Digital Photography and Imaging / Project 1A and 1B

23/08/2021 - 20/09/2021 (Week 01 - Week 05)
Alicia Teng Yi Ling / 0345159 / Bachelors of Design in Creative Media
Digital Photography and Imaging
Project 1A & 1B

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Instructions

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Project 1A - Physical Collage

For the physical collage, I wanted to create a composition that looked like the cover of a beauty or fashion magazine. Mr. Martin told me it reminded him of that so I believe my concept is a success. For materials, I gathered a variety of them from magazines, books and online sources (and then printed it). 

Believe are my three trial compositions when I first started this project:

Fig 1.3 Composition #3 (30/08/2021)

Fig 1.2 Composition #2 (30/08/2021)

Fig 1.3 Composition #3 (30/08/2021)

The black and white woman is the focal feature as she is emphasized and contrasted by the surrounding elements which are coloured. Her concept is basically a model on a fashion cover and despite being in 'shadows', she is surrounded by colour and life.

For the final collage, I decided to go with composition #1 as I like the overall aesthetic and placement of materials and Mr. Martin agreed as well.

Final Design Outcome

Personally, I like the first collage composition the most. It looks clean while filling the space evenly (rule of thirds) and draws the viewer's eyes to key points. It also has a clear flow for the eyes to follow. The materials used contrast well against each other with the black & white background with more colourful elements in the foreground which creates visual interest.

Fig 1.4 Final Physical Collage - PNG(16/09/2021)

Fig 1.5 Final Physical Collage - PDF(16/09/2021)

NAME: "The Woman in Black and White"

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Project 1B - Digital Collage

For this digital collage, we were given several images and told to make the collages based entirely on these but we are allowed to manipulate and edit them however we'd like (e.g. colour, scale, filters, etc.). 

Fig 2.1 The Given Images (11/09/2021)

Believe are my three compositions when I started this project:

Fig 2.2 Digital Composition #1 (11/09/2021)

Fig 2.3 Digital Composition #2 (11/09/2021)

Fig 2.4 Digital Composition #3 (11/09/2021)

I decided to go with composition #2 as I liked the idea/concept the most out of all the three and I felt that it had the most potential for me to improve it. My concept for this composition was a world with no direction or a semi gravity so that people could walk wherever they wanted. Although, it is quite bare and simple I like the concept so I decided to push forward with this piece and try to improve it.

Feedback for Digital Collage

• Go with composition #2, it has an interesting concept
• Add more elements for visual interest
• Concept - a world with no direction/upside down
• Personal thoughts - add a sky + moons + stars 

Design Process

To improve my composition and experiment with adjustment layers and filters I decided to add in more of the same elements. For example, I added more buildings and I also inverted them as I thought the colour fit in with the overall piece. 

To make those ‘moons’, I used the elliptical marquee tool and used it on one of the provided images. I lowered saturation and increased contrast to give it a moon-like texture and appearance. For the semi transparent moons, I changed them from ‘normal’ to ‘linear light’ so they look translucent and have a glowing effect. 

Fig 2.5 Moon File (17/09/2021)

For the overall appearance of this piece, I used the adjustment layers:

• Brightness/contrast: slightly lowered it and increased contrast to create more depth in the image
• Exposure: lowered it so the atmosphere in the collage looks like it is night time and the different elements look more natural together
• Vibrance: I slightly increased vibrance as I liked the colour palette (yellowish/gold and grey/blacks) and I wanted the contrast between them to be more stark

Fig 2.6 Adjustment Layers + Regular Layers (17/09/2021)

Fig 2.7 Brightness/Contrast Adjustment Layer (17/09/2021)

Fig 2.8 Exposure Adjustment Layer (17/09/2021)

Fig 2.9 Vibrance Adjustment Layer (17/09/2021)

Final Design Outcome

Fig 2.4 Final Digital Collage - PNG(17/09/2021)

Fig 2.5 Final Digital Collage - PDF(17/09/2021)

NAME: "City Sky"

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Reflection

I thoroughly enjoyed this project due to there being no limitations while creating the collages. It was nice to be able to have complete creative freedom. I like the fact that my two collages have a completely different 'feel' to them. The physical one looks more like the cover of a fashion or beauty magazine and is more clean and modern as said by Mr. Martin, whereas my digital collage is more surreal and abstract in its composition. Overall, I would say this assignment was a great success and I had fun using Adobe Photoshop and testing out many new things.