Conclusions
I'll share my thoughts after completing the challenges. I'm going through them a bit late but excited to see what everyone else created day by day.
Challenges
Challenge 1
Day 1: Facebook assets. Photo: House in Cuenca, Ecuador. https://www.behance.net/dailycreativechallenge
Challenge 2
Day 2: Internet meme using the Impact font. Photo from Ecuador.
Day 2: Internet meme using the Impact font, color burn blending option and a radial blur filter. Photo from Ecuador. "Mente" means mind and this complete graffiti says, "Abre tu mente" -- "Open your mind." I liked it without the caption but wanted to fulfill the basic structure of a meme in honor of the challenge.
Challenge 3
Day 3: Twitter banner. Add depth to a custom Twitter banner using text effects in Photoshop. I used a stone texture from Unsplash in this nod to the natural beauty of Minnesota. We're called "The land of 10,000 lakes" but it's really more like 13,000. I made up social media channel names with a water theme. My favorite part is the range of coloring in the text stroke.
Challenge 4
Day 4: Symmetry. I just did a very quick piece to try out the radial symmetry tool. I followed the tutorial very closely. ;) I'll probably come back to this tool down the road to try some new things.
Challenge 5
Day 5: Instagram Story template. I love Instagram and usually create my Story templates in Adobe Spark. Super easy and quick. But it felt empowering to learn some methods for making templates in Photoshop, too. I appreciated the flexibility and I can see some ways to apply these techniques right away.
Both of my frames use a texture of cogs and bolts. I enjoy playing with these to see how many ways they can show up in a piece. Here, I used the bolts under a two-tone gradient with blending option as modeled in the video. The outer rectangle frame is a shade darker than the inner "canvas" rectangle, helping draw attention to the center of the graphic.
In this frame I brought in my business' brand colors. The cogs appear again with a contrast from organic leave/tree graphics. The leaves were originally png files with a green forest texture. I used a solid dusky rose layer as a clipping mask to make the leaves pink. There's also a blending options on a bright pink gradient (pink-->transparent, coming in from the corners).
On the top I used the rectangle frame from the tutorial to create a canvas for typing into Instagram. I went with a central square to avoid any interaction with the text and icons Instagram places at the top and bottom of the Story screen. This frame/canvas has a gradient inside, created from another clipping mask over the inner rectangle. In practice I may switch this gradient to one color -- I like the flat look beneath text.
I would actually use this one in my feed @squaretreellc! Just need to find the right spot for it.
This version of the Instagram template removes the text box to leave a flat leaf as a background for text. I'm curious about the contrast of flat and textured -- the leaves over the more complex cogs--and I like the non-traditional surface for text. The leaf edges are a bit rough from sizing up, but I think it fits with the texture of the cogs.
One more experiment with the same frame. Just turned off a few layers: cogs, pink corner gradient, "canvas"/field part of the text box. I'd use this as a complement to the other frames to keep consistency with variety over time.
Working with the darker palette with the steps from the video. I used a reflected image of power lines in the background. In the foreground are the same leaves from the previous template. I can see myself using both of these for the same brand since they fit my brand story and (with a few tweaks) would fit the color palette. The main thing I'd change is the busy-ness of the look. There's a lot going on.
I used radial symmetry to create a blob in the foreground. I gave several blobs a different blend. The next two images show how the template can be adapted for different uses by toggling blob layers and changing their opacity.
Bonus -- Challenge 5 IRL
I tried out the Instagram templates via my personal account. Let's see which one people like the most.
