Preparing imagery in photoshop

Preparing imagery in photoshop

Using basic photoshop skills I prepared a few images to experiment with my type & image initial ideas. I creates a monotone image inspired by a piece of design found in my research stages and manipulated an image to emulate De Stijl principles and minimalist elements. 

For the monotone i opened up the image I wanted to edit. Changed the color mode to greyscale. 

Selected the duotone color mode. 

Chose my shade of color I wanted to overlay the image with and labeled the ink. 

Changed it back to CMYK mode so the image would be print friendly. CMYK is used for print outputs using base inks Cyan Magenta Yellow and Key (black). RGB is for onscreen design outputs using the color spectra Red green and blue. Common resolution for CMYK files is 300 pixels per inch, RGB mode is 72 pixels per inch. 

Final image ready for typography adding.

Opened up the image file and created a 6x4 inch document for it to be transferred over too.

Using the polygon lasso tool i quickly selected the area i needed to drag over to the 6x4 document. Using the magnetic lasso tool as it was a high quality image i traced around elements i wanted to use within my composition. 

 These were then cut into a new layer so it is now separate from the original image. 

 I used the swatch tool to sample a shade of grey from the image to emulate the sculptures background once the composition was pieced together. 

Quick play with arrangements after all the elements were cut out and placed into a rough position. 

Tried out placing the grey on the background but it looks too cold and industrial, not very upmarket and eye catching. May come back to this and try alter the feel of it with some typography additions. 

Added a bit more order to the composition, aligned everything up bait better with individual elements all having set spaced between them and lining up in a structured way.

I like this ultra clean and clinical composition with the white background, at the moment it feels too empty though but when typography is added it may begin to take shape more. 

 Smoothed the edges off this element to create a neater finish for the overall piece. Used the erase tool with soft edges on the brush. 

 Starting to play around with adding information, doesn't work in greyscale needs color adding. 

Went with the De Stijl principle of using primary colors in a design and am quite happy with the outcome looks nice just needs work on the composition of the type and type sizing etc.

Removed the cm conversion as this isn't really necessary as frames generic measurements come in inches. There is now less clutter and distraction on the design but it still doesn't work. 

The design without typography works well, looks very swiss with its use of shapes and angular positioning contrasting with vertical linear elements. Its a shame i couldn't just use this as a backing image as it would work great but I need to add information in there to benefit the buyer and inform them of dimensions and the brand name etc. 

Backing paper in context of frame. The clean white background causes too much tonal contrast so this obviously doesn't work in terms of versatility and functionality.