Photoshop Basics

In June 2016 I taught a class for New Orleans Video Access Center in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, LA, to film makers who wanted to learn professional skills. Following an introduction to design principles, the class completed an exercise using some of the basic tools and workflows in Photoshop, before going on to create and design their own original movie poster design.

Transcript

1. June 25-26, 2016, 9AM-3PM Photoshop Basics Glynnis Ritchie Designer, Web Developer New Orleans
2. Introductions
3. Syllabus & Schedule
4. An introduction to design principles and how to apply them. Design 101
5. Alignment
6. Alignment creates order. Aligning elements allows them to create a visual connection with each other, and makes it easier for the eye to know where to look next.
7. http://www.thinkingwithtype.com/contents/grid/
8. http://www.thinkingwithtype.com/contents/grid/
9. http://www.thinkingwithtype.com/contents/grid/
12. http://www.thinkingwithtype.com/contents/grid/
13. http://www.thinkingwithtype.com/contents/grid/
14. Hierarchy
15. “A typographic hierarchy expresses the organization of content, emphasizing some elements and subordinating others. A visual hierarchy helps readers scan a text, knowing where to enter and exit and how to pick and choose among its offerings.” –Ellen Lupton, Thinking With Type
18. http://www.thinkingwithtype.com/contents/text/#Line_Spacing/
19. http://www.thinkingwithtype.com/contents/text/#Line_Spacing/
20. Contrast
21. Contrast can help direct attention, call out differences in meaning or information, or make a design more interesting.
22. http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-basic-principles-graphic-design-take-granted-everyday/
23. http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-basic-principles-graphic-design-take-granted-everyday/
25. “Combining typefaces is like making a salad. Start with a small number of elements representing different colors, tastes, and textures. Strive for contrast rather than harmony, looking for emphatic differences rather than mushy transitions. Give each ingredient a role to play: sweet tomatoes, crunchy cucumbers, and the pungent shock of an occasional anchovy.” –Ellen Lupton, Thinking With Type
26. http://www.thinkingwithtype.com/contents/letter/#Mixing_Typefaces
27. http://creativepro.com/dot-font-seven-principles-of-typographic-contrast/
28. http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2015/12/29/qfat4hhynqitxyroo84h9l9jk1o8xo
29. Repetition
30. The principle of repetition simply means the reusing of the same or similar elements throughout your design. Repetition of elements in a design will bring a clear sense of unity, consistency, and cohesiveness. https://visscom.wordpress.com/2013/04/16/principle-of-repetition-pattern/
31. http://maddisondesigns.com/2009/03/the-5-basic-principles-of-design/
32. M. C. Escher Goose Tessellation
33. Andy Warhol’s Marilyns
34. http://www.edgee.net/the-principles-of-graphic-design-how-to-use-repetition-effectively/
35. http://www.edgee.net/the-principles-of-graphic-design-how-to-use-repetition-effectively/
36. Proximity
37. Objects or shapes that are close to one another appear to form groups. Even if the shapes, sizes, and objects are radically different, they will appear as a group if they are close together. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principles_of_grouping
38. The law of proximity states that humans perceive stimuli that are close to each other by grouping them and recognizing them as part of the same object. Meanwhile, stimuli that stand far from one another are parts of two or more different objects. https://visscom.wordpress.com/2013/04/16/principle-of-repetition-pattern/ –Gestalt Principle of Proximity
42. Putting it all together
49. Looking at Movie Posters Applying design principles, content and metaphor, and breaking things down.
50. Movie Posters: Design Principles
51. Saul Bass
58. Joel Amat Güell
59. Movie Posters: Content & Metaphor
60. A movie poster (like its opening credits) can tell you something about a film’s content.
61. What does a movie poster design reveal about the film’s overall themes?
62. • Memorable scenes • Overall theme • Plot clues • Celebrities
76. Fan Poster: Joel Amat Güell
81. Exercise: Fake Movie Poster
82. Looking at Movie Posters Part II: Breaking Things Down
108. http://jeffvictor.blogspot.com/2015/06/jurassic-world-movie-poster-redesign.html
109. Joel Amat Güell
110. Design prep for your masterpiece File management, brainstorming, gathering inspiration and assets, sketching, and finding tutorials.
111. File Management & Image Resolution
112. • Raster images (don’t scale well) • Good for photo composites, including photographic elements • Harder to recycle work in the future because it doesn’t scale infinitely Common file outputs: .psd, .jpg, .png
113. • Vector images (infinite scaling of mathematical points) • Great for illustration • Easy to recycle or resize work in the future because it scales infinitely Common file outputs: .ai, .svg, .pdf, .eps
114. • Type-centric, perfect for multi-page documents • Easy to deal with “masters” or repeating elements and change lots of styles at once • Great for print projects with lots of text Common file outputs: .indd, .pdf
115. • Keep your drafts/revisions as separate files. • Making a duplicate or doing “Save As” every few hours to make a new file may be helpful in case you want to go back to an earlier version. Photoshop only preserves so much history. • Keep all assets or images you’re incorporating into your design. • Keep original design files (i.e. the “.psd”, not just the output “.jpg”). You may want to modify it or create a new version for another design like a postcard or DVD cover.
116. • Create a folder structure that helps you find old things (I start file names with dates) • Don’t be afraid to recycle work or elements • Be aware of software versions or file types depending on who you’re sharing with
119. PPI, or pixels per inch, is a measure of the sharpness on a display screen. When printing, instead of pixels there are dots of color, or DPI, dots per inch. Both PPI and DPI can also be referred to as the resolution of an image.
120. 72-150ppi is a common image resolution for the web, but 300ppi or higher is needed for printed work to look sharp.
121. Example Process
122. 1. Understand requirements, size, budget, materials, etc. 2. Look at similar work, find inspiration 3. Decide what’s been overdone (exercise taste) 4. Gather inspiration in one place (Pinterest or mood board) 5. Artfully steal (colors, themes, typeface combos, materials) 6. Sketch ideas, thumbnails, make notes 7. Refine sketches and ideas 8. Photograph sketches or find assets 9. Create original work 10. Print prototype for approval/proofing
123. Good questions to ask yourself or others: • What info needs to be included? • What info is the most important? • Can I cut anything? • What mood do I want to set? • Color? Black and white? • Format/deliverable? • How much time to work on this? (build in time for revisions) • What other formats of this work might be needed?
124. Inspiration
125. Ouija invites: overdone
126. Artful Stealing: Theirs
127. Featuring Michael Cunningham, Michael Lewis, Dave Eggers, George Saunders & more Artful Stealing: Mine
128. Artful Stealing: Theirs
129. Artful Stealing: Mine
130. A spirited evening of cocktails & ghost stories benefitting Big Class’s free writing programs for New Orleans youth ages 6-18. Big Class is a nonprofit organization dedicated to cultivating and supporting the voices of New Orleans’ writers ages 6-18 through creative collaborations with schools and communities. Learn more at bigclass.org. 532 Louisa St., New Orleans, LA 70117 504.308.1423 Jeremy Blum Mary Carlton Alvin David Jayeesha Dutta Natalie Girard Sarah Grainer José Guadarrama Kelly Harris-Deberry Nicole Hershey Jez Luckett Nora McConnell-Johnson Kurston Melton Heather Muntzer Sam Randolph Glynnis Ritchie Josie Scanlan Emma Schain Cherie Teamer Kathleen Whalen Emily Wilkerson Hosts & Ghostwriters Hosted by Wayne Amedee and Julie & Ted George Special thanks to our media sponsor The New Orleans Advocate and a A spirited evening of cocktails & ghost stories benefitting Big Class’s free writing programs for New Orleans youth ages 6-18. Big Class is a nonprofit organization dedicated to cultivating and supporting the voices of New Orleans’ writers ages 6-18 through creative collaborations with schools and communities. Learn more at bigclass.org. 532 Louisa St., New Orleans, LA 70117 504.308.1423 Jeremy Blum Mary Carlton Alvin David Jayeesha Dutta Natalie Girard Sarah Grainer José Guadarrama Kelly Harris-DeBerry Nicole Hershey Jez Luckett Nora McConnell-Johnson Kurston Melton Heather Muntzer Sam Randolph Glynnis Ritchie Josie Scanlan Emma Schain Cherie Teamer Kathleen Whalen Emily Wilkerson Hosts & Ghostwriters Hosted by Wayne Amedee and Julie & Ted George Special thanks to our media sponsor The New Orleans Advocate and a Revisions
131. Preparing to Design Your Poster
132. Explore theme, metaphor, and plot. What can you communicate about your film to draw people in?
133. Make a list of major ideas, themes, and think about how you might represent them visually.
134. For Gattaca: • Dystopia, drained colors • Genetics, double helix • The sea • Concealed identity • Cheating the system • Rocket ships • Space • Hope/dreams (clouds?) • Science, equations • Exceeding expectations • Imposter syndrome • Stolen identity • Purity/perfection vs. imperfection • Natural vs. designed • Climbing the social ladder, ascent • Education and social status • Class system based on genetics • Lack of opportunity • Predetermination • Controlled society
135. Sketch some rough thumbnails to experiment quickly and explore big ideas about composition, and test alternative approaches.
137. What are some effects or layers that you think you will need based on your design? Begin browsing tutorials for techniques you want to learn or include.
138. Fan Poster: Joel Amat Güell
139. Collect assets or source images for your design. Look for large images that all have the same PPI—300ppi or higher.
140. Adjust PPI using Image > Image Size… Change the resolution number. Remember: you can’t add information where it doesn’t already exist.
141. Resources
142. skillshare.com Video Tutorials and Classes Referral link: http://skl.sh/1S0kyTQ colourlovers.com Color palettes
143. skillshare.com Video Tutorials and Classes Referral link: http://skl.sh/1S0kyTQ color.adobe.com Color picker and palettes
144. creativemarket.com Pre-fab design assets
145. skillshare.com Video Tutorials and Classes Referral link: http://skl.sh/1S0kyTQ
146. lynda.com Video Tutorials and Classes
147. youtube.com Video Tutorials
148. dribbble.com Searchable design inspiration