Student Portfolio Exhibit #1 (Lesson 4) - Combine a photo and text

We were tasked with creating a digital display (1920x1080 pixels at 72 DPI) that combined an image with text. The original submissions will be critiqued by the instructor and other class members. Students then have the opportunity to revise and resubmit a final version.You can click on any image for an enlarged view. Each student's name is linked to their online portfolio so you can view their descriptions of what they've done.
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Original submission
Abby Hawkman:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Great color scheme - contrast between warm and cool colors. Teal and Orange are an opposite color scheme
  • Good information hierarchy created with the use of proximity and font size/color
  • Strong alignment helps organize the information visually
  • That progression from opaque to semi-opaque to transparent is a nice touch
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • Our brains are hardwired to follow a person's gaze. Since she's looking out of the image, we follow that out. If she was gazing towards the dates, that would lead our eyes to that information.
  • Sometimes TVs cut off a bit of the edges of our display designs. You might want to move the text a bit more in from the left side so they won't get cut off. 
​Alana Manesse​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Great photo and message for a TV display
  • Strong alignment 
  • Two contrasting fonts used well
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • You've done a great job! The only thing that feels a bit off to me is the placement of the text. It feels kind of squeezed into that space. Just my gut feeling. I have a couple ideas that feel better, to me anyway. What do you think?
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Original submission
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Instructor feedback
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Instructor feedback
Ali Blackham
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Original submission
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Ali's revision
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Original Submission
​Allie Gibson:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Interesting idea, Allie. A screen within a screen.
  • Single font used.
  • Warm, inviting color scheme.
  • Message is short and to the point
  • Strong alignment
  • Good use of proximity and space
  • Diagonal stripe leads the eye to the message
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • This works, Allie. No suggestions from me on this.
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Original submission
​Amber Truett:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Nice complimentary color scheme (desaturated oranges and blue)
  • Good message hierarchy using font size and weight, and use of proximity (space). Especially how you've pulled the website close to the register title - it's a call to action.
  • It's nice that the test dates follow the line of his arm
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • I think you'd have a stronger information line if you left justified the registration deadlines and the title.
  • Registration is misspelled. 
  • I would delete the thought bubbles. They are just visual noise since the title covers them up.
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Original submission
Angie Dirkmaat​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Good photo showing Utah State University
  • Good call to action - apply at USU
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • Make the call to action even stronger - "You belong here at [UState Logo[]" or "Come join us at [Logo]."
  • Let me show you how to move the group further to the right  in Photoshop so you have more room for the message. I'll make a video showing you how, but I need you to submit your Photoshop file to me. All I have right now is a jpeg image.
Aprel Mendenhall:
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Original submission
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Aprel's revision
Ashley Ludolph​
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Original submission
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Ashley's revision #3
Bei Xie
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Original submission
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Bei's Revision
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Original Submission
​Brandon "Don" Evans​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Nice design, Don! 
  • Consistent color throughout - harmonizes well
  • Strong alignment
  • Good use of proximity and space
  • Good font choice - very readable.
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • I would suggest aligning the right side horizontally with the text blocks on the left (both top and bottom)
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Instructor feedback
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Instructor feedback - the alignments. Alignment makes visual connections.
​Brie Winegar​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • eye-catching graphic draws the eye into the design
  • pleasant color scheme
  • the torn paper element ties in well with the school chalkboard
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • rather than have thee paper cut off abruptly in the middle, use free transform to take it all the way across.
  • I believe a sans serif font will be more readable than a script or decorative font.
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Original Submission
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Instructor feedback
​​Brinley Adams​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Great content ideas
  • Appealing graphic
​​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • I was thinking - what's the most important message here? I think it is "Take control of your future." I felt it should be the biggest shout out on your image.
  • I think all those questions were the secondary message that went along with taking control. I felt those should be connected visually with the shout by alignment, and made much more readable.
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Original Submission
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Instructor feedback
​Camille Nelson​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Lovely campus image
  • Single font family used - Arial
  • Strong left alignment connects all the messages
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • If you move the text bar in so a bit of the background image shows on the left side, it opens it up and makes it feel more spacious.
  • The gradient gets too dark toward the bottom - making it difficult to read the text. Go for high contrast on text. 
  • I felt Arial Bold is a bit easier to read than Arial Black on those three main points.
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Original Submission
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Instructor feedback
​Christianna Miles​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Nice triadic color scheme using red, yellow, and blue.
  • Good call to action
  • Good repetition of color
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • I'd suggest strengthening the call to action - "Take the opportunity to compliment what you see in others."
  • "Take the opportunity" is a bit weak. You could make that pop a bit more by making it larger or bolder.I suggest limiting your design to just the two fonts, and use Impact for both text fields at the top.
  • I'd try to make the people silhouette stand out from the color spray in the background better. What I did on my feedback image was add a stroke Fx with white on the people. Then on the background speckles, I did Filter > Blur > Radial Blue - and changed the setting to zoom.
  • I thought the text could use a bit more margin on the left, so I moved the yellow line on top of the red one.
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Original submission
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Instructor feedback
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Original submission
Darius Tonachio:
​What feels good about this design? 
• Strong right alignment
• Your use of 3 fonts works in this design
• Excellent contrast - very readable
• Guitar photo is going to pull students in who have an interest in music
​What suggestions do I have for you?
• This design works for me, Darius.
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Original submission
​Dru Holt​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Beautiful, harmonious color scheme
  • Fun use of fonts
  • Well balanced between the light and the text at the bottom
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • The biggest problem I see is that it needs to be 1920 pixels wide, 1080 pixels tall, and have the resolution 72 DPI. This one won't fit properly on the TV displays.
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Original Submission
​Ean Donehey:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Excellent design, Ean! This would make a great hand-out card.
  • High contrast, readable text and font choices
  • Strong alignment and good use of proximity
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • For a 10 to 15 second TV display, students probably won't be able to read all the text blocks. You might want to make them brief bullet points.
  • Since you have such a strong left alignment already, I would left align "Paying for College" and the line underneath as well.
Elizabeth Oliver​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • ​Beautiful color combinations
  • Two contrasting fonts
  • Good alignment
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • I suggest some creative erasing on the background to bring out the message better.
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Original Submission
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Instructor Feedback
​Eric DeBloois​:
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Original submission
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Eric's revision
​Grant Estes​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Good message
  • Nice color combination for the gradient
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • It was fun to be able to walk you through my feedback during the office hours today, Grant!
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Original Submission
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Instructor feedback
​​Halie Seegmiller​:
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Original submission
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Halie's revision.
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Original submission
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Instructor feedback
​Heather Stock​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Nice idea - using the gears for Gear UP
  • Great contrast
  • Right alignment
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • You might want to strengthen that call to action by showing them where to go to learn how to build the future. You could put the USUStars and its website URL inside the gears.
  • Strengthen the right alignment - it's not perfect yet.
  • Mesh the gears together, so they will actually work if they were real.
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Original Submission
​Holly Miller​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Message is being embraced by the outstretched hands
  • Color bar repeats the reds in the boat and sweater
  • Two contrasting fonts used. Even though they are both sans serif fonts, they are dramatically different and contrast well.
  • When GearUp adds their logo, that will complete the call for action on this.
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • The fun part about graphic design is that there are so many variations you could do, and still have it work well. This one is good, Holly.
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Original submission
​Ian Theler​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • This looks great, Ian! Very striking, eye-catchiing image.
  • Good call to action
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • It would be interesting to try a bold, sans serif "Dare" using the same font. It might be just a bit more readable. When I first looked at it, my brain read "Dave."
​Jaiden Schrubb​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Good use of a single font
  • Excellent image to draw us in
  • Strong left alignment
  • Good use of Proximity
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • I would use the move tool to move her to the left just a touch.
  • In my feedback image, I added a new layer just underneath the text, and did a white to transparent gradient to reduce the window noise behind the text.
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Original Submission
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Instructor feedback
​Jenny Taylor​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Nice design in every way.
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • ​In order to be used for this assignment, it needs to be exactly 1920 pixels wide, 1080 pixels tall, and 72 DPI resolution.
    • ​To do that in Photoshop, first go into Image > Image Size. Set the DPI to 72. Set the width to 1920. Press OK.
    • Then go into the Image menu again > Canvas Size. The width will be right, but adjust the height to 1080 pixels and press OK.
    • ​Then save your Photoshop file again.
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Original Submission
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Instructor feedback
​Jordan Rule​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Simple message - easy to read - single font
  • Good photo to bring the gaze into the display
  • Center alignment works
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • ​​In order to be used for this assignment, it needs to be exactly 1920 pixels wide, 1080 pixels tall, and 72 DPI resolution.
    • ​To do that in Photoshop, first go into Image > Image Size. Set the DPI to 72. Set the width to 1920. Press OK.
    • Then go into the Image menu again > Canvas Size. The width will be right, but adjust the height to 1080 pixels and press OK.
    • ​Then save your Photoshop file again.
  • ​​Center alignment is weaker than left or right alignment. You might try one of those.
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Original Submission
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Instructor feedback
​Kate Snelson​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Nice image and message.
  • Use of two contrasting fonts
  • Strong left alignment
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • ​I suggest flipping the image so she's looking toward your message.
  • You could take the background blue block all the way to the edges, because the photo ends about there. I changed the opacity back to 100% on that.
  • I used a mask to soften the edge of the blue block by painting on the mask with black paint.
  • I think white text stands out better on that darker blue background.
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Original Submission
​Kelli Freeman​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Nice design, Kelli! Great contrast.
  • Used two contrasting fonts effectively
  • Great repetition of shapes
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • On this one, it was easier to show visually than to write it out. See my feedback image for my suggestions. If you're unsure on how I did any of that, just message me, and I'd be happy to show you!
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Original submission
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Instructor feedback
​Kendrick Schut​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • This is aa nice design, Kendrick. Two contrasting fonts.
  • Beautiful photo.
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • One of the hardest things to do is to get text to really pop out of a background photo. I took your background photo back into camera raw and increased the clarity and texture sliders. That darkened the sky a bit, and put more contrast into the foreground.
  • ​I moved your text into the darkest part of the clouds, and made the black text white.
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Original Submission
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Instructor feedback
​Kristen Wilkinson​:
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Original Submission
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Kristen's revision
​Liv Johansen​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Nice photo focused on this GearUP age group
  • Good message
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • I suggest you resize the image to have her more prominent in the frame
  • You could harmonize colors by picking colors from her in the photo., although I do like orange.
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Original Submission
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Instructor feedback
Lora Waloski
What feels good about this design? 
  • ​Nice design, Lora. Great contrast.
  • Great application of two contrasting fonts. (I didn't have your font, but the one you used is just fine!)
  • Great color scheme. You've repeated the yellow in the quote.
  • Eye-catching image, especially with the yellow contrasting with the black and white.
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • I feel that working on the spacing (leading) between the lines of text a bit more will help it look more professional. (See my feedback image.)
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Original submission
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Instructor feedback
​Lorena Cera​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • This design works well, Lorena! Single font used
  • Strong left alignment
  • graphic is colorful and eyecatching
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • Just my gut reaction. I'd choose aa better font - in my feedback I'm using Raleway - a free font from fonts.google.com
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Original Submission
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Instructor feedback
Megan Bitton​​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Excellent design, Megan.
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • Just 2 small suggestions: alignment - let the comma hang outside the alignment line. Sounds weird, but it will look more aligned.
  • ​Brighten up the usustars.usu.edu
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Original Submission
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Instructor feedback
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Original submission
Megan Harris​​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Strong design - all around.
  • Good contrast
  • Strong alignment
  • Attractive image
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • I'm wondering a bit about the message. "Prove them wrong" about what? What is the call to action specifically? What are they supposed to do? If it is to go to USUStars, then proximity says it should be closer to that message.
Megan Larson​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Strong right alignment of text.
  • Two contrasting fonts used. The text contrasts well and is easy to read.
  • Nice balance between sky and darker foreground
  • Great depth in the photo, from the dark palm fronds in the foreground to the hazy mountains in the background. Nice photo!​
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • I suggest working on the photo in camera raw a bit more to bring out contrast and texture.
  • On alignment, right align the words and let the quotation mark hang outside the alignment.
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Original submission
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Instructor feedback
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Mette's revision
​Mette Park​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Nice background photo,
  • Main message is very bold - no wimpishness here!
  • Two contrasting fonts
  • Well balanced image
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • This design works, Mette. Good work.
​Misti Smith​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Nice background photo, Misti!
  • Main message is very bold - no wimpishness here!
  • Strong alignment.
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • ​I thought I'd share another design idea wiith you in my feedback image.
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Original Submission
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Instructor feedback
Nathan Smith: Tried my hand at designing a series of conference posters for the Utah Coalition for Educational Technology. You can see all of them if you click the link.
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Original submission
​Nicholas "Nick" Spinelli​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Nice design, Nick.
  • The message and young man balance well visually with the clouds on the left.
  • Good use of two contrasting fonts
  • The diagonal alignment works here.
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • I think there needs to be a stronger call to action here. One possibility would be "Take your dreams seriously. Turn them into a career!" or "explore careers at www.utah.gov/careers/explore.html" or anything that's more specifically a call to action that they can do.
​Nikki Jeffs​​:
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Original Submission
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Nikki's revision
​Nonie Romero​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Center aligned throughout - even the photo.
  • Well balanced design
  • Two contrasting fonts used
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • In order to work on the TVs, the image needs to be 1920 pixels wide and 1080 pixels tall at 72 DPI.
  • The red of the text is so close in value to the blue sky, you get a color conflict happening. It almost vibrates as you look at it. The red needs to be darker or lighter.
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Original submission
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Instructor feedback
​Olivia Buhler​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Strong alignment - full justification
  • Great background image
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • I suggest darkening the background box for better contrast with the text. On my feedback, I added a half circle to the box to repeat the rounded top of the rock he's climbed on.
  • ​You've used to similar sans serif fonts - I suggest just sticking to one font on this one.
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Original Submission
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Instructor feedback
​Rachel Bryson​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • You've used two contrasting fonts well!
  • Excellent proximity implementation
  • Monochromatic color scheme throughout
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • You can make that landscape look more spacious by copying just a piece of it and placing that on the other side of your message.
  • ​I'd suggest increasing the contrast between the grey block and the text.
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Original Submission
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Instructor feedback
​Rachel Richards​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Good idea - a bucket listing for GearUP students - and focusing to apply for the FASFA and graduate debt free.
  • Good use of 2 contrasting fonts.
  • Color scheme works well with the photo.
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • See my feedback image. There is a tool in Photoshop called the content-aware move tool. It works like the lasso tool. You lasso the feet, and when you have marching ants going, you click inside the selection and move it to a new location on the image. Then, when you press return, the feet have been moved, and Photoshop intelligently fills in where they once were to match the surroundings. Here are a couple short videos to show you how to use the content aware move tool.  | video | video |​
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Original submission
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Instructor feedback
​Rebecca "Becca" Jeppson​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Great contrast
  • Monochromatic color scheme harmonizes well
  • Good use of image and text
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • See my feedback image.
  • I'd suggest a strong left alignment - that will also balance the image a bit better.
  • You can use leading to pull the families of text lines a bit closer together (it is in the properties panel).
  • I'd lighten the background chemistry images a bit for better readability.
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Original submission
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Instructor feedback
Robert Summers:
​What feels good about this design? 
  • eye-catching image
  • good use of center alignment
  • two contrasting fonts
  • the silhouuette  
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • ​The text needs to pop more - more contrast needed.
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Original Submission
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Instructor feedback
​Scott Hayes​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Clever saying
  • Good contrast between black and white vs color
  • Good use of two contrasting fonts
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • It's hard to make text stand out against a photo background. You may want to rethink that. The most important thing is your message, and it has to be clear and really shout out.
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Original Submission
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Instructor feedback
​Sydney Cornwall​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • I love the idea of three - capacity, ability, and willingness.
  • The graphic is the background is an eye-catching one
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • Since this will be on a TV screen it needs to be readable - quickly. I would choose a more readable font.
  • The size needs to be exactly 1920 pixels wide, 1080 pixels tall, and a resolution of 72 DPI.
    • Create a new file in Photoshop the right size. All the details on how to do that are in the Canvas assignment online.
    • Fill the background layer with a dark grey or black paint. If you'd like it textured, you can go into the filter menu > filter gallery > Texture, and choose texturizer. I used sandstone on my feedback image.
    • Paste in your photo and resize it using free transform in the edit menu.
    • Use your eraser tool to remove the grey asphalt from the photo, so only the arrows and feet are left.
    • Add your text in white or very light colors.
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Original Submission
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Instructor feedback
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Original Submission
​Tiffany Chalfant​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • You've used two contrasting fonts effectively.
  • Strong left alignment ties all three texts together visually.
  • Eye gaze leads the eyes to "Discover your passion."
  • Good call to action
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • Make the grey text even darker - more contrast - more readable.
  • You might want to add the USU Advising website URL, too.
​Tracy Flanders​:
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Original submission
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Tracy's revision
​Vanessa Chambers​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Nice work on the design, Vanessa.
  • Great background image
  • Strong alignment
  • 2 contrasting fonts used well.
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • ​See my feedback image. Just two suggestions there.
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Original Submission
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Instructor feedback
​Yvonne Bass​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Great idea. Creative.
  • Nice combination of images using masks
​What suggestions do I have for you?
  • See my feedback image. A bolder font. More contrast between the stars and the classroom..
  • This is just one idea of many redesign paths you could choose to go down. I'd be happy to demonstrate anything I did on the feedback image.
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Original Submission
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Instructor feedback