# this is boring help me fix it



## nb3004 (Oct 30, 2003)

what would you do to improve this image, i like it but it needs something so it pops


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## mr. k (Oct 30, 2003)

it's got a pretty boring background - the flat green doesn't look great with the cutout van gogh in the writing.  Change it a little bit - maybe put in a semi transparent greyscale image in there and I think it would look pretty cool.


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## Arden (Oct 31, 2003)

Make the green background 75% opaque instead of 100%, and let the painting show through.  If it's the painting on top that has been masked, fill the white part of the mask channel with 25% gray.


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## cockneygeezer (Oct 31, 2003)

nb3004 said:
			
		

> what would you do to improve this image, i like it but it needs something so it pops




How this? (Check attachement)

I feel that the typography for this picture is wrong. You need to increase the kerning of the lettering so that the words don't look big and chunky.

Hope it helps?


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## chevy (Oct 31, 2003)

why did you choose this type of image organization ?
why did you hide what you want to show ? does it serve your purpose ?
who do you want to react to your image ? will they understand your message ? will they want to visit the expo ?


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## nb3004 (Nov 2, 2003)

this is the latest reincarnation of it, im still not happy, luckliy its only HW, , i tried with a black background too, its easier to read but the space in btw the pict is much more pronounced


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## Trip (Nov 2, 2003)

Can you post one of the paintings you're using for this? I have an idea I want to try out for you.


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## nb3004 (Nov 2, 2003)

http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/gogh/self/gogh.self-orsay.jpg

http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/gogh/starry-night/gogh.starry-night.jpg 

the first one is the self portrait and the second one is starry night a famous pict.  The problem is that this is an assignment on photos masked by type and i wanted to do something to challenge myself a little, i am very interested to see what others come up with though


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## Trip (Nov 2, 2003)

Photos masked by type? What kind of assignment is that?!

I guess it's a challenge...I'll do some crummy designs and hopefully help you with your thinking.


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## nb3004 (Nov 2, 2003)

our teacher said its the easiest of the year, thats why i am trying something 'different'


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## Trip (Nov 2, 2003)

Just some quick ideas (yea, I know) to help with the thinking process. Any questions just ask...

http://www.tannersite.com/BackupFiles/3dvan.jpg

*bleh, 7 layers!


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## ksv (Nov 8, 2003)

Find some other painting with, ehm, more attractive and matching colors. Perhaps you could use a filter on them. Van Gogh paintings obviously don't look good with masked type 
Use an other font. Two would probably look better, or use plain/bold text for info/headings. Add a simple drop shadow to show the contrast better.


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## Arden (Nov 9, 2003)

I definitely don't like VG.gif... I think you should keep the painting full opacity, but just use some darker effects with the text to let the painting's darker subtleties show through.


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## Jason (Nov 10, 2003)

i like the original idea, you just need to use a different colour, black always works

but thats just my very simple design mind


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## BitWit (Nov 10, 2003)

The problem is the value contrast between the light green and some of the similar shades of white, light blue, and gray in the painting. For instance, if you changed it all to grayscale, some of the letters would hardly show up.

If you darken the green, you'll just be shifting the problem to other parts, and lightening will do the same.

To get more readablility, I recommend making the letters cast a "knockout" shadow onto the painting. The result is that it looks like you have a green surface with the letters cut out of it revealing the painting jsut behind it.

In Photoshop, knockout drop shadow is a layer effect, I believe.


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## Jason (Nov 10, 2003)

no shadows

shadows are a thing of the past, we are now past that "gee whiz" effect


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## Arden (Nov 11, 2003)

Jason said:
			
		

> no shadows
> 
> shadows are a thing of the past, we are now past that "gee whiz" effect


 Oh, please.  I use shadows all the time to give stuff the look of being "on top" of something else.

You could also give the text (big, thick letters, of course) a drop shadow that completely surrounds each letter at least a little bit and lower the fill opacity of the layer to 0 to make it look as if the shadow is the only thing there.

Or type out your text, white, black, or whatever, and give it a layer mask of those very same letters that hides them.  Then unlink the mask to the layer and offset one slightly, hiding most of the letters but leaving a thin outline.

What is the target destination for this project, print or online?  That can make a big difference in what looks good or bad.


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## nb3004 (Nov 11, 2003)

lol, honestly this was just a small assignment on masking images by type and i never really was happy with how it looked.  This is what i finally ended up with before moving on to do other projects.  Thank you so much for all the attention you guys have put toward this.  BTW im still not happy with it hahaha


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## nb3004 (Nov 11, 2003)

oops here


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## Arden (Nov 11, 2003)

Well, I wouldn't use it for a poster , but if it gets you the grade that's what really matters.


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