My goal with the book jacket was to create a sense of being lost. I had a massive urban sprawl in the background with a lot of space for the swirl pattern in the background which is actually a picture of a world map. One of the biggest things I learned in creating the book jacket was that it’s harder than it looks. I thought it would be an easy project but when I started I realized that getting the right aesthetic was harder than it looked. I got good feedback from the class and from Ms. Parkinson and I was able to make some revisions.

In the surrealist project, I had to rely on photography and basic photoshop effects to create an unreal image. The photography was all done in High Dynamic Range (HDR.) HDR is where you takes multiple pictures of the same thing at the same angle and adjust the settings on the camera slightly to let different amounts of light in. It’s a big part in creating surreal photography. I did a lot of brainstorming for this and my idea did a lot of evolving over time. My final product was simpler than what I originally planned, but I was happy with it because it was surreal. It was an image that made me go “what the heck?” This was my favorite design project and I am especially happy with how my picture of the landscape came out.

My surrealist piece is called eFishes and here is the artist statement: There once was a group of Swedish Fish, and they traveled from the lava scorched moon they inhabited to the lush green planet it orbited. They arrived at this beautiful place only to be pulled into the water by force. The fish is metamorphosing from flying at warp speed to being grabbed by the water. It is naturally red but has been infused with the texture of a computer chip. I used many tools in the creation of this composition. To take the pictures I used a DSLR. Pictures I took include the landscape, two different shots of Swedish Fish, and a texture of a computer chip blended onto the purposely enhanced texture of the fish. All these shots were taken in high dynamic range (HDR). That means that at least three different pictures are taken at different exposures and put together to bring out more detail in the image. The tools I used in Photoshop are plentiful. I made heavy use of the smudge tool for the creation of the water lasso as well as the fish coming out of warp speed. I used several tools to put the planet in the sky (which is my internet picture.) I used the brush tool to tint it and make it blend better, and I used the dodge tool as well for better blending. I made heavy use of color adjustments to create the surreal look of the landscape where the colors are more vibrant than life. I used several filters including the ripple effect to create the look of the underwater fishes. This piece is supposed to represent the double-edged sword that is the information age. You see a fish with computer chip elements coming into the water, it seems as if the water itself is pulling it in, but the fish seems to have arrived of its own will. The distant moon represents the time before all the technology took over as a distant and bleak looking thing. Everything around looks so vibrant, but there is supposed to be a sense of unease as the water has the ability to pull the flying fish in. The overall idea is that this connecting force seems like such a beautiful thing, but it has the power to pull us in, possibly beyond our control. I am using a square tetrad color scheme consisting of blue, red, green and yellow including tints, tones, and shades. I chose this color scheme because it is vibrant and eye catching, and that is exactly what I want with this piece.