This class assignment is to use a Photoshop tutorial from dzineblog.com, and complete it. I chose the Webstudio web layout.(see original below) I decided to make it my own by adding my own colors, pictures and logo. I picked this design because it was a bit like me, simple, clean, soft, edgy and a little off the wall. I liked the fact that it isn’t symmetrical and those navigation buttons are to die for!
I really enjoyed this project. The techniques used are pretty easy to follow. The author assumes you already know your way around Photoshop. There is quite a bit that I don’t know about Photoshop. It helps me to learn when I have to dig for the solutions. I used the teacher, classmates and Google to complete this project.
I started this project using the color picker to sample the background color of beige on the original site. I wanted to keep the same tint, but change the hue to purple. I wanted mine to have the same soft/edgy feel, but I wanted to use my favorite colors. I sampled and changed all the original colors, trying to match the shades and tints.
This tutorial consists of a series of reshaping rectangles, some gradients and a layer mask or two. All in all I would say it is pretty easy. The hardest part for me was using the blur tool to make the shadow on the bottom. I thought this was an interesting technique; however it took some skill to accomplish it. I accomplished my goal by making mine look good, while not being identical to the original.
I f I have to say what one thing I will take from this to use in the workforce, I would say… , it’s okay to keep it simple. Every design doesn’t have to be complicated and immense to work. I have a bad habit of overworking designs. This project is a good lesson for me.
The tutorial ends with just a frame. It didn’t have the photos or text. I decided to make it up and add a picture from my previous exercise and one from the World Wide Web. I used Lorem Ipsum for the text, and made up my own mock logo.
See my finished project above. I am pretty proud of it. It is fun to create things and I look forward to my next project. Photoshop is the Bomb!
