Por tf ol i o

Amber Mitchell
Mitchellworks.com

Contact
Amber Mitchell
174 Weaver Way
Sequim WA 98382
360.797.3321
mitchellworks@gmail.com

Table of Contents
Brochure
Poster
Event Ad
Logos
Flier
Letterhead
Business Card
Web Page
Montage
Photodesign

Brochure
Description:
This is a tri-fold brochure I created as a mailer for an Artist Exhibition at a
Museum. It is designed to be both letter and envelope.
Date:
March 29, 2015
Course/Instructor:
Comm 130 Section 12
Caryn Esplin
Programs:
Adobe InDesign
Adobe Photoshop
Objectives:
This brochure should entice people to come and learn more about Eva Zeisels life
and work, so the message, like her work, should convey timeless elegance and grace.
Process:
I began by considering the theme Throwing Curves for Eva Zeisels work. I
sketched several ideas on paper, including variations of curves and paying special
attention to negative shapes, as I wanted a high-contrast design. Then, I wrote the
copy so I would have an idea of how much I would need to allow in the layout.
Next, I set up all the text boxes and other placeholders in Adobe Indesign. Once I
knew what kind of imagery my layout called for, I scanned images from my book
on Eva Zeisel and worked to create the logo hands (in Illustrator), the collage of
her work (Photoshop) and the mosaic of Evas hands for the interior (Photoshop).
I also created hand letters for the exhibit title by drawing in Illustrator. I placed
all the finished images in Indesign and placed the text to flow around them. Then
I reviewed and adjusted spacing and decided on final colors to complement the
imagery. I simplified things by removing some text, and finally evaluated my message
to see if it was clear.

03
Nov 31
Dec
A CENTURY OF DESIGN BY

Designer Eva Zeizel has said that Innovation is not part of the aim of
my work. She called herself a modernist with a small m. And yet,
using the magical language of things and a playful search for
beauty, Eva created ceramics, kitchenware and furniture that
have stood the test of time and delighted millions.

About Eva

Outside

Born in Hungary in 1906, Eva apprenticed to a traditional

potter, went on to pioneer ceramics in industrial design
in Europe and later New York, creating her graceful,
curving families of items throughout the 20th century
and into the new millennium. Eva has received many
international honors for her work over the years,
beginning with her selection as a designer by the
Museum of Modern Art in New York, to honorary
doctorate degrees, to her recent lifetime
achievement awards. Eva designed a teapot
to celebrate her 100th birthday and lived to
the age of 105.

About the Exhibit

This special exhibit presents a century of

Evas designs and offers displays about her
extraordinary life, including her breakout
leadership as a woman in industry and
the strength and creativity that got her
through 16 months in a Russian prison.
Discover how Eva was able to create
things with pleasure, as a gift to others,
for so long.

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

151 Third Street
(between Mission and Howard)
San Francisco, CA 94103

Artist Reception on Sunday,

November 3, 6-9pm
RSVP 800.235.8456 or
exhibits@sfmoma.com

Inside

A CENTURY OF DESIGN BY

Poster
Description:
This is a poster I created for an Artist Exhibition at a Museum. It is designed to be
simple and eye-catching.
Date:
March 29, 2015
Course/Instructor:
ART 130
Joseph Ledsoquet
Programs:
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
Objectives:
This poster should entice people to come and learn more about Eva Zeisels life and
work, so the message, like her work, should convey timeless elegance and grace.
Process:
I began by considering the theme Throwing Curves for Eva Zeisels work. I
sketched many thumbnails, including variations of curves, pottery pieces, and paying
special attention to negative shapes, as I wanted a high-contrast design.
Next, I scanned different images of Evas work, finally choosing to feature the image
with Evas tough old hands, to show the humanity she brought to her work and to
show the breadth of her life experience. I also created hand letters for the exhibit
title by drawing in Illustrator. I worked on the image in Photoshop and then place
it in Illustrator. I reviewed and adjusted spacing and decided on final colors to
complement the imagery. The straight black background represents the difficult past
she overcame and highlighted the light beauty of her pottery. Finally, I simplified the
design by shrinking the event text to allow the image to convey the the message.

THRO WING

A C EN TURY OF D ESIGN B Y

Presented by:
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
151 Third St (between Mission and Howe)
San Francisco CA 94103

NOV 3 - DEC 31

Artist reception NOV 3, 6 - 9

RSVP 800.235.8456
or exhibits@sfmoma.com

Event Ad
Description:
This event advertisement is for a national convention of tiny home dwellers and
those interested in simple, conscious living. The advertisement is meant to give a
brief hook and draw interested readers to the web site for more details.
Date:
January 31, 2015
Course/Instructor:
Comm 130 Section 12
Caryn Esplin
Programs:
Microsoft Word
Epson Scanner
Objectives:
Find, scan and import a high-quality image.
Create a full-bleed design
Use text boxes for layout in Word.
Insert and edit images in Word.
Process:
For this project, I kept the audience and overall message in mind as I sketched
several layouts and decided that using simple shapes in the design would
complement the triangle roofline and rectangle shapes of the tiny home image I
wanted to use. I discovered the perfect tiny home picture in one of my books on
small homes, and scanned it at 300 dpi resolution, since the original picture was
only 3.5 x 5 inches. I cropped and saved the scan using Photoshop. One of the
parameters for this project was to use only Microsoft Word for the design layout, so
I opened a new Word document, drew some text boxes and designed the tinyCON
logo before importing my scanned photo.
As I organized the layout, I knew that my focal point would be the convention
title and that a major point of interest would be the tiny home image, so I played
with how those two main elements would interact, and settled that part of the logo
would serve as a sort of house, echoing the tiny home image. I aligned all the text
boxes before moving to points of contrast. I decided to pull the logo and main text
to the lower right, creating an asymmetric white space on the left and using the rule
of thirds. I upped the contrast of my logo by lightening the text fill, helping it to
pop against the earth-toned background. Finally, I repeated the triangle theme a few
more ways to unify the parts and create gestalt.
After a round of feedback, I decided to simplify the text and enlarge the web
site link. This cleaned up the design and clarified the main message I wanted to
communicate.

Logos
Description:
This is a set of logos for a small online bookseller and publisher, Flapwood Books.
These are initial design options that represent several possible approaches for the
client to choose from.
Date:
February 22, 2015
Course/Instructor:
Comm 130 Section 12
Caryn Esplin
Programs:
Adobe Illustrator
Objectives:
Create a variety of logos to fit a company or personal image.
Use the basic tools of Illustrator.
Process:
For these logos, I started by thinking about Flapwood Books, about how they
want an indie bookshop feel even though they are an online seller. They focus on
publishing and selling adventure, science fiction and fantasy clean reads, and
they are based in the Pacific Northwest, which would be nice to tie in but was not
necessary. I brainstormed and sketched the different ways Flapwood could be
visually represented, and my strongest ideas were a tree where canopy was actually
made of flying birds, one where the branches existed but had birds (and was
represented as a sort of portal into another world), and one where the feature was
an actual wooden bird.
I refined these ideas on paper, then scanned them in and digitized them using the
pen and paintbrush tools in Illustrator. Once I was satisfied with the brandmarks, I
added text and finally color using three different schemes as per requirements. As I
came to the end, there wasnt a lot to simplify (as logos are designed fairly cleanly)
but I did make supporting text smaller and some pen strokes smaller to clean up the
designs.

Flapwood Books

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FLAP WOOD

BOOKS

Flier
Description:
This project was to design and print a black and white promotional flier to advertise
a Graduate Leadership Conference.
Date:
January 22, 2015
Course/Instructor:
Comm 130 Section 12
Caryn Esplin
Programs:
Adobe InDesign
Objectives:
Apply the design principles and use appropriate typography.
Incorporate basic InDesign skills to improve basic flier layout.
Create a project folder with image, logo and InDesign document to keep links
intact.
Process:
I first created sketches of possible layouts using simple shapes and values. I liked
the first four, but refined a few to make a total of seven. Then, I used my strongest
layout sketch as a guide to create the background curves in Adobe Illustrator.
Then I saved and imported the digital image into a layout in Adobe InDesign. I
treated the conference title as a logo and created an eye-catching typography using a
decorative font for Graduate and emphasizing the word Leadership with a large
font. Conference was set apart using a background gradient. Next, I placed Date/
Time/Place details in large text, as well as the link for how to register, contrasting
these with smaller body copy and a personal touch using a small image of
graduating seniors and the company logo. I was given the image, logo, and content
for this flier.

Leadership
Graduate

C O N F E R E N C E

L incoLn c onvention c enter

8 a.m. 5 p.m.
o ctober 21

d o yo u wa n t t o h av e t h e c o m p e t i t i v e e d g e i n b u s i n e s s ?
Come learn how at Vount Communications annual Graduate
Leadership Conference. Vount Communications is devoted
to helping tomorrows leaders gain essential leadership
skills in the workplace. During this dynamic threeday seminar, attendees will meet with top
executives of Vount Communications to
discuss breakthrough leadership techniques
while cultivating attributes of leadership that will
help you stand out, giving you the edge with any employer.
Conference is available to graduating seniors. Space is limited.

Registration and more information available at

http://www.vouantcomm.com

Letterhead
Description:
This is a print stationary project for my main website, MitchellWorks.com.
Date:
March 1, 2015
Course/Instructor:
Comm 130 Section 12
Caryn Esplin
Programs:
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe InDesign
Objectives:
Create a new logo to fit a company or personal image.
Design consistent layouts for a business card and letterhead.
Use the basic tools of Illustrator & InDesign.
Process:
I started with the message I wanted to send with the MitchellWorks.com brand, and
knew it needed to be simple, clean but different. I knew there were many iterations
of logos using M and W , and I didnt want to choose anything totally rounded
or totally straight, nor totally symmetrical. I made sketches of various options and
finally felt a somewhat abstract and asymmetrical version suited the brand the best. I
also knew that the brand would lend toward earthy, neutral colors with perhaps one
stronger accent. So, I drew simple shape combinations in thumbnail and settled on
the sun/rays design.
Then, I digitized the logo in Adobe Illustrator. I used my thumbnail deisgns but
simplified the face elements to translate it naturally to stationary. I lightened the
copy so it would fade to the background when the black letter text is added. I also
repeated the rays element as a simple triangle at the bottom of the page, helping to
keep the eye moving in the document.

MitchellWorks.com

Amber Mitchell
Web Developer
360.797.3321

amber@mitchellworks.com
174 Weaver Wy
Sequim WA 98382

Business Card
Description:
This is a print business card project for my main website, MitchellWorks.com.
Date:
March 1, 2015
Course/Instructor:
Comm 130 Section 12
Caryn Esplin
Programs:
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe InDesign
Objectives:
Create a new logo to fit a company or personal image.
Design consistent layouts for a business card and letterhead.
Use the basic tools of Illustrator & InDesign.
Process:
I digitized the logo and card layout in Adobe Illustrator. I worked to add pleasing
repetition in shape and color without becoming to symmetrical, and I looked for
color tints and shades that had balanced visual weight. For contrast, I thought it
would be fun to have a very dark back side to the card, and took the opporunity to
repeat the logo as a design on the reverse.
Next I added the content and worked on the spacing, kerning, font and point size
to make each part look finished. At this point I reviewed my message and felt it was
a good balance between design and development, that it had elements of art but was
clean enough to represent clean code. I also felt the repetition on the reverse side
had a vague ones and zeros feel.

MitchellWorks.com

Amber Mitchell
Web Developer
360.797.3321

amber@mitchellworks.com
174 Weaver Wy Sequim WA 98382

Web Page
Description:
This is a simple HTML5/CSS page I created to showcase one of my logo designs.
Date:
March 14, 2015
Course/Instructor:
Comm 130 Section 12
Caryn Esplin
Programs:
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Dreamweaver
Objectives:
Size and optimize an original logo as a .png for a web page.
Write content to describe the process of creating your logo and how it appeals to a
target audience.
Design a web page using HTML to display a logo and content.
Acquire a working knowledge of HTML and basic understanding of CSS.
Identify hex colors for web design.
Compress multiple files in a zipped folder to attach as one file.
Process:
First, I resized the main Flapwood Books Logo in Adobe Illustrator so that it would
not lose any quality. The requirements were to have the logo be 300-500px wide
and be formatted as PNG. Next, I downloaded the required CSS and HTML
templates and adapted them using Adobe Dreamweaver. I wrote about my design
process in the HTML file, and then began styling the site.
For the colors, I opened my logo in Adobe Photoshop and used the eyedropper
tool to pick some complementary colors from my logo in browns and reds. I jotted
down the hex values and inserted them into the CSS file at appropriate locations:
the more neutral colors for backgrounds and more vibrant for links.
For typography, I chose a contrasting pair of Google fonts, which I then embedded
into my HTML head with a LINK tag. I also added a CSS comment as per
requirements.
Then, I opened my completed page in the Firefox browser, and took a screenshot,
which I then pasted into a new Photoshop image. I also opened a new, letter-sized
blank image. I trimmed and resized my screenshot until it fit nicely inside the lettersized file with .5 margins. I saved both the PSD layered file for later editing, and a
quality JPG as seen above.
Last, I zipped up the completed project file, including the HTML, CSS, PNG and
JPG files.

Montage
Description:
This is a photo montage with an inspirational theme. It is designed for screen or
print use and prints full-bleed 8.5 x 11.
Date:
February 14, 2015
Course/Instructor:
Comm 130 Section 12
Caryn Esplin
Programs:
Adobe Photoshop
Objectives:
Learn to manage Photoshop layers.
Learn to blend images together smoothly, using masks.
Use filters.
Apply appropriate typography.
Process:
I started thinking of the message I wanted to share through the montage, and I
settled on a quote from C. S. Lewis about free will. This let me to think of imagery
that complemented the message, and I immediately thought of Robert Frosts two
roads diverged in a wood poem, so I procured a high-quality image for the base of
the montage. The lime in the forest dictated my first color. I also wanted an image
that epitomized love and joy and goodness all at once, so I selected several options
and settled on the image of the baby. Then, I organized my text and chose the
emphasis words, and settled on my split complementary color scheme by adding
red and teal accents. I blended the baby image using a layer mask and worked on the
blending mode for the baby.
Then, to enhance my color scheme and add balance to the montage I added the
heart and the lens flare overlays, changing their blending modes and transparency to
get the effect I wanted. Then, I simplified the design by reducing noise in the base
image, lightening it and adding the edge darkness. I considered my message again,
and changed the heart and baby images to make them more subtle, so the text could
tell the story and the imagery support it.

love
goodness
J oy

free will?
C S L EWIS

Photodesign
Description:
This is an example of photodesign using an image I took and processed into an 8.5
x 11 full-bleed spread.
Date:
February 7, 2015
Course/Instructor:
Comm 130 Section 12
Caryn Esplin
Program(s)/Tools:
Panasonic Lumix Camera
Adobe Photoshop
Objectives:
Learn basic photography skills.
Use a digital camera to take a quality image, then download it.
Size and crop the image.
Adjust image brightness, contrast, hue and saturation levels.
Apply appropriate typography.
Process:
For this project, I started by taking a variety of outdoor photos in rural and ocean
settings. I thought the ones of the lone seagull were the most interesting and unique,
so I paired this image with my all-time favorite quote by Thoreau into a nauticalthemed design with dominant indigo coloring. I masked the image over a simple
sailboat in a gold color to draw on the bit of gold in the gulls beak. Then I added
the quote text in a simple sans-serif font, turning the word moonlight gold for
emphasis, and adding the final admonition in handwriting script to give the feel that
the author is jotting down his resolve. I aligned the text diagonally to draw the eye
toward the bottom right focal point.
Finally, I added repeating elements to unify the design, including thin arcs around
the sails and a simple border around the edges to add deeper shades to my main
colors. I also included color swatches of my scheme. After everything was in place,
I could see that my image needed more levels, vibrance, and sharpening work, and I
also worked on the contrast to help the lower third of the design lighten and draw
the eye. This final layout was much simpler than my draft, so I didnt find I needed
to eliminate any big elements at this point. I reviewed the overall message and was
happy with the result.