Font Set - Lower Case, Numbers and Symbols

The object here was to create a set of lower case letters, numbers, and symbols in the style of the previously created upper case font set. The technical aspect is the same; use of Illustrator brushes, and saving certain brush strokes to use for multiple letters, so they would be consistent in form. I really liked creating my own font; it took a lot of time, but I'm happy with the result and I definitely want to get on a PC to use FontCreator and produce a workable TrueType font that I can actually use!

3D Popup Photo Gallery

For this assignment, I wanted to create a nice, flowing, relaxing photo gallery, and since I had a lot of flower photos, that's what I decided to use. I first resized all the images (except the background) in Photoshop and resaved them at the smaller size. Then in AfterEffects, I imported all the images and placed the background, sized to allow for a camera truck movement from left to right, with the 3D option enabled to set the angle at 45 degrees. Each image was then placed, sized, angled to match the background, then animated to "pop up". The final touch was adding and adjusting lighting for each image. I always enjoy working in AE and learning more about how to use the program. This was pretty easy, although I ended up moving all the images further to the right to allow for the camera movement, and switching a couple of images around for aesthetics, so I kinda had to do all the setup twice! The lighting was a little tricky; I adjusted the intensity down on all of them, and I had some trouble with the light on the purple irises in the center; no matter what I did with moving the light and adjusting it, the picture still looks WAY too bright on that one...grrr!

Font Set - Capitals

I wanted to create a font that was simple and clean, yet with an interesting twist. Using Illustrator brushes, I created the letterforms, adjusting paths and curves as needed. I found that it was helpful to create a "working shapes" file, where I stored some of the frequently used paths; this helped my letterforms to stay consistent. I got a little frustrated with TypeTool, as it was not exactly the same as the online lesson; it was pretty close, though, and I downloaded the manual so I could figure out what was needed. I've never worked with a font creation program before, so this was pretty interesting and I can see it would be fun to create custom fonts. I'm happy with my final font; some of the shapes were definitely more challenging than others, either in the shape itself, or deciding how to maintain a consistent overall look.

Tablet Drawing

This was my first encounter with a Wacom drawing tablet. I figured a landscape would be fairly easy, and since I'm not much of an artist, I used an image as template. I chose to create this in Illustrator, and found that there is a LOT I need to learn about the brushes and how they work! It was interesting to use the stylus and tablet; kind of fun, but somewhat awkward and frustrating at the same time. I don't think the end result is too terrible, but I found that using these tools definitely takes some practice.

Mad Science

For this assignment, the lamps in the image made me think of Tesla coils and old Frankenstein movies, so I wanted to create a creepy atmosphere and tell a mini-story. To do that, I made the image black and white using an adjustment layer, cropped it, and then used various brushes and layer Blend modes in Photoshop to paint in "energy rays" activating the lightning and causing lovely green goo to cascade from the fountain. The final image was then imported into Flash, animated using layer masks, and exported as the Quicktime movie you see here. I accomplished what I set out to do, and I like that the image is not just decorated, but tells a story. I wanted the green goo to flow a little better, but overall, I'm pleased with the final result.

Short and Sweet Bio

I was born in Illinois and moved to Washington when I was 17; I always say that the flatlands were a great place to grow up, but I wanted to move west since I was nine years old and got my first glimpse of the Rocky Mountains. I love it here, despite the rain!
I trained for the printing world and spent a lot of years there, learning about graphics programs on the job. I'm now upgrading those skills for the digital world, trying to cram as much as I can into my brain. I love working with color and fonts, and playing with images in Photoshop. There's so much to learn, I know I'll never be done! I'm excited to get back into the working world where I can apply my creative skills.
That's all for now...