For this assignment, we had to create our Autobiography cover page using any software we wanted. This was worth 2 stars and here it is….

I chose the picture I took when I was at the Semain Mountains in Ethiopia because A. it was something I will never repeat. B. The scenery was sooo beautiful that it felt unrealistic and finally, even though society tells you to live a certain way …doesn’t mean you can’t create your own reality. Thus, my title would be …My Reality.

For this assignment, I tried to reflect on myself before I started. I came up with the idea i wanted it to include water, sun, and sand. Then once I got the picture I wanted into pic Monkey, I spruced it up changing some of the contrast and saturation. After just looking at my finished picture for a while the idea for title just came to me and I ran with it.

Almost done, here’s the assignment I chose for number 5, worth 2 stars.

This is probably my favorite of the week. The hardest part was finding an image that had a meaningful message to me. I liked this one the best because I look peaceful and it went with my concept. My mom is always saying to me, ‘this too shall pass’. I have grown to love that quote because it’s a reminder to not sweat the small stuff, or make mountains out of molehills (even though I inevitably do sometimes.) My dad has been absent from my life in recent years, so to me it’s a reminder that it’s his loss, not mine. I have also had things in my life that really stress me out for no reason. That’s where the staying calm through it all comes in! I tend to be slightly dramatic and probably drive people nuts because I have a hard time letting things go. I can keep dredging up the past for days, so in a way this cover also reminds me of my flaws.

Back to the image and design. I found the image, put it into photoshop. I added a text box and chose the font that most looking like my writing. The first time, I went super cliche with “this too shall pass: and other life lessons”. That didn’t really seem to express my individuality as much, so I changed it. Also, I had to kind of move the text around because I couldn’t find a spot for it where it looked readable. I settled on moving it down into the grass part of the picture. This picture was taken on a golf course, which at sunset happen to be the most FUN things around (and if you’ve ever been the Eastern Shore of Virginia, you’d understand that there’s not much else to  do at night). Speaking of the ESVA, it’s my hometown and I lived there until I was 11. So the image also is a homage to my past.

A design assignment I really liked was Design the Cover of Your Autobiography

“Design the cover of your autobiography. What pictures would you include? What would you title it? “

My autobiography would be titled “All Things Must Change” and the cover picture is a photo of changing leaves in the fall that I found through the creative commons site. I like that the photo is focused in front and blurry in the back, which to me symbolizes not knowing what’s coming next.

My autobiography would be a story of change. In the past few years my life has completely changed in ways I did and didn’t expect, and I know more change is coming this year after graduation. Life is always changing, and my story would be about recognizing opportunities and challenges are usually temporary in the grand scheme of things, and making the most of both while you can.

I realize this explanation is a little cryptic, if I actually wrote the book it would be more clear, but that’s the jest of my theory on life.

I made the cover by uploading the photo to Picasa and adding text. I choose a  simple font as to not take away from the photo and made it green to be visible, but cohesive.