Final Project - Customized Typography

For my final project I wanted to create a poster of customized typography.

I started with a quotation from George Michael's song "Fast Love" and picked the font Rockwell.

Then I customized it in Illustrator

Next I used this texture as a base for the background in Photoshop. 

I desaturated it and placed it on top of a background color and a color overlay. All set at different blending modes and opacities.

Then I brought in the typography from Illustrator.

I placed this texture into the type and inverted it then cloned it so that I got the abstract texture I was looking for.

From here I added some effects and initial highlights to the type.

Then I placed this texture on top in 3 different blending modes and opacities. 

One version was colored and two were desaturated.

Then I added a border, some more highlights and shadows, a drop shadow to bring it off the background, some subtle effects to bring out the depth and the quote author credit to achieve my final image.

Which all makes it sound much more simple than it actually was. I'm very happy with the outcome.

Design Competition

I created a logo and website for the cafe and bakery my sister is going to open early next year for the Hiiibrand Awards 2011 listed on graphicscompetitions.com.

The contest is to create a brand identity. There are 3 categories :
A. Brand: the whole identity design works for a brand, include naming, logo design, packaging design, guidelines and so on.
B. Logo: the single logo design works.
C. Package: the single packaging design works.

I took a photo of the frame and manipulated it in Photoshop to look how I wanted and be as tall as I needed. I also added some subtle reflections to make it look like glass and a drop shadow so it looks like it's hanging on the wall.
I found a vintage wallpaper I liked and made it into a full repeat pattern and adjusted the color.
I found the fonts for the logo online for free and did the initial layout in Illustrator. It's comprised of a few layers in Illustrator then taken into Photoshop where I utilized a few techniques from various tutorials I found online to give it the look of gold gild on glass.
I drew all the line dividers and parenthesis in Illustrator. The text layout was done in both Illustrator and Photoshop.

To see the image full size please visit
http://www.brooklynkolacheco.com/

Foster the People's album "Torches" cover art re-design

I love this album but I'm not a fan of the original artwork for the cover. I wanted to design something more iconic. I felt it was important to base the design off a picture of the band so that's where I started. As I played with effects and color palettes an idea started to form  about what direction to go in. I wanted it to look as if you were sitting on the beach after being out all night partying and their image appears in the dawn sky as if a huge, old TV turned on and there was a tenuous connection.

Here is the image of the photograph I used to start with:

Here's my layers I worked with in Photoshop:

And this is the original album cover:

Recreate in Illustrator

Vector

Original

Designer Statement

I design websites because I have a passion for problem solving and communicating. Each project is a challenge to determine what information needs to be conveyed, the best way to relay it and to how to make it aesthetically appealing without being distracting. I was inspired to get into design because I have always had strong visceral reactions to how information is presented.

I have worked with Photoshop and Illustrator for thirteen years now and I love the versatility and endless possibilities of these tools. There are always multiple ways to achieve my goals with the programs and part of my process is determining what the best means are to realize the ends I want. I consider designing websites to be a healthy balance of logic and art.

I both enjoy and get frustrated by the design process but ultimately I find it to be exhilarating. I have an appetite for the positive reinforcement I receive when people compliment and appreciate the work I do. I have a talent for gathering large amounts of information, gleaning the relevant pieces, fitting them together like a puzzle and then presenting the result as a unified vision.

Cameron Stanford

Brooklyn, NY

September 2011

Testing 123

Here we go