Again. not the best week--Ive been sick, among other things.  I spent sometime working my TOWER OF CASH concept, but I couldnt really get the graphic like I wanted it.  I, obviously, don't have a tower of cash, but while I was on the ship, they had a really nice photo of one right in front of the casino (go figure!), and I spent a lot of time on Promenade drawing my sketches for this assignment, being very inspired by that Tower Of Cash sign.  I even had to take a photo of it during a digital scavenger hunt I OWNED (and have gold trophy to prove this fact..although I should mention it was a team effort, thanks Sarah!).  Unfortunately those sketches never got posted to this blog, various reasons, one being WIFI in the middle of the Atlantic is a pain, so  I was really upset when I got home and realized I had left my sketchpad.. and all my semesters worth of sketch...back in Miami in R1212.  Hmm.  Very little chance I'll be getting that sketchbook back, but... I had the tower of cash photo!  Yay.  Except, I'm not happy with that graphic, so I decided to move on.  I working now with a background of 10.00 bills that I photographed twice, one with my flash & one without to get a subltle color difference, and then stuck in PS and used to make a background.  I did my research and found that EcuyerDAX is the closest font to what's on the dollar bill, so I DL'd it & will be using it for some of the text on my flyer.  I'm pretty sure that dollar bills are going to attract anyone's attention, and I immediately liked the effect better than the whole Tower of Cash thing.  Although, Im not (IN ANY WAY) hating on towers of cash.  Ya know, just in case anyone who reads this want to give me one.  Here are some photos to explain my process a little better.

Here are my two "money shots":

(no flash)

 

(with flash)

I used PS to select that first w/flash 10.00 bill and start building my background.

 

Then I decided, wow thats borning.  We need some variety!  So I went and grabbed my 10.00 bill without the flash, which has a yellower cast to it, and added that between my layers.

Yellower 10.00 has been added for variety!

 

I just spent some time adding each bill to its own layer, twisting it w/ free transform and just getting the background to have the layered look i wanted it to have.  This is a great background to just save & reuse in the future, for.. idk, but Im sure I'll be glad I kept it when I figure out what else I will need it for.

 

Looks good, right?  I thought so too.  Then I went over and DL'd that font I needed: EcuyerDAX from dafont.com.

Afterwards, I went to PS, took all my bills and threw them in a group all together, so each layer is still individually editable, but the PS file is now MUCH MORE organized.  I also lowered the opacity for the whole folder to 75%.

And here's where I am right now.  Background & main text added, I just have to meet the other requirement as far as information is required & add the QR code & logo for the site. 

 

I do! I do!

This hasn't been the very best week I've ever had, so I haven't done as much as I liked.  I'm pleased with the logos I've worked up so far, but it will be nice to get some feedback on what I've got.  I worked up the original logos I had, which incorporated a sun, a small strip of ocean, some mountains & a strip of green grass with the text "The Good Day Campaign" into both a rectangular and circular logo.  I'm not sure which I like best, but definately the circular one needs a little more work to convey the idea of a reflection.  I also worked up one other concept which really appealed to me, which is the goldfish.  I dont know why I am so drawn to that image, but I am.  For 6 years we had a goldfish, which is really a long time to have a goldfish.  My daughter named him Goldie and we bought him all these fancy little things for his bowl and as he got bigger we kept upsizing his tank.  Whenever we sat in the living room, it was sort of like anyone who watched him got mesmerized as he circled through his bowl/tank/decorative vase/whatever he lived in at the time.  Eventually he got sick and no matter what we tried, he never got any better & so Goldie departed for the Big Fishbowl in the sky.  Even now though, his legacy sort of lives on.. whenever I get really stressed I think about how calming he was, just circling around & around.  The year after he died, I went snorkeling for the first time, and I honestly can't think of any image that can dispel anxiety quite as well as tropical fish floating in some submerged underworld full of light and colo.  I rarely get to visit that place & it remains mysterious to me, no matter how many times I repeat the experience. 

I live in a house with two dogs, two birds, a hamster & Santa will be adding a hermit crab & some type of lizard to our home, but none of them have been with us as long as Goldie.  When the inevitable came about, I couldn't flush Goldie down the toilet.  Nor could I bear the thought of him buried in the back yard.  So.  He's in my freezer, double wrapped in ziploc & stored in a sturdy cardboard box that once held my little vegetable steamer.  Whenever I have company over & they go into the freezer, they are always asking why I keep my steamer in the freezer?  The explanantion always makes for interesting conversation.

The point of this blog, though, is to show my in-progress work, and here are my logos so far:

 

I forgot I wanted to add this: http://www.monsterhigh.com/  This is a link to the Monster High colls I was talking about in class.  Certainly I did not steal any content from them, their dolls are very unique, both in concept and design.  However, considering the popularity (and COST) of these dolls, I could see if BWS ever did come out with their own dolls how they might be very marketable right now.  There is a movement in girl's toys towards the gothic or darker side which is apparent considering the popularity of these dolls.  They are owned and manufactured by Mattel, who is also the maker of Barbie dolls.  If anyone gets the chance, check out the Monster High dolls, they are very interesting.

Its been a busy weekend! Im pretty excited for Thrusday & really happy with how all my work has been going. Its just now--I have to know when to stop! I added some new features to my doll.. I wasnt quite pleased with her dress & I wanted her fingernails painted. So added those touches. I changed her dress.. I didnt sew one, but I took a Barbie dress and modified it, along with a pair of shoes & a box. I am not going to post any pictures of the final doll, I want to wait to reveal her on Thursday. But I am going to show some in-process photos just to give an idea of what Ive been working on. I also finished up my bubbles, bubble gum & nail polish labels. I decided to not do the blister pack of gum since I decided to work on a box to put the doll in. Also I have som little hair thingies I may add and a play scene I am trying to decide whether to include or not. I also have the charm guide, gift card & tips/tricks guide I am still working on. My last item is a label for the front of the cauldron to just tie everything together. So that would make my kit include: a doll (with dress, shoes & broom-all which have been modified, painted, etc by me), a jar of bubble gum, a container of bubbles, tips & tricks guide w/gift card included, 2 nail polishes, the cauldron w/label, a play scene & the hair clips. I think that is more than my original plan, even with the exception of the blister pack of gum. Below are some in-process photos I have been taking & some jpegs of my PS files.

This is Hazel after removing the dress, with the dress, shoes & box I chose to work with.  Her broom was already completed.

 

Close up of shoes I had begun to work on:

 

Painted fingernails!

 

 

The dress I chose work with, which I covered in black paint & then sparkly finger nail polish, sounds weird, but looks super cool.

 

Supplies to paint my box (I chose to do it this way just for cost.  This box & the doll inside cost 3.00 at Big Lots.  I was able to take the dress off the doll, the shoes & the box & discard the doll cheaper than if I would have tried to print out the box with the plastic acetate.)

 

Here is an in-process shot of the box.  Trust me, it turned out better than I expected!

 

Here is a shot of the charm guide.  I started with the old photo template I created for baby ampersand & modified it in PS w/ the clone tool, the burn tool & C/P.

 

Here is an in-process shot of the whole thing.  It will have the charm guide on one side & the tips/tricks on the other, with the gift card at the bottom.  The charm guide is pixelated right now, I am going to have to redo that text by hand.

 

 

My bubble gum wrapper with the text: (I also added ingredients & the BWS logo, but I was already uploading as I continued to work):

 

 

 Witch's Brew Bubbles (same story as the bubble gum):

 

 

And this is the play scene.  I hope to get it laminated, or onto something that will convey the idea I have.  We'll see if it happens before Thursday!! :)

 

 

 

 

I've put a lot of work, a lot of time & a lot of effort in to this project, but its been the most fun I have had on a project in quite a while.  I've really loved this assignment & I hope the final product conveys how enriching I've found this whole experience to be!  It was really nice to be able to use some techniques and skills that I hadn't utilized in a really, really LONG TIME & to find out they had some practical use after all!

Since Thursday I have been working on my Launch Kit.  I decided I am going to be making a "Bublle Witch" doll, and am super excited about it.  I wanted to make the doll green, but unfortunately my attempts to dye the whole doll did not pan out.  I tried a few different things, and only ended up dying the crease of her neck!  I gave up, lol and moved on to paint.  I really liked the effect of the paint and I am going to stick with it.  I was also able to find a cauldron at the Dollar Tree (SCORE), not as nice as the one I foudn online, but about 11.00 dollars cheaper, so there ya go.  I was also able to find the perfect jar and gum balls for my "potion jar" bubble gum & found the perfect purple bubble container for my Witch's Brew bubbles.  I also procured a bottle of green & black nail polish, but labels will have to be made for them as all attempts to remove the labeling on them has failed.  I also came across a witch's hat I really liked, but am unsure how or if I will use it.  All ina ll its been very productive.  I also spent some time working on my labels further, but am stymied by the search for a font.  I couldnt uncover a "Bubble Witch" font, and while I found some i liked, when i added them to my label I wasn't so hot about them anymore.  I have some screen shots below of my progress:

 

Here is the My Scene doll donated by my wonderful daughters, I have removed her factory face paint & am optimistic about dying her green!

 

Optimism misplaced: plastic body resists my dying efforts, but creases in neck are green!!

 

I went ahead with my green plan & painted the face & upper torso green.  Her hands & lower arms will also get painted this same color of green.

 

Just another angle.  I cheated by choosing a doll that already had red hair!  Her legs I am going to try and paint with black & white striped to simulate striped stockings.

 

This is the image I started off with, taken from a Bubble Witch fan site.

I used content aware & the clone tool to get rid of the witches and make a clean template to work with.  I had this done in class before I left on Thursday.

Over the weekend I moved the to the middle and fleshed out the tree to be "whole" using content aware & the clone tool.

 

I sticthed together a few more panels and made the label longer for my bubble container.  I was able to single out the word "witch" but looking for a matching font has been a problem so far.