Digital GraphicsChloe Stead

File Formats

Raster Graphics• Raster graphics are made up of bitmaps, which are a graphic made up of pixels. • Each pixel records the colour information of each section of an image, in order to make up the full image• Bitmaps have a fixed resolution, so resizing can distort the image

Here is an image that demonstrates how raster graphics work. As you can see, the small image is not distorted, but the larger image is distorted.

This is due to the bitmaps fixed resolution. The pixels appear to become larger with the image. You can also see how the individual pixels look. They are made up of each individual colour in the image, to make up the full image.

We measure the amount of pixels in an image in megapixels. For example, 1 megapixel is equal to 1,000,000 pixels. The number of pixels in an image can have an effect on the quality of the image.

Vector Graphics• Vector graphics are made up of vectors, which are also known as paths or strokes• They have a defined start and end point, and are made up of curves points and angles between them• Vector graphics can be scaled bigger or smaller, and there will be no distortion. This makes it good for logos,

as it enables you to scale it up or down depending on the use. For example, could be small for a business card but large for a billboard

This image shows how a vector graphic looks magnified by 7, compared with a raster graphic. As you can see, the raster graphic has become distorted, where as the vector graphic hasn’t.

JPEGStands For Joint Photographic Experts

Group

Used For Photographs and web formats. For example, photographs on Facebook are saved as JPEG

Advantage An advantage of a JPEG is that it is quite a small file size. It takes up less space, allowing you to save more. It is ideal for the internet, as the small file size will not slow the internet down.

Disadvantage A disadvantage is it will lose quality with multiple edits, due to the compression and recompression each time you open and close the file.

TIFFStands For Tagged Image File Formats

Used For Desktop publishing, often popular with graphic designers. Adobe InDesign saves files as TIFF.

Advantage An advantage of TIFF is that it allows you to save multi page pieces under one file. Also, it doesn’t lose quality with compression and recompression.

Disadvantage A disadvantage is that TIFF has quite a big file size, and so may slow your computer and the internet down.

PSDStands For Photoshop Document

Used For Image manipulation, and also front cover images for magazines.

Advantage An advantage of PSD is that it saves the layers used to make up the piece, and so it is easy to return to it and edit it. PSD also supports transparency, so parts of an image intended to be transparent will remain transparent.

Disadvantage The disadvantage with PSD is again that it is a large file, and so will take up lots of space on your computer and may slow it down. Also, PSD files are only compatible with Photoshop, and will not open on other formats.

AIStands For Adobe Illustrator

Used For Adobe Illustrator art, logo creation or creation of any graphics that represent a company.

Advantage An advantage of AI is that they use vector graphics rather than raster graphics. This enables you to scale an image larger or smaller without the loss of quality. This makes is perfect for logo creation.

Disadvantage As with a PSD file, you cannot open a AI file in anything else other than Adobe Illustrator. This could be quite restricting.

3DSStands For 3D Studio

Used For 3D modelling, animation and rendering Can be used to create 3D characters, environment and animation. Used for creating moving image, such as film and TV, or video games.

Advantage An advantage of 3DS is that it is universal 3D modelling software, and so can be used on a range of different programmes.

Disadvantage Again, the disadvantage of 3DS is that it is a large file format, and would take up lots of space, potentially slowing your computer down.

Digital Graphics Images

Shape Task

EvaluationWhat did you like about your image?To create this image I warped a series of shapes in order to form the pig. I think that I did this fairly affectively, and I think that you can tell that its a pig. For each of the shapes I selected the right colour for each area, rather than one colour all over, so that each part of the pig would be distinguishable, and also so it would look more like the pig.

What would you improve if you did it again? If I were to do this task again, I think that I would have added more detail to the pig, such as shading and highlighting. It would make it look more 3D and more realistic. I think that I should have also taken more care creating the feet of the pig, as they look a bit too square at the bottoms.

Rotoscope

EvaluationWhat did you like about your image?The colours I used to create this image are quite interesting. Non of them would commonly be recognised as natural colours for skin tone, but they work together, creating highlights and shadows. I put a fair bit of detail into this image, which makes it a little more 3D. I took a bit of care and time, making sure that I was creating the right shapes, and that I wasn't creating too many harsh lines.

What would you improve if you did it again?If I were to do this take again, I would fill in some of the white patches that I left in by accident, such as around the lips and around the eyebrows. They make the image look a lot more rough and messy. I would also put a little more detail in some places, such a into the eyelashes so that they would be defined, and the hair, so that you could see the texture. Though I took some care to minimise the amount of harsh lines, I could not avoid this, and I think that there are some areas of the image where I could have taken a little more care to round off the edges a little, so they would look more natural, and so that the colours would blend in together a little more.

Text Based

EvaluationWhat did you like about your image?I have chosen to use the colour orange for the text, which is reflective of the films title, of which this quote is from. I like that I have used part of the films cover art, instead of the letter A in the word Real. It references the film, so that people might know where this quote is from. The word Horror has been put in a different font to the rest of the text. I used this font to illustrate the word. As you can see, the word looks as if it is dripping, perhaps dripping blood. Some may associate this dripping font with horror films, and so I think it illustrates the word quite well. The main font that I used is also somewhat similar to the font used for the films title, which connects the text to the film, so that you know where the quote is from.

What would you improve if you did it again?If I were to do this task again I might have tried to come up with a more imaginative layout for the text, rather than just straight across. I might have played around more with the font sizing, or the size of the image used to represent the letter A.

Logo Creation

EvaluationWhat did you like about your image?

I like the colour scheme that I used for this logo. Its very contrasting and bright. I like the font that I created for this logo. Its very simple, created with just some basic shapes, yet it still looks interesting and unique. I think that by creating it myself I have managed to add quite a personal touch. I put a drop shadow on the text as well to make it stand out which looks good. I like the eye design I created. It is quite obscure, which I think could make the logo stand out a lot.

What would you improve if you did it again?

I would perhaps not have added so much texture to the eye design. I thought it might look interesting, but it just looks unnecessary. It also doesn't go that well with the font which is a much more simple block colour. I would have perhaps also have simplified the eye design. It looks interesting, however it might not be suitable for a logo as it perhaps wont be that versatile.

T-Shirt Designs

22

Idea 1 — Artwork I will base design off

— Potential colour scheme

Some alternative shades —

Like this kind of dot pattern —

|Could draw in this kind of style

23

Idea 2

— Artwork I’d base my design off ofJust draw the woman

| Black and white design

Draw in this sort of styleWithout colour —

24

Idea 3

— Potential colour scheme

ProposalDimensions

2400 by 3200 pixels

Content

FKA Twigs face, either edited or rotoscoped, onto of a dot or floral pattern background. For my design, I will probably use lots of greens or blues, reds, and perhaps purple.

Export Format

PNG

Advantages; PNG is compatible with Redbubble. It also saves transparency

Disadvantages; It has a larger file size than other formats, such as JPEG.

Proposal

Deadline

Friday 29th May

Wednesday Thursday Friday

Create the floral background. Photograph floral fabric, or even flowers. Edit them on photoshop, or rotoscope them.

Finish the background. Create the dot pattern part of the background.

Create FKA Twigs’ face. Either editing an image or by rotoscoping an image.

Schedule

AudienceThe audience I am targeting with this design are young people, ages ranging from 18 to 28. I think that they would come from a range of ethnicities and backgrounds. FKA Twigs probably has a fairly even fanbase in terms of gender, though my design is perhaps leaning more towards the female fans. My audience would have an interest in FKA Twigs’ music, and perhaps other experimental artists, such as Arca or Clams Casino. I would expect them to have an interest in contemporary art, film and music.

Peer Evaluation

What are the strengths of the final image?• The design is very striking, and makes a great use of FKA Twig’s album artwork. The

composition of the image is very unique, and the lack of text makes it very clean and unique. The background is excellent, and a very innovative use of a pre-existing pattern found on an item of clothing, with a very interesting and outstanding colour palette.

What could be developed if the image was repeated? The only improvement that I would suggest on this image would be to change the colour of the faces, as they are rather dark and possibly difficult to make out from a distance.

T-Shirt Evaluation

Does your final product reflect your original intentions?

• I think that my final product somewhat reflects my original intentions. Looking at the mind map I created, which explored a number of ideas, one of the ideas I suggested was creating an image based around the LP1 artwork. I had considered inverting that image, so that the image would look a little more like my own, and it would also probably reveal some interesting colours. I intended to create a dot background, using colours from FKA Twigs’ face from the LP1 artwork when inverted. I also considered drawing out a pattern over the top of the circle pattern. During my idea development I also considered a a couple of different colour schemes, both of which featured red, orange, green and blue. I also looked at a floral pattern, which featured some interesting shapes which I considered using as inspiration for my final product. I then also considered drawing out FKA Twigs’ face, rather than using the image itself for the design.

• There are definitely some aspects of my idea development that are featured in my final product. For example, I used the LP1 artwork as part of the design, and I edited it to make it more my own. I also took inspiration from the floral pattern, and made my own floral pattern as the background.

• Despite these similarities, I think that there are a number of ways in which I experimented, and didn't end up sticking to my original intentions. For example, I did use the LP1 artwork, but I didn't edit it in the way that I intended to. I had though about inverting the image, rotoscoping it, or even just drawing it out. Instead, I ended up using a different effect on it, that turned the image from being brightly coloured, to shades of brown. I also didn't end up creating a dot pattern to go with my floral pattern, though instead just created the floral pattern. I also didn't use the colour scheme I intended to use. Instead, I used shades of blue, green, orange, red, yellow and brown.

Is your product suitable for your audience?

• In my proposal, I stated that my audience would be “young people, ages ranging from 18 to 28. I think that they would come from a range of ethnicities and backgrounds. FKA Twigs probably has a fairly even fanbase in terms of gender, though my design is perhaps leaning more towards the female fans. My audience would have an interest in FKA Twigs’ music, and perhaps other experimental artists, such as Arca or Clams Casino. I would expect them to have an interest in contemporary art, film and music.”

• I think that my product is suitable for the audience in a number of ways. Firstly, I think that it is suitable for fans of FKA Twigs, as the design features FKA Twigs’ face. I think that this design is somewhat similar to some of the artwork FKA Twigs is featured in that is already out there, for example (1). Though it is not a similar style, I think that the floral content of both of these pieces might make mean that my piece is suitable for FKA Twigs, and suitable for her audience.

• In my proposal I stated that I thought that FKA Twigs audience might be into other experimental artists. I think that this might suggest that they might be open minded to other experimental forms of art. I think that my artwork could perhaps be seen as fairly experimental. Though the floral pattern background is quite tame, I think that the editing of FKA Twigs’ face is quite unusual. Rather that keeping her face looking like a photograph, I have almost incorporated it into the pattern. Her face is at an angle on the page, and is reflected in both corners.

• Though FKA Twigs’ audience would probably be a pretty even mix of men and women, I suggested in my proposal that I would tailor my design more to the female audience. I think that I have done so, as the floral pattern might be something that is seen as more stereotypically feminine. This might put some men off from wearing it on a T-shirt.

(1)

What do you like/dislike about the techniques you have used?

• In order to create my design, I firstly needed to create the background. In order to do this, I photographed the pattern from some fabric. I photographed it in order to achieve more of a look of natural light, some more texture, and perhaps to get an angle on it that you wouldn't otherwise achieve with a scanner. the original photograph looked like this (2). I like the way the the photograph came out, as you can see some natural shadows and light. The photograph is also at a slight angle, which I thought would make for a more interesting, 3D pattern. After I had taken the photograph, I decided that I wanted for my background to have more detail than that of the original photograph. I decided to make the image small, and repeat it around the page until it was covered. This made the flowers smaller, and created more of them. I like the way that this looks, although I now think that it might look better if the flowers were larger, like the size of them in the original photograph. In order to make the pattern more my own, and to make it look like more of a print than a photograph, I decided to use a filter on it. The filter I used changed some of the shades of the colours used in the pattern. It also added in more orange into the natural shadows of the fabric, and I also think that it slightly simplified the design, making it more suitable for its purpose. I like the way the the filter makes the pattern look.

• The second part to my design is FKA Twigs’ face. I firstly took the artwork from LP1, and cut the background from her face, which makes her face blend in more with my background pattern. I then edited her face . I didn't want the colours from her face in the original image to clash or to distract too much from the background pattern, as it might look messy. So I put a filer on that would give her face more neutral colours, but I still wanted her to look interesting. I like this filter, as the shades that it has made her face go really well with the background colours. I also reflected her face on the opposite side on the page. I think that this looks interesting, as it makes her more part of the pattern, rather than keeping the image looking like a photograph.

(2)

What do you like/dislike about how your final product looks?

• There are a few aspects to my final product that I really like. For example, I like the colours that I used. They were not the colours that I originally intended to use, though I think that the ones that I ended up using are much better. They go very well together I think, and I like the combination of some quite bright shades, and some more muted shades. I also think that the use of that shade of blue for the main area of the background was very appropriate, as it is a similar shade of blue to the colour used for the background of the artwork for LP1. I also like that I created a pattern. I think that it looks interesting, and is also appropriate for use on a T-shirt, as patterns are commonly used for clothing.

• Although I like that I created a pattern for my product, I think that there as a few areas in which I could have improved it. I don’t really like the size of the flowers that I used to create my pattern. I think that I should have left the flowers large, like they were in the original photograph I took. I think that larger flowers would have made for a much more interesting, unique floral pattern. I also don’t like the shape of my final product. I don’t like that it is a perfect rectangle, I much prefer it when a design blends in a merges with the T-shirt. I think that I should have perhaps trimmed the design down around the edges by cutting around some of the flowers closer to the edge.

Why did you include the content you used?

• One thing that was included in my design was the shade of blue which is featured amongst the background pattern. I chose this shade of blue, as it is similar to the shade of blue used for the artwork of FKA Twigs’ album LP1, which is where that image of her face that I featured in my design came from. Also, the shades of reds featured in the floral pattern resemble the red also featured in the artwork for LP1, which covers the centre of FKA Twigs’ face.

• I decided to use a floral pattern, to reflect FKA Twigs’ style. She has a very beautiful, angelic, feminine voice. Though she uses very contrasting, edgy and experimental beats for her songs. I think that This pattern reflects this, as the florals reflect her beautiful feminine vocals, and the bold colours and the interesting way in which I have used her photograph shows her more experimental edgy side.

• I also wanted to incorporate that photograph of her into my design in order to make it relevant to her. Though the pattern compliments her, and perhaps references her style, the pattern alone would not demonstrate to fans that the design was made about her. I chose that particular image as it was originally made as a head shot, so I wouldn't have to cut her head from her body, which might have not looked as good. I also used it as it references her latest album. I think that perhaps if I had used a different image of her, that some people might not recognise, then some fans might not notice that it is her on the T-shirt and might be less likely to buy it. Most fans will recognise this image, and so that might make them more likely to purchase the T-shirt.

What signs, symbols or codes have your used in your work?

• For my design I have included a number of codes that might give people an idea of who FKA Twigs might be, and what kind of artist she is. These codes might also give fans of FKA Twigs specific ideas of what I am referring to in my design.

• Firstly, I have used the floral pattern in order to reflect her vocal style. Her voice is very angelic, feminine and beautiful, and I think that this floral pattern reflects those traits. Though she has quite a beautiful voice, as an experimental artist she uses quite edgy and experimental beats for her music. In order to reflect this I used contrasting and quite bright colours. Also, as I have perhaps not used her photograph in such a conventional way, by editing it and almost incorporating it into the pattern, this could also be reflective of her more experimental beats.

• Also, the colour scheme I have used for the floral background is reflective of the colours used for the album artwork for LP1, which is her latest album. I think that it is possible that fans might recognise this. The colours that I am specifically referring to are the blue and the red

What representations can be found in your work?

• I think that in my work, I have perhaps fed into the stereotype that women are things of beauty. In some ways, I think that floral patterns are considered feminine, and pretty. I think that perhaps by showing FKA Twigs as part of this floral design, I have shown her to be pretty and feminine, which to some people could feed into their current ideas and generalisations about women.

• If you image this same design, with a mans face incorporated into the pattern, I think that many would find it quite unusual, or might think that it doesn't look right, though the image of FKA Twigs’ face incorporated into the design looks completely natural, and no one would think twice about it. This shows that we have some preconceived ideas about what is ‘feminine design’ and what is ‘masculine design’, and rather than challenging that idea, I have reinforced it.

What style have you employed in your products?

• For my design, I took some inspiration from image (3). This is the artwork for one of FKA Twigs’ tracks called FKA x inc. They have created a collage using stills from the music video. They have also included some paper flowers over the image.

• I think that my design almost has the look of a collage in some ways. I think that the fact that FKA Twigs face has been placed at angles on the page, which makes it sort of hand made looking. Also, like a collage, I have cut FKA Twigs’ head from the original background, and placed it on a new one. Though it is quite small, you may be able to see that in image (3) there are 2 versions of the same image of FKA Twigs’ face, making the design slightly more similar to mine.

• I think that both my own design and image (3) both have quite an experimental style. (3) features a lot of layering of images, different editing styles and some mixed media elements, for example the paper flowers over the image. My design features some unusual editing, and unusual composition.

(3)

What were the strengths and weaknesses of the pre-production and planning

• I think that there were a number of strengths to my pre-production and planning. I think that my mind map was quite good, as I explored a few different ideas, which then helped me to choose the best one to pursue creating. I referred to some quite specific details in my mind map, such as the colours I might use and the styles I might use to create my designs. This enabled me to get a clear idea of each of my ideas, and would help me to bring my final idea to life. After I created my mind map, I created mood boards for some of my ideas. These again helped me to pick which would be the best idea to pursue. The mood boards I created featured notes that I could look at to remind myself of a specific idea. They also featured images I might incorporate into my design, current designs that could influence my style and colour schemes I might use.

• As well as a few strengths to my pre-production and planning, there were also a few weaknesses. I think that though I considered a range of ideas in my mind maps and mood boards, and they featured some detail, I think that there could have been a lot more variation included in them. I should have looked at many alternatives, rather than sticking to a few set ideas I had. I think that I should have explored the possibility of text in my design as well, as I feel that that could have improved my design. I think that due to the lack of specific detail, I was slowed down slightly during the production process, as I needed to experiment a little to see what looked best.

Historical and cultural context

• Looking at 2 different existing designs made for FKA Twigs, (4) and (5), I can see some ways in which my final product fits in with pre-existing products, and some ways in which it differs from those products.

• I think that my final product is similar in a few ways to (4). They both have a floral pattern, sort of collage style. FKA Twigs’ face has been firmly incorporated into the floral pattern in (4), as I have also tried to do in my own design. The colours used are also quite similar, both featuring lots of blues, greens, and orange. I think that they both reflect the femininity and beauty in her music, making is relevant to her style. This could indicate that my own product is something that fits in with the fans and their culture.

• Image (5), created by a fan, has a very different style to my final product, and image (4). This piece is a lot more resemblant of the Vaporwave style. Vaporwave is a style that is associated with modern, experimental music genres, and subcultures such as seapunk. It commonly features this 90s web design look. (5) doesn't indicate to me that my design doesn't fit in with the culture that FKA Twigs and fans are a part of, and I don't think that my design is the odd one out amongst existing products. I think that my work, and image (4) just shows one side to FKA Twigs, her fans and their culture, and image (5) shows another.

(4)

(5)

Peer Feedback• The peer feedback I received suggests that there are some quite good aspects of

my design, such as the colour scheme, and the unique composition of the image. They also suggested that the lack of text made the design look clean. The points that they suggested that I improved on were the colour of FKA Twigs’ face. They said that it was took dark and may not be visible.

• I agree with most of the points that they made, such as the point about the colour scheme, and about the unique composition. I somewhat agree with the point about the colour of FKA Twigs’ face being too dark. Though instead of changing the colour completely, I would have just lightened it up a little, as I like that colour with the background colours.

• The one point that I disagree with is about the lack of text being beneficial to the design. I think that I should have included some text in the design in some way.