OUGD405 - Frame - Final Crits

In the final Crit I received some really positive feedback. Again we were told to ask 3 questions so it was easier for our peers to give feedback. I asked; 'Does the design need more depth?' 'Do I need to use more colour?' and 'Who do you think the target audience is?'

The majority of people said that as the design was humorous it didn't need any more depth to the concept. People did say that the design could do with more colour though. 

Most people said that there was a broad target audience but was erring towards the younger market due to the models that I used. 

I was pleased with my feedback for this brief. If I had more time to spend on it I would like to experiment with my idea of using paint on the perspex to write out the dimensions of the frame. I would be able to make these vibrant colour against the black and white which would solve the problem of lack of colour. 

Overall though I am happy with the project. I feel the images are aesthetically pleasing and the idea is strong.

OUGD405 - Frame - Final Image Production

I thought that editing these images would be much more difficult than it turned out to be. I used a few simple tools to achieve the effect that I wanted.

When I first opened the image I edited the brightness and contrast of the image as it was slightly too dark originally, especially seeing as i wanted to edit over it.

I then lowered the saturation of the image as I wanted it to be black and white. This would stop customers from being distracted away from the frame and would make sure that the colours didn't clash with whatever colour frame was used. I also edited the curves giving the image more dramatic tones. 

I then duplicated the layer and made a layer mask. Layer masks allow us to hide and reveal sections of the image without destroying any content.

Using Illustrator I typed out the measurements for the photo frame. I used Helvetica for the type as this is the typeface that Clas Ohlson use for their logo and their advertising material. I made a selection in the image using the type and then filled this with black on the layer mask to hide this area. 

I then re-sized the duplicate image. I held Alt and Shift when I was transforming the image so it didn't lose proportion and so it re-sized from the centre point. 

Although the measurements are visible due to the larger image below showing through the layer mask.

I found the Clas Ohlson Logo online and used the colour from this as my overlay colour. This made it much more visible and meant that it would tie in with the Clas Ohlson branding.

OUGD405 - Studio Brief 01 - Photoshoot

After looking at work by David Bailey I decided that I wanted to collect photographs with quite a dramatic variation of tone. I set up the lighting in the studio to accommodate this. I used 2 flash lights, one on either side of the subject. On the light on the right I used a soft box to try and soften the shadows on this side. I also used a reflector to bounce a small amount of light onto the front of the subjects face however I had some trouble with this reflecting in the perspex. I set up the perspex using two clamps. I am really pleased with the way that the photographs came out. The lighting is exactly how I wanted it and I got some really strong images. Shown below are the photographs I decided to develop before editing.

OUGD405 - Frame - Photoshop Development

After the lighting Induction that we were given I decided to start testing out the process I will go about to edit my photographs on some of the test images I had taken. I wanted to experiment with two of the ideas I had, the magnification idea and the selective colour idea. I started by putting my original photo into Photoshop.

I wanted the main image to be black and white so I duplicated this layer and then lowered the saturation. I also edited the curves to give the photograph more dramatic tones of light and dark.

I then duplicated this layer yet again and made a layer mask. I typed out the dimensions in Illustrator and then put this into Photoshop as a smart object layer. I made a selection using this layer and used the brush tool on my layer mask to take this section of the image away. This allowed me to see what the image would look like using selective colour.

I also experimented with the magnification idea. I felt this looked effective but wasn't completely clear. I decided that I had a good enough basic understanding of how i would edit my photographs to start collecting my final imagery.

OUGD405 Studio Brief 01 - Frame - Development

Due to the feedback i was given during the interim crit I had 2 objectives to improve this idea. I was told that it was a little bit too creepy and I wanted to make it friendlier and more light hearted. Although most people seemed to like the idea there were a couple of comments saying the idea needed more to it.  I agreed with this feedback and I wanted to give it something else that would give it more depth and make it more original.

After looking at work by Sara Pellegrino, which I have displayed on my Design Context blog, I came up with the idea of displaying the measurements of the frame by actually painting them onto the glass I will be photographing my models behind. I would use the colours of Clas Ohlson which is the company I am designing the backing paper for for the paint. I think it would be interesting to have the models smudging this paint and maybe even getting some of it on them to try and give the photographs a playful vibe. I had the idea of covering all of the glass with paint and having the people I was photographing to draw out the measurements in the paint.

One of Gem Fletcher's images (shown here) gave me some inspiration for another idea. I intend to edit some of the images so that the dimensions of the image are made to look as if they are magnified glass. Some sections of the photograph will be magnified and these sections will be in the shape of the numbers. The sketch I have done doesn't do this idea justice but I feel I would be able to achieve the effect quite well on Photoshop. I have an idea as to how I will go about it but I may look at some Photoshop Tutorials that will give me other ideas. This concept works well for backing paper as it fits in with the ideas of lenses and photography.

I had another idea which i may experiment with but at the moment it is probably my least favourite of having the image in black and white but putting sections in the shapes of the dimensions in colour. I feel like this selective colour is used in this way quite a lot and I want to try and make the image look as original as possible. 

I have booked a studio induction which will allow me to use the studios as I intend to get high quality images from this photo shoot. I am really happy with some of the ideas and want to resolve them to the best standard I can.