Hey everyone! I hope you all are having a wonderful week. This assignment was fun; I got to use a new online-based tool, and I like using those because they are a bit more approachable for beginners.
The idea of this assignment was to find pictures online and upload them to this site that converts them with a typographic effect!

It was pretty straightforward. I used this site here, and it allowed me to change the font and vary the effect level to my liking. Warning if you use adblockers (which you should), this site does not work. Another theme I have for this blog is making people aware of the tools they can use to protect their privacy, so when going to this site, I recommend using a second browser and setting the history and site settings to clear when closing.

Once you upload the pictures, you can easily download them, but for me, right-clicking and saving the image did not work if you are looking for a good site for stock photos, I recommend this one!

I hope everyone is having a great week, and thanks for stopping by!

Here are my two Cipher Typography photo images!

I want people to take time to figure out what they mean, so next week I will reveal how I edited these pictures! Take a guess below:

Before & after #ds106 #theend106

A post shared by Elaina (@gramming4theend) on Feb 11, 2018 at 9:32am PST

Before & after #ds106 #theend106

A post shared by Elaina (@gramming4theend) on Feb 11, 2018 at 9:32am PST

I selected an image of strawberries not only for liking the fruit, but also for their vibrant colors. I uploaded the picture onto the typography generator and selected the type of font I wanted to use. After that, I scrupulously looked for any numbers or letters that I can easily identify for my encryption code.The typography came out very nicely, especially with different gradations of red and green; I believe fruits are the best source for color.

The encoded message here is: 300= I love you. If you look at the left corner, the third line from the bottom has 300 encrypted on it. (This is a subtle message from Agent Nice Guy to the person whom she secretly admires–perfect for Valentine’s Day coming up!)

VisualAssignments, VisualAssignments2069

One of the first things I learned in Secret Agent School was how to send encrypted messages. For this mission, I incorporated a simple, encrypted message into a photograph. I used this typographic tool, and I spent about an hour tinkering with all of the different styles. You can use different font styles and drawing styles to draw your pictures using only text. The original picture was a man in the air doing a kick:

The tool converted that pictures into this:

So, after I converted the picture into all text, I needed to include an encrypted message. I used the preview tool on my Mac to include red text, so it didn’t get lost in the midst of all the text. My encryption method was simple: I converted each letter of the original message into the next letter of the alphabet. My original message was, “LOVE CONQUERS.” The encrypted message, as you can see, reads “MPWF DPORVFST.”

I know, not very subtle – but encryption isn’t just about hiding a message. It’s about slowing the enemy down before they can use the information. They’ll find the message eventually, but the encryption methods will keep on changing before they can use it to their benefit. The only person who will be able to encrypt the message immediately is the person you intend the message for in the first place.