Digital Photography & Imaging/ Final Project: Self Titled

30th November 2023 - 28th December 2023 (Week 10 - Week 14)

Natalie Chu Jing Xuan, 0354589

Digital Photography & Imaging, Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media

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Jumplink

Research

Moodboard

Sketch

Digitalisation

Animation

Final outcome

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Lectures, Tutorials, and Practicals

Week 10: We learn how to do cut out effects on Photoshop with a woman face and floral. 

Fig.1 Progression of Floral face 

Week 11: This week, we learnt how to do animation in Photoshop. Mr.Martin taught us how to make this Japanese girl, Yowa to float in the air with Video Timeline animation and a woman doing yoga with Frame Timeline Animation.

Fig.2.1 Video Timeline animation

Fig.2.2 Frame Timeline animation

Week 12: Besides than Photoshop, we can also make animation in After Effects. The learning outcome of this week is to learn how to create animation in After Effects, in order to make animation for our final. 

Fig.3.1 After Effects progression

Week 13: Consultation on Final task-Self titled poster. 

Week 14: No class.

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FINAL TASK

Research

I went on to Pinterest, browse through some self-portrait poster to have inspirations. I saw many different kind of poster, and lastly, I decided to go with a slightly vintage style poster. 

Fig.4.1 Example in Pinterest

Fig.4.2 References

Moodboard & Ideation

Click here to direct to Google Slide Concept Board.

My title for this poster is: Light Shines, Viva La Vida! 

"Viva La Vida" means "Live the Life" in Spanish, and when combined with "Light Shines," it conveys a joyful and inspiring message. It signifies an embrace of life, brightness, and joy. 'Viva la Vida, Watermelon' painting by Frida Kahlo, was the inspiration for my design because of its profound celebration of life deeply resonates with me. 

The helm element in the poster symbolises that I am the captain of my life, while the compass and clock guide me forward, reminding me that I have the power to choose my path. In addition, I chose to include sunflowers in the poster. These flowers represent the vitality of life and the spirit of flourishing in the sun, which perfectly aligns with the idea that I want to convey. In terms of colour, I use the orange of sunflowers and the blue of the ocean to emphasise the richness and diversity of life, and  represents hope and freedom.

In conclusion, I hope that when people see the poster, they are inspired to face life with courage and find inspiration in its message.

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Sketch

Fig.5.1 Initial Sketching

I am not satisfied with my sketch and I plan to add in the Viva La Vida, watermelon painting by Frida Kahlo. This was an inspo that bumped into my mind after my first sketch. 

Fig.5.2 Second sketch

I added the Viva La Vida painting and some stars to correspond with the Light Shines. The sketch has two versions, as you can see. This is because I use colours to differentiate my elements so that they appear more obvious and clear to me when I begin digitising them. 

Digitalisation

This is what I intend to use for my self-titled poster. The majority of the elements were found on Pinterest, but the sea image I used was captured last year (2022) in Semporna, Sabah with my film camera (Olympus mju ii). I also uses the "Slender" font that I created in my Typography class in my poster. 

Fig.6.1 Elements

According to Fig.5.1, I followed the initial sketch to start off with my poster in Photoshop, and here's the first attempt:

Fig.6.2 First attempt

After consulting with Mr.Martin, he told me that the bottom half of the poster has no any point or effects, so I need to either resize or drag down my portrait to let the poster look more attracting. Therefore, I start to digitalise my poster with sketch 2 (Fig.5.2).

Fig.6.3 Progression in Photoshop

This time, I had my central focus point drag down and have more space for the ocean part so I can add in the watermelon painting and my title. Then, I uses Procreate on my iPad to draw the doodle line and stars.

Fig.6.4 Doodles in Procreate with iPad

Then I discuss to Mr.Martin and Mr.Hafiz. Mr.Hafiz suggested that I can make my title larger, so I changed from a horizontal to a stacked title. 

Fig.6.5 Different version of title

Fig.6.6 Final poster "Light Shines, Viva La Vida!", jpg

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Animation

After having the poster completed in Photoshop, I move to After Effects to do animation. Mr.Martin said that the animation should be slow. 

Fig.7 Progression in After Effects

I made the cloud floating from left to right, the other elements rotating. The background music is "Viva La Vida" from Coldplay. The title and doodle which are in yellow colour light up with the beats. 

YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Q7D4iJJIjdQ 

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Final Outcome

Fig.8.1 Google slide submission

Fig.8.2 Final poster "Light Shines, Viva La Vida!", jpg

Fig.8.3 Final poster "Light Shines, Viva La Vida!", pdf

Animation click here

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FEEDBACK

When I come out with my initial sketch, Mr.Martin said that my portrait took most of the space. He advise me to resize it or either drag the portrait down to insert more objects in it.

Mr.Hafiz suggest that title should be bigger.