Digital Imaging Fundamentals Course Work

For this project, I wanted to create a simple and uplifting story about finding positivity in dark moments. I began by brainstorming and planning out a sequence for weather-themed panels, using the sun as a character to represent different emotions throughout a rainy day. My goal was to keep the design of the comic playful and welcoming. I chose rounded shapes, bright colors, and expressive facial features that would be easy to read at a glance. As I developed the layout for the comic, I focused on creating a clear flow from one panel to the next. I placed the happiest and brightest scenes at the beginning and end, with the darker, rainier moments centered in the middle of the comic. This had helped create a narrative arc from positivity to struggle, then comfort, and back to optimism. I had also incorporated a rainbow at the end as a symbol of hope and used consistent cloud and raindrop styling to unify all panels visually. The typography was another important stylistic choice I made. I chose a bold font for the title to match the comic-style aesthetic, also adding my name and course term information in a clean block for a polished finish. Overall, my design process was centered on balance, clarity, and emotion, aiming to tell a simple yet relatable story throughout the comic.

For this poster, I chose the news article "Florida man saves neighbor from jaws of 11-foot gator by hitting it with his car" from WFLA. I had chosen this article because it was one of the only “Florida Man” articles I saw that had a positive undertone to it. This article describes a dramatic and heroic moment where a man used his vehicle to stop an alligator that had grabbed his neighbor by the leg, ultimately saving the man's life. What stood out to me most was the intensity of the situation and how quickly everything happened, which I wanted to reflect visually in my design. I decided to use bold, simplified shapes to keep the scene clear and easy to understand at first glance. I focused on the contrast between the alligator and the car to make the action easy to recognize and to show how sudden and abrupt the moment was. The items in the poster are arranged to guide the viewer's eye directly to the interaction between the car and the alligator. Overall, my goal with this poster was to capture the dramatic and unexpected tone of the story in a clean, organized visual style. I wanted it to feel somewhat like a reenactment of the events that occurred, highlighting the heroism from the Florida Man.

For this mandala, I chose to represent the calm and depth I see within me. I did this by creating an image of a flower resting on a body of water. I think this reflects how I am able to remain peaceful and centered even when there is movement or change around me. I think this piece also represents depth; the idea that there is always more to a person than what can be seen at first glance. The yellow from the flower petals symbolizes the smile a person puts on, covering deeper emotions of sadness that the blue color in the "water" represents.

For my bumper sticker design, I wanted to play with the irony of Florida’s nickname, “the sunshine state.” While Florida is known for its sunshine, everyone who lives here knows how fast the weather can change to full-on rainstorms. I represented the contrast by placing both a sun and rain clouds together in the middle of the bumper sticker. I also chose to cross out the “sunshine” in “sunshine state” to emphasize that Florida isn't the sunshine state they say it is. The palm trees and bright colors add the tropical, vibrant feel of Florida, but the rain and storm clouds highlight the unexpected weather that is a part of the state.