Digital Photography and Imaging - Project 1: Collage Design

3.4.2023-8.5.2023 / Week 01-Week 04
Tan Zhao Yi / 0363285
Digital Photography and Imaging / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media
Project 1 / Collage Design

LIST

1. Exercise
2. Project 1A
3. Project 1B

INSTRUCTIONS


Project 1: Collage Design

Project 1A: Physical Collage
We are doing collage physically to practice compositions without using digital tools. I cut out some elements from magazines and tried out some collage. 
Fig 2.2.1. Physical Collages, Week 2 (14.4.2023)
From the three collage above, I like the first collage's elements with their royal poetical style, but I don't really like the composition because it doesn't express what I have expected.


Fig 2.2.2 Final Physical Collage Outcome, Week 2 (14.4.2023)
As a result, Mr. Fauzi chose the second collage.
Project 1B: Digital Collage
After practicing composition physically, we started to do it with Adobe Photoshop 2023. We are given 10 image to work with. We are requested to come out with three tries for this task too.
Fig 2.3.1. Digital Collage Progression, Week 3 (25.4.2023)
As there are so much tools in the Photoshop, I keep searching many questions on Google and YouTube. The toughest thing for me in this exercise is to crop image into circles. There were many tutorials online but most of them are using the old version of Photoshop, which is quite different from the one I was using.  
Fig 2.3.2. Digital Collages, Week 3 (25.4.2023)
Fig 2.2.3 shows my three works of digital collages. I personally like the first one the most because it balances the colour well.
Fig 2.3.3. Final Digital Collage Outcome, Week 4 (8.5.2023)
In the end, Mr. Fauzi chose my first composition. I have learned how to crop an image using the magic wand and pen tool. For me, Photoshop is harder to use than Illustrator because it is more complicated like you can’t straightly select an item by just clicking it. Also, I was trying to let the colour look balanced so I decided to choose images with a cold tone color. Then, I tried to arrange these elements to different sizes as Mr. Fauzi said.
Digital Collage Review
After learning how to adjust colours and filters, we were given task to adjust our own digital collage. At first, I was struggling at the match colour tool because it is not working, then I found out that it only works on smart objects. I learned a lot about layer adjustment, for example, merging layers and creating smart objects.
Fig 2.3.4. Merge Layers, Week 4 (12.5.2023)
Merging layers can help to edit more layers together. 
Fig 2.3.5. Problem Solving, Week 4 (12.5.2023)
I was wondering why was my match colour tool not working, then I realised I have to 'rasterise' it, which means converting it into a smart object.
Fig 2.3.6. Digital Collage Review Progression, Week 4 (12.5.2023)

Final Digital Collage Outcome

Fig 2.3.7. Final Collage Outcome, Week 4 (12.5.2023)
Fig 2.2.8 shows my final digital imaging outcome. I tried to emphasise the blue in this composition so I frequently adjust the saturation of the building and the fish, and also adjusted the whole colour tone after watching the tutorial video that teaches us how to fix skin tone.
REFLECTION

Experience
I really enjoy doing collage, both physical and digital. I like trying different compositions with the elements I had, it feels like I am in a high school art class. I believe it will be better if I had used the golden ratio, however I couldn't got any idea for that.

Observation
I observed that I should be more confident for my own work, whether it is good or not. In my physical collage work, I listened to too many advice, eventually it came up unsatisfied for myself.

Findings
I found out that I did my work best when I did a lot of research and solving problems myself. It is very useful to use Google and YouTube nowadays, they got everything.
FURTHER READING

Fig 3.1. Graphic Design Play Book: An Exploration of Visual Thinking by Sophie Cure,
Week 4 (12.5.2023)
This book offers a combination of theory, practical exercises, and visual examples to help readers develop their graphic design skills and expand their understanding of visual communication. By delving into different areas of graphic design, the book encourages readers to explore their creativity, experiment with different techniques, and develop a unique design style.
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