Into The Koi

Designed a movie poster showcasing the creative use of the Principles of Design, Elements of Art, and compositional unity.

TYPE
Movie Poster • Project

ROLE
Graphic Designer

TOOLS
Photoshop, Illustrator

Design Process and Rationale

The goal of this project is to showcase various Photoshop and Illustrator techniques to achieve creative compositional unity. The design integrates two composited photos, vector graphics, layer styles, blending modes, typography, brushwork, and non-destructive filters and edits.

For this project, I chose to create a movie poster inspired by an apocalyptic theme, incorporating koi fish and an underwater city.

I began the design process by gathering reference images and researching specific techniques necessary to achieve the look I envisioned. Once I settled on a concept, I sourced a photo of a city and koi fish, which served as the main elements for the composition. Using Photoshop, I masked and blended these images together.

I then took the same koi fish, created various sizes and colours, and positioned them to evoke the sense that they were the rulers of this submerged city. The coral reef was created in Illustrator, providing vector elements that contrasted with the realistic images.

To enhance the underwater atmosphere, I applied various blending modes, layer styles, and custom brushwork, including water patterns, bubble brush, and light rays (via a radial brush and Gaussian blur) to generate the illusion of being submerged. I also used tools such as Levels, colour balance adjustments, photo filters, brightness and contrast, and gradient fills to further elevate the underwater effect.

Bold typography was integrated to mimic common movie poster designs, and I used the remove tool to remove any distracting objects from the background cityscape. Non-destructive editing techniques were used throughout to ensure best practices, flexibility, and allow for future adjustments.

Challenges and Solution

For this project, I wanted to try something new and step out of my comfort zone. One of the primary challenges was achieving a realistic underwater effect. Capturing the submerged look while maintaining clarity in the image required multiple uses of blending modes, adjustment layers, and custom brushwork. Another challenge was sourcing images of koi fish in the exact postures I envisioned. To solve this, I used the liquify and clone tools to manipulate the koi fish and achieve the desired effect.

Conclusion

This project allowed me to showcase my learning and explore a variety of design techniques to create a cohesive and creative graphic design. The process challenged me to think critically about the interaction between different design elements and reinforced the importance of planning, iteration, and problem-solving in design. It also helped me refine my technical and creative approach to design work, pushing me to experiment with new techniques and step out of my comfort zone.