vibe that it immediately sparked a ton of creative ideas. From choosing bold colors to layering images for depth, this project was a perfect mix of fun and challenge. Step 1: Setting the Mood with Fiery Colors Since the song’s energy is fierce and cheeky, I knew right away that I wanted a fiery color palette. Reds, oranges, and a bit of yellow created the intense, almost volcanic background that instantly communicates power and playfulness. Layering in these colors made the poster come alive, especially with the contrast of dark tones in the castle and character outlines. Step 2: Blending Characters with the Scene Bowsette and Mario are the stars of the show here, and their exaggerated, cartoonish expressions perfectly convey the humor and boldness of the song. Positioning them in front of...

Shortcut Like a Pro: How a Stream Deck, an XP-Pen, and Photoshop Shortcuts Made Me Rethink the Mouse Why Keyboard Shortcuts, Stream Decks, and Tablets Beat a Mouse Any Day Hey everyone, welcome back! Shortcuts . These little keystrokes can save hours, especially when paired with a Stream Deck XL and an XP-Pen tablet. It turns out, using these tools together makes editing in Photoshop smoother, faster, and honestly, way more fun. Here’s what I learned and why shortcuts are worth mastering. Why Shortcuts Matter Let’s be real—every time you move your hand off the keyboard to grab the mouse, it interrupts your flow. With shortcuts, you’re staying in the zone. Add a Stream Deck to the mix, and now, instead of remembering all those keystrokes, you can just tap a button and keep rolling. The result? Less fumbling and more creating. The Stream Deck XL: The Shortcut Machine Imagine a control panel customized just for Photoshop—everything from brush sizes to layer controls is just a button pr...

       Mastering the Art of Clicks and Curves Unleashing the Pen Tool, Path-Bending Text, and Blur-tactic Effects—All While Trying Not to Confuse Layers! Welcome back, Photoshop fans (or curious bystanders who stumbled here by accident)! This week in my Photoshop class, we dove into some seriously handy tools—each with a unique ability to make or break your designs. Let's talk about my new favorite tools and how they've brought me closer to Photoshop Mastery™ (just kidding, that’s still miles away). The Pen Tool: AKA "The Tool That Hates You at First but Loves You Once You Tame It" Let’s start with the Pen Tool . Sounds simple, right? You just click around to make shapes. Wrong. This tool has a personality—maybe even a grudge. At first, it felt like trying to control a rebellious noodle. But after some practice, the Pen Tool started to make sense. This baby is all about creating smooth, precise paths. You click to create anchor points and then drag to adjust those ...