In Digital Media, we refined and gained skills in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and After Effects. We learned how to composite photos in Photoshop to create a surreal, meaningful composition. My composited image was inspired by the cultural phenomenon of subliminal spaces and the universal yearning for a return to childhood.
For the majority of the Narrative 2 unit, NatalieE and I designed a multi-layered wood art piece in Illustrator. After organizing our layers in our project file, we used a laser engraving machine to physically produce our artwork on wood.
We imported our Illustrator project layers into Adobe After Effects to depict our art in 3D space and color. We used the 3D camera tool, null objects, and the spotlight tool to produce a video in After Effects.
NatalieE and I collaborated on this stacked wood art piece because we were both interested in taking inspiration from Weyes Blood’s Titanic Rising album cover. The cover art depicts a girl floating in her bedroom, which is submerged in water. The decorations and furniture also look weathered and rise to the surface of the water. Natalie and I interpreted the album cover as a depiction of revisiting one’s childhood or coming to terms with one’s past.
The greatest challenge we faced was organizing the layers in our Adobe Illustrator file because we designed a lot of tiny pieces- for example, in the table legs. Assembling the final product also tested our patience because some of the wood pieces were curved and wouldn’t stay glued together. We solved this problem by using tape rolls, glue bottles, and a stapler to weigh the wood down.