Category: Weekly Assignments

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New Media Weekly Assignments

Blog Assignment #1b – AI Image Generation

For this assignment, I was tasked with choosing a prompt to sketch, describe what it should look like, and generate a few variations from the prompt. I choose the prompt “Fly-fishing for rainbow trout in Montana” because I like fishing, and was curious how a detailed landscaped would look like if it was generated by an AI.

10 Tips to be a Better Fly Fisher | The Fly Fishing Basics
Reference image

The prompt I used was “Man wading in a river next to a forest fly-fishing for rainbow trout on a sunny day in Montana”, which I think is descriptive enough for an AI service to generate an image with.

I used deepai, an online image generator that’s available without creating an account, or purchasing a subscription. I submitted the prompt with the default options and created this image in 3 seconds:

Excellent, acceptable quality on every object (except the fishing pole which is long enough to use as a vaulting pole)

I was satisfied with the result, and wanted to find out how different changes affect the scene. I want to make the person wear a red coat, and have the weather change to snow, so I changed the prompt to “Man wearing a red jacket wading in a river next to a forest fly-fishing for rainbow trout on a snowy day in Montana”.

Decent detail, though there seems to be an issue with the phantom poles floating in the air and the fisherman’s proportions.

This seems stylized like a classic painting, even though the settings were kept the same. The water on the bottom has weird reflections, which is noticeable, but can be edited out really quickly.

Now I want to see if I can add a fish to the image, and use a specific type of tree in the background. The new prompt I used is “Man wearing a red jacket wading in a river next to an autumn forest fly-fishing, successfully catches a large rainbow trout on a snowy day in Montana”.

No fishes?

None of the trees are autumn-colored, and there’s no fish to be seen. It’s not necessarily bad, but it needs a decent amount of editing to change what the ai was supposed to produce.

Deepai was overall, serviceable for simplistic prompts, but adding more details to the prompt confuses the AI into interpreting certain details in unintended ways. I wouldn’t personally use this particular program to create complicated scenes, which have way too many errors to edit in a reasonable amount of time which could be used to generate different images. It would definitely be worth it to purchase a subscription to a more famous service for actual use, but for quick mockups for the price of nothing, Deepai was just good enough.

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Blog Assignment #6 – What Makes Me Unique?

For this blog post, I’m going to discuss the experiences and interests I’ve gained that allow me to stand out. I would personally describe myself as a swiss army knife, someone who has a wide array of knowledge about a variety of programs, creation processes, and unique styles.

Being in the graphic design program, I had some experience with producing many digital graphics over the course of the pandemic including several posters, two catalogs for an online videogame, a promotional image, many social media posts, slideshows, mockups, and plenty of image editing as well. I’m confident in claiming that my graphics have been successful in attracting a substantial amount of viewers and visitors to the online groups I promoted, as well as my own social media profiles, which gained some positive reception.

I also do light video editing and animation, though nowhere near as often as I do graphic design. Meme videos are my specialty, which often involve combining a main topic with cheesy animations, funny sound effects, and appropriate background music. I sometimes edit videos after sightseeing, adding transitions between different areas, and some atmospheric music. I then post them to social media afterwards, which I find to be a rewarding experience seeing people view the final product, despite the long work-to-product ratio compared to creating graphics.

I’ve always excelled in writing as well. Though not unique to me, I wrote a variety of essays, responses, research papers, and stories during high school that involved being able to support evidence, providing sources, and analyzing quotes and data for school assignments. What separates me from other people is my interest in continuing to write in these formats during my free time. I enjoy researching topics, and incorporating that knowledge to my infographics and scripts that I produce for myself and other people.

It helps that I’m able to describe things in great detail. For example, I sometimes write food reviews and tier lists on social media that include variables such as price, quantity, taste, service, and comparisons to other similar locations. These reviews involve condensing everything the audience needs to know about the product in a few sentences that quickly, yet effectively showcase my opinions.

Though I haven’t sketched recreationally for years now, I’ve returned to doing so for school, using a sketchbook to create concepts and ideations after being enrolled in the graphic design program. Though I prefer to do the entire creative process digitally these days, my experience with drawing animals, objects, and logos on pencil and paper have proven to be quite useful.

Overall, being a generalist has proven to be very useful in a wide variety of situations, when a client will need many different products to be created by a single designer. Being versatile is something that I’m proud of, and my experience and execution of every project I finish even more. I’m looking forward to further expanding my arsenal of tools and skills, especially the ones I’m not too familiar with (After Effects, InDesign, Figma), which will definitely improve my productivity over the course of being a graphic designer.

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Blog Assignment #2 – Fish Out of Water

For this assignment, I downloaded the Polycam app on my phone and scanned a plushie of a Pokémon to created a 3D model ready for AR use. It took around 50 images to create a model that had acceptable captures at all angles. I realized after filming that some of the fins and lower body were cut off while I was cropping, which could’ve prevented by placing the plushie on an elevated platform while taking pictures.

Next, I thought about where I should record the AR video. I decided to venture out to the fountain at Cal Anderson Park because of the shallow and flat body of water that is both conveniently easy to film at, and close to campus.

Unfortunately, I was unable to place the model on the water (I don’t think Polycam can support placing objects on anything other than solid ground). Instead, I placed the model on the rim of the fountain, which wasn’t quite what I had in mind for, but close enough. I noticed that the AR camera feature also buggy and user-unfriendly while recording; the buttons were very small, and had to be pressed on a few times to get a response, and the model disappeared at some angles.

The original video was too large to upload to this blog, so I had to compromise on the resolution, length, and framerate by editing it in Premiere Pro, and reducing the file size with HandBrake afterwards, which was a hassle.

Anyways, this is the (f)in(ish)ed video of a fish out of water. Enjoy?

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Weekly Assignments

Blog Assignment #1 – Music Poster

I was tasked with creating a fictional promotional poster for CapitolHillBlockParty (a music festival located in Capitol Hill that hosts local celebrities in their events) featuring Powell Aguirre, more famously known as Surf Mesa. He creates electronic music videos with relaxing, and somewhat nostalgic visuals that pairs well with the simple and relatable lyrics of his songs. I decided to create the poster with a visual style poster that’s easy on the eyes, and provides enough charm to get current and potential viewers hyped about attending.

With these details in mind, I created this poster in Photoshop that I believe would fit in perfectly with capitolhillblockparty’s previous line-up of posters.

I wanted to reflect the vibrant visuals featured in his music videos and the cover photo in the poster with a starry sky aesthetic that is easy on the eyes, and provides a high contrasting background with the other assets and information.

The color scheme features a dark to light blue gradient, with a subtle tint of yellow on the bottom with various “stars” in the sky to imitate a beautiful evening sky that evokes feelings of tranquility as an eventful day ends with an exciting concert that will soon begin.

The poster doesn’t compromise on providing relevant information by placing it easily-seen areas that don’t overcrowd the poster, which leaves enough space for every piece of information that doesn’t obstruct or distract from the main focus of the poster.

For instance, the trees in the foreground are a reference to his most famous music video, ily (YouTube) for fans of his music to associate with his image. They were placed in the corners to add a visual flair that doesn’t detract from the information for non-listeners to learn more about his music and the event.

A list of songs are listed on the sides of the cover photo to provide an easy to see list for current followers to be excited about.

A link to the festival’s website in bright, brand-themed colors, active social media links, the venue address, and event time are provided in case the viewer is interested in attending, learning more about the festival itself on their own time, or sharing the event details with their peers.

Overall, I believe that my solution is successful in translating the visual style of Surf Mesa’s image to a physical poster that covers every piece of information that both gets current fans interested in attending, while encouraging curious viewers into learning about or participating in the event.