KJoy MSU Denver

Hello! 

My name is Kate Joy and this is a digital collection of my interactive media graphics productions. Below is a gallery of works produced since the beginning of 2016 and includes an image montage of my original photographs, an example of image restoration, an original typography movie poster, and an example of a fictional book cover featuring all original media and design. 

My hope is that the following portfolio with provide you with an illustration of my media graphics design abilities and an idea of what you can expect from my work for your companies creative graphic and photography needs.  Also I have attached my resume to this portfolio and can be found on a separate page located here. 

Additionally, I have experience in video production, including the pre-production, production, and post-production stages.  Examples are available on request.  To view any of my work in more detail or to view additional illustrations, please don't hesitate to contact me via email at [email protected] 

Artist Statement: 

Kate Joy

Project 1: Artist Statement

2.4.16

     This first Photoshop project proved to be more challenging than I was expecting. Determining and consequently developing my intended message was my first hurdle. I am constantly taking and editing photographs and yet I rarely consider what message my photographic art is attempting to convey.

     As this was my first delving into purposefully conveying a specific message, I decided to go for the obvious message of conveying my various travels. As I only used 6 images, I limited the concept behind my message that I’ve traveled around both New York and FL. Because my story of travel was simple and straightforward, my audience would be anyone who enjoys looking at scenic destination photography.

     The process I went through that ultimately resulted in the montage that I am submitting was frustrating. As someone who uses more basic editing software on a regular basis, I had a general idea of what I would like a photo montage like. However, even after going through the instructional videos, I was not able to achieve exactly what I had envisioned. Originally I attempted to use tools to take only specific pieces of photographs that I had taken in hopes of creating a photographic representation of my “bucket list.” I did not find the final product aesthetically appealing at all, so I took a different approach. I decided to sift through my travel photos and create a visual story of my summer travel adventures from last year. I worked mainly with layers, in attempt to add the highlights of my “adventures” in a visually appealing manner. I edited each photograph and then duplicated the layers to my main project. This vision I was able to create. I was aware that I was not supposed to use text in this, otherwise I would have added that element as well.

     Despite my still beginner’s status in Photoshop, I am happy with how my first project turned out as my previous attempts to work in Photoshop were unable to turn out even basic improvements. The final result of this attempt, however, was exactly what I was going for, so I am very happy with how it turned out. I do look forward to being able to do even more with this incredibly powerful program.

Kate Joy

Project 2: Artist Statement

2.13.16

    This photo restoration project was daunting and proved to be extremely challenging.  While I have some experience in photo manipulation, prior to tackling this photo, I had never attempted to restore a damaged photo before.  I completely understand where there would be a need for the wide array of tools that Photoshop has to offer for such an undertaking, but even with the lessons and tutorials, photo restoration is a time consuming and frustrating task.  

     The first point of damage that I attempted to correct with this image was the rip across most of the photograph.  I used the spot healing tool for this and while I feel like it may have been a more lengthy approach, it seemed the correct approach as there were vastly different shades and portions of the photo that were affected by that rip.  While it did prove to a time consuming approach, it was still not a difficult one and the result was what I had expected and hoped for. 

    The most challenging correction was the right eye of one of the woman in the middle of the photograph. To correct her eye, I tried a number of things to restore the image, but was unable to get it to look exactly how I wanted.  I ended up using the copied and mirrored image of her other eye, but as she was not looking straight ahead, it still looks "funny," for lack of a better word. I also could not get the colors corrected or blended the way I would have liked.  Finally, the most tedious task was removing all of the white dots without losing details of the photograph. I changed the tools, size, and hardness of the tools countless times in attempt to retain the original detail in the photo without leaving too many white marks. 

     This photo project, while tedious and difficult at times, was a very educational one and rewarding in that results were immediate and impossible to not notice. The image may not have come out exactly as I would have liked, but after working on it all week and making progress that was obvious to my eye, I am pleased with the result. 

Kate Joy

Project 4: Artist Statement

2.28.16

    For this typography assignment, I spent most of the week in hopes of coming up with an original movie title to make a poster for.  Unfortunately that proved to be more challenging than the actual project.  I found it very difficult to try and convey the the movie theme and genre without using a single image.  I had ideas of what I would have like to do, but every one of them included an image of some kind. 

    I chose to create a poster for Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho because I love the movie and I know the movie title itself speaks volumes. To add to effect, I used the paint and liquify tools to create the dripping blood effect. Not only is the movie about a "psycho" but also murder.  All of this was hopefully exemplified without using any images.  

   I thought that this project would be really interesting and I was correct in that assumption.  Though challenging, once I mentally developed the concept, it went very smoothly. While it may seem simplistic, I'm happy with the finished project. 

Kate Joy

Project 5: Artist Statement

3.3.16

     This project turned out to be a lot more fun than I was expecting.  Most of the difficulty was coming up with what I would write a book about if I was inclined to write a book. I've always enjoyed shark attack movies, so I thought that if I were to tackle writing a novel, it may be about a shark attack.  I also had an idea of what I would want a book cover for such a book to look like.  

     To create the look was not as difficult as I thought.  It included a lot of layers for texts, images, and effects, but overall, after having done the other assignments, applying all that I've learned from those hands-on experiences came in extremely handy and I was flying through applying the various effects that I wanted to use.  

     I've really enjoyed this class and this was a really great final project (with the exception of the final portfolio), just to ensure that I have a grasp on the concepts we went over during this class.