One of the projects I have to do is a working DVD menu. So far I have the main page. The background is a photograph I took last year around the same time in the season. I am planning on having the cluster of leaves follow either the mouse or remote to select either Play All, Select Chapter, or Bio. The last two options will go to sub menus.

Feedback I received is that the eyes first go to the title, and the first thing the user wants to click on is "Play" or the leaves above it, and the second thing is "Select Chapter." The responses for where the eyes rest were varied--"Play All," the path, the orange leaves, "it doesn't really rest," "Bio," the lower right, the center, and the shadows on the left.

Positive responses were that it is clean, good button over "Play All," good color scheme, nice picture, straightforward layout, good contrast, text and images work well together, and nice shadows around text.

Negatives and suggestions were pretty much unanimously that the center and right menu options are a bit hard to read. I have since darkened the background around the text more, as well as made the text bold so it is easier to read. If it is still hard to read, I will make the text one size bigger.

My first animation

I did this in a 3D animation class. It is symbolic of an important event in my life. First attempt at Lightwave!

Opening Credits

On October 7th I presented and analyzed the Pink Panther (1964) opening credits. Alas, I could not find them (or pictures of them) online. It's a very funny movie and the opening credits really are great.

Typography

Here are some examples from a typography project. I had to take certain phrases and present them in a way that reflected the meaning of the phrase.

In the first example, I filled the text with an image of a $50 bill and warped the text, then added a drop shadow and an inner glow.











In the second example, I added filters to gloss over the text and also warped it. I also added a drop shadow and embossed the text.









In the third example, I added an outer glow and a drop shadow, while adjusting the tracking on the smaller text to stretch it out.

Replica

Here I took an advertisement and made a replica in Photoshop. I took a picture of my own computer, modified it, copied it and placed the copies, and colored and shaded each copy to match the original image as best as I could.

Original Image:











Replica:

Hello

Hi, my name is Jillian. I am a graduate of Grand Valley State University. I majored in Film and Video with an animation emphasis. and minored in Advertising and Public Relations. In addition to some basic film and video projects, I have also done some work with television broadcasting and audio recording. I have an extensive background in the arts (fine arts, performing arts, visual arts, etc).

I hope to use this blog as a place to connect with other creative talent. I will have some of my work in animation, graphic design, photography, and other areas of the arts available for viewing and comments.