STA Blog

15 Minute History artwork redesign

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15 Minute History podcast cover redesign

15 Minute History is a podcast LAITS audio department produces (https://15minutehistory.org/) and I am redesigning their cover/logo!

This is the original logo, they are looking a simpler font, cleaner background, and balancing the NEP, Hemisphere, and UTEXAS logo sizes:

These are some designs I came up with, still waiting on client’s feedback:

Summer 2021 digital signage

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Summer 2021 course offerings signage

I designed 2 signages to advertise LAITS summer courses, these signages will be displayed on screens throughout campus, so Maddy suggested that we can make a fun version for students and an official version for parents/staff.

I created these using the color palette from an animation create by a STA from the video team:

Prof. Di-capua Website Design

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Prof. Di-capua Website Design

I had a meeting with Prof. Di-capua and Maddy earlier this week on this website design project. Since then I’ve been working on one of the background designs, based on a sample website that the Prof. likes.

Here’s are some earlier iterations.

After some feedback from Suloni and Maddy, here are some drafts that I have that will be sent to the client along with another draft Maddy made if Suloni has nothing else to add to.

Figma

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Fun with Figma

This week, I finished up the Figma UI/UX training! The interface was pretty intuitive and I appreciate the component feature — it made my work a lot easier. I chose the portfolio site so that I could actually use it in the not-so-far future. Here’s my site:

More PSD Painting!

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More PSD Painting!

As part of the PSD Painting basic training I’ve been doing, I set out to recreate a picture of my own choosing in order to keep improving my skills using the Wacom tablet-and-PSD workflow. Here are some progress shots of this:

Here are some thoughts on this activity based on feedback from Valerie:

  • What did you find challenging?
    • At first, the most challenging things on this training were
      • getting used to the hand-eye coordination of drawing with the Wacom tablet (as I had already mentioned)
      • finding the right brush for what I wanted the image to look like
      • making the initial sketched outlines of the pot
      • messing around with the color combination, especially when combining highlights and shadows
  • What did you enjoy?
    • I really enjoyed seeing the process as a whole step by step. It felt super rewarding looking at the different layers in the PSD file and track how I started off and how it ended up looking. This was the case both for the teapot and the oranges. Something I also enjoyed was looking up my own picture to recreate.
  • What would you do to improve this training?
    • On improvements for this training, I think I would only suggest going into more detail on different brushes or maybe even listing some websites where you can download custom brushes as I did. (Maybe also on how to install them into PSD!).
  • Is there anything you want to learn more about after this training?
    • I think the only thing I wanted to learn more about was how to better go back and forth between layers and how to know if what you’re drawing is looking good (but that’s simply based on feedback I guess).
  • What skills did you gain from this training and what applications might you use this for someday (within and/or beyond LAITS and the STA program)?
    • I definitely learned a couple of skills that I can list here:
      • color theory, mixing and matching to create new colors using brushes like the Wet Blender
      • gaining a better sense of proportions when sketching
      • getting used to the tablet-PSD workflow
      • a better understanding of light and shadows on objects

COLA Photo ID Editing

Additionally, I worked on retouching and editing two Photo ID’s for UT faculty which have been uploaded to the COLA website:

 

Late Updates

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Late Updates

I’m quite the forgetful person, I should start writing reminders to myself to update the blog :’) New assignments have been pretty slow, so I only have visuals from previous workdays. Firstly, I’ve updated my biographic 🙂

 

About Me

I’ve also worked more IFML animations. Here are more proposals, which I am waiting for feedback on.

 

IFML Animation

 

 

My main project however has been developing a second Adobe AfterEffects training for the KB. Once I start developing assets for the assignment, I look forward to sharing them here.

 

I also have a meeting tomorrow with an old STA who handled animation for the design and coding team; I anticipate that his advice will help me greatly. Although I have some formal training in After Effects, my knowledge of AE is primarily self-learned. Talking to someone else who is well versed in the application will be a greatly beneficial perspective alongside mine.