InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator

  The post card exercise was an essential part InDesign communication for a few different reasons. One being because this is the first exercise that we used all three adobe applications for one project. Usually when working on a project we only uses InDesign, or maybe InDesign and Photoshop, but this time around we used InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator so it was pretty cool and informative to see how they all interact with each other at once. Also being able to have all three applications open at once and going back and forth between each one I picked up a few tricks and shortcuts that I hadn't know before. It makes it much more easier for me to apply what I’m learning in class. I believe very fluent in adobe InDesign but I was lacking the essential skills I needed in Photoshop and Illustrator so this exercise helped a lot in those areas. As far as the design and color pattern I chose for my post card, when I originally picked my picture I wanted to choose a color that correlated well with the color of the clothing I was wearing or the lipstick I had on. I remember learning in class that color scheme is one of the many key aspects when making a design. So I tried to stay within the whelms of the photo I chose. When I transported my picture from Photoshop into InDesign I noticed that my picture was pretty pixelated, which brought out certain colors I hadn’t initially recognized when I chose the picture for the postcard. The picture being slightly distorted brought attention to the slight specks go navy blue in the robe I had on. This got me thinking that because the specks were so small and almost unnoticeable, it would be smart to make the background color of my postcard the same as the navy blue to bring attention to the colors in my robe. I made those adjustments and the color change and selection began to bring life to my postcard. My postcard describes me as a fun loving and free spirited individual so in order to keep design in sync I chose to use a fun font that’s blocky and big for my heading and name just so it can be an easy to read for viewers since it's one of the first things you see when looking at the postcard aside from the picture. Another important lesson I learned in class is that all text that you use in any design has to be readable to viewers; otherwise it defeats the purpose of the design in the first place. What’s the point of having designed a postcard if no one can read it? For my body text I wanted to use a text that would compliment the picture I used. I also wanted the text used for the body copy to be completely different than what I used as a header for a couple different reasons. The first reason was because I didn’t want each space of text to look repetitive. I wanted the header with my name to be bold and the first thing that catches your eye, aside from my beautiful picture. I also wanted to italicize the body text because my post card is based around my picture. I used a slightly italicized font that is also easy to read because it was flirty and complimented the expression I was giving in the picture. The heart graphics I choose to use also went along with the flirtatious vibe I was trying to exhibit. I didn't exactly realize how seductive the picture was until it was blown up, and from that I strategically choose to go with a certain things in my postcard. Overall I learned a lot more than expected such as how to save certain files when wanting to transport them to other adobe applications. I learned the proper way and exactly what to save certain designs as so they can be reopened into other applications. I learned a lot more about layers and paths as far as Photoshop. I learned how to bring a picture that’s stored in my phone or an image online into Photoshop and how to properly crop a selected part of the image out and place it somewhere else.  As I’ve stated in the first blog post I’m more of a visually learner and the post card project was a fun way for me to learn more these applications at once.