benjamin olsen

portfolio

contact
Benjamin Olsen
480 S 1st W #307 Rexburg, ID 83440 385.313.6791 bcolsen22@gmail.com

table of contents
5. 7. 9. 11. 13. 15. 17. 19. 21. brochure business card montage event ad logo flier letterhead imaging web page

brochure
Description: Date:
This is a brochure for the business Valkyrie Branding. InDesign I used paragraph styles to simplify putting the content together. 1) How to text wrap around a photo that had been edited in Photoshop. (I already knew how to text wrap things, but only around straight edged images. 2) I learned how to print according to short or long sided binding as well as figure out how to print things that would be complicated with folding involved. 3) I also learned how to design pages that may be folded so that part of the page will end up being on the back and the front. Dec 09, 2013

Course/Instructor:
Comm 130 Section 03 Julie Peterson

Program(s)/Tools:

I mostly used the tools: paragraph styles, quick selection tool, and pen tool for my brochure.

Objectives: Process:

Learn to create a unique brochure using Adobe products.

I used Photoshop to clean up photos and prep them for a text wrap around the buildings. I used Illustrator to create a clean logo for Valkyrie Branding and to make small graphics for the inside of my brochure. I used InDesign to lay it all out. While using

business card
Description: Date:
I created a business card for the business Valkyrie Branding. that there would be more room for an actual letter. I used Illustrator to create the honeycomb shape and then copy/pasted it to make the repeating pattern. I made them all the same color with different opacity levels, except for the ones that I used to show the V that is the logo. I then placed them into an InDesign document where I created different documents. Nov 09, 2013

Course/Instructor:
Comm 130 Section 03 Julie Peterson

Program(s)/Tools:
InDesign and Illustrator.

Objectives: Process:

Create a business card using Illustrator and InDesign in a creative and functional way.

In my draft I went with all red and green colors because they look nice together, but I ended up changing the green to blue because I felt like the green dominated too much and I wanted the red V to be the most noticeable. I created contrast between the fonts by using a serif font and a decorative font. I kept my letterhead very simple so

montage
Description: Date:
Photo-montage combining two images and text. 1) No matter how good you are at making montages a lot of the success is going to depend on the images you use (especially how clear and crisp they are). It was difficult for me to find images large enough that I wanted to use. I can see how it would be easier to just take the photos yourself. 2) Learning how to use the tools in Photoshop really helps with making the project go quickly and smoothly. I didnt know how to do filters very well and instead of looking at the videos, like I should of, right away I ended up just trying to figure it out on my own; I was unsuccessful in figuring it all out. 3) Making poster-images, like we are doing, can be a very powerful tool. Theres a reason people really like to buy and put up posters; they can really capture a mood, feeling, thought, or belief. Oct 26, 2013

Course/Instructor:
Comm 130 Section 03 Julie Peterson

Program(s)/Tools: Objectives:

Photoshop, cropping, sizing, text, blur-filter, and fade tools.

Learn to make Photoshop layers and to use filters. Usingmask and blending tools to combine to images.

Process:

I first blended to photos together so that they faded into each other. After getting that right I added a blur filter to the background image (but not to the second foreground image). Next I added text to help convey the message.

event ad
Description:
A color full-bleed event ad to promote a fundraise using only Microsoft Word and a scanner.

Date:

using sepia images themselves. I gave flow through overlapping and arrows. Before I learned how to crop an image so that it could be a circle I had to try doing it manually, which was extremely difficult to do and affected my composition all around. I definitely didnt realize I could make a composition with Word. I found out how to actually crop images into shapes, which was awesome. I learned how to text wrap in Word, which I definitely couldnt figure out before the last class time.

Oct 12, 2013

Course/Instructor:
Comm 130 Section 03 Julie Peterson

Program(s)/Tools: Objectives: Process:

Micorosoft Word, Epson Scanner, and a PDF converter (PDF2JPG.net).

Create a colored, well-designed ad while only using Microsoft Word.

I scanned the bike image the images of the woman, the father and son, and the men. I wanted the images to look more fresh and modern, so I put them inside of circles. Doing this also helped focus the images. I used light colors to give it a sepia, old look without

logo
Description: Date:
Three variations of the company Owl Optics. 1) I thought it was so crazy how a lot of my roommates and friends didnt like my favorite one. I guess thats how it could happen in real life industries; clients might like my least favorite one that I spent hardly any time on. 2) Choosing fonts was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Im still not fully sure that I chose the best fonts to convey the brand or feeling that I wanted to be portrayed in the logo. 3) Ive used Illustrator quite a bit before, but Ive never used the white selection/pen tool before. It changed how I drew things. Nov 02, 2013

Course/Instructor:
Comm 130 Section 03 Julie Peterson

Program(s)/Tools: Objectives: Process:

Illustrator: only the pen tool and typography.

Learn to use Illustrator to make different logos, especially to use the pen tool.

I decided to create the company Owl Optics because I saw an image of an owl recently and it kind of looked like he had glasses on. So I created two very different images of owls with the pen tool. I tried to stylize them so that one was more sophisticated and one was more kid-friendly. I chose fonts that followed the theme.

flier
Description: Date:
A flier for the Graduate Leadership Conference. 2) I realized that even the smallest detail that doesnt align with the rest of the layout can make a big difference. I didnt have the smaller words in the title align with the e and i and it was distracting. 3) Next time I want to put more thought into my design and spend more time on it. Oct 04, 2013

Course/Instructor:
Comm 130 Section 03 Julie Peterson

Program(s)/Tools: Objectives: Process:

InDesign and the image I was given.

Using principles of design in order to create a simple flier for an event.

I made 4 sketches and then I made a digital sketch/draft of the direction I was thinking of going. After working with other members of the class I came up with this design. 1) Be more creative. I just put things on and didnt really think outside of the box very much.

letterhead
Description: Date:
I created a letterhead for the business Valkyrie Branding. font. I kept my letterhead very simple so that there would be more room for an actual letter. I used Illustrator to create the honeycomb shape and then copy/pasted it to make the repeating pattern. I made them all the same color with different opacity levels, except for the ones that I used to show the V that is the logo. I then placed them into an InDesign document where I created different documents. Nov 09, 2013

Course/Instructor:
Comm 130 Section 03 Julie Peterson

Program(s)/Tools:
InDesign and Illustrator.

Objectives:

Create a letterhead to go with the business card using Illustrator and InDesign in a creative and functional way.

Process:

In my draft I went with all red and green colors because they look nice together, but I ended up changing the green to blue because I felt like the green dominated too much and I wanted the red V to be the most noticeable. I created contrast between the fonts by using a serif font and a decorative

imaging
Description:
Take a photo and then use Photoshop to make different elements inside of the image to stand out more.

Date:

photos incorporated desaturation, cropping, colorizing, and using filters. Photoshop is used to make these changed to enhance the photo and enhance certain aspects of the image. This assignment also was created to teach students how to better understand resizing and resolution changes. I first took a several photos and picked ones that incorporated the rule of thirds and desaturation. The one that I liked the best I made some changes to and used for my final. 1) How to use the selection tool and actually have control over what I do and dont select. 2) How to emphasize areas of the image through desaturation. 3) How to actually use photoshop to a degree. Ive never really used it much before.

October 19, 2013

Course/Instructor:
Comm 130 Section 03 Julie Peterson

Program(s)/Tools: Objectives:

Photoshop, digital camera, crop, desaturize, colorize, and WordPress.

Learn to make Photoshop layers and to use filters. Usingmask and blending tools to combine to images.

Process:

This assignment was created so that I could better understand how to use Photoshop and photography to my advantage as a visual designer. The homework assignment calls for taking several preliminary photos. These

web page
Description:
Build a web page using HTML and CSS. The web page was for the business that I have been working on for a while now; I changed the logo again, though. were supposed to create an entire thing in just css. 2) I learned how to center images through use of padding. 3) Learning how to use css was useful because I already knew html, but css was a new language for me

Date:

Nov. 23, 2013

Course/Instructor:
Comm 130 Section 03 Julie Peterson

Program(s)/Tools: Objectives: Process:

Illustrator (for the logo), html, and css.

Learn to create a simple web page and apply different images and design elements to it.

I used an html document (for main structure and content) linked to a css document (for style). 1) I never knew how to link a css document to an html document. I always thought you