Recreating Movie Poster

 Recreating my horror movie poster gave me the opportunity to experiment deeply with color theory, emotional tone, visual structure, and symbolic storytelling. Inspired by the dark atmosphere of The Conjuring franchise, I designed this poster with the intention of making viewers feel immediate dread before they even read the title. Using what I learned in chapter 5 about color, emotion, and visual tone. For horror, desaturated colors, harsh contrast, and dominant dark hues help communicate feelings of terror, danger, and unease. I used a muted black-blue background to set a cold and lifeless tone. It suggests night, mystery, and death.

• The pale gray faces of the characters emerge eerily from the darkness, adding a ghostly, corpse-like effect.

• The yellow-orange glowing eyes on the central figure (Valak) introduce an unnatural heat often associated with evil or possession.

• Blood red typography was chosen not just for visibility but for its symbolic weight, blood, warning, rage, and violence.

The visual structure of the poster follows the “Z-pattern” layout, guiding the viewer’s eye from top to bottom in order. I chose a serif font with long, sharp accents and thick strokes for “THE CONJURING IV.” The sharp serifs mimic crosses, reinforcing religious horror themes. The Nun’s looming face represents evil that watches and controls. Annabelle, a childlike doll, symbolizes corrupted innocence. The crawling entity implies that evil is not just seen, it moves toward you.

Unexpected Journey

     If you had told me back in high school, struggling through a Photoshop class and wondering why anyone thought layers and masks were fun, that one day I’d be nearing the finish line of a college degree in graphic design, I probably would’ve laughed. Back then, it felt like the whole world of design was speaking a language I didn’t understand. Once I joined the United States Navy, I felt that four years of my life as a mechanical engineer were shaped by discipline, structure, and purpose, none of which involved anything remotely creative. Design wasn’t just off my radar, it didn’t even seem like something people like me pursued. But as I transitioned out of the military, I found myself searching. Not just for a new career, but for a new voice. Something that let me express parts of myself I’d kept quiet or didn't even know existed. The problem was simple, I didn't see myself as a creative person. My only real experience was a Photoshop class that was frustrating. I had written off anything artsy as “not for me.” And yet, something kept pulling me toward visuals, toward stories told without words. I enrolled in a graphic arts and design program not because I was confident, but because I was curious. That curiosity quickly turned to doubt. In my first few classes, I felt behind. I didn’t have a sketchbook full of ideas, or a long list of designs. I felt like an outsider, someone who took too long on assignments, second-guessed every choice, and struggled to understand tools that others seemed to pick up instantly.

     One moment that stands out was my first project using Photoshop. I had to create a poster for a destination location for a travel agency, and after hours of working on it, I still felt it looked like something pulled from ClipArt.I feel that the real battle wasn’t with the different software we would learn to use almost every month, but it was with my mindset. I had to learn that everyone is creative and artistic in their own way, even me, we just have trouble tapping into that side of our creativity. Most people think that you’re either “born with it” or not. Untrue, because slowly, I began to see design as a craft, not a talent. Something that could be shaped, improved, and sharpened with time and patience. What helped me a lot in this process was that I started to reflect a lot on my blog post and the designs along the way. I watched YouTube tutorials, read other classmates' design blogs, and even began posting responses to projects done by my classmates, which both helped me learn how to do things. It helped me see how even in my very own work, I could use improvement on. Every critique became a map to get to where I wanted to be as a designer. Now, nearing the end of my associate’s degree, I see design differently. It’s no longer a world I don’t belong to, it's a language I’m still learning, but one I now understand how to speak. 

    From one of my most recent branding projects, where I explored emotional storytelling (like my Beats by Dre poster), to social media ads I built from scratch in Premiere Pro, I’ve started to build a body of work I’m proud of. This journey has taught me resilience, patience, and a new definition of creativity. It’s not about being perfect, it’s about being persistent. It’s not about flashy visuals, it's about clear communication and listening to the clients and learning their story and understanding their mission that best tells the world who they are. As I look ahead, I see design not just as a job, but as a way to contribute meaningful visuals.  Whether I end up designing for nonprofits, a big corporate company, or even if I go into freelance work for myself. I know that design can tell stories that matter, and that is what I intend to do.

Quiet Haven

 For my Social media Ad, I decided to do it on a company I made up called Quiet Haven. It is a company designed to support people who feel lonely, emotionally isolated, or silently struggling with their mental health. It serves as a safe space, either in person or online, where individuals can find community, compassion, and quiet understanding. 

Haven Sheds

Haven Sheds

 For this Brand identity, I decided to create a fictional brand called Haven Sheds. It was founded on the belief that everyone deserves a personal space they can call their own. Whether it’s a garden retreat, a home office, or a storage solution, our sheds are crafted with care and built to last. We value craftsmanship, simplicity, and the idea that big dreams can live in small spaces. At our core, we bring practical beauty to backyards and help people create their own little haven.

For my logo design, I wanted to keep it fairly simple and clean, a simple shed silhouette with the roof peaks forming a soft arch to give a sense of warmth and safety. Underneath, a clean sans-serif text with the company name. My color scheme includes a forest green for nature and calm. A warm beige more for wood tones and warmth, like every home should be, and some slate grey for strength and durability. 

 

The visual identity of Haven Sheds is focused on comfort, craftsmanship, and personal space. I chose a simple shed shape for the logo to show that these sheds are more than just buildings, they’re places people care about. The soft curve of the roof makes the logo feel more friendly and welcoming instead of sharp or cold. For the color scheme, I used forest green, warm beige, and slate gray. These colors were picked because they feel natural and grounded. The green represents nature and the outdoors, the beige looks like wood, and the gray gives it a strong and dependable vibe.

The images I chose show real people using their sheds for painting, working, or gardening. This helps tell the story that sheds aren’t just for storing stuff, but can also be personal spaces for creating and relaxing. Overall, the design I made is meant to feel warm, reliable, and personal, showing how Haven Sheds can help people build more than just a shed, they’re building a special space.

 "Plumbing is a Crap Job” 

Theme “Overconfidence meets reality”

My Story is about a quirky, overconfident plumber with a flashy monopoly man mustache called Lucky. He also has a YouTube channel showing the world the day to day housecalls he does. This story takes place in a suburban home bathroom. Lucky enters dramatically, wearing a towel as a cape, while holding a plunger like a sword. Lucky then tells the homeowner, “Relax I've handled worse”. He then starts to work on the pipe problem and turns the wrench the wrong way, causing the pipe to burst, spraying water everywhere. He tries to fix the problem with multiple solutions that all fail, like using duct tape over the leak. Or even using a potato as a type of wedge for the pipe. Each fix fails more spectacularly. The leak gets worse, and the room is slowly flooding. He finally attempts a dramatic final fix, he yells “FOR PLUMBIA!”(his YouTube Channel) and dives under the sink 

BOOM! The entire sink rips from the wall, crashing into the tub. Water sprays from every fixture like a Las Vegas water fountain. Lucky is then sitting in the flooded bathroom in a kiddie floatie while the homeowner is staring him down. Lucky mutters Next time, just call a real plumber, as he leaves drenched in wet clothing but still optimistic.

Week 4 Creative Exercise

 For this week's creativity exercise, I was tasked with creating a drawing that explores time-based metaphors using visual metaphors. The real purpose of this activity was to challenge the way I think about storytelling through imagery. It pushed me to take something invisible like time and give it shape, emotion, and meaning.

I created a set of drawings using the idea of a time machine. One of the key images featured an hourglass with different scenes in each half, the top showing a person facing a sunset over hills resembling the past, and the bottom showing another person sitting in a futuristic city (the future). As sand trickled from one to the other, it symbolized how time continuously flows, pulling us forward while still being shaped by what came before. 

I learned that visual metaphors are powerful for expressing complex ideas and emotions. This exercise helped me shift from just drawing what looks good, to drawing what means something. I’ll use metaphors more intentionally in future projects to add depth and communicate ideas clearly, especially in illustrations, posters, and any creative storytelling work.

week 3 Creativity

 For this week's creative exercise I really liked last week's exercise on visual metaphors so I decided  to do  a creative exercise out of it. So for this week I was tasked with exploring the use of visual metaphors and symbolic images that represent abstract ideas without relying on text. The goal of the assignment was not just to draw, but to think more deeply about how objects, animals, and scenes can be used to communicate complex thoughts, emotions, and situations through symbolism and visual storytelling. 

I created three visual metaphors

“Couch Potato” A literal potato slumped in a green armchair, representing laziness or inactivity.

“A Duck Out of Water” A confused duck holding a dripping water bottle while standing in a small puddle, symbolizing feeling out of place or uncomfortable in unfamiliar surroundings.

“Under Pressure”  A person trapped between two brick walls, pushing against them with both hands, showing the emotional or mental strain of being overwhelmed or constrained.

This exercise taught me how powerful visuals can be when they go beyond what is literal. One of the most valuable takeaways from this activity was learning how to express ideas visually that would normally require explanation. It made me think differently about how I design and communicate, especially in a world that moves quickly and where images often speak louder than words. In the future, I can use this exercise to generate stronger design concepts, brainstorm, or create more emotional illustrations. Most importantly, it reminded me that creativity isn’t always about making something new, it's often about seeing something old in a completely new way.