Photoshop is the software I used first. Illustrator was always too daunting for me when I first began my interest in digital design, so I had a good idea of the tools at my disposal and the capabilities of what I could achieve within a self portrait in Photoshop. The ideas for each design came quickly and it was the inspiration of them that led me to put “mouse to monitor” and proceed with each design with a plan that only existed within my mind. The process for design 1 was to involve me recreating a standard playing card; the king of hearts. Intending to put my own influence within the design I resorted to a strong staple of mine, dice. As an expression of technical skill and an acknowledgement of my personality and passions it felt necessary to include them as a good representation in combination with the playing card aesthetic of my future ideals and what I am passionate about. Design number 2 is a different approach in how I wanted to create a self portrait. The original iteration of this idea in my mind had my head act more like a treasure chest to the design world lying within. This process was proving difficult for me to fully realise so an adaptation came with this satirical representation of how my mind feels busy. The intention during designing was to use this portrait as a subtle yet potentially arrogant way of suggesting I have the working capabilities of three people. The overall sunny atmosphere in the design was an aesthetic choice intended two fold to match the lighting of the elements within the miniature versions of me, due to the angles of light when the photos were taken, and secondly it was intended to mimic the calm nature I like to maintain in my day to day life.
