STA Blog

Haley Ma

Haley Ma

may projects

By

˚✿˖° ⋆ May Projects ⋆˚✿˖°

── ⊹ ࣪ ˖♡˖ ࣪ ⊹ ──

Course Graphics

── ⊹ ࣪ ˖♡˖ ࣪ ⊹ ──

This month I assisted in creating and updating course graphics! It’s always so fun getting to see different courses and seeing the changes that are requested for pre-existing designs!

── ⊹ ࣪ ˖♡˖ ࣪ ⊹ ──

Studio Backdrops Redesign

── ⊹ ࣪ ˖♡˖ ࣪ ⊹ ──

Next, I also started on creating additional backdrops that center on a news anchor style! I tried including UT elements such as the tower and the Austin skyline! In addition to that style, I tried to include a newspaper and geometric style to add some variety in texture and visuals!

april projects

By

˚✿˖° ⋆ April Projects ⋆˚✿˖°

── ⊹ ࣪ ˖♡˖ ࣪ ⊹ ──

LAITS Admin UTDirect Wordmark

── ⊹ ࣪ ˖♡˖ ࣪ ⊹ ──

For this project, I was tasked to create section titles for the phrases, “COLA Purchasing” and “COLA Faculty Courseload” to replace where the blue rectangle is hovering over!

── ⊹ ࣪ ˖♡˖ ࣪ ⊹ ──

I made some few drafts but was given feedback in setting the ratio of the titles through a max height! Above shows the visual demonstration given by De’sha!

── ⊹ ࣪ ˖♡˖ ࣪ ⊹ ──

Finally, I corrected the borders of the titles and it was off to be sent to the client!

E316L Intro to British Literature

── ⊹ ࣪ ˖♡˖ ࣪ ⊹ ──

Next I was tasked to recreate canvas homepage and dashboard banners for E316L! I was given instructions to keep a similar color scheme as the buttons and to keep the same images from above!

── ⊹ ࣪ ˖♡˖ ࣪ ⊹ ──

For my first draft, I focused too much on creating focus on one particular building, I forgot to inlcude the three others! However, I did like the gradient in the background but it was back to the drawing board!

── ⊹ ࣪ ˖♡˖ ࣪ ⊹ ──

Next, I decided to keep the gradient background, but added the rest of the images to the side! Initially, I wanted to keep the color scheme at the forefront but with some feedback from De’sha, we decided to switch it up!

── ⊹ ࣪ ˖♡˖ ࣪ ⊹ ──

We decided to make the pictures the forefront and decrease the opacity to make sure the title of the course was still readable! I thought since two of the images were more horizontal I could layer those two on top of each other in the middle and have the more vertical images on the side.

── ⊹ ࣪ ˖♡˖ ࣪ ⊹ ──

With some feedback from De’sha, we decided to make all the images into columns and I think it turned out great! I’m still getting the hand of custom canvas layouts but it was fun going back and seeing my process!

Create Your Own 8-Bit Style Animated Gif

── ⊹ ࣪ ˖♡˖ ࣪ ⊹ ──

One of the most fun trainings I did this month was create my very own GIF! I based it off my art logo again and wanted to show the switch from happy to sad with the ears and the face! I’m so happy with how it turned out!

˚✿˖° March Projects ⋆˚✿˖°

By

˚✿˖° ⋆ March Projects ⋆˚✿˖°

── ⊹ ࣪ ˖♡˖ ࣪ ⊹ ──

E316M (Summer 2025/Barrish)

── ⊹ ࣪ ˖♡˖ ࣪ ⊹ ──

For this project I was assigned to recreate a title card, canvas homepage banner, and canvas dashboard graphics for E316M American Literature taught by Dr. Phillip Barrish! As seen above, my job was to replace the Hamilton and Wheatly images and replace it with the Marble image instead! I then created two options, one design following the original format and the other with a faded background!

── ⊹ ࣪ ˖♡˖ ࣪ ⊹ ──

With some feedback from De’sha, I created two new designs with one still resembling the original but with more text and the other with an overlay on it!

── ⊹ ࣪ ˖♡˖ ࣪ ⊹ ──

I also edited some canvas assets to only include Dr. Phillip Barrish’s name! We decided to go with the design that resembled the original as well! Then it was time to put the editable files into a pptx template that the course can use!

── ⊹ ࣪ ˖♡˖ ࣪ ⊹ ──

Basic Training: Logo Design

── ⊹ ࣪ ˖♡˖ ࣪ ⊹ ──

I also did some more training by creating a personal logo design in Adobe Photoshop! For this design, I was inspired to create a logo that I could use for stamps and thank you cards when vending my art! I decided with a mascot logo resembling me which suits my brand the most! Although this is just a draft logo, I think it’s a great start to establishing my art brand identity!

February Projects

By

˚✿˖° February Projects ⋆˚✿˖°

── ⊹ ࣪ ˖♡˖ ࣪ ⊹ ──

PETEX Pipeline Technology-Maintenance Course Phase II

Before
After

This month I was assigned to recreate a graphic into a clearer image! It was fun working more with gradients in Photoshop to provide more depth to the graphic and I adjusted some text for better readability!

── ⊹ ࣪ ˖♡˖ ࣪ ⊹ ──

2025 STA Presentation

Initial Thoughts: This project I was assigned to create the slide template for the 2025 STA Presentation!! While the idea was a bit daunting at first, I was really excited to create a slide template of my own!

── ⊹ ࣪ ˖♡˖ ࣪ ⊹ ──

Initial Sketch: So at first I thought the slide template was based on the Peanuts franchise combined movie elements (LOL) which turned out to not be the case! Although this slide template wasn’t on the right path, I still wanted to use some elements like the curtain and section header slides!

── ⊹ ࣪ ˖♡˖ ࣪ ⊹ ──

2nd Design: I leaned away from the Peanuts characters and focused more on movie elements by rendering my past illustrations! I tried to include a variety of movie symbols like film cameras and film strips! While I do think the different elements were nice, with the given feedback, I realized for a slide template meant to display the work of STA’s, I needed to be more subtle with my design and let the presentation speak for itself rather than the background! I also made a note to make my designs more vector based to stay in the same style as my other STAs!

── ⊹ ࣪ ˖♡˖ ࣪ ⊹ ──

3rd Design: This time I focused more on creating the title and content slide! I went back to the initial slide idea with seats and zoomed in more so the screen could be the focus! The hardest part was making the gradients work with the seats and where to place the bandings! I did like adding the special effects like the outer glow to the screens, it really did make the design pop!

── ⊹ ࣪ ˖♡˖ ࣪ ⊹ ──

3rd Design PT.2: Next I tried marking where the STAs would structure their title slide! To be honest, I was really stuck on how to make this work because none of my placements really looked right to me! However, with some feedback from De’sha I was able to reformat and add new edits to the title slide!

── ⊹ ࣪ ˖♡˖ ࣪ ⊹ ──

Final Design: Added some edits to the title and content slides by adding a yellow tint and making the chairs more realistic! I explored different fonts for the mock title slide and put the title image as the background! Overall, this project was definitely a journey, but it lead me to learn even more about Photoshop, how to effectively create slide templates, and incorporate feedback to make the best design possible!

January Projects

By

⋆˚✿˖° January Projects ⋆˚✿˖°

── ⊹ ࣪ ˖♡˖ ࣪ ⊹ ──

Custom Static Stingers

Beginning of this month, I got to assist in some custom static stingers that I assume will be used in an actual classroom! Even though the task was really simple, I was really excited to help create assets alongside a project!

── ⊹ ࣪ ˖♡˖ ࣪ ⊹ ──

Custom Studio Course Graphics

I chose the ART 3800 option in creating the custom studio course graphics and specifically went the cubism movement route in creating the graphics! To be honest, it was a bit of a struggle trying to develop a theme as there was more freedom on my end, but it ended up being good practice in navigating course themes!

── ⊹ ࣪ ˖♡˖ ࣪ ⊹ ──

Basic Training: Shapes and Patterns

The next training checklist I completed was creating basic shapes and patterns in Photoshop. I sound like a broken record but these tasks really help me in becoming familiar with the capabilities of Photoshop! It was really cool that I could create my own palette and create a grid just by pressing a few buttons!

── ⊹ ࣪ ˖♡˖ ࣪ ⊹ ──

2025 Summer Marketing Poster

This project was really fun as it allowed me to work more in Illustrator and get used to developing mockups and test versions for a final draft! First I developed a color palette with the help of Marissa and then decided to use a pale yellow color for an accent color!

After some feedback, we decided with the blue color and keeping more the same color palette! I reformatted the posters with the changes shown in the left and middle posters! Finally we decided to keep the poster in the same tone and lighten the gradient to show the background lines better!

December Projects

By

⋆˚✿˖° December Projects ⋆˚✿˖°

── ⊹ ࣪ ˖♡˖ ࣪ ⊹ ──

Learning the Principles and Elements of Design

Another training checklist I completed was understanding the principles and elements of design! l did most of the recreations in Photoshop so it was beneficial in getting myself use to using the software! I remember being really proud that I recreated the Girl Scout logo without using the brush tool!