Raymond Vasquez

I have learned that working with Pantone colors can be a lot of fun. To be clear, Pantone colors are print ready pure colors. They are best saved as an EPS. or Pdf. I used Photoshop in order to darken the shades with a cool blue, and approach the highlights with a unique orange. At the end of adjusting my image, I decided to covert my color my from duotone to CMYK. 

In order to retouch a poor low resolution logo, I had to improve the quality the best I could before i could prepare it for vector. I used Photoshop to manipulate the image resolution and then I altered the levels of the altered image to be close to black. When I exported my work as a png to Illustrator, I made sure to use image trace in the windows tab to vectorize the image. At this point, I created several artboards to manipulate several copies with color or without color. I lastly made sure that my product was exported as a png.

When I approach designs, I make sure to sketch out the layout so I have a rough idea of approach before I use the computer. This allows me to construct space for my elements and strategize how they plan to interact through principles.  Here are a couple of drawings I made for WORD magazine and the final layout:

The new year has helped me realize I am further along my graphic design career than where I started. Initially the software was elusive. Now I am at a point where I can problem solve using the software myself. As an artist, I am learning to create a variety of art to find my strengths. I know I want to work in book publishing with an emphasis on book exterior and interior layout. I think blogging is a great way to express where I am. I know that I am further along than where I started because I have reference points. My instagram is @polymath81 😄 Here are a couple art pieces!