The goal of this collage is to share the message of how drinking fresh juice is conveniently healthy. One of the main reasons many people struggle to eat healthy is because it is not convenient. It takes effort and time. Juice is part of that solution because a lot of nutrients can be packed into one juice and it doesn’t a whole lot of time to drink it. This collage shows that in the few minutes it takes to drink and 8 ounce glass of juice you will get the same nutrients as eating 5 apples.
I have very limited experience with photoshop so creating this collage was my first real crack at using these tools.
I used three images from freeimages.com
http://www.freeimages.com/photo/apple-table-1329268
http://www.freeimages.com/photo/glass-of-orange-juice-1-1525867
http://www.freeimages.com/photo/photos-1194675
Techniques for each image.
- For the table image with the apples I erased the background using the eraser tool. I also used the dodge tool around the edges.
- I added the green image as a background and then used the magnetic lasso tool to trim around the edges of the table. After the section I wanted to erase was selected, I inverted the selection and used the erase tool to eliminate the original background and allow the green background to show.
- The glass of orange juice was quite the challenge because it was surrounded by a white box. To get rid of the white box I used the erase tool. I also used the dodge tool and blur tool to soften the edges. I played with the tools from the separating background tutorial but in the end decided against using them because I did not want to make the image black and white. I will need to study up on more effective ways to use those tools.
- To change the glass of orange juice to look like apple juice, I selected one of the apples and then selected the juice in the glass and used the “match color” effect to change the colors. I expected a brighter green but I am happy with the way it turned out.
- When all of this was done I added the two text box layers and sized the fonts.
Green Frog Juice Bar and Superfoods 
Ryan-
I really like the images you use to show how much easier it is to drink your greens rather than eat them. The message is easy to follow and placing the apples is the jars behind the glass of juice illustrates that idea clearly and strengthens your message. I like the idea of showing us the original photos and how they were manipulated in the collage. With that being said, the background photo is a little hard to make out with out knowing what the image started off as. The bubble effect it creates on the right is a little distracting and I think it kind of takes away from the focus of your collage. Also, have you played around with the text? Maybe having the text the same color will create a similarity effect?
Regarding the #3 challenge you mentioned, I had a similar issue with my collage images. Try watching the link below. It really helped me and was easy to follow.
Overall, I think your collage portrays a clear message and your off to a great start. Cant wait to see the final draft!
Jacqueline
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Here it is
The concept of drinking your green vegetables or fruit is a great one. I tried a kale drink and it was good. I liked the green tones you have in the background layer to highlight the lighter tones of the apples and the juice. I liked the way you used the Gestalt concept of proximity in placing the whole apples to the left of the juice. I guessed that you were bringing the juice to the right forefront for the viewer to consider the product. The description below the apples links or balances the images through unity – the elements share a cohesive theme – juicing. Your message helped interpret the collage explaining the value of drinking 8oz of juice is the same as eating five apples. Two things that might help the flow of the message is maybe changing it from “Have you drank your greens today?” to “Did you drink your greens today?” Rather than stating the verb in the past, it can communicate a stronger message “Did you drink”. Also for some reason the green background behind the apples has a black spot – almost like a tear. My eyes kept going towards it to figure it out. One thing I experimented with in Photoshop (as a new user too) was the clone tool – when I had to fix something. You could clone a solid area and just stamp out the black areas in the background. Overall it looks like a really nice blog concept. Hope this gives some useful feedback. Great concept.
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Hi Ryan,
You’ve got a solid narrative collage here, and I love your topic!
Your title, “Have you drank your greens today?” is super effective because it makes me pause and think about what you’re asking. Drink my greens?! And then when I read you explanation at the bottom, it gives a true “ah ha!” moment, which is awesome. Also, bravo on re-coloring that orange juice. I never would have second guessed it as a glass of freshly juiced apples.
One recommendation I have for you is erasing the last remnants of a background image of the jars, I think. If those marks are on a separate layer from the green background image, I think a few swipes of the eraser tool will do the trick.
Also, even though I love that it made me pause and ponder, I do wonder if drank is the correct tense for drink in your message. For me, it was a little bit distracting because I did get side tracked trying to determined which tense I would used. I think “drunk” is proper, but I wouldn’t recommend using it in your headline because drunk comes with its own baggage. I’m curious if you had this same internal battle, or am I just weird?
Well so far, so good on your collage. I think with a few minor tweaks you’re going to have a great final draft.
Thanks,
Matt
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Thank you for the feedback! The suggestion that stood out the most was the distracting background. While I really like the color of the image for the background the details create a distraction. I appreciate the tips on how to get rid of those lines and will work with some of the effects to do so.
The other suggestion was about the usage of the word “drank”. When I typed that sentence it made since but the more I thought about it sound a little clunky and awkward. Also the word “drank” has it’s own negative connotation with another not so healthy drink so I will rephrase that leading question.
I struggle with the colors of the words on this project because of the darker background on the top and the lighter background on the bottom made it tough to pick all black or all white. I will play around with a few other colors to see if I can find a medium, or perhaps I can cut the bottom off the table or add the green background to the bottom so the all of the words are behind the same back drop.
My other thoughts are to eliminate some of the bottles or extra apples in the picture. I could also move the juice closer so that it covers the apples and bottles closer to the back.
Thank you for the feedback, it was very insightful!
Ryan
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