I was asked to do some photo editing and layout design for a family album recently. All the information was provided in a simple word document, so I wanted to spice it up a little by adding some historic photos, and making the layout more similar to how a published book would look. I found a number of old photos, fixed any problem areas, and laid out the design. I did the entire project using Illustrator and Photoshop. Here it is.Family History (Proper Layout)
As a final project in my first Digital Imaging class, we were assigned to create a mutant creature by cutting and pasting pictures that we collected online. I decided to make the design as a fiction comic book cover. I decided to go with a spider/mutant hybrid, who somewhat plays a part of a King Kong or Godzilla type. I spent quite a few days trying to perfect the design. I started off with a body builder image to take on the look of a superhero. The legs were the next step, which I actually found an image of a steel statue created in Canada, I believe. I wanted the creature to look more realistic than just a body and steel legs, so I used the overlay function in Photoshop to create a texture and skin on the body. I than lined the entire thing with hair to resemble an actual spider. Next, I created the webs and eggs to present a reason that the creature was angry. I used a city background that I found online, and changed the sky to create a Post-apocalyptic feel. Finally, I added the bright text, with hair as well, and the catch phrase at the bottom, to add a little comedy to the design.
These kind of designs are my all time favorite. Anything where I have the freedom to come up with a design to my liking. I created the idea of a book about a pair of brothers who wake up after a plane crash and realize that the United States has been attacked. The brothers must than make there way across a country in nuclear fallout. For the design, I wanted to make it somewhat horrific to grab attention. I decided to put a radiation sign over the American flag to instantly get people thinking. I than added the two men in bio hazard suits, to get the full effect. The font of the text is a strong, authoritative one that I thought represented the situation and the character backgrounds well. The color of the text is directly taken from the imaging. I also liked the grainy look of the images and chose to go with broken concrete as the overall background.
You can also check out the Poster/Magazine ad for the book at the link below.
Corey Van Zandt 