Typography Menu

Hey Folks,

This week I was able to create a menu design for the restaurant Babalu. I’m proud of the final result and had a lot of fun creating this project design. To start, I created a logo using typography. I created the ‘Babalu’ portion, changed the color to match their brand colors, then gave it an outside stroke. I then created the ‘Tacos & Tapas’ portion, using the same method. I grouped the two together and added a drop shadow.

After making the logo, it was on to making the actual menu design. I started by uploading a pattern that I found online as the background. I added an orange overlay to the background to match the branding. I then added a rectangle to serve as the “menu” area and placed it about the background layer. I also rounded the bottom corners of the rectangle. Next, I created the heading for this section – choosing the ‘Marydale’ font. Next, I created the sub-sections that would go under each heading. For the name and description of the food item I used the ‘Noteworthy’ font and for the prices I used the ‘Chalkboard’ font. After creating the different fonts and resizing them appropriately, I then arranged them to fit the menu styling. To make sure that each section remained in the correct proportion, I copied each layer and edited the text to reflect different food types and different prices.

To create the next two pages of the menu, I grouped all the layers into artboards and created two more artboards. For the second artboard, I used two ‘menu’ sections instead of just one. After finishing each section of the menu, I copied the logo I made at the beginning into artboards 1 and 3. Next I added food vectors that I found online to the corners of each menu section. Boom! There you have it, a newly created menu for Babalu! If you’re ever in Jackson, MS or Memphis, TN – make sure to stop by Babalu for good food and drinks.

Project 4: Image Corrections

Hey guys! This week we have a pretty fun project using a few image correction techniques. I call this one: Pre-Lion King. To start this project, I uploaded the giraffe photo to photoshop. I used the healing tool to remove white spots from the giraffe’s mouth. I then used the healing tool to remove a spot from the giraffe’s body. Using the healing brush, I removed the giraffe’s hair from his neck. After that step, I then used the quick selection tool to select the giraffe and cut him from his blue background.

The next step involved uploading the elephant photo and using the quick selection tool to remove it from the background as well. After removing the background from the elephant photo, I resized it and placed it into the background. I then uploaded the sunglasses and resized them to fit onto the giraffe’s face, and rotating them slightly. The next part of correcting the image was to make sure the levels matched one another. I started with the giraffe and adjusted the curves to lighten him up a bit – then clipped the adjusted curves to the giraffe layer. I then adjusted the levels for the elephant to darken it – clipping the adjusted curves to the elephant layer. Lastly, I adjusted the curves of the sunglasses and clipped that adjustment to the sunglass layer. I then created the text for the photo and saved the overall project.

Pizza Layers

The pizza layers project was a fun project that made me a tad bit hungry while completing the assignment. To start out I loaded the pizza crust .jpg and the rest of the topping photos into Photoshop. I cut the background from the crust using the magic wand tool and pasted it onto the pizza box background. I then added new layers for the cheese and sauce – using the brush tool to color those in. For the sauce, I used the elliptical tool to create a selection within the crust and used the brush tool to color the sauce within the elliptical. I used the quick selection tool to make each selection from the toppings, cut them from their original photo, and paste them onto the pizza crust. I created duplicates of each topping layer as needed, resized each topping to make them look realistic, and then rotating them to add variety. I grouped each duplicate of the toppings into folders. I then arranged the different folder layers to give the illusion of a real pizza. The final touch I added was the burn tool onto the crust layer, to give the crust a more realistic look as well.

Voila!

Image Manipulation

The design process was pretty simple with this project. The first thing to do was to think of a concept that I wanted to use for my quote. After deciding which quote I wanted to use, I had to figure out what image would go well with that quote. I felt that the Mountain image would go well because of the vibrant and contrasting colors that are depicted within the image. After adding the image, I added the different layers of text to create the entirety of the quote. I arranged the text layers to fit within the center of the image.

Next, I wanted the text to really pop, but in a subtle way and I wanted to use the colors that are in the background. I used the ‘rectangle tool’ to create rectangles, and arranged them underneath the different text layers. I then changed the colors of each rectangle to colors that are used within the image – I did this by using the eye dropper tool and selecting colors of the mountain. I wanted the rectangle to blend in within the background, so I gave them each a multiply effect.

The last thing I did was to add my filter onto the image layer. I used the filter gallery to choose my filter – which I chose the ‘dry brush’ filter to add as the overlay to the image. Once this was done it was time to save two copies of the file [a .psd file and a .jpg file].

 

Introductory Post

What’s going on world!

Hi, I’m Branden and I live/work in Jackson, MS. I have a background in Public Relations, Photography and Public Administration. I love being able to express myself creatively. I’m usually working on different design projects or photography edits – while kicking back a craft beer or two.

I’m currently working as a freelance UI/UX Designer – working on various design projects for web and mobile platforms. I’m working on three mobile app projects right now and I hope to have them launch by the summer of 2017. I enjoy being able to create designs and prototypes for each project. I have recently picked up on using Adobe XD, which I think will soon be a pretty major game changer for UI designers.

Being enrolled into Digital Imagery and Web Design, I hope to gain a stronger understanding of using the different tools in Photoshop. I’ve worked in Photoshop for a little while now – but you can continually learn more! I love working in Photoshop and using what I learn to translate into other Adobe programs. I’m really interested in learning more about how I can improve on my UI/UX design skills.

To find out more about me – check out my About Me page!