Digital Photography and Imaging | Project 1: Collage

Project 1A: Physical Collage

From the previous week, Mr Fauzi asked us to start thinking and prepare the materials we need to make a physical collage for our first task. It could be anything we like.

Concept: Right Through Me aka another excuse to fangirl

I first thought of a mini-album by Day 6 (Even of Day) named 'Right Through Me'. The title track, 'Right Through Me', was a song about the feeling of not being needed by a loved one anymore. It contained the lyrics "your words pierced right through me", which I found very impactful so I wanted to make a collage of that. Additionally, the concept of this album has a very strong vintage and grungy visual, which could add an interesting texture to the collage.

Hence, with that as inspiration, I set out to the internet to gather materials for this collage. As I did not have any magazines or photobooks of them (even if I had, my heart will ache with the thought of cutting it out haha), I resorted to finding relevant images online and printing them out. I prepared three different drafts using similar elements. 

Figure 1.1: First digital drafts, Week 2 (30/8/21)

My first idea was drafted digitally as I did not have any materials prepared at first. I knew I needed to print the elements in the right size so, by drafting it out, I had a clearer idea of the scaling of each piece. I decided to keep the left draft of Figure 1.2 instead of the other as the shape of the head cut-out complimented the straighter edges of the paper more.

Figure 1.2: Pre-composition 2, Week 2 (30/8/21)

For the second composition, I used lesser elements than the first composition and made the design more centralized. I felt that this was less cluttered than the first one as I made more use of white space here.

Figure 1.3: Pre-composition 3, Week 2 (30/8/21)

I utilized the rectangle version of the subject in this to provide more contrast for the words. 

Some pieces used were purely for visual aspects, but I made sure to purposely choose more elements that were meaningful to the phrase. The main concept was the heart-breaking effect of words, so elements that contain many words, such as the written letter, books, and newspaper, were used. It could be interpreted as rejected love letters, memories of a movie date, or how time has changed 'love' to 'loved'. There is no one true reason why I chose each element, but I placed each element there with the intention to convey the meaning of the song. Another subtle effect is the tearing and crumpling of papers to visualize, in a way, how one's heart feels in this context.

This was one of the rare times where I could not choose a favourite design or composition among the three. It could be my inner bias to the band speaking, but I'd like to think it is not due to that. 

Feedback: Mr Fauzi suggested making Figure 1.2 the final composition as the main subject is more centralized and contrast, with the elements surrounding it complimenting it. 

Final Composition (Physical Collage)

Figure 1.4: "Right Through Me" Final composition (left), Rule of thirds (right), Week 2 (30/8/21)

Figure 1.5: Bonus: Poster Image for Right Through Me by Day 6 (Even of Day), Week 2 (30/8/21)

Fun fact: on my home page, the banner is a close-up of my fanart of the singer in the red shirt (Wonpil).

Project 1B: Digital Collage

We were introduced to the second half of this project, the digital version of the collage. The images used have to be from a list of images Mr Fauzi provided. We were also called to create three different compositions based on the images in Photoshop.

Figure 2.1: "Wrong Floor" Digital Collage, Week 3 (6/9/21)

For the first collage, I used the elevator and both the fish images. I used the golden ratio to set a cohesive flow to the image as well. I found the two types of fish as interesting subjects so I thought it would be a fun idea to create a scenario where one fish was entering the wrong floor through the elevator. I used the pen tool to cut out the seaweed shapes of the newspaper texture as the foreground.

 

Figure 2.2: "Where do we go?" Digital Collage, Week 3 (6/9/21)

I attempted a more centralized composition for this and made circles from the texture images provided. The golden ratio was also used to create visual hierarchy. I added the train station image in here as I felt that the bottom right space was too empty. The train image helped form the story, almost suggesting that the fish was asking for directions.

Figure 2.3: "Someplace Faraway" Digital Collage, Week 3 (6/9/21)

Lastly, I used the rule of thirds to create a more landscape type collage; the important elements are placed near where the lines intersect.  I used the lasso tool to cut out mountain-like shapes of different textures and layered it accordingly. The train station cutout looks like a road stretching all the way to the mountain, hence, inspiring the title. 

Feedback: Mr Fauzi suggested making Figure 2.2 the final composition for my digital collage.

Using Figure 2.2, we were then tasked to try different adjustments and experiment with Photoshop tools to improve or change how the composition looks.

Adjustment #1

Figure 3.1: Colour correction 1, Week 4 (13/9/21)

In Figure 3.1 I only adjusted the overall hue and colour balance. The red on the train was also adjusted for better visual cohesion with the main red circles. I felt that the original colour scheme complimented each other very well, so I just focused on making the main colours (red and blue) more saturated. The overall contrast is also increased.

Adjustment #2

Figure 3.2: Colour correction 2, Week 4 (13/9/21)

For the second colour correction, I experimented more with inverse colours and played around more with the levels and hue adjustments. I also tried different layer types such as multiply and overlay to achieve different effects. While the overall colour scheme is kept the same, certain elements such as the background and circles have the colours inverted. 

Adjustment #3

Figure 3.3: Colour correction 3, Week 4 (13/9/21)

In Figure 3.1, the colours had a warm feel to it, so I decided to experiment cooler versions of the colours. I used hues and level adjustments to tweak specific colours, such as the main blues and reds, and applied clipping mask to adjust colours of specific elements, such as the train. I also adjusted the colours of the leaves to match the blue of the fish.

Feedback: Mr Fauzi said that the first adjustment can be used as the final digital collage. 

Final Digital Composition (Digital Collage)

Figure 3.4: Final digital composition, Week 3 (13/9/21)

Reflection

Experience

The physical collage was very exciting and interesting to do. I get to create something on a band that I like and had fun finding different elements on what could match the subject. As for the digital collage, it was a new experience as I got to learn and experiment with the different tools in Photoshop. It felt like an unlocked achievement when experimenting with the different adjustment tools Photoshop has to offer.

Observation

For the physical collage, I think I played a lot within my comfort zone in terms of subject and aesthetic. In the digital collage, playing around with different textures can create more interesting visual elements. As I was adjusting the colour correction, I find myself experimenting with too many things at once to keep track.

Findings

I found the rule of thirds very helpful in creating a more cohesive composition, as well as the golden rule. Different types of layers, such as multiple and overlay, can achieve different effects.