Portfolioof Aaron Pulley

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ContactAaron Pulley10911 Newlands Ave, Richmond, VA 23233804-201-0102awpulley1@gmail.comwww.aaronpulley.net

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4 . . . . Photodesign6 . . . . Stationery8 . . . . Business Cards10 . . . Montage 12 . . . Event Ad 14 . . . Flier16 . . . Logos18 . . . Brochure20 . . . Web Page

Table of Contents

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PhotodesignProject 3 - Photodesign, 6 Feb 2016COMM 130 with Prof. Emily Kunz

Description:A photodesign project taking the form of an event poster.

This composition was one of the top two in my class for this assignment, and was therefore listed on the Visual Focus sample photodesign page under Winter 2016.

Objectives:Use a digital camera and basic photography skills to take a quality image. Take a photo to match a color scheme. Use layers to design in Photoshop, as well as to apply image adjustments for NDE (non-destructive editing). Print with full-bleed margins.

Programs:Adobe Photoshop

Process:This piece started with the photo. I edited it using the levels, vibrance, and selective color filters, as well as the sharpen tool. This really brought out the colors latent in the photo and created an image with a lot of impact.

Once that was in place, the photo took over and the design created itself. The reflected lines in the water demanded to be extended, and the resulting lines provided a rhythm. My planned monochromatic color scheme turned into a triadic one. The composition rotated to align with the photo and produce excitement. Things just seemed to fall into place.

But not everything fell into place. The original copy font was difficult to read due to color and weight, and the bright colors were harsh on the pure black background. I solved these issues by choosing a heavier copy font, lightening the black background slightly, and darkening the bright colors a bit. I also found the date and time worked better in the title font than the copy font.

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StationeryProject 6 - Stationery, 27 Feb 2016COMM 130 with Prof. Emily Kunz

Description:Stationery featuring a custom logo and matching a business card.

Objectives:Create an original logo and use it to design consistent layouts for a business card and letterhead. Keep designs simple with light watermarks and drop shadows and plenty of white space.

Programs:Adobe Illustrator and InDesign

Process:I created the logo in Adobe Illustrator, making extensive use of the reflect tool. The inside of the ears is a path offset from the edges of the ears, with the point rounded.

The remainder of the layout was a product of Adobe InDesign. For the watermark, I made a copy of the logo and colored it gray in Illustrator. Then I set it to 50% opacity once I had it in InDesign. I experimented with the type extensively to get it correct, and I think I ended up something as fun and light as the logo.

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Tooth Kitty DentistryDr. Melissa Munchfeather, DDSmmunchfeather@toothkitty.com123 W. East St., Orlando, CA 12321804.123.4567www.toothkittydentistry.com

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CardsProject 6 - Business cards, 27 Feb 2016COMM 130 with Prof. Emily Kunz

Description:A business card featuring a custom logo and matching a stationery design.

Objectives:Create an original logo and use it to design consistent layouts for a business card and letterhead. Keep designs simple with light watermarks and drop shadows and plenty of white space.

Programs:Adobe Illustrator and InDesign

Process:The logo is the same used on the stationery, and was created in Illustrator. My inspiration for the logo was a cartoon tooth on the side of a local dentist’s office. It had nothing to do with cats, but I was sitting next to my wife at the time, who is a fan of cats and pink. Thus Tooth Kitty was born.

This business card was designed in InDesign to match the stationery on the previous page. The logo, font, and most elements remained the same, but the watermark moved to the back and the text justification changed.

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Tooth Kitty DentistryDr. Melissa Munchfeather, DDS

mmunchfeather@toothkitty.com123 W. East St., Orlando, CA 12321

804.123.4567www.toothkittydentistry.com

Front

Back

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MontageProject 4 - Montage, 12 Feb 2016COMM 130 with Prof. Emily Kunz

Description:A montage using a quote from a song to encourage missionaries to open their mouths and preach the gospel.

Objectives:

Unify a layout with a consistent theme and dominant spiritual messageDemonstrate advanced Photoshop skills by blending two or more images together gradually, using masks. Apply typography principles. Create a strong focal point and flow.

Programs:Adobe Photoshop

Process:Hunting for photos was a challenge in this project. I wanted to convey the idea of an LDS missionary working up courage to approach a door while tracting, so I wanted a door that loomed and looked intimidating. But that was hard to find short of ones that looked like doors from a castle or haunted house, and I needed a residential door. I eventually decided on this one, where the photo was taken at a slight upward angle and the red color imparted a small feeling of alarm. The missionary image I used in my first draft was too small to use very easily, so I switched to the one currently shown.

I was torn on whether to use the font pictured for the word “brave”, Martina Regular, or to use Hollywood Hills Regular instead. Martina conveyed boldness, confidence, and freedom. But I liked Hollywood Hills because it was also bold, it was more legible, and the shakiness of the baseline suggested a bit of nervousness, like someone had tried to gather their nerve, but only mostly succeeded. I resolved the issue with a spur-of-the-moment critique from another person.

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Event AdProject 2 - Event Ad, 30 Jan 2016COMM 130 with Prof. Emily Kunz

Description:An event ad to promote a fictional fundraiser.

Objectives:Use only Microsoft Word for designing. Create a high-quality image scan. Create a full-bleed design. Choose a color scheme and typeface(s).

Programs:Microsoft Word.

Process:The challenge of this project was to design it using only Microsoft Word, and the only images permitted were scanned ones.

The scanned image had greens, oranges, and blues, so I decided to add purple to the ad to make a big split complementary color scheme. I think using the lighter tint of purple softened the composition, and a louder color would have been less appropriate for the content and audience. By flipping the original image horizontally, I was able to make the gaze of the people in the image flow into the text below. I struggled a little to find a source of pattern, but eventually created one by adding the green circles on the right. All the text was originally black, but critiques indicated that that made the titles touching the edges of the purple blocks look awkward. Rather than move the text off the edge, I pursued a solution developed in a critique session and changed the titles to white, creating a cutout look. I also changed the font to a heavier one to compensate for the change in legibility. I experimented with dropping an inner shadow from the text, but that was too much, so I removed the shadow.

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FlierProject 1 - Flier, 22 Jan 2016COMM 130 with Prof. Emily Kunz

Description:Grayscale flier to promote a fictitious leadership conference for graduates and graduating seniors.

Objectives:Apply design principles and use appropriate typography. Preserve InDesign links by using appropriate folder structures.

Programs:Adobe InDesign

Process:My instructor provided the text, image, and logo for this project. I designed the layout.

I started by making four different sketches, then I selected one as my model for creating this layout in Adobe InDesign. I created repetition and rhythm using the horizontal, white rectangles, varying their spacing according to the relatedness of their content. I guided my placement of the content by the order I would care about it if I were, say, skimming a bulletin board in a campus building. Since I wanted to avoid the stereotypical slick, sterile corporate spaceship look, I used a handwritten font to convey a little casualness.

I originally colored the horizontal rectangles a dark gray with white text, but feedback from critiques indicated that was a bad choice, so the rectangles became white. That change made a huge difference in the layout.

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LeadershipGraduate

Conference

October 21, 20168 a.m. – 5 p.m.Lincoln Convention Center

Come learn how at Vouant Communication’s annual Graduate Leadership Conference.

Vouant Communications is devoted to helping tomorrow’s leaders gain essential leadership skills in the workplace. During this dynamic three-day seminar, attendees will meet with top executives of Vouant Communications to discuss breakthrough leadership techniques, while cultivating attributes of leadership that will market to any employer.

Conference is available to graduating seniors. Space is limited.

Do you want to have the competitive edge in business?

Registration and more information available at

http://www.vouantcomm.com/leaders

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LogosProject 5 - Logos, 20 Feb 2016COMM 130 with Prof. Emily Kunz

Description:A logo for a fictitious remote tech support company called iChat, which provides help desk services by phone, text, and IM. The logo is portrayed in color, grayscale, and white-on-color.

Objectives:Create several logo options and gather outside opinions to determine the best. Refine one logo with variations for color.

Programs:Adobe Illustrator

Process:Since the company talks people through technological issues, I decided to symbolize the talk with a word balloon. I symbolized technology with the “i” prefix that appears everywhere in our culture in connection with tech.

I wanted to convey a feeling of security to assure viewers the company could fix their problems, so I decided to mostly use symmetrical balance in the logo, as well as a serif font. Also, the resulting logo looks like a standard “information” symbol, which could work in its favor.

As a result of outside critique, I used an outlined baloon rather than one with a solid fill. I feel this choice also makes the logo more flexible.

I created the word balloon in Illustrator by uniting a rounded rectangle with the tail. This presented an unexpected challenge because, as a result, the rounded corners on the rectangle ceased to be uniform. I fixed this manually with the direct selection tool.

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iChat Remote Tech Support

i

i

i

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BrochureProject 8 - Brochure, 27 Mar 2016COMM 130 with Prof. Emily Kunz

Description:A trifold brochure for a tile company marketing across multiple income demographics.

Objectives:Set up a two-sided, folded document. Create a new, original logo. Wrap text around an image with an irregular border.

Programs:Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign

Process:In Photoshop, I used a layer mask to cut out the eight-pointed tile pattern, as well as perform color alterations on one of the photos. I used Illustrator to make the LaPrecia Tile logo. I assembled the layout in InDesign, making use of alignment and groups to more conveniently manipulate the arrangements of square elements, which echo the logo.

Critique was important for this project. Critiquers pointed out issues in areas such as flow, alignment, and repetition, and they also recommended changes. As a result, I increased emphasis on the repeating squares motif and rearranged many elements.

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A Richmond TraditionWe’ve served the Richmond, VA area since 1967, exciting your imaginations and bringing your visions to life. The experience and expertise that provided tile work for the Preston Center remodeling in 1996 or the fabulous March Theatre in 2003 is available to you in your own home.

Isn’t that Expensive?World-class tile services are less expensive than you may think! Consult today with one of our tile experts to see how you can make your dream real. Our tile experts know the tile products on the market well. They can help you find affordable alternatives that put your vision within reach.

When You Need ItYou use tile in some of the busiest spaces in your home. We know you can’t afford to be without those spaces for long. Our tiling teams work quickly to ensure you’re back to business as usual as soon as possible. We can even finish some projects in one day!

Design ConsultantsWe know your home is an important part of your life. That’s why our in-house designers work with you to get a sense of your vision for the space you’re working in. We draw on our decades of experience to inspire your creativity and help you find ways to make your space something you can feel proud of. Your home is your castle. It should be beautiful!

Limitless PossibilitiesWe draw on the largest selection of tile products in Richmond to make your space brilliant and beautiful. We stock over 5,000 varieties of tile in ceramic, stone, glass, cement, faux wood, and metal. You can choose from many textures and over 20,000 colors. Create brilliant effects or subtle, earthy designs to match any décor.

LaPrecia Tile

LaPrecia Tile

4813 Wilson St.Memorial County, VA 21009804-123-4567www.lapreciatile.com

One of our experts at the Markess Opera House.

Thousands of choices to make any vision a reality.

“Making your dreams a reality since 1967.”

Inside:

Outside:

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Web PageProject 7 - Web Page, 12 Mar 2016COMM 130 with Prof. Emily Kunz

Description:A web paged based on a previously designed logo. This was a beginner-level exercise in HTML and CSS.

Objectives:Write HTML and copy. Customize provided CSS. Identify hex colors.

Programs:Notepad++

Process:Since this was a beginning exercise, we started with sample text that included doctype and meta charset tags. We enclosed the remaining text in appropriate tags. Then we linked the page to a template CSS file and customized the stylesheet to match our own chosen color scheme and styling.

I chose to use my Tooth Kitty logo from a previous project. I accordingly set up a black, gray, white, and pink color scheme, using adobe Illustrator’s color picker to find hex values for the gray and pink. On Google Fonts, I was able to find the same font I used on the Tooth Kitty stationery. I also optimized line spacing for readability and tweaked spacing between text elements in a couple of places for better use of proximity. And I included some elements of responsiveness.

In consequence of feedback from critiques, I also moved a little text above the logo and gave the second heading a pink background like the first.

As a later exercise, I edited the content and changed much of it to two-column format.

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