Flash Advertisement

In class, we have recently learned how to use flash to enhance our advertisements and web pages. When I sat down to create my own advertisement, I realized how many tools were actually used to create one simple ad. Below, I have listed the tools that I used to create my ad and also I have listed a brief explanation of how and why I used each tool.

The tools I used in photoshop were:
Brush Tool-This tool allowed me to add color and extra style to my ad such as the stars found by the title.
Resize Tool-This tool allowed me to make sure that the two dancers matched in size and allowed me to make sure they were sized correctly according to the ad.
Text Tool- This tool allowed me to add text to my ad so that my advertisement could say what I wanted it to.
Move Tool-This tool allowed me to move the text and pictures around on the ad.
Magnetic Lasso Tool-This tool allowed me to easily trace the dancers so that I could get rid of the white background that was originally part of the picture.
Rotation Tool-This tool allowed me to flip the dancer found in the right hand side of the banner so that the ad is symmetrical and both dancers are facing outward.

All of these tools on photoshop helped me create an advertisement that stands out. By adding the text, colors, and pictures, this advertisement is unique and displays the exact message that I want it to.


In Flash I used:
Importing Photo to Stage- This tool allowed me to insert the saved ad from photoshop and import it onto flash.
Align and Distribute-This tool allowed me to center and align the ad on the blank canvas.
New Symbol Tool- This tool allowed me to create the image I imported as a symbol which is a critical step in this tutorial.
New Layer Tool-This tool allowed me to be able to add multiple effects to the picture.
Classic Tween-This tool allowed me to add motion to the advertisement.
Changing the Frame Rate-This tool allowed me to determine the speed of the effects on my ad.

The tools on flash helped me to create the movement on this ad. By adding the movement, it makes the ad more flashy and more interesting.
These tools allowed me to create an ad displaying tryout information for the Mercy Dance Team. I created this so that there was a fun and exciting way to encourage more girls to tryout for the team next year. The audience is highschool girls that want to dance or have danced before. I'm posting this on my blog to share the ad with others and to show the amazing work that can be done on flash and photoshop with just a few simple clicks!
Below you can see the ad I created!

Layered Frames

Before

After

Steps to create above effect:

1)      Upload picture

2)    Create a new layer, name it layer 1

3)      Click on the dashed rectangle (rectangular marquee tool)

4)      Go up to select, click inverse

5)      Select gradient tool, go up to the top, click to change gradient color

6)      Hold down shift and make a straight line through the picture with the gradient tool. This will make the background fill with the selected color

7)      Go over to the layers panel, you can change opacity, or select soft light or overlay

8)      Then go to the layers panel, select layer one, go up to select. Click inverse

9)      Add another layer named layer 2

10)   Go to edit, stroke, change color to white and 19 pixels, under location select inside,

11)   Hit ctrl and D to deselect

12)   Click on the fx icon found on the layers panel. Click on bevel and emboss

13)   Click on blending options default, move the fill opacity to 0. Click ok

14)   Select the text tool

15)   Type whatever you want and select whatever font and size you want by going to the top tool bar

16)   Position and size as desired

17)   Add a drop shadow to the text by selecting the text layer, going to fx, drop shadow. When the box pops up uncheck “use global light”

18)   Click on layer one, go to the adjustments panel and click on hue and saturation

19)   Click the two little small circles so that the bottom part is the part filled with black

20)   Now you can use the hue adjustment slider to adjust the picture to the color you want. You can also change lightness and saturation

21) Flatten the image and save as a JPEG

Source:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kvT_2osA9k&feature=player_embedded&noredirect=1

Reindeer Run Ad

This is an advertisement I created for Team Mercy. It is obvious that it is advertising a walk to raise money for breast cancer awareness. I used several tools to make this ad look better and to help emphasize the overall message of this ad. I used the drop shadow tool on the breast cancer ribbon and on all of the text. This gives the ribbon and text some depth. I also used the inner shadow on some of the text. This helps make the text stand out and makes it pop more. I also used the opacity tool which allows you to change the amount of visibility through your picture. I changed the opacity on my logo so that you could barely see the outline of the breast cancer ribbon. I did this because it shows the outline of the ribbon so that it doesn't look like it just cut off. The next tool I used was the text tool. I added text to my advertisement to let people know what I am advertising. I used the brush tool for the background. This allowed me to add the white snowflakes and stars to the background to make the ad look more decorative. This just makes the ad more appealing to the eyes. I used the move tool to move the text and the logo to make the ad follow the Z pattern. This helps make the ad more effective. I also used the paint bucket tool to fill in the breast cancer ribbon. This made the ribbon stand out more. I used the crop tool to crop my original logo to make it smaller  so that I could insert it on the bottom lower right hand corner of my ad. I also used the resize tool to resize the logo. The last tool I used was the shape tool. I used the shape tool to insert the ribbon on the background.

The audience for this ad is high school students. Since the audience is high school students, I used a lot of bright colors.      

Team Mercy Logo

This logo is advertising the Team Mercy Club. I used these colors not only because they are part of our school colors, but also because they look good together.
The elements I used in this logo help make it look more professional and neat. The first is lines. Lines make the logo look neat, organized, and professional. This makes the logo more appealing to look at.
The next is editing the text. For the Team Mercy title, I added a drop shadow to give it a little more definition to make it stand out more. For the "Jaguars Walk Together" part, I added an outer and inner glow to make that stand out as well. The blue background eliminates the amount of white space in the background. The yellow paw prints stand out because of the bright color. I made sure that the text was in the middle of the logo so that the amount of characters on each side is equal. Also, when drawing the paw prints, I purposely made the ones on the far left larger than the ones on the far right. They gradually decrease in size to add somewhat of a 3-D effect.

It's More Than Just a Pretty Face



Before

After

Looking at my before picture compared to my after picture, there is a major difference! The transformation of this picture is amazing. Before learning how to do all of this, I had no idea that this was possible. It give me a different point of view when I see magazine articles and pictures now. My perspective has changed so much. Before learning all of these techniques, when I saw a edited picture, I didn't always assume that it was edited. Many times, I caught myself thinking "I wish my face was as clear as that" or "I wish I could be that pretty".  After seeing all of the amazing things that can be done on Photoshop, I no longer think that. I know that nobody has perfect skin, nobody looks great every single day, and not everyone has perfect bodies like the editors make it seem.

All of this is an example of how society views physical appearances and body image. No one has the perfect body image, but society tries to portray it as if models and actors do. When someone sees a magazine cover with a supermodel, she has flawless skin, a skinny body, a beautiful smile, white teeth, tan body, etc. The list goes on and on. All of these things seen in a picture are edited. They aren't real and it's not possible to have a perfect body image. Society pushes people to look "perfect". With the thousands of dollars spent on makeup, the thousands of people that try weight loss pills and medicines, and the millions of people that go to the tanning bed on a regular basis, are all examples of people trying to live up to what the society wants to see. Many people focus on body image. They think that if they are tan, tall, skinny, etc., then they will fit in more or be accepted by society. The truth is that every photo seen in a magazine is edited in some way. It isn't real and people shouldn't try so hard to be that beautiful. If you think about it, it really isn't true beauty anyways, all it is is a bunch of editing and using Photoshop.

Two things I think I did good on are fitting my face on the picture and putting on eye makeup. I think this added to the overall effect of the picture. Two things I could have spent more time on are matching my skin color up better and blending the edges of where my face that is cropped on ends.

The Wonders of Photoshop

In computer class, we have spent the last few weeks focusing on Photoshop and elements of photos. In this collage, you can see many of the tools that I have used to edit these pictures. When taking the pictures I used the elements such as simplicity, lines, angles, and the rule of thirds to make sure that I had a good picture to work with. Our assignment was to make a collage of a day in the life of a Mercy student. All of these pictures represent something that I do every day. Below, I am going to explain some of the tools I used when editing these photos and why I used them.

Starting at the top right for the picture of my toothbrush I did a couple things. First I used the lasso tool to select just the toothbrush and toothbrush holder. After that, I changed all of the background that was behind the toothbrush to black so that you can no longer see the shower curtain that was behind it. I used this because the toothbrush stands out more with a black background rather than with stuff in the background.

In the picture next to that one, the editing was much simpler. All I did was flipped the picture so that the mercy student is now on the left side instead of the right side of the picture. I used this because it gave a new look to the picture and helped give the picture a new perspective.

In the far top left picture of the sunrise, I edited out a soccer goal. Right above the trees there was a white pole from a soccer goal, so by using the spot healing brush, I took it out of the picture. I used this to enhance the picture because it looks a lot better without a pole running right through the sky.

In the bottom right picture of my house, I used the combining images tools. I used three different pictures and put them together on Photoshop to create one big picture. This tool is useful because instead of you having to look at a couple different pictures, Photoshop has the tools to combine them and make them one.

In the bottom left picture of the cross, I used the color adjustment tool. This helps lighten, darken, or add a tint of a certain color to the photo. I lightened the picture and also used the dodge tool around the edges which lightens the area that is clicked.

All of these pictures that I have edited are just a few examples of how Photoshop can be used. It enhances the overall look of the picture and helps make a picture more creative and unique. Photoshop has taught me how to correct, fix, crop, rotate, (etc.) my pictures. All of these tools will help me in the future because you never know when you will need to edit a picture!  

Photography

We are studying Photography as our next unit in Computer Graphics class. We have learned about how to take a good picture and about some of the elements that you have to pay attention to. Following is a list of the different elements that I have focused on: The Rule of Thirds, Simplicity, Lines, and Angle. Throughout this blog, I will explain and provide you with examples of each of these.

The first element that I am going to show is Simplicity. Simplicity can sometimes make a photo much better rather than if it had more than one element in the photo. In this picture that is below, the picture is just of a flower. I used the Rule of Thirds when taking this picture which means that the main point and focus of the picture was on one of the intersecting grid lines that appeared on the camera when taking the photo. It can be important that if you want an object to really stand out that the picture is simple.

Can you imagine this picture having a whole classroom in the background? It just would not look the same and the flower would not stand out like it does in this simple picture.

The next element I am going to discuss is Lines. When taking a picture of something that has lines, it is very important to get a good angle. If you take a picture head on verses diagonal, the diagonal picture would have much more dimension to it. I took a picture of lockers to show an example of this. These lockers look much better in this picture than they would if I would have taken a straight on shot of them.

The last element that I am going to discuss is Angle. Angle can totally change the view of the picture. Based on the angle in which the picture is taken, can change whether the object looks larger or smaller than it really is. Angle adds dimension to the photo and gives the viewer a different view. For an example of this, I took a picture of a flower. Instead of taking a picture of the flower straight on, I took a picture of it from the bottom of the flower. It gives the viewer a new perspective of the flower and makes a very interesting picture.