Design Competition Finished Design

Final Design - 10th Annual SWGLFF Poster

Here is the finished design for the SWGLFF poster. I created each component separately, then added them as layers. The wine bottle, glasses, and picnic basket were all done the same way - treating a picture with a cutout layer, and then adding a "divide" layer blending option in Photoshop. 

The blanket, people, and movie screen were all created first in Illustrator, then added with Photoshop. I drew the left person, then used Photoshop to create a mirror image and place them holding hands. Their layer was given an inner glow and inner shadow to make it look like they are sitting in the dark getting hit by artificial light sources. 

The movie screen, which was just a black rectangle with rounded corners, was added to the poster in Photoshop, and then given an inner and outer glow. I added type to the screen, which was given its own outer glow, creating the effect of a glowing movie screen and movie credits. The black was too harsh, so I adjusted the opacity till the screen looked right with its surroundings. Voila!

Components for Design Competition

Wine Bottle in Ice Bucket

Here I took a picture of a wine bottle in an ice bucket (above) and opened it in Photoshop, where I used the selection tools and edge refiner to isolate the wine bottle and bucket. Then I used the filter tool to apply the cutout filter to make it look flat and like a simpler cartoon bottle and bucket. The same is done with the picnic basket below.

Picnic Basket Before and After

Rainbow Blanket

First, I created a blanket in Adobe Illustrator by simply placing six rectangles adjacent to each other, each with a different color of the rainbow. Illustrator makes this easy with the placement markers and "anchor" indicator. 

Next, I attempted to use the perspective tool in Illustrator to make it look proper for laying on the ground, but I couldn't get it to be at the proper angle, so I have some more work to do with the perspective tool. Instead, I opened it up in Photoshop and transformed it. 

 

 

Now I have several parts for my competition entry that I can add layer by layer, piece by piece! 

 

Preliminary Design Competition Sketch

Tenth Annual SWGLFF Poster Sketch

 

For my fourth module assignment, an entry for a design competition, I chose the Tenth Annual SWGLFF (South West Gay Lesbian Film Festival) Poster design competition. Details can be found at http://www.graphiccompetitions.com/multiple-disciplines/tenth-annual-swglff-poster-contest .

My intentions were to show an androgynous couple from behind sitting on a rainbow-striped blanket, enjoying the film festival with some wine and snacks. On the movie screen in the poster will be actual information about the festival, such as dates, time, location, etc. I chose lavender to color the people since it was a mix between blue and pink, so as to show that gender was nonspecific in my poster. My intentions are to create the design with the screen as a separate layer so I can give it a proper glow effect, with the setting being at night. I first thought about trying to make the people more realistic, but realized that they would be hard to make androgynous if they were more realistic. I think a more simplistic approach is better, as it takes the politics out of the equation.

Please ignore the slight hint of a rainbow in the top of the movie screen - that is actually the page underneath in the sketchbook where I tried another concept, but was not happy with it. 

Album Cover

The Good Rats Redesign