The first thing I did after being assigned this project and reading the directions was look at each of the project choices given to me. The only one that both interested me and looked possible was Drawing with Typography. I then looked at other examples of typographic art. While not directly copying, I did get some ideas from other works. After realizing I was going to make extensive use of the Photoshop Type Tool, I went and reviewed a short tutorial on it. I also looked at some of my earlier drawings to get ideas on how to actually make my words look like a picture.
Plan
In this phase, I started actually planning on what image to reproduce out of words. I didn't want an overly complex object that would take ages to complete, but I also wanted my project to challenge me. I have already based a few projects on football this year, so I decided on a new theme. I'm a big fan of Halo, and I play Xbox a lot, so I settled on designing an Xbox 360 controller out of type. I looked up images of Xbox controllers on Google, and one immediately caught my eye.
Create
I was finally ready to begin. I opened up the image of the controller on Photoshop. Applying past knowledge gained from my first few Photoshop pieces, I put a solid white layer over the background image, and set it at 50% opacity. I slowly and painstakingly created word after word with the text tool. I thought it might be a neat touch if, instead of using random letters or words, I made my work out of words pertinent to Xbox's and gaming in general. Before I knew it, I was including more personalized references to my own gaming life. I sped up as I went, transforming the words until the image finally came together. One final improvisation I made was adding a bit of a black pen outline to help clarify where different boundaries were between sections of the controller.
Evaluate
All in all, I think this project turned out pretty well, considering I've never done anything even remotely like it before. One doesn't have to try very hard to see the intended image. That doesn't mean I enjoyed working on this project. On the contrary, it was miserable, repetitive, and slow work. I hope I never have to do anything like this again, and if I do, I plan on picking a much easier picture, or at least putting less effort into it. The design cycle ended up being useful to me. By following its steps, I was able to approach the project in a logical and convenient way.
Final Product
-Leggett, David. "Using Transform in Photoshop." Tutorial9 - The Best Resources for Designers, Every Day. 1 May 2008. Web. 17 Jan. 2012. <http://www.tutorial9.net/tutorials/photoshop-tutorials/using-transform-in-photoshop/>.
-Rennegado. "Como Desligar O Controle Sem Desligar O Xbox 360 ? – Tutorial." Wordpress. 24 Mar. 2009. Web. 17 Jan. 2012. <http://zippdown.wordpress.com/page/83/>.
-Wegscheid, Shaun. "Multimedia." Technology. Blogger, 4 Jan. 2012. Web. 17 Jan. 2012. <http://sw-multimedia.blogspot.com/search/label/multimedia>.
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