Week 2 Workshop

During the workshop, I learnt the basic controls of photoshop; how to make basic shapes and use layers to organise the workspace. The image to the left shows my experiments using the tools to create an overlay of colours with circles and rectangles with areas cut out of them. I also changed the blending mode of the layers to get more vibrant colours and textures e.g. the 'dissolve' mode on the top yellow shape. 


I created the simple coffee icon to the right using only circles and rectangles and cutting out areas of them in photoshop. I also tried to add a wifi icon to the side of the mug, but I didn't angle the ovals correctly for this to work perfectly. Next time I would use measurements to place the shapes to make them line up perfectly. 

To the left is an experiment of balance on an A4 page using triangles and circles, with rectangles going through them to make them seem fragmented. I liked this idea of splitting up simple shapes so I inverted the colours to see what it could look like. I did not like this as much because the top right corner looked separate to the whole design.

For my next idea I started to think of ways to show letters without using type. I decided to map points along the edges of the letter as shown and connect these points with lines to every point possible within the letter so that the lines did not go out of the boundary. I really like this effect and it may be something I experiment more with in the future. 

I then used the same concept with a different letter and switched the colours. I used a circle as the background which worked well but the letter 'h' did not work as well as it did with the letter 'G' so this effect works better with curved characters. As the letter was not that clear, I decided to use the circle and map points around it to attach to the letter within, and make the letter white. This worked well and is another idea I would like to experiment more with in the future.


I then used colour and triangles with lines to create the illusion of an interlocking object which worked well. If this was a logo design I would add another element to it with another colour such as charcoal.

My last experiment was with the placement of rectangles on an A4 page. I tried to make them seem as if they were getting further away towards the centre without 3D effects. I feel this worked quite well and the alternating horizontal and vertical rectangles created balance on the page.