Category Archives: Assignments

Go Bills!

If I hadn’t advertised it already, I am a huge Bills fan. My whole entire family is from Buffalo, New York, so naturally this comes with being a Bills fan, as well as having bleu cheese with your wings (although I also do like ranch with my wings but do not tell them I said that). So, when I saw the sports poster assignment, I thought I would try my best to do my favorite team of all time. I wanted to recreate a graphic you could see on Instagram or social media when it is time for game day. One that captures the essence of the team, as well as the sport itself. I used the colors of the team, blue, red and white, as well as highlighting the current major players that make the team what it is, such as Josh Allen, James Cook, and Khalil Shakir. I then found symbols that are associated with football and play-making. Overall, I had a lot of fun creating a graphic for a team I truly love (although I am still grieving them losing in the playoffs but it is okay, there is always next year)!

What’s in Veronica’s Bag?

I do not have a purse or a bag that I usually carry around (other than my book bag of course), so I decided to do a “What’s in my bag” for my course character, Veronica Malone. I go more in depth about her in my post, Meet Veronica Malone, but I will still give a quick rundown. She is a part of the hard-boiled detective archetype, who was raised in Boston, Massachusetts, and has a no-nonsense, quick-witted, fiery personality.

For the bag itself, I feel like she would treat herself to a high-quality, good looking bag, so I went with this black leather bag. Then, she would have a note pad and pen in case she needs to note anything that she sees when she is out and about, or maybe just to doodle in. Next, she would have a flip phone, as she believes she doesn’t need the new, updated technology as the flip phone functions just fine for her. Then, she would have all of her makeup products, in her favorite color red of course, in case she needs to touch it up throughout her hard work days. She would also have her sunglasses, which are a stylish, tiny pair, enough to keep the sun out of her eyes. Lastly, she loves gum, specifically the cinnamon flavored gum (which is very controversial I guess), so she always makes sure to have a pack with her.

This was probably my favorite assignment so far, as I was able to build on Veronica as a character, as well as get a bit creative with what she would like/carry with her at all times. I can’t wait to build on her character even more in future assignments.

Destress and Color

Week 3 Assignment #1
A colorful mandala drawing.

I saw a lot of people doing this assignment, so I thought I would give it a try! I always loved coloring, because it has always been a relaxing activity I can turn to if I need to distract myself or need something to do. Especially in this specific design, the mandala, which are known to have therapeutic effects when coloring them, such as decreasing tension and anxiety and encouraging creativity. According to an article by Pine Rest Mental Health Services, the shapes and the colors chosen for the mandala can symbolize whatever the artist wants it to be. When thinking about this specific drawing, I liked the colors, since some of my favorite colors are in it, such as pink and blue. Also, the almost floral-leafy design of it was appealing since I love nature in art. Overall, I enjoyed this assignment and it was a great way to destress from my work from other classes!

A World of Color

After a very long and stressful day I had minimal motivation to do work of any kind. I was tired and groggy but knew I had to relax and get something done, but I didn’t know my assignment would consist of both. I was browsing through design assignments and the Destress & Color assignment caught my eye. It seemed fun and a good fit as it would give me a much needed mental reset. Downloaded the app and boom, there’s all of these choices and I don’t know what to choose. After a bit of browsing I went for lots of landscapes involving nature to fit with the calmness I was aiming to achieve while doing this assignment. It worked swimmingly, as I immediately got into a groove and zoned out until I was done and realized how pretty all of the pieces I had chosen were. I had a lot of fun with this assignment and was glad I could share the theme I had in my mind while selecting what to color.

Daily Creates

This week I was happy we only had to do three so I could do my best to get my work done sooner rather than later.

I made these three for this week’s daily creates the one that took me the longest was definitely the Australia day. I almost forgot it until I laid in bed and then jumped up realizing I never posted it. Since it was so late when I remember couldn’t add a kangaroo and koala like I wanted to. The flags were the pg version of my idea, I was actually planning to do a map and then have the country flipping off everyone else and them looking either happy or offended based on their relationships.

The last one I did I was low key sad since I realized there wasn’t really anything I had aside from basically homework, my parents are lucky I didn’t learn to hate them because EVERY summer I was forced to spend the whole-time doing homework. If my siblings were sent to summer school, they PAID for me to go too! Like homie what!

The burrito was nice but gosh was it pricey, the most balanced meal I had in a while.

Mango Sees All

Combine a cat pic with an appropriate Shakespearean quotation. Based on the work of Laura Gibbs. Link to assignment: https://assignments.ds106.us/assignments/shakespearean-lolcat/

I picked this assignment because I have so many pictures of my cat Mango! Like my other visual assignments, I used Canva to create this. In this photo, I was in the middle of a massive room cleanup and decided to take a break on my bed. Mango, of course, came over to demand attention and got super close to my phone, so I snapped this picture. I paired it with the quote, “Let every eye negotiate for itself and trust no agent,” because his wide, intense eyes make it look like he’s analyzing everything and staring straight into someone’s soul.

Visual and Design Projects

The first two assignments were made with my character Max in mind

Max Matrix

Brave? – Assignment Bank

For this assignment, I was inspired by the game over screens when you fail a game. At first It seems you have hit a stopping point but then you look down and see try again but and you find a new way. Things aren’t over till you give up. Max has hit dead ends all her life, but she knows that It’s only over when she stops fighting. So, until then she will punch through firewalls and bodies. Photos and edit done by me. I made this using a software called Picarts using black boxes to fill in the computer screen and finding a font that fit. Took a but to maneuver it properly though.

Personal Trading Card – Assignment Bank

I decided to visualize max through a site called Picrew. Artist ne_yolk. With that and the trading card creator it was easy to bring Max to life and flesh her out a bit more. Dirty brown hair, deep dark circle, and unhealthy pale skin due to all the smog cover and being inside. My thought process was of her getting caught eating sugar to keep herself up after not sleeping all night.

Destination Poster – Assignment Bank

Images and edits by me, the image is off certain day on campus that I saw a rabbit and thought it was stunning so naturally I snapped a photo. I try to preserve small moments if I can. This was back last semester when I walked past for work and the light was hitting perfectly, I couldn’t help myself.

Finn’s Walk Home

Take a picture and experiment with the “Halftone Effect” in some photo editing software to create a comic book effect. There are lots of tutorials on Youtube and Google.

Here is the link: https://assignments.ds106.us/assignments/comic-book-effect/

I chose this assignment because I loved the idea of creating a comic using a photo, and I was surprised at how simple it was to do. The image I used is from the perspective of a character I created, Finn Calloway, who lives in NYC. This particular shot represents a POV of his walk back to his penthouse. I took the photo during a trip to NYC on a rainy day. Since most comics I’ve read are set in New York, I thought this image of people walking down a street between tall buildings really captured that classic comic vibe. To create the comic effect, I used Canva. Although I know the halftone effect in Canva’s premium version would be ideal, I used the “Screen” filter as an alternative to give it that comic-like appearance.

Cuteness Overload

It’s simple. Choose your favorite photo you’ve taken and tell everyone why you love it so much.

Here is the Link: https://assignments.ds106.us/assignments/your-favourite-photo/

Image of cat sleeping with tongue slightly out

This assignment was both simple and challenging for me. I have a hard time deleting photos, so it took me a while to choose a favorite. Honestly, it’s tough to pick just one, but I’d say this is probably one of my top photos. I absolutely adore my cat, and she has this funny habit of sleeping with her mouth open with her tongue out, which I find incredibly cute. On this particular day, she was napping like that while keeping an eye on the family in the kitchen. I decided to add a little hair accessory to her body to keep her warm, and it made the moment even sweeter. I love this picture because it captures her personality perfectly plus, it’s rare for me to get such a good photo since she’s always on the move!

For this assignment I used my iPhone cameras to capture this photograph

For Clover

M. Marshall 1.24

Dear Clover,

I have loved you since the moment I saw you. I don’t really believe in love at first sight, but what I experienced the first time I saw you says otherwise. I spent months convincing Mom and Dad to get a dog, I would beg them to take the family to the local SPCA and look at potential pets, but what I really wanted was a puppy.

You were 2 months old, and I was 14 years old. Your mom had birthed a pretty big litter of puppies, but there was one left on that fateful evening, the little runt. At that time the SPCA let you put a hold on an animal you were interested in adopting but needed time to consider. It broke my little heart to see you on hold.

After realizing this, Mom and Dad had gone over to the cat section to see other options, but they didn’t understand, I just needed a dog. I stood around for a few minutes, maybe 15. Eventually in protest against getting a cat because I knew I was meant to get a dog, I returned to the glass you were behind.

But something had changed. The hold tag had disappeared. Absolutely giddy, I told Mom and Dad what had changed. She’s off hold now! My parents shrugged and we went to the front desk and asked to meet you. The couple behind us in line also wanted to ask about you, but we got there first. They brought you into the private room with us, you had just been spayed, so you were pretty tired, but you were so damn adorable and cuddly.

We put our own hold on you, went out and bought puppy food, a bowl, a collar, and that cow you loved so much, and brought you home the next morning. I couldn’t have even imagined a better dog.

I just want you to know that I love you and I miss you every day that I’m at school. You’re the light of my life and you have been for nearly 8 years now. Thank you for being you.