Student Portfolio Exhibit #3 - Student Choice

For your third portfolio exhibit, focus on color, using grids and layers! You can create a flyer, brochure, poster, card - whatever. It's your choice. Post your exhibit to your e-portfolio, along with a description that talks about your design thoughts:
  • How have you used contrast?
  • How did you use repetition?
  • How did you align elements in your design?
  • How have you used proximity?
  • What were your font choices, and why did you choose them?
  • How have you used color? Why did you choose the color scheme you used?
Abby Hawkman:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Good font use, strong alignment
  • You've got a good start on this, Abby! I thought a while about the message you're trying to convey here.
​What suggestions to improve this? ​​
  • ​Use a graphic that will grab attention about the topic - I found two men of different races on pixabay and combined them together by using free transform to align mouths, noses, eyes. Then I used a mask to split the faces.
  • You have three main messages. Are you? Will you? Contact us! Simplify and use proximity to create those three families of information.
  • I thought it would be interesting to color the main messages with different flesh colors, brown, red, and white.
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Original submission
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Instructor suggestions
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Original submission
​Alana Manesse​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Pretty much everything feels right about this, Alana. Well done!
​What suggestions do I have to improve this? ​​
  • As you create images you'll actually use in your portfolio, try to actually put legitimate text. Avoid Lorem Ipsum unless it is so small to be unreadable anyway. Replace template text with actual or fictional names, addresses, etc. I suggest putting an actual city and state in.

Note: I use lorem ipsum text in examples I share with you to give you ideas - but I'm not looking for a job with my portfolio. I'm just trying to help you learn design and Photoshop skills.
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Original submission
Ali Blackham:
​What feels good about this design? 
  • Strong alignment
  • Analogous color scheme
​​What problems do I see in the design? ​​
  • This design works, Ali. Nice job.
​Allie Gibson:
What feels good about this design? ​
  • ​This is fun! 
  • Nice color scheme
  • Simple with lots of negative space - really emphasizes the message
​What problems do I see in the design? ​​
  • The second "Mondays" in the contrasting text just ends up being visual noise. At first glance it looks like you've scribbled out "Mondays" in the main text font. I would suggest deleting the visual noise so the message comes across firm and strong.
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Original submission
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Original submission
PictureInstructor idea, Creating Embroidery Text Effect
​Amber Truett:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Good alignment.
  • I like how you've added the cat into the design.
  • Opposite color scheme is very vibrant and eye catching
​What suggestions do I have for your design? ​​
  • ​If the opposite colors are too close in value (brightness) they clash, and it almost hurts to look at it. You can reduce this clash by using tints, tones, or shades of the colors. The main thing is that the brightness levels between the two are not too close. Adding a texture also helps. The drop shadows exacerbate the effect. I would get rid of the drop shadows on the red text.
  • Here's a fun idea: How to Create a Realistic Embroidery Text Effect in Adobe Photoshop
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Original submission
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Instructor feedback
Angie Dirkmaat​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Excellent color scheme
  • Strong alignment
  • Diagonals add energy
​What problems do I see in the design? ​​
  • Don't try to fill up the empty space - that is an important design element too! It gives the eyes a resting place. I've made the dainty moon logo smaller, and the text block smaller, and gave them more space to breathe in.
  • Use content aware fill in the edit menu to fill in that left corner of the necklace photo.
  • Move the sideways text over with the rest for readability.
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Original submission
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Instructor feedback
Aprel Mendenhall:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Strong alignments
  • Beautiful color palette you've chosen to use.
​What problems do I see in the design? ​​
  • Really, the only issue I find in this design is that it comes too close to the design in the original inspiration image you found. You need to use the source as a jumping off point, and then totally redesign it so it is different enough that it becomes your own. Think how you can use the general design ideas and build upon it. I took time to provide just one example of many you could implement to do this using circular shapes. There are probably a thousand other ways as well.
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Original submission
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Instructor feedback and ideas
Ashley Ludolph​:
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Original submission
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Ashley's revision
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 contrast between B&W and color
  • Good use of alignment
  • The diagonals add energy to the image
  • Used a single font throughout, but varied size and weight provide variety
  • Overall - a very professional design. Well done!
​What problems do I see in the design? ​​
  • Interesting photo of you, Don, but you are so dark it's hard to see you.
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Original submission
​Brie Winegar​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Nice blending of three images to create a wall art image. You've done an excellent job on this!
​What problems do I see in the design? ​​
  • ​No problems I see. This will make a great portfolio exhibit for you.
​​Brinley Adams​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • This is a fun color experiment you've created, Brinley. Nice work!
​What problems do I see in the design? ​​
  • ​Really, the only issue I have is reading the text. If you could make it pop just a bit more... I used a stroke Fx on your text layer.
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Original submission
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Instructor feedback
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Original submission
​Camille Nelson​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Nice design, Camille! 
  • Strong right alignment on the text. Strong left alignment on the ghosts. The leaves in between add variety
​What problems do I see in the design? ​​
  • You might use free transform to vary the size of the leaves which would add just a bit more variety.
  • The two leaves at the bottom are nearly touching the edge, which create a strong visual tangent that draws your eyes there. I would move them away from the edge a bit more.
​Christianna Miles​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Well done, Christiana! This looks very good.
​What suggestions do I have for your design? ​​
  • On the left alignment of "Hide your face, - make the H align with the two rows underneath. The " can hang outside the alignment. It will look better aligned that way. See my feedback image.
  • Have a look at your negative space on the Masquerade card.
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Original submission
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Instructor feedback
Darius Tonachio:
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Original submission
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Darius' Revision
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Original submission
​Dru Holt​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • ​This design looks very professional. I can tell you've considered all the design principles you've learned. Even though you've used 3 fonts, it works here because the two sans serif fonts are separated a good bit by the script font - so they feel like different sections of information.
​What would I do to improve the design? ​​
  • For your portfolio, I would suggest actually replacing lorem Ipsum text and template text with actual text  - even if its fictitious. Make it look like a real job.
  • For "Brand Travel" - I suggest left aligning that, and then align it with the text blocks below. The text in the circle works well centered aligned. I would kern the 0 of 40 closer to the 4. 

Note: I use lorem ipsum text in examples I share with you to give you ideas - but I'm not looking for a job with my portfolio. I'm just trying to help you learn design and Photoshop skills.
​Ean Donehey:
What feels good about this design? 
  • ​This looks quite good, Ean! I can tell you are considering the design principles!
​What suggestions do I have to improve your design? ​​
  • Use two different font categories instead of two sans serif fonts.
  • Since you almost have perfect left and right alignments going here, go all the way! See my feedback image guides.
  • I would take the background image into camera raw and bring up the lights a bit - I just hit the auto button in there.
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Original submission
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Instructor feedback
Elizabeth Oliver​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • ​Beautiful color scheme
  • Great use of a single font to create a message hierarchy
​What suggestions do I have for your design? ​​
  • Use some kerning on "INNOVATION" to make the letters look evenly spaced visually. Using the text tool, put your cursor between the two letters you want to kern, then hold down the OPTION (Mac) or ALT (PC) and use the left or right arrows to move the letter to the right of the cursor closer or further away.
  • Strengthen alignments
  • It's hard to tell those are sliced and dyed carrots at the bottom, so I would use them more as a decorative element within a rectangle as is everything else in your design. As cut out circles they really contrast and draw your attention first.
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Original submission
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Instructor feedback
​Eric DeBloois​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • ​Vivid, intense color contrasts well with the silhouettes.
  • That would make an awesome T-Shirt
​What problems do I see in the design? ​​
  • This will make a wonderful portfolio exhibit.
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Original submission
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Original submission
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Original submission
​Grant Estes​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Consistent alignment
  • Great contrast between warm and cool colors
  • Good application of principles you've learned.
​What problems do I see in the design? 
  • This will make a good portfolio exhibit, Grant.​​​
​​Halie Seegmiller​:
  • Instructor comments:
    • ​What a fun design, Halie! I had some ideas for you - see my feedback image below. Here's the Pixabay image I put into the blue background side.
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Original submission
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Instructor ideas
​Heather Stock​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Fun idea for an e-magazine cover! 
  • Good color scheme using colors from the photo.
  • Two contrasting fonts
​What suggestions do I have to improve the design? ​​
  • First of all, I'd try to unbox most of the text. Your photo wasn't wide enough to reach the right edge. So I selected the part of the photo just to the right of the dog and used Content-aware scale in the Edit menu to stretch it part of the way. Then I select just the right part again, and did the same thing until it reached the right side. It looked pretty stretched by then, so I duplicated the layered and used the Filter Menu > Blur > Gaussian Blur to really blur the image. Then I added a mask to the blurred layer and used black paint to bring back the in-focus dog layer below, but leave the right side blurred.
  • I didn't have your fonts. I used Playfair Display for the serif font. Then I aligned the right side carefully for all the text.


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Original submission
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Instructor feedback
​Holly Miller​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • ​You used a strong right alignment
  • Good repetition of color, font, and shape
  • Good use of proximity to separate families of information
  • Good use of font size to make an information hierarchy
​What suggestions do I have for your design? ​​
  • I feel it could use just a bit more contrast
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Original submission
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Instructor Feedback
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Original submission
​Ian Theler​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Eye-catching design, Ian. 
  • Good balance of elements
  • Strong alignments
  • Well done!
​What problems do I see in the design? ​​
  • In the top text line, "Special" and "Edition" probably should be white or a much lighter value.
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Original submission
​Jaiden Schrubb​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Good job on cutting out the model and putting her against a different background
  • Pleasing analogous color scheme.
  • The warms and cools contrast very well, and make the model really stand out.
​What problems do I see in the design? ​​
  • I don't see any problems, really. There is one point where her jacket creates a visual tangent with the right edge. You could move her in (or out) slightly to mitigate that.
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Original submission
​Jenny Taylor​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • This design works well, Jenny.
  • Strong font choice.
  • Fun color scheme
​What problems do I see in the design? ​​
  • Balance is a bit bottom heavy. You might want to move the text up just a bit.
  • It would be fun to try some other color schemes with this design. Yours is just fine - just sharing an idea.
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Instructor feedback
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Instructor feedback
​Jordan Rule​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Clean, minimalistic design, Jordan
  • Two contrasting fonts
  • Good use of alignment
  • Strong contrast
  • Proximity and negative space used well.
​What problems do I see in the design? ​​
  • ​I feel the three exclamation marks are just visual noise, and detract from the design.
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Original submission
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Original submission
​Kate Snelson​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Two contrasting fonts used
  • Strong right alignment connects the two text blocks visually
  • Good use of negative space
​What suggestions do I have for your design? ​​
  • ​Adjust the leading of Ostler Christmas Party to pull that family of text a bit closer together
  • Make the three photo elements just a bit larger so the focus is more on the items than on the hands. Then align them vertically.
  • Perhaps a slight gradient on the background will add a bit more variety to your design.
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Original submission
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Instructor feedback
​Kelli Freeman​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Strong repetition provides unity between the three designs.
  • The varied organic shapes provide variety and makes it feel more nature-like and outdoors.
  • Consistent theme across all three designs
  • Excellent job, Kelli!
​What problems do I see in the design? ​​
  • The only thing that feels just a bit off to me is the bottom blue-green element in the middle design needs to extend all the way to the bottom to repeat what is happening in the other two.
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Original submission
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Original submission
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Original submission
​Kendrick Schut​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Great color scheme
  • Nice division of space
​What problems do I see in the design? ​​
  • The bottom section feels just a bit out of balance. See my feedback image for my thoughts on this.
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Original submission
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Instructor feedback
​Kristen Wilkinson​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Nice contrast between fonts, warm and cool colors
  • Strong alignments
  • The diagonal of the arm leads the eye to the various text blocks
  • Good use of proximity 
  • Good use of font size and weight to create a message hierarchy
​What problems do I see in the design? ​​
  • ​The big and bold Unit 2 is competing with your title.
  • I would work to align the bottom 2 elements better
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Original submission
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Instructor feedback
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Original submission
​Liv Johansen​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • This works, Liv. Well done!
​What problems do I see in the design? 
  • I don't see any design problems in this.​​
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Original submission
Lora Waloski
What feels good about this design? 
  • This works very well, Lora!
  • Great use of contrast, repetition, alignment, proximity.
​What problems do I see in the design? ​​
  • I don't see any design problems in this.
​Lorena Cera​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Excellent! Clean design, Lorena!
​What do I have for your design? ​​
  • Give "Wear a mask" a bit more social distancing from the edges of the green rectangle
  • Your graphic image has a visual tangent happening at the bottom of it (it's touching the edge of the blue rectangle).
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Original submission
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Instructor feedback
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Original submission
Megan Bitton​​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • This design works well, Megan. Fun work with the text!
​What problems do I see in the design? ​​
  • ​I don't see any problems with this design. Well done!
Megan Harris​​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Attractive color scheme!
  • Great use of two contrasting fonts
  • You've cut the model from her background well.
​What suggestions would I give for improving your design? ​​
  • I would crop some of the top away so the focus is more on the girl
  • I would use a stronger left alignment
  • Use your eraser tool to remove that spot of white fringing happening at the top of her head.

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Original submission
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Instructor feedback
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Megan Larson​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • This design works, Megan. Well done!
​What problems do I see in the design? ​​
  • ​I don't see any design issues with this.
​Mette Park​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Well done, Mette! Good mockup, too!
​What problems do I see in the design? ​​
  • ​I don't see any design issues with this.
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Original submission
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Original submission
​Misti Smith​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Very colorful and eye-catching design, Misti.
​What problems do I see in the design? ​​
  • ​See my feedback image for my suggestions.
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Original submission
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Instructor feedback
Nathan Smith: An oddly sized book cover design. An exercise in removing the twins from their background photo and placing them on the cover of my book desiign.
​Nicholas "Nick" Spinelli​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • ​A very pleasing design, Nick! Well done!
​What suggestions do I have for your design? ​​
  • Pull the dinosaurs' faces away from the edge just a bit more.
  • Give your text a bit more breathing room from the edges.
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Original submission
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Instructor feedback
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Original submission
​Nikki Jeffs​:
What feels good about this design? 

​What problems do I see in the design? ​​
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Original submission
​Nonie Romero​:
What feels good about this design? 

​What problems do I see in the design? ​​
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Original submission
​Olivia Buhler​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Well designed and executed, Olivia! 
​What problems do I see in the design? ​​
  • I don't see any design issues with this.
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Original submission
​Rachel Bryson​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Lovely work, Rachel! Well done.
​What problems do I see in the design?
  • I would increase the opacity of the two rectangles just a touch more. Not much - just a touch. ​​
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Original submission
​Rachel Richards​:
What feels good about this design? 

​What problems do I see in the design? ​​
  • Rachel, I would like to give you some feedback on this, but I haven't received the Photoshop file yet. Would you submit that to me?
​Rebecca "Becca" Jeppson​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Fun design, Becca! Very colorful!
​What suggestions do I have for your design? ​​
  • I'd turn off bevel and emboss on the two shapes
  • Use select and mask to remove the white fringes on his hair
  • I'd pick a different shape that would allow your "Join me" text to fit within it. I added a stroke with a rainbow gradient in my feedback image. I wanted to repeat the colors in the balloons.
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Original submission
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Instructor feedback
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Original submission
Robert Summers:
​What feels good about this design? 

​What problems do I see in the design? ​​
​Scott Hayes​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Minimalistic
  • High Contrast
  • Singlee Font
​What suggestions do I have for your design? ​​
  • The pink and yellow are so close in value, that it makes you think you're seeing double. I suppose if that was the goal, then you're accomplishing that. If not, I have a different idea...
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Instructor feedback
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Instructor feedback
​Sydney Cornwall​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • Beautiful, almost neon analogous color scheme.
​ ​What suggestions would I have for your design? ​​
  • As you create images you'll actually use in your portfolio, try to actually put legitimate text. Avoid Lorem Ipsum unless it is so small to be unreadable anyway. Replace template text with actual or fictional names, addresses, etc. I suggest putting an actual city and state in.
  • The dark silhouette girls go all the way across your design, but they disappear into your black frame, almost. I would take advantage of that and change the background color to match the rest of your color scheme so if they show back up. Take a moment to align the bottoms of the silhouettes.
  • If you set the silhouette layers to multiply blending mode, all those little white specks will go away.
  • For the rest of my suggestions, please have a look at my feedback image. If you have any questions about how I did any of this, please ask. I'd be happy to show you.

Note: I use lorem ipsum text in examples I share with you to give you layout ideas - but I'm not looking for a job with my portfolio. I'm just trying to help you learn design and Photoshop skills.
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Original submission
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Instructor feedback
​Tiffany Chalfant​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • This is a well designed graphic Tiffany! Excellent job!
​What suggestions would I have to improve your design? ​​
  • Don't be afraid to give your graphic elements a little bit of breathing room. That negative space is one of your best friends!
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Original submission
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Instructor feedback
​Tracy Flanders​:
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Original submission
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Tracy's revision
​Vanessa Chambers​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • This is a clean, professional looking design, Vanessa. Well done!
  • Strong alignment of text blocks. Too bad we can't left align the department logo.
  • Pleasant color scheme
​What suggestions do I have to improve your design? ​​
  • Pull the plasma physics lines a bit closer together (leading)
  • Kern the last s on physics so it's not touching the c.
  • Align the top of the photo strip with the title. Align the bottom of the paragraph with the bottom of the photo strip.
  • Set the blending mode of the lightning layer to luminance. Then it won't color your dark teal. Then I would take the opacity of the lightning layer up to 24%
  • Delete that little grey block in the corner. It serves no purpose to enhance your design. The lightning does that job.
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Original submission
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Instructor feedback
​Yvonne Bass​:
What feels good about this design? 
  • You have done a wonderful job on this, Yvonne! 
​What problems do I see in the design? ​​
  • I think this will make a great portfolio exhibit. It intrigued me, so I wanted to play around with your original photo too. I will send you the Photoshop file, so you can see how I did my feedback idea.
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Original submission
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Instructor idea...