Graphics Workbook

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iChargeStill thinking differently.

Hello.

1intro

3 initial ideas

2inspiration

4final design

5-9photoshop

10-11 poster

inspiration

12illustrator

13logo

14conclusion

15references

contents

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adam sykes

1401181

Graphics workbook

Photomontage -The process of creating a composite photograph by combining multiple photographs together. This process can either be done physically by cutting and sticking images together by hand, or using computer editing software, such as Photoshop. This software allows for a more seamless blend of images, as tools can be used to match different colours and blend the images together. The images on the top right of the page are an example of this technique. It has been used to blend the first two images together, resulting in the third image, a seamless and photorealistic image. One of the most important things when deciding on the images that are going to be blended together is the angles and lighting, if the angles of the components (in this case, the birds beaks) are not very similar then the final image will not look right. Likewise with the lighting, however this is less crucial as tones and highlights can all be altered in photoshop.

introcourse outline Use of the InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator software to develop a ‘virtual’ design using photomontage. With the ability to present information in a coherent form, which is appropriate to the user, whilst demonstrating the ability to present work in a professional

Photomontage - The process of creating a composite photograph by combining multiple photographs together. This process can either be done physically by cutting and sticking images together by hand, or using computer editing software, such as Photoshop. This software allows for a more seamless blend of images, as tools can be used to match different colours and blend the images together. The images on the top right of the page are an example of this technique. It has been used to blend the first two images together, resulting in the third image, a seamless and photorealistic image. One of the most important things when deciding on the images that are going to be blended together is the angles and lighting, if the angles of the components (in this case, the birds beaks) are not very similar then the final image will not look right. Likewise with the lighting, however this is less crucial as tones and highlights can all be altered in photoshop. Using a similar technique on Photoshop, I am to create a new product consisting of multiple photographs blended together so that the original images are not visible. As I am relatively new to Photoshop I decided on keeping the product I design to its simplest as to not overcomplicate things. Due to this thought I began to think about Apple and their minimalistic design philosophy. I then decided upon designing a wireless charging device for mobile phones (aimed towards iPhones in the aesthetics, however compatible with other phones). At the moment, the only phones which are capable of wireless charging are ones with access to the battery, allowing the user to swap the battery with a wireless charging compatible one. As the iPhone is not able to have its rear cover removed to access the battery, the only current way to charge them wirelessly is to plug them into specially designed cases which are compatible with wireless charging. My design would use a different (hypothetical) technology to supply the charge, meaning all phones would be compatible. To give this product another difference to competitors, it is also going to be designed as a wireless data transferring system for syncing and connecting the user’s phone to the computer without plugging in, due to the fact that the device itself will be able to be connected directly to a computer via a USB 3.0 port.

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Just as many other minor technolo-gy companies have started doing in re-cent years, I have decided to design my

product to in keep with Apple’s designs. Rather than being affiliated directly with

Apple, many companies produce technol-ogy compatible with iPhones/Pads/Pods

and Macs, with sleek minimalistic designs (often incorporating glossy white, brushed

aluminium and both harsh and round-ed edges) as well as putting an “i” in front

of the name of their product. This then im-proves sales, as the products are not only aes-thetically pleasing, but they also go well with

people Apple products, and thus don’t look out of place next to a Mac or an iPad on a desk.

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FacTsApple sold 340,000 iPhones per day in 2012.Apple’s iPhone has higher sales than everything Microsoft has to offer.In the first quarter of 2014, Apple earned more than Google, Facebook, and Amazon combined.

http://www.factslides.com/s-apple

inspiration

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initial ideas

Despite having some more complicated design ideas which would possibly be more practical and aesthetically different from the majority of wireless chargers, I decided to focus on the simple top left design. This is not only due to the aforementioned fact that I am new to Pho-toshop, but also because the design reflects more Apple like qualities. All of the sketches on this page would be produced from similar materials, e.g. aluminium and glass, however I decided against rendering any of the drawings as they are only rough sketches. I will, howev-er, produce a more detailed CAD model of my design before producing the photoshopped final piece.

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final design

On this page I have taken my design from the previous page and created it in the 3D CAD software, Google SketchUp. The advantages of doing this in-clude the fact that I could easily change the colours and textures on the product to decide which I preferred, as well as being able to view it from all angles, unlike the previous sketches. However, the main reason for designing it on SketchUp was so that I could import an im-age of it into photoshop to start creating the final piece from.

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photoshop

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To create the photomontage final image for my wireless charger I only used three images. Above are the three I used; an iPhone 4, an image of brushed aluminium and a MacBook pro. To create a variety of tone I was able to use tools in photoshop to make sections darker or lighter, as well as applying different finishes, such as satin and matte.

Above is an image taken from my SketchUp design. This was to be the basis for my photomontage, with the aim of creating a photorealistic version of this design using the three images on this page.

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1. Cutting the brushed metal image into the bottom aluminium section of the product. I used three dif-ferent versions on the same image each with the grain running in the direction of the section. Later they will be blended together.

2. Using the screen of the iPhone as the glass top section of the product. Using the Polygonal selection tool, I traced over the black section of the CAD model and inversed the selection to remove the unwanted parts of the iPhone.

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3. Using the darkest part of the iPhone screen to act as the rubber feet of the product. As this was essen-tially a block of colour I added both a lighter and darker stroke using the brush tool and blended them together to create a different texture.

4. On a new layer in which I copied the previous iPhone layer, I deleted all but the front section and then made this section darker. Additionally I straightened up the lines of this section.

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5. The same as the previous step, only this time it’s the side section that I made darker and neatened up. 6. By carefully selecting the LED’s and then inversing the selection, I was able to delete the rest of the MacBook Pro, leaving only the LED’s. I then added a soft outer glow to them with a medium opacity, thus revealing the brushed aluminium underneath them.

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7. I then made the first iPhone screen layer (step 3) darker so that it matched the front and side sections. I then saved the image with all its layers as a JPG and began to edit this image using the blur tool to seam-lessly blend the aluminium sections, as well as adding light highlights and subtly blurring them.

8. Finished photoshop design with a blank background. Further minor alterations were applied to straighten the edges and add light to the edges as well as lighten-ing the aluminium sections.

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poster inspiration

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As my design is aimed at Apple as a new Apple product, I decided to look at their previous advertisements and posters in order to replicate their style in my poster. With their recent poster and adverts they focus specifically on the product, with either a white or light grey background as to not distract the viewer from the product. Another common theme is the title and subtitle/slogan being written in Myriad Pro Light, however their older posters used the Garamond font, which I may use as a call back to their earlier designs.

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1. After saving the image as a JPG I then opened it in illustrator and gave it a grey background with the paintbrush. Using at darker shade and smaller brush I then painted in a drop shadow to the product.

Despite my product being designed for Apple, it is not designed by them, there-fore I would not be able to use their logo. On this page are a few initial attempts at creating a logo with my initials.

illustrator

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iChargeStill thinking differently.

iChargeStill thinking differently.

ichargestill thinking differently.

ichargestill thinking differently.

logo

Unlike my previous logo design, this one is graphically a lot simpler, following the form of a circle with the letters being the negative space. Above is the logo at various stages of its creation, with the final PNG image in the bottom right.

To create the title using the right font and colour, I researched previous fonts used by apple as well as the different subheadings they previously put under their titles. I settled on the top left design, using a 90% black and a Garamond font. For the subheading, I took Apple’s old slogan: “Think different.” And altered it to: “Still thinking differently.”

Unlike my previous logo design, this one is graphically a lot simpler, following the form of a circle with the letters being the negative space. Above is the logo at various stages of its creation, with the final PNG image in the bottom right.

poster - conclusion

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Also available to view on a separate A3 PDF, the image above is my final presentational poster for the “iCharge”. After creating the main product on Photoshop, I then import-ed it as a JPG into Illustrator, where I applied a grey background, my own logo and the title. Throughout this assignment I have vastly increased my skills on both Photoshop and Illustrator, as in both cases I previously had no experience with either programme.

1 - Japheth. (2014). Photo Montage Guide. Available: http://bedavavip.com/980-photo-montage-guide-220-turkce-full.html. Last accessed 18/01/2015.

2 - Thoa, K. (2014). Apple iPhone 6 Plus review. Available: http://wearablestech.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/apple-iphone-6-plus-review-apple.html. Last accessed 18/01/2015.

3 - Anonymous . (2014). Nokia Wireless Charging Plate.. Available: http://www.microsoft.com/es-es/moviles/accesorio/dt-900/. Last accessed 18/01/2015.

4 - CHOTECH. (2013). Wireless Charger for iPhone 5/5S. Available: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wireless-Charger-Charging-Receiver-included/dp/B00EB45UYM. Last accessed 18/01/2015.

5 - Anonymous . (2014). 16GB Apple iPad Air. Available: http://www.likeacoupon.com/2014/11/16gb-apple-ipad-air-320/. Last accessed 18/01/2015.

6 - Phin, C. (2013). Free Apple desktop wallpaper. Available: http://macformat.techradar.com/blog/free-apple-desktop-wallpaper/. Last accessed 18/01/2015.

7 - Anonymous . (N.A). End of cables. Available: http://www.holkypozor.cz/hi-tec/konec-kabelu-podekuj-maxwellovi-herzovi-nebo-teslovi/. Last accessed 18/01/2015.

8 - Flora, M. (2013). Nexus 4 dengan Wireless Charging. Available: http://13omaria.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/google-lengkapi-nexus-4-dengan-wireless.html. Last accessed 18/01/2015.

9 - Lacoma, T. (2014). 6 of the Best Qi Wireless Chargers. Available: http://www.gadgetreview.com/2014/12/6-of-the-best-qi-wireless-chargers. Last accessed 18/01/2015.

10 - Alex. (2012). Apple of my iPad, the ever evolving iconic logo. Available: http://fiascodesign.co.uk/apple-of-my-ipad/. Last accessed 18/01/2015.

11 - Anonymous . (2014). iPhone 5 vs Apple iPhone 6 . Available: http://socialcompare.com/en/tools/compare-sizes/iphone-5-vs-apple-iphone-6-129g-vs-apple-iphone-6-plus-172g-vs-google-nexus-5-130g-vs-samsung-galaxy-s5-145g-vs-samsung-galaxy-note-3-168g-2giy4ygf. Last accessed 18/01/2015.

12 - Anonymous . (2013). Website Design. Available: https://inspiredideasheresecondary.wordpress.com/category/website-design/. Last accessed 18/01/2015.

13 - Virata, J. (2009). 13-inch MacBook Pro. Available: http://www.creativemac.com/article/13-inch-MacBook-Pro--786439. Last accessed 18/01/2015.

14-17 - Apple. (2014). Products. Available: http://www.apple.com/ (ipad) / (iphone) / (Mac) / (ipod). Last accessed 18/01/2015.

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references