The logo I created closely mirrors the sketch I drew by hand. I struggled a lot to try to figure out a logo design that I felt good about. My inspiration came from logos you might see on motorsports gear and equipment. I knew that I wanted a silhouette of a bike with some text, but I didn’t want to make the design too simple. So I decided I needed a good background. The style of motorcycle shown is a dual-sport, so when I was designing the logo, I knew that I wanted to reflect that the bike is useful in more than one environment, both on-road and off-road.

I divided the square into two halves and used basic shapes to create either side of the image. One thing I struggled with here was adding color. In the final draft, I definitely want to add color to the logo. I will probably keep the bike silhouette and the stroke black while changing the roadway and mountains to a different color.

When it actually came to drawing the logo on Illustrator, I originally tried to trace a photo of a bike using the pen tool. I quickly realized that this would be a long process and that the result would be disappointing and hardly worth the effort. I opted instead to try using basic shapes to build an abstract model. This took some time but I ended up with a decent piece. In the final draft I’m definitely going to fix this because it’s really rough. I feel like if I were to place another photo, then lay shapes over top of it, I might end up with a more realistic looking model. After creating the bike, I grouped the objects and moved it over to the square.

Overall, I think the logo is coming along well, but I do have some major improvements in mind.

At this point in the design process, I think my logo is going to feature a silhouette of a motorcycle overtop of a split image with mountains on one side and a roadway on the other. The design will likely be colored but I’m not sure at this point how.

For the final draft of my photoshop project, I decided to go in a separate direction than what I had originally shown in my first draft. At first, I wasn’t sure what I wanted this piece to look like, all I knew was that I wanted a poster that reflected some of the best features of my bike. The first challenge I ran into was figuring out how to incorporate more photos. I struggled with this because first of all, I’m not very creative, but also I prefer a clean look, especially for a poster like this.

In the first draft, I used only one photo of the bike but used secondary photos for effects such as the background and as an effect for the title.  In the final draft, however, I was able to use two separate photographs and a title. Both of the pictures were taken by a friend of mine, Luke Hollister, who is credited in my initial image collection post.

For the title, I wrote out the text before blurring it and using the filter and distort tool to place the text up against a picture of lightning, thereby causing small wrinkles in the text. The image I used to distort was also found on Pixabay.  https://pixabay.com/en/lightning-storm-weather-sky-399853/

I wanted the bike itself to stand out in both photos, so I decided to darken the corners around it in order to highlight it. I first opened each of the photos in a separate photoshop document and created a vignette effect on each. I used the elliptical marquee tool to go around the entire photo, then selected the inverse so that only the corners would be selected. I then painted feathered and painted the corners black, then turned down the opacity.

I then pulled each of these flattened images into the original document, whose background was blackened, and placed them where I wanted them. I then decided to fill the extra space with more text, such as facts and specifications about the bike.

The comments on my original post included feedback about my photo and the title text. One comment said that the text needed to be manipulated to make the lightning effect more noticeable. I started by increasing the size of the text, then coloring the entire poster, including the text, with a warm filter to tone down how bright it was. Another comment said that I should work on making it so the bike stood out less compared to the background. I did this by using less effects to differentiate the two objects.

Overall, I think my poster turned out well and is definitely something I could see hung up on my wall.

For this post I wasn’t completely sure where to go and how to create my piece. I knew I wanted a poster with the title of the bike but I wasn’t completely sure how to incorporate extra photos into the piece without ruining the balance and cleanliness I wanted.

The base picture was one taken by a friend of mine, Luke Hollister, who is credited in my initial image collection post. I wanted to use this as my main focus because I appreciated how clean and well lit the picture was. I began by placing a photo I got for free from Pixabay as the background for the work. This picture was found at https://pixabay.com/en/arid-background-climate-desert-21799/

While this image of dirt was underneath the picture of the the bike, I used the quick selection tool to grab the bike as a whole so that I could separate it from the background. I then turned down the opacity on everything but the bike itself, thereby exposing the dirt background.

I wanted the bike itself to stand out as well, so I decided to darken the corners around it in order to highlight it. I used the elliptical marquee tool to go around the entire photo, then selected the inverse so that only the corners would be selected. I then painted feathered and painted the corners black, then turned down the opacity.

For the title, I wrote out the text before blurring it and using the filter and distort tool to place the text up against a picture of lightning, thereby causing small wrinkles in the text. The image I used to distort was also found on Pixabay.  https://pixabay.com/en/lightning-storm-weather-sky-399853/

For my final draft I think I’m going to have to come up with a more creative way to incorporate the elements I want. I feel like the draft turned out decent but I’m going to have to spend more time getting used to the program.

Photos by Luke Hollister

My idea is to take one of these photos and add text with information about the bike around it, sort of like an ad.

Here are my completed tutorials.

Motorcycling has always been an interest of mine. Motorcycles in general are one of the best forms of transportation out there. The road whizzing by directly under my feet at 70 miles per hour, the wind in my face, the feel of every bump in the pavement; Motorcycling offers something cars and trucks just don’t: a sense of freedom. I use my bike to commute, to get groceries, and for leisure. I spend whole nights working on my bike, doing maintenance, repairs, and modifications. This form of getting myself from one place to another has become a lifestyle for me. This is what has led me to make motorcycles one of my true passions.

I chose this topic because it reflects my personality and key interests strongly. My motorcycle and how I use it are unique to me. The time I spend working on it and riding it is part of a never-ending journey. I will easily be able to create projects around this topic that are original and creative.

I plan to collect content for my projects in a number of ways. With a camera, I will gather pictures of my bike in the places I go, as well as during various points in a project. These will be important visual aides that will help break up text give life to my blog. I can gather audio of interviews I might have with other motorcyclists and their perspectives and stories.

For the video footage, I have a special idea in mind. It will involve attaching some miniature action cameras to both my helmet and my handlebars, then using a bluetooth speaker inside my helmet and synced to my phone. This way, I will be able to create a captivating video from my perspective when I am riding my bike.

I have two specific ideas in mind for projects. For the Adobe Photoshop project I plan on creating a poster that features my bike in a scenic area, along with some graphs of information on the sides. For the Adobe Premier project I plan on using the setup I discussed above to create a video blog featuring myself and friends on a typical ride.

Inspiration:

Poster: pinterest poster ideas I included this because it is a really good idea of what I want to do, mainly a picture of my bike along with a large title and description on the side.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMbCqVYtwvU This is just kind of a random video from a youtuber I enjoy watching. I would create a video project similar to this.

Logo: https://www.facebook.com/pnwdualsport/?hc_ref=ARQXaln_SPe-nllSv8U0gTG_yXOMoWOAV6eLozQuReleJ3yOu_L13Ri24r-7-uUpsv0&fref=gs&dti=838098669611093&hc_location=group I like the logo this group uses as their profile picture.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton