So I really don’t have a lot of experience in design outside of my freshman and sophomore Graphic Design class which is about 10 years ago now. I decided to start with Canva, as my experience isn’t the best and it seemed most logical for me to use the easiest of the programs to get started. I absolutely plan on redoing this project for my final portfolio, but after playing around with the tools for a little bit I ended up having fun. Check out the entire presentation here! Below was my rather rudimentary first try in utilizing shapes and color to convey meaning!

I started this project off using more basic features such as actual stickers and elements to paint a picture and actually ended up making a mess. So I went back to “Picture This!” and took it simpler. It was my first time doing something like this in years and I attempted to become a regular Picasso immediately!

After switching to basic shapes with a background, I had created my template. At first I thought I would just create a dark background but that doesn’t convey movement as much as I thought I could. Adding the trees allowed me to assign a positional value to the “birds” or triangles. The basic principles of Molly Bang’s text cite that using aggressive colors with sharper shapes create that feeling of a threat.

In the second photo I had the birds in question join a formation as they would in real life. A formation of triangles to be bigger, scarier. In conjunction with their slightly increased size across the board, it appears as if this creature is rapidly approaching. Coupled with the swift turn of the avatar and his orange “spidey senses,” you could tell the danger was imminent!

Finally, in the last scene I used differentiating layers to simulate the larger birds flocking the avatar. I overlayed smooth black lines to help show the sinking feeling within him as he’s being pestered!

Overall even though it took me a few days to acclimate to Canva, I look forward to evolving onto better, more dynamic platforms in order to better create designs and what they convey!

Works Cited:

Bang, Molly. Picture This: How Pictures Work. Chronicle Books, 2016.