Creative Assignment 1: Photo Illustration or Infographic

Choose to do either the Photo-illustration or the Infographic assignment (do NOT do both). This is due later in the semester.

Option One: Photo-Illustration Create a photo-illustration that is surreal (i.e., an image that is dreamlike or bends the feeling of time, interesting, and/or mysterious) is one option for the first of two required creative assignments for you to do. You may create this image from scratch or alter an existing image to achieve a surreal effect.

A few ideas for you to consider when contemplating the image you will create: • Significantly retouch an old photograph (show the “before” and “after”). • Alter a photograph of someone or something to change or evoke some emotion not present in the original (e.g., anger, intelligence, insanity, joy). • Change landscapes or objects so that they appear surreal (e.g., change the color of the sky, add objects that don’t or shouldn't belong).

The Worth 1000 galleries and contests may provide additional inspiration. Take a look. If you choose this option, complete your image, then skip ahead to "Requirements For Both Options" (below) for additional requirements.

Option Two: Infographic You are to create an infographic on any topic of your choice. "Infographics combine information and graphics to suggest a strong relationship between the two," wrote Arthur Asa Berger in his book Seeing is Believing. This assignment provides an opportunity for you to think creatively about information graphics, as can be assembled with the software available to you. If you decide to do this assignment, you will be required to find some set of raw data not currently presented graphically (i.e., data perhaps presented in words or numbers) and transform it into a more easily understood infographic. There are infinite options for you to consider. Some infographics include, maps, process diagrams, scatter diagrams, bar and column charts. Your end product will require minimal, if any, explanation to both the expert and layperson in your audience. Therefore, communicability is a requirement. The result of your work must be efficient and self-explanatory in its message. Need inspiration. Scroll through Creative Bloq webpage.

Read "Requirements For Both Options" (next page) for additional requirements.

Requirements for Both Options The assignment is due toward the end of the semester allowing the student many weeks of work and refinement. The assignment presents an opportunity for you to show off the tools and techniques (e.g., filters, layers, masks, web image optimization, channels) that you have learned over the course of the semester. Keep a log of the major techniques you used to create this image.

Once complete, this assignment must be submitted in a file format suitable for the web. Optimize the image for the highest quality viewing. Be sure that the image is no more than 360 pixels wide (if however you did an infographic, a larger image size is permissible to ensure that the data can be read. Think about the optimal size of your infographic for on-screen viewing given today's display devices).

Upload the finished assignment to the Assignment area (click on the title to go to the Assignment Submission screen) on the course website. If you are having difficulty doing that, please send it as an attachment to an email to me. Include a brief description on the techniques you used to create the image. An example of a brief description is below:

There were a wide variety of tools that I used to create this image. The transform tools helped me to resize the cow and distort its legs. The pattern stamp was used to wallpaper the sky. I applied the polar coordinates to parts of the image, with the settings 'rectangular to polar' at 25%. Select tools, such as the polygonal and magic wand tools were used considerably. I did some dodging with the dodge tool to smooth out some of the borders and so on…. This assignment will be graded on a five-point scale using a rubric to assess categories: effort and skill, presentation, and web-based format.

The rubric that I use to grade this assignment is on the next page.