Christmas project

This employs Gradient Mesh, variations of the Rectangle tool, Live Trace on the wreath, the Text tool, the Swatch tool and adjustments to the opacity.

The finished project.

The pattern for the background, which is a cloud and some snow falling.  Above is the full pattern by itself.

This required no tutorials.  Seriously!!!

Pattern

 

It works better if the Swatch tool is used rather than the brush tool.

Business card

This is the card for my pseudobusiness, Lunar Solstice signed.

CATE Logo

This is my logo example for CATE, or Career and Technology Education.

Logo

This is my logo for Lunar Solstice signed.
I wanted a logo with the shape of a moon to symbolize peace and to go with the company title (luna= moon).  I also wanted to reflect my desire to be in a universe where everything is at rest, so the crescent is in blue.  The company is also supposed to be unique, one founded "once in a blue moon." (Pardon the pun.)  This logo is also supposed to be professional, and to be professional, a company has to be well rounded, like the moon.  The light inner circle is a highlight used to give the impression that the logo is a sphere, which is more round than a circle.  The gray lines in the blue crescent are made to resemble the components of a computer chip, so that the logo also has a techy look.

And no, this was not modeled off the Death Star!

Expression Project

The words are arranged in a circular shape to contribute to the restful feeling, but also to state that this is my cycle of emotions.  Each of these words is has a separate font and leading to emphasize their meaning.  The words are unshelved and unframed, since it does me no good to frame my personality on the wall or place it on a shelf when I can live it instead and let others see for themselves.  If the shadows left me, then my personality would reflect my happy and free emotions. When the layers are peeled away, all that remains is my soul behind the mirror.  The mirror in the center reflects my true face, hidden behind a shell of gray.  This shell keeps the darkness away from the my personality.  The water in the mirror flows as I do, and the plant growing from the pool of water displays how I believe that life will always find a way, even in the most adverse of situations.  The mirror does not have smooth edges that blend with the shell, since they completely oppose each other.  My figure is sideways to create a sense of peace within the safety of the shell.  The shadows are in the corners, held at bay, and are triangles to symbolize my conflict with them.  While my face may be towards the center, it is more to the right, since that's the way I want to live, always doing what is right.

3-D Object

This is my creation from a tutorial on creating a 3D pair of dice using Illustrator.  Using the Gradient Mesh tool was the hardest part of this assignment.  One highlight of the tutorial involved the resulting pictures, in which the dice numbers were incorrect, since 1 should be on the opposite side of 6.

Flower and Vase

This is an example of a gradient flower, but it doesn't look as much like a flower as I hoped.  I like how it turned out, though.

 This is the vase with the previous flower on it, as shown.  The curves on the vase, as I found out, have to be just right, otherwise the design on the vase will be cut off partially.

Live Trace

Moving the gradient to the left and finding the right text was the hardest part of this assignment.

Logo 2

This is my recreation of the new Doctor Who logo.  The exact font could not be found, so I had to use the closest font and create an outline that I could adjust to look like the original text.  The coloring for the gradients was also an issue, but I was able to estimate the colors for the letters and the light above.  I worked to include all of the details, including the reflection of the logo on the black surface.  I am satisfied with how this turned out.

Logo

This is a recreated logo from Las Vegas, Nevada.
I used a format brush to paint the light bulbs on the exterior of the sign, and created outlines for each character in "WELCOME" so that they could be individually centered.  Probably the hardest portion of this assignment was trying to work out a method to keep the bulbs from centering themselves on the exterior of the sign, but that was just a misunderstanding on my part.

Splat

This is an example of what you can do with splat. The shadows are probably not the best, but I like how it turned out.

Spiral text

This is my spiral quote.  ...But don't spend too long reading it!

Dalek in characters

This is a text monster representing the Dalek, an alien race in the Doctor Who series.

I used the black and yellow colors to generate a sense of fear and caution, since according to the series, these robotic aliens are supposed to be evil and ambitious.  By the way, the 'O' on the upper "torso" is a plunger-looking device, and the '@' is the eyestalk.

Personal quote

This picture is probably a little large, and I'm sorry about that.
The original quote is on the bottom, the modified one on the top.

I emphasized the words "to not to say anything at all" to push that point across about not saying anything to prove that you are the better person than your tormentor.  The words "the better person" are in italics and blue to signify the feeling when a person knows that they are the better person, which should be a feeling of relaxation and peace.  "Sometimes" is spaced and in blue to emphasize that not saying anything at all can be the only option when the other person refuses to be a good person, and to show that it's sad when this happens.

This quote has a symmetrical balance, including the author's name towards the right and the word "sometimes" on the left.

It is also out of proportion, since portions of the quote are dilated to show emphasis to those words.

The lines are all rectangles, providing a linear rhythm of repetition.

A break in the rhythm occurs in the word "sometimes," and the phrases "the better person" and "to not say anything at all" to show emphasis.

The unity exists in the usage of italic and bold font styles to stress the quote's message as one idea. 

The alignment of certain phrases connects with the pattern of reading from left to right and to create the effect of a diagonal line, giving a feeling of peace to the viewer.

The quote above has the leading increased for readability purposes.  The kerning (spaces between characters) was also decreased to increase readability.  The original quote had the lines too close together and that made it hard to read, yet creating "snakes" of white lines would be unhelpful to the reader as well.  Since I wanted more of a natural feel, which violet opposes, those words in plum were changed to a green color that remained visible yet light and calming.  I also felt that the words "a simple rise" were fading into the background (which was not what I was looking for), and I wanted to change them so that the heat and hatred in the word were emphasized.  Red is a color for rage, so the color was changed to red.  At the same time, I had to emphasize that the reader should not give in to their desires, so the red was lightened to a relatively neutral red, since red in general means danger.

Elements of Design

 

This image is of the Porcupine Mountains Waterfall.

The curved, thin, contour lines describe the shape of the water as it flows downstream and give a sense of peace to the viewer.

The oblique direction of the lines in the water gives a sense of movement, making it feel more natural.

The organic shape of the rocks, the leaves, and the flow of water gives a sense of free flow and nature.

The real texture of the rocks has a rough, yet natural, appearance, and the water's real texture looks smooth and silky.

The color of the leaves is green, the rocks are a dark brown, and the water has a cream-like color at points.

There is much value in the color of the rocks, but there is less in the leaves, and even less in the cream points of the water, giving a good mix of values in the waterfall.

The balance is symmetrical, since the emphasis, or the waterfall, is towards the center.

The picture has not been edited, so the waterfall is proportional to the greenery, increasing the natural effect.

The rhythm in the water is gradation, since the water smoothly transitions from displaying one color to another.

The unity lies in the flow of the water over the rocks, and the shapes of the rocks are caused by the water.

The alignment is towards the bottom right corner, and the line created by the alignment represents the action of the water tumbling over the riverbed.

This is the logo of Febreze.

The thick, curved lines were used convey the feeling of restfulness that the product is intended to provide and attract the attention of the customer.

The calligraphy text is used to give the feeling of higher status, since the consumer has a product that is supposed to improve the air of the home.

The horizontal direction of the lines in this image add to the sense of tranquility.

The size of the letters 'f' and 'z' as compared to the rest of the word also add to the calm feeling, based on their particular sounds.

The image also has a glossy, implied texture to improve the mood of the buyer in the hopes that they will feel good enough to make the purchase.

The hue of the logo is a semi-dark blue, giving off a calming feeling, as the designers intended.

The balance is semi-symmetrical to give a sense of order.

The 'f' and 'z' are out of proportion and emphasized to focus the viewer's mind on their particularly pleasing sounds.

The rhythm includes gradation and repetition of a curved line to create a unity of peaceful elements.

The alignment of the text and window image are as such to emphasize the intended flow.

Valerie Flores-Meath

Hello.

I am a person who tends to hide the more gentle side of myself with a mask of a person who is precise, organized, and stands tall.  That's really all I can say about myself without boring you, the reader, half to death with a life story.  But I do like reading, pixel art (using Paint), and a bit of programming with Java.

...I am also a person who really likes privacy.