In week two in VIC5325 we quickly learned the basic tools and panels that Photoshop has to offer. Our photoshop lecture this week had high emphasis on the layers panel as it is one of the fundamental features needed to be understood when creating graphic images.
For week two’s showcase assignment I was hired by a fictitious restaurant, Albert’s Grille, to create a BLT sandwich graphic. We are creating this graphic image, because one of Albert’s first customers had asked for a BLT and even though it wasn’t even on the menu they made it anyway. Now they are looking to officially add it as an item and have asked for an image to highlight it on the menu. (back story based on this true story)
Before I could even open Photoshop to create this image, I first stopped to think about who Albert’s Grille was and how was their brand portrayed. I immediately envisioned a southern BBQ grille type restaurant, a restaurant that prides themselves on their grilled meats just as much as a simple sandwich dish, such as the BLT. I also envision the atmosphere of the restaurant to have a wooded, barn, country feel (one of those restaurants that lets you throw the peanut shells on the floor). All of this information was needed and analyzed when deciding the background décor for the BLT image.
The sandwich image parts were provided for this assignment and we were tasked with creating a BLT on a plate (also provided) as well as creating a background of our choice. In thinking of Albert’s Grille’s brand I decided to create a bare wood table background, using the same type of wood that their seating tables are made of in the restaurant. For the plate image I chose to change the inside circle color using the magic wand to a darker navy blue as that is a reoccurring color in their restaurant.
In creating the BLT sandwich we were asked to remove all background images and given a specific order for which to layer: bottom bread, lettuce, tomato, bacon, mustard, mayo, and top bread. This was done in Photoshop utilizing the layers panel. The bacon was also rotated to better recreate a realistic sandwich and also so it was visible since I am working with multiple layers. The mustard and mayo were created using the brush tool and can be gently seen peaking out from below the top of the bread.
The top and bottom slices of bread seemed too “out of the package” for this type of a restaurant so I created the look of toasted bread by using the burn tool. This was my first time experimenting with this tool and in doing so I realized that by switching the range selection in the options bar to shadows it best created a realistic toasted effect after multiple layers. 
I originally started creating the toasted effect with midtones selected under the range, as it was defaulted, but that gave off a grey/black effect that would not make anyone want to order this menu item.
I was also asked to add typography of my choice somewhere in the design for an interim logo. During this creative process I thought back to their country wood décor and thought it would be really awesome if I could recreate their restaurant name to look like it was burned into the wood of the table. The burned logo name was then created using this YouTube tutorial. Although it took me four different tries, I finally achieved the look in the video.
However, after moving Photoshop to my second screen I realized it was too hard to see the wood burn and I didn’t think the customers would be able to appreciate the logo within the wood. I then decided to hide the burned wood logo image and instead, decided to make the top piece of bread appear as though “Albert’s Grille” was imprinted into the toast.This was created by layering the logo text on top of the bread and then selecting color burn as well as decreasing the opacity and fill in the layers panel.The text was also rotated as not to look so “cookie cutter straight”.
Overall, I was very impressed with my first Photoshop assignment, which allowed me to gain a better understanding of the layers panel as well as the importance of it.
