Category: Photodesign

Description: Demonstrate useful photography skills, including editing. Incorporate those skills to showcase a quality image, a consistent color scheme based on that image, some text, and a few design elements.

Process (Programs, Tools, Skills): I began by sketching out an idea and then selected a color scheme that would best suit the plan from the Visual FOCUS book, I decided on Split Complementary.  I took a photo with appropriate light, sharp focus, and nice composition.  I used my Nikon D60 camera to accomplish this, and then imported the photo into Photoshop and used editing techniques: levels, sharpness, saturation, and color balance. I learned a lot using color balance & selection tool and how I could fine tune a few details of my photo to help support the color scheme by making the buttons on the yellow coat indigo, and adding a touch of violet to the lining of the coat sleeve. Then I designed an 8.5×11 layout that included my photo, text, and repeating design elements. I incorporated my color scheme title, color swatches, and color names into my design.  I used the eye dropper tool and adjusted the color in the color picker to match a little more accurately. I loved the contrast that these bold colors demanded. After going through this process it was fun to see the vision I started out with come to fruition.

Message: I wanted to create a vibrant poster for a social media campaign that I recently read about in the Deseret News. I wanted to show a contemporary, yet playful understanding of the color wheel that would be memorable when seen.

Audience: Any person who has read/discovered the Book of Mormon and has an account on any social media platform.

Top Thing Learned: I learned a lot about the composition of photography. I also learned how to edit the image to keep quality and enhance the overall appeal by using Photoshop.

Color Scheme: Split Complimentary Color Names: Indigo, Violet, and Yellow

Title Font Name & Category: Mona Lisa Solid ITC TT: Serif

Copy Font Name & Category: Abadi MT Condensed: Sans Serif

Thumbnail of original, unedited image inserted

I took this photo on February 4th inside of my home, with my daughter as the model.

Light 1: Outside

Light 2: Inside

Focus 1: Foreground

Focus 2: Background

Composition 1: Thirds

Composition 2: Lead Room

This photography activity was a good challenge for me. I have never really picked up a camera with the intent to shoot professional quality photographs. I liked having tutorials and learning about how to produce images to use in my designs. For my outside shot I metered the sky to be sure it didn’t get blown out. The weather was overcast, so I found that using the edits in Photoshop helped provide the contrast between the snow and sky. I used natural light inside of my dining room to capture the map with the Eiffel Tower – I had fun with this one! The options through using selective color really helped me get the vibrant and bright colors I was looking for.

At first, I was extremely intimidated to do the foreground and background photographs, but quickly realized it wasn’t as difficult as it seemed. I found my brother-in-law, who knows a lot about photography and he helped me understand how to use my camera to get the results I needed. I think that the foreground picture turned out very interesting and I would like to continue playing around with this new way of focusing. In the Composition category I settled on a photograph of the playground in my backyard which lent itself naturally to the rule of thirds. Finally, for my lead room shot I took a picture of my daughter facing into the frame and placing her eyes and the Book or Mormon on the grid line.