Custom License Plates

Today we are going to be making a custom license plate for any state or country (real or imagined).  Choose a character in a book, movie, comic, legend, Internet meme, etc. and develop a license plate reflecting them in some way.  For example, Rambo might have a license plate saying "RAMBO68"... or Edward from Twilight might have "ISPARKLE"... or Jessica Alba might have "I♥GRIFF".  Be creative.

Assignment Requirements:

• Open a new document in Photoshop at 150 dpi sized 10" wide and 5" tall.
• You may want to copy the following image and paste it into your new document as a guide to place your images -- or to determine where to cut holes in your "plate".

  

  Click Image to View Full Size Before Copying

• Include the state or country in a readable font on the top of the plate.
• Place at least six numbers and letters over your design (example: KHS 213).  The letters and numbers should be in an easily readable sans-serif font.
• Try doing some layer styles over your license numbers (Bevel and Emboss, Stroke, etc.) or even a filter (such as Plastic Wrap) to see if you can make the plate appear more "3D".
• Create/import a background image for your license plate fitting the theme or character.  For example, if you chose Santa Claus you might have a North Pole theme.
• Projects are due tomorrow (Friday, November 5th)

Some Examples:

Here are some examples from students last year:

Photoshop: Collage Wallpaper

Today we are going to begin building a collage that we can use as a computer wallpaper. The collage must have a theme, include several images, have some sort of text (i.e. a title), and fit the dimensions of a typical computer screen.

Before we begin, I will demonstrate some of the cool layer styles and effects that you find useful in your project.  I will also demonstrate the basic collage building process.  You will then have the next two days to build your collage.

1. Create a new Photoshop document using your choice of the following dimensions:
1. 1024x768  (20% of computer screens use this resolution)
2. 1280x1024  (18.2% use this resolution)
3. 1280x800 (17.3%)
4. 1440x900 (10.5%)
5. 1680x1050 (10%)
2. Sometimes it's better to fill your canvas with a certain color (i.e. black, blue, or green) to serve as a base for your pasted images.
3. Begin finding images [within your theme as well as being classroom appropriate] and save them to a folder on your Thawspace or USB drive.  Make sure the images are large enough that you don't have to stretch them on your canvas.
4. Begin "pasting in" images and dragging them to the best fit on your canvas.
5. You may want to use a soft, feathered brush as an eraser and soften the edges of your images.
6. You may also want to try adjusting the opacity on some of your images [layers] to help the layers "melt together" better.
7. You may even try a color gradient overlay with low opacity for some interesting effects.
8. Choose a font that fits your theme, and place a title on your page.
9. Choose a small font and put your name on your new artwork.
10. Try some layer styles (drop shadows, bevel & emboss, stroke, etc.) to improve your text layer.

Finally, make sure you save your file as a PSD (Photoshop Document) as well as a JPEG, then upload the JPEG to your Blogger portfolio.

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Here are some examples of Photoshop collages: