I’m glad to present to you all my Final Graphic Design Project!
As I stated before, the purpose of my design is to serve as an homage to my relationship with my dog, which mirrors that of millions of people and their loved pets. My first draft for this design featuring Morgan needed some enhancements, so this post will serve as my “thoughts and process” for making my original design better by implementing some of the feedback I received.
In this design I chose different photos of Morgan to represent the many faces of the memories I have with him. He is a playful, cuddly, sometimes sassy little dog, and I wanted to show this within the design. [Fun fact, he was born on Valentine’s Day so his middle name is Valentino. And yes, Morgan Valentino is how his name appears on his name tag!]
The draft consisted of 5 images, 2 cutouts, and a title. It was sized at 1000×800 pixels, which I kept since I though was a good size to really see the work. The 5 embedded images were a blue/black and white color and the cutouts were completely black and white. After, reviewing my work and taking in the feedback I received I was ready to start my changes and improve my design.
the changes:
The first thing I fixed from my design was a black line that was under the middle image of Morgan and his toy. It was suggested that I remove it and I agreed as it was not meant to be a part of the design. So, I went on to my design and re-embedded the photo and cropped it in a matter that it would fill the space completely, consequently getting rid of the black line.
The second thing on my list was making my “colorless” draft have some color per the feedback I received. So, I decided to play around with my options and add some color to it. To begin this process, I hid all my grouped layers containing the images except for one, and on this visible layer I changed the hue and saturation to a black and white. I then clicked on the white square of my layer and turned it black using the Paint Bucket, and then using my Paint Brush tool I made sure the black and white hue applied to everything except his toy. This made the entire image be black and white (keeping some of my colorless feel from my original design) and his fox a pop of color! I then went on to Levels, under the adjustment layers icon, and moved the dark and light sliders in a bit to add contrast to the image.
I repeated this process with my next 5 groups of images and only did slightly different levels on the images that did not need as much of a contrast. I also switched around for each image the “pop of color”. On the second image I made his collar, tag and toy be in color; on the third image his pink colored skin; the fourth his brown ear and collar; the fifth the inside of one ear and outer part of the other; and finally on the sixth image his ear and sweater.
As far as the cutout photo, I decided to have this one be in full color instead of the black and white it used to be. I also added some contrast to make the colors really stand out. The draft had another cutout, but I decided to remove it from my final design since the facial expression was very similar to another photo used. It was suggested I move it, but I got rid of it because I think this way the design has more unity and cohesiveness.
I then went on to enhance my text! I used the Eyedropper Tool to collect the color from Morgan’s ear and used this color for my text. Originally I only had the text at the top, “To the friend that loves you unconditionally,” but after some thought I decided to also add “Be Pawsitive About Animal Rescue,” as that’s the main topic of my blog. I believe that by adding these words I completed the design and made it more meaningful. It’s not only an homage to my dog, but it’s also a positive collage that can insight people to rescue an animal that will give them unconditional love and create memories with them.
Overall, I think I put into my final work some of the great feedback that was given to me and used it to really enhance my design. I’m very happy with the results!
I hope you enjoy my design
P.S. Always remember that having a pet, fostering animals, adopting or rescuing them, is something that fills both the animal and the people involved with love and compassion. Whether they rescue you or you rescue them, you both now have a bond of unconditional love.
