logo design

Fun with Adobe Illustrator

Assignment #1: Redesign an existing brand's logo. We each wrote a brand that has a logo that we thought was bad/could use work on a piece of paper, threw 'em all in a bag, and randomly grabbed one. I ended up with CCM (hockey equipment).

Original:

I didn't necessarily think this was a bad logo, but I did find a few things that could be improved. I don't like how the right side of the "M"is oddly shaped, which is shaped like the semi-swoosh thingy. I also felt that the flow of the letters with the accents were contrasting.


My redesign:

I fixed that oddly-shaped corner and then I connected the accent to the "M" to make it look a little more fluid. The direction of the accents also go with the triangular tips of the letters, enhancing the flow. The company is Canadian so I designed it in a way that resembles the flag.

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Assignment #2: Create a personal logo that could be used for our Facebook profile picture. (As Brian told us, creating an 8x8in logo works perfectly for the thumbnails FB creates)

My logo represents who I am as a current New York inhabitant but also as a native Californian, born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. The bridge in the SF skyline is not the well-known Golden Gate, but rather the Bay Bridge since I'm from the East Bay and that is our connection into SF. The colors of my name correspond to each city. Leslie/NYC = me, the individual and where I currently am. Canoy/SF = my roots, where my family is. I chose yellow for SF because California is the Golden State and then the blue is a nice complementary color. These colors against the black background make it pop.

type with images

The assignment was to design 3 posters/postcards/brochures/etc using the same text for each, but each layout had to be completely different from the other; different fonts, different images. An additional challenge, but not required, was to create a design spec, meaning all of the layouts would be the same dimensions. I decided to take that extra challenge and design a poster meant for an 11x17 print. The text could be anything we wanted...a quote, an event, etc. The inspiration for my designs came from the fact that I live in Brooklyn and that running is (or at least was...considering I haven't run since ankle-sprain-#5/left-foot-injury-#6 last July...but I digress) one of my hobbies. So I created posters for a faux running club. And here are my designs:


Layout #1:

My original concept for this design did not include a runner. I originally planned on just using an image of the Brooklyn Bridge. So my first drafts of this layout are pretty different. And then I googled images of "brooklyn bridge runners" or variations of that and initially didn't really find anything that was both good in compsition and high in resolution. A few days later, I stumbled upon the source image for this design. I must have skipped over it before because the original image is actually landscape so I had to select the runner and move her to fit within the dimensions of the layout.





















Layout #2:

For this I used part of an ad for the movie Run Fat Boy, Run. And the background is actually a photo I found of Prospect Park, which happened to fit perfectly.


































Layout #3:

This one is my least favorite. I'll admit it's pretty boring. I think I used all of my creative energy on the first two. I tried a few things to jazz it up, but that just made it look cheap so I just kept it pretty simple. My design may be meh, but the image is simply gorgeous! Special thanks to Andrew's shiny new camera and photography skills (and shoes) ;)

I really had fun with this assignment. I think I'm liking design more than video now....hmmm uh-oh. Well, it sorta makes sense because I originally started my undergrad thinking I wanted to do graphic design, but then switched to video. Well, I guess there's no harm in enjoying both and who says I have to pick one over the other?

Like what you see? Would you hire me to design something for you? haha

duotone and multichannels

As part of an in-class exercise we learned about the duotone and multichannel mode in Photoshop. Finding an image that I want to play around with is always something that takes me longer than it should. So for inspiration I googled "photo blogs" and found some pretty nice ones. The image that I used for this exercise was found from a blog called San Francisco Daily Photography (http://www.sanfranciscodailyphoto.com/).

So here is how my image turned out.

And the original:

When I saw the original photo I couldn't help but think of Nat because on my last weekend in San Francisco, before moving to New York, we spent the day taking photos around SF like tourists. So this photo is a perfect addition to that collection. But overall, it's a dedication to all my friends and family in the Bay Area. I miss you all!

hibernation

The assignment for this project was to either a) develop a character or b) show the passage of time using only visual elements (no sound) and the shot techniques we've been learning about. I chose to show the passage of time, but ended up sort of developing a character as well. I normally don't like being in front of the camera, but with limited time and resources I had to make do.

Hibernation from leslie canoy on Vimeo.

[Shot with Panasonic AG-HMC 150; 1080/24p]

Most of my professional experience has been in post-production so I'm enjoying this class as I'm learning more about camera-work.

(Special thanks to Arum for being my makeshift-dolly grip)

washington square park

For this assignment we had to establish a place using the shot techniques we have been learning about. Some of the shots included are tilt, rack of iris, rack focus, whip pan, lens flare, dolly, tracking, zoom, etc. It was pretty much an exercise in basic videography. The original assignment is MOS but I added a soundtrack for this post so it's not so boring. Also, minimal editing.

Washington Square Park from leslie canoy on Vimeo.

[Shot with Panasonic DVX-100B; Music - Futuro (Live) by Mae]

It was really bright outside especially with the snow so the first few shots are over-exposed and a bit out of focus. And I didn't realize it right away nor did I reshoot them...haha.

photo composite

Assignment: Take 2 or more photos and composite them together to create one image.

The inspiration for my photo composite came from the idea that New York City is considered a "concrete jungle." Placing wild animals into the streets of the city is just a play on the idea. The animals actually seem more civil than the daily New York crowd. The most difficult part I had was proportioning the animals to make it appear somewhat accurate.

Techniques:

I used various adjustment layers for each of the animals to achieve accurate lighting to match the night setting of the city. The original photos of the animals were relatively bright so I adjusted their curves, brightness, and exposure. I also adjusted the hue of the zebra and rhino to make it look as if the surrounding lights were bouncing off of them. I used the hue of the paint lines of the crosswalk to guide me in deciding the hue of the zebra since they are both supposed to be white. I also added shadows to the animals. And I used the clone tool on the zebra to remove some orange dirt from its body. To finish the piece off I applied a warming filter to the entire image to make it all uniform as if the bright lights create a warm effect.

Original source images (from stock.xchng):

currently reading

I'm actually really diggin the books I have to read this semester. Like most students I hate having to buy expensive textbooks that I am likely to never read or look at again after completing a course or to sell back for a ridiculously low return. I mean I do have a few gems from my undergrad studies from tv/film courses, so not all are useless. But the required texts for this semester are definitely items that make great additions to my bookshelf and most were under $25. Here's a look at what I am reading (or will eventually).  

 

 

This book is the one that makes me cringe...it costs $127! I have yet to purchase it.

I didn't actually purchase the books below. I borrowed one from the library and the other I am taking from Google Books (even though pages are missing..haha.) I'm cheap. [left: I actually read the first edition of this book during my undergrad so it will be interesting to see how much has changed.]

P.S. Excuse my formatting. I spent a whole lot of unnecessary time trying to straighten things out and this is the best I could do. I'm not a programmer.