Project 1
For this project, we were tasked with creating a custom event card using Adobe Photoshop, and I created a St. Patrick’s Day card for my sister, who is currently going to college in Vermont.
What did you learn?
Having not used photoshop in many years, I basically re-learned how to do almost everything. One thing I don’t think I had ever really learned how to do was to add a layer mask, and that function proved incredibly helpful in the development of this project.
What was easy?
In general, I found it relatively easy to find images, transform them to fit the page, and then move them around. Originally I also found it to be pretty easy to use the brush tool to erase unwanted areas of images, but as we added more layers and layer masks, it became relatively difficult to select the right layers or parts of layers to edit them.
What was challenging?
The printing of the project turned out to the hardest part. I was trying to print on campus, because I didn’t have enough ink in my printer at home, but the printer in Science Hall kept jamming, which was inconvenient, and when it did print, one side was usually upside down, or it didn’t print double sided. I ended up with about 9 different copies.
How could your submission be improved?
One of the lacking qualities of this project was the trimming at the end. After getting it to print, I tried to use an actual scrapbooking tool designed to easily slice straight lines of paper. However, because I was using regular printer paper from Canisius and not better paper, it kept folding and bending, so I have some rough edges that I had tried to fix with a razor blade. If we have another project to print in the future, I hope that I’ll have better luck printing and therefore more time or attempts to trim the edges with more precision.
How could the professor improve the assignment for next class?
I think the assignment was perfectly fine, I think it was a really effective way to introduce the simpler tools of photoshop and to let people get relatively creative. I would keep the assignment almost exactly the same if it is used again in the future.
How would you use your knowledge in future assignments or work scenarios?
I think that it would be very neat if I could use photoshop skills to create stuff related to sports. Some of the coolest things I see on Twitter are jersey mockups/concepts for sports teams, where people design jerseys that aren’t real, but in many cases look better than the jerseys that already exist. Photoshop would be a great tool for a project like this.
How did a specific reading or video inspire or help you?
I think the most helpful videos were the class recordings. When Professor Dunkle went over my in-progress mockup in class, he made some neat changes that I couldn’t quite keep up with while he was doing it in class. He also gave me some good ideas for things to pursue or try. Although I wasn’t able to keep up in class necessarily, I was able to go back and watch the videos over again, and pause them when I needed to work on something.
