Through this assignment, I was exposed to new terms graphic designers use on a daily basis. For example, some black and white images are really halftones, a dotted pattern that gives off the illusion of tone. Also, I learned how to crop and use posterization in photoshop.

As for my design approach, I wanted my 1-color model to embody the essence of my word “grandmasboy.” That is why I designed this postcard as if it were addressed to my grandmother. I feel like when you are a grandmasboy you have that reputation for being the center of grandmother’s attention. So I placed the word grandmasboy in the center of my design. Also, grandmothers always want to see, grab, and kiss your cheeks like you are a baby. I cropped my baby picture diagonally, and placed the image into four triangles. I placed each one of the triangles into one of the four corners of the document to create a boarder. I used softer tints on two of the triangles opposite to each other for contrast. The tint complimented the pantone beige color I used throughout my design. Lastly, I used a script typeface to give the word an elegant appeal.

I made another 1-color model to simply fulfill the posterization requirement. I cropped my face in half and then turned the image into rectangular stairs. I used the stairs to form a staircase that spells out the word grandmasboy. I bolded every other letter to showcase a contrast of weight. Underneath the staircase I created a collage of letters to give it some more style. Later, I felt like it was to plain, so I added more details.

On the hand, I made a duotone image using the colors dark green and yellow. Unfortunately, the dark green tone overpowered the yellow tone in my image. However, I think it still accomplished my goal of creating a money green look. In addition, I posterized my image and cropped it horizontally to create boarders. In between my boarders I recreated the “moneygram” logo, which is also my word for my duotone. It was challenging creating the white arrow going through my tinted red dot. Overall the message I was trying to send is that money can be evil, and consequently, split families apart.

For my 4-color model I kept it simple. I thought there were already enough colors in the image. The word I picked for this design was “graduation.” I used the cut tool to crop out an abstract shape for my image. I added some black and light blue tinted circles to make the design look full. I kept the background white and added some horizontal lines and a postal stamp.