DPI - Weekly Posts

July 21, 2024

DPI - Weekly Posts

23/04/2024 - 23/07/2024 | Week 01 - Week 14

Koh Sher Wei | 0353816

Digital Photography and Imaging | Bachelor of Design In Creative Media | Taylor's University

WEEK 01

(Module brief/Introduction)

Pinterest Board: https://pin.it/1Q96I5Jut

Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1EPiWVFo1g5ojF6gHX5Iza2vE6SfQT78w?usp=sharing

Portfolio: https://sherwei0353816.blogspot.com/search/label/Digital%20Photography%20%26%20Imaging%20%5BGCD61204%5D

Exercise:

List down 3 favourite graphic design work

DESIGN 01 : Red Fort(Delhi) [by Piyush Goel]

Fig 1.1 Red Fort(Delhi) [by Piyush Goel]

reference: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/889320257659164720/

Description: The first thing that caught my eye was the colour of the poster. The colour used is unique as most posters tend to stray away from darker tones as well as red/brown shades. I also like that the background enhances the main focus, which is the "Red Fort"

The poster expressed:

- A design of the Red Fort

DESIGN 02 : Depression Cherry poster [by Sushant Bhosle]

Fig 1.2 Depression Cherry Poster [by Sushant Bhosle]

reference: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/837951074431684309/

Description: I was drawn by the two contradictory figures. One lively and one soulless expression, which sort of depicts the idea of living with depression where it constantly feels like death.

The poster expressed:

- Comforting to experience the delicate link between turmoil and creativity.

- A 365 days typography project wired with a grey drizzle called depression.

DESIGN 03 : Afrofuturist Artwork [by Maxima Manga]

Fig 1.3 Afrofuturist Artwork [by Maxima Manga]

reference: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/318770479886704429/

Description: I was simply intrigued by the chaos of this piece, and the way that everything ties together well despite the lack of organisation.

The poster expressed:

- A combination of photography, geometric shapes, and textural elements to produce a powerful image.

WEEK 02

(Intro to Basic Composition)

Exercise:

Explore and experiment with different collage elements to create a final physical collage for Project 1A_Physical Collage submission.

Fig 2.1 physical collage pre-composition#1

Process: For this composition, I placed the woman figure and the title phrase in the center of the page. Then placed the larger complimenting pieces behind the center section to shape the arrangement together. However, it was looking slightly bare on the pages with just rectangular cut outs, so i added an additional cut-out to give more texture to the overall form of the composition. It also served the purpose of adding some contrast between the yellow flowers with the background that the girl was photographed in, so that it would look less messy.

Fig 2.2 physical collage pre-composition#2

Process: I decided on using a black background for this arrangement as I felt the cut-out pieces I have are quite bright, so using a white background was not very complimenting. Then I moved the center section from the previous composition towards the right side of the page. This was because I didn't like how out of place it felt in the center, especially when the larger cut-outs added more noise of the collage; hence I turned the "eye" piece horizontally to hide one eye behind the other cut-outs to reduce some noise. I also covered up the larger part of the yellow flowers with the brown bouquet so that it wouldn't distract the viewer's attention from the woman figure and the title.

WEEK 03

(Intro to Photoshop 2)

Exercise:

Explore and experiment with different collage elements to create a final digital collage for Project 1A_Digital Collage submission.

Fig 3.1 digital collage pre-composition#1, Fig 3.2 Pre-composition#1 layers

Fig 3.3 digital collage pre-composition#2, Fig 3.4 Pre-composition#2 layers

Fig 3.5 digital collage pre-composition#3, Fig 3.6 Pre-composition#3 layers

Process: After attending W2 tutorial, I tried to explore with the tools we were taught. I used the objection selection tool to select parts of a photo that I want, and blended different elements to make the composition look smooth.

WEEK 04

(Intro to Photoshop 3)

Project 1A_Digital Collage submission.

WEEK 05

(Basic Photography)

Exercise:

Follow tutorial to photoshop Shazam into Hearts Mansion.

fig 4.1 "Quick selection tool" to trace the figure of Shazam

fig 4.2 Background removed after quick selection

Process: Essentially, the first step was to use the "quick selection tool" to select the figure that we wanted to crop out. However, the tool itself is not perfect. So, in order to accurately trace the figure, I learned that we can adjust the pt size of the brush according to the size of the area that we want to select. Then, we can also deselect by clicking the quick selection tool icon with a (-). Finally, I just copy and pasted the cropped out image into the "Hearst Mansion" file.

fig 4.3 Shazam is resized according to proportions

fig 4.4 Shazam successfully photoshopped into Hearts Mansion

Process: After the initial cropping, we did some colour and brightness adjustments, then added two additional layers. Shadow layer and Selection layer, to make the figure look more natural in its position.

WEEK 06

(Poster Design)

Exercise [Simple Recolouring]:

To learn how to turn black and white photos back into coloured photos. A tutorial is shown for us to follow along and recolour with simple steps.

fig 5.1 given bnw photo

fig 5.2 photoshop breakdown of layers

Process:

- Create a new layer for each section of the photo (ie. hair, skin, eyes, coat , background)

- In each layer, select and use the brush tool on the desired section using a suitable colour.

- Choose between "multiply", "overlay" and "soft light" to apply to the layer for blending.

- For the background, add solid colour then create a clipping mask for the figure to only colour the background.

fig 5.3 Simple recolour photo result

Reflection: I think this practice was relatively simple and didn't have to spend too much time on it.

Exercise [Advance Recolouring]:

We are given one black and white photo along with two coloured reference photos. The idea is to utilise the colours from the reference photos to recolour the bnw one.

fig 6.1 given bnw photo

fig 6.2 photos given for colour reference

fig 6.3 breakdown of layers

Process:

- Firstly, copy a selected area of the "face colour" reference photo, then paste it into a new layer on the bnw photo.

- Use the eyedropper tool to choose 3 tones from the reference photo, and use the brush tool to draw a small colour palette. (Repeat with the "hair colour" reference photo.)

- Use Quick Selection Tool to select the hair area.

- Create a clipping mask with the selected area.

- Go into properties, use the soft edge brush to adjust the edges of the hair for a more natural look.

- Click and add "Solid Colour", use eye dropper tool to select the "hair colour palette".

- Apply the layer mask of the selected area to the solid colour.

- Choose between "multiply", "overlay" and "soft light" to apply to the layer for blending.

- Repeat for other areas.

fig 6.4 Advance recolouring photo result

Reflection: Compared to the previous simple recolouring. In this exercise, I was able to learn the use of new tools and being able to recolour a photo and make it look natural.