Digital Photography & Imaging: Project 02
Adena Tan Sue Lynn (0345769)
Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media
Digital Photography & Imaging: Project 02 / Photo Manipulation
Instructions
Project 2(A): Hearst Mansion Exercise
My process for this exercise can be found in Digital Photography & Imaging: Week 05.
Project 2(A): Recolouring Black & White
My process for this can be found in Digital Photography & Imaging: Recolouring Black & White.
The theme we were given for this poster was 'Mental Health'. Alongside Mr Fauzi's guidance, we were guided on how to create a poster from scratch.
Firstly, I found three posters I really liked to get inspired.
I like this poster as it shows the achievements of Stephen Fry despite him being bipolar & having depression. It shows people that people who suffer from mental health can also achieve great things
I like this poster as it affirms people with mental health that it’s okay to feel emotions. It’s a good message.
The above poster isn’t above mental health, but I do like how the different faces are put together, and it can tell an interesting story.
Then, I proceeded to write a summary of Mental Health. Following that, I bolded the keywords as recommended by Mr Fauzi.Mental health includes one’s mental and psychological state of mind. Mental health has a wide variety, such as mood (depression or bipolar), anxiety, personality, schizophrenia, eating, trauma and many more. On the outside, one may not show any mental health issues, but it is important for us to be aware that anyone could face mental health problems.
Mental health issues can be caused by a number of things. It can be caused by stress, pressure, past traumas and more. It can affect individuals in many ways, mostly negative. Examples are, it can worsen one’s physical condition, worsen relationships with others, affect their lives negatively.
Despite mental health being a taboo subject, it is very important for people to talk about it. Talking about it can not only bring awareness, but it can help people realise the issues they are facing and find the proper solutions for themselves. Ways to get better are to talk to a counsellor, talking to family & friends about mental health, find hobbies and passions that bring joy, and many more.
Overall, mental health is very important to discuss. This is because anyone could be facing mental health issues, but we would never know. Luckily, there are multiple ways to help one get better.
Following the above summary, I was able to choose my title, slogan, details & call for action.
Title: Mental and psychological state of mind
Slogan: Anyone could be facing mental health issues, talk about it with your loved ones before it’s too late.
Details: Call Befrienders Number: +03-76272929
Call for action: Finding the proper solutions
After that, I did the sketches for the title, slogan, details & call for action. Initially, I had some issues coming up with ideas, but Mr Fauzi said it was important to do sketch to gain more ideas for the overall poster.
Title: Mental and psychological state of mind
Slogan: Anyone could be facing mental health issues, talk about it with your loved ones before it’s too late.
Details: Call Befrienders Number: +03-76272929
Call for action: Finding the proper solutions
Doing the above sketches led to sketching the overall poster. Below are the sketches I did.
The above sketch was inspired by Poster 03 (Figure 2.3.3). My plan was to take multiple photos with different expressions. However, I didn't have enough human subjects to execute this plan as I wanted.
Next, the above sketch was inspired by Poster 01 (Figure 2.3.1). My plan was to take my side view and get a photo of a brain online. However, Mr Fauzi mentioned it might give a more dark mood than needed for the poster.
Finally, I came up with this idea. It is a mix of ideas from Poster Sketch 02 (Figure 2.3.9) as well as Sketch for Slogan (Figure 2.3.5). My plan was to take a photo of myself looking I was talking with the text bubble showcasing my slogan. This was my favourite among the three sketches, and Mr Fauzi gave the green light for this one.
Firstly, I took some photos of my side profile using self-timer. These were my favourites among the pictures I took. I ended up choosing the right one as I liked how my lips were upturned in the photo.
Then, I imported the photo onto Photoshop. To start, I cropped out the background using the 'direct selection' tool and tried to get smaller details in my hair using the 'select & mask' function.
After that, I adjusted myself to the side. I also added a blue background as well as all my details for the poster. For the title, I used the typeface 'Lemon Milk' as it was more sharp and called attention towards the poster. As for the slogan, details & call for action, I used the typeface 'Omnes Semibold' as it gave a more welcoming feel, I thought.
Then, I used the rectangle and pen tool to make a speech bubble. For the speech bubble, I made it more round to follow the roundness of Omnes Semibold. I also added a 'Shadow' at the back to give it more dimension and to further call attention to the slogan. I also changed the side of the 'Finding the proper actions' as I thought there was too much space at the bottom.
Next, I changed the colour palette to accommodate my current hair colour. As it had warm tones, I decided to use a yellow theme as yellow reminds people of joy and happiness. I also adjusted the 'Hue/Saturation', 'Brightness/Contrast' and the 'Curves' to better suit the poster.
Finally, I decided to edit my acne to make the poster look more even. I didn't want viewers to just focus on my acne on my chin as they were quite red, but rather on the message. Thus, I edited them out using the 'Spot Healing Brush' tool.
Below are my final layers.
Final Submission:
Mental & Psychological State of Mind
It is crucial for us to always remember that anyone could be in a dark place. They might be too scared to talk about it or seek help for their issues. That is why we need to talk about it with our loved ones and those we care about before it’s too late.
Helping others realise their demons and helping them find the proper solutions can save someone tremendously. With the amount of social distancing happening nowadays, people might feel even more in a rut than they ever have before. A simple check in on someone can bring them so much hope for what this world has to offer. This poster seeks to remind everyone of that.
Reflection
This project taught me so much about Adobe Photoshop. For Project 2(A), I never imagined being able to manipulate pictures like that. I always taught editing people into different photos was a struggle, but the process was so interesting that I had a good time doing it, despite my laptop's lag.
Also, I tremendously enjoyed recolouring black and white photos. When I was younger, I thought you would need special applications to do it, but doing it on Photoshop was definitely a highlight for me. It has to be my favourite exercise so far, hands down.
Finally, for the poster in Project 2(B). Initially, I had a hard time coming up with ideas, but the summary as well as the sketches definitely led me to create a poster I was satisfied with. Using all that I have been taught so far in this class to make this poster was super helpful and I was super grateful to have been able to learn everything beforehand.
Feedback
Week 07 (04/10/2021): For the ideas in Poster Sketch 1 & 2, it is impoirtant to consider the subjects and the mood behind the poster. For this theme, you wouldn't want such a dark theme.
Week 08 (15/10/2021): Mr Fauzi left a private comment on my work which said, "Hi Adena, you may proceed with Mock Up Poster #3."
Week 09 (21/10/2021): Mr Fauzi had replied to me, saying, "Hi Adena. Thanks for your final submission. Overall is good, the yellow background is better because it suit with your hair. Thanks for your efforts."
