As a multidisciplinary artist, I focus on merging photography and design to create colorful, creative portraits. I often make my images in black and white so I have more freedom with color when designing. This allows me to put emphasis on specific parts of the image to tell a story or evoke emotion. I also create these poster designs as a way to convey a message and inspire the people in my community who look like me.
Now, I’ll be sharing my best design photography tips for you to do the same.
Begin with the End in Mind
When photographing people, I always try to think of what story I’m trying to tell. Sometimes this can show through facial expressions, poses, and clothing. Once I have an idea of what I’m trying to convey, I then direct my subjects on what to do. There has to be mutual trust so it’s important to make sure you communicate your idea with your subjects first. Doing this with friends helped me get comfortable talking with people and telling them how to pose. This takes me to my next tip….
Photograph Friends
You don’t need to use stock photos when starting out. I started out photographing my friends and adding my designs to their images. When I was finished, I surprised them with the final poster, which they loved. It was a good way to play around and get acquainted with how I wanted to approach merging photography and design.
Experiment with Different Styles
One thing I learned about Picasso was that, even though he knew how to draw, he experimented in different styles to achieve different results. He used blue as a way to convey emotion and used different tools to achieve unique work. So, my suggestion is to look at other artists and figure out what you like about their work. Did you like the shapes they used? The shading? The color scheme? Paying attention to these things can help you figure out what you like.
You Don’t Always Have to Use Digital
Lately I’ve started using playdough in my work because it allows me to use my hands in the physical world and bring it into the digital world. I want to experiment more with this and use things like acrylic paint, magazine paper, brush strokes, and scanners. I feel like this would allow me to tap into a different part of my brain to create something unique.
Find Your Workflow
It’s very important to have a workflow. What happens right after you are done shooting? What do you do? My workflow after photographing my subject is to save them to the Cloud via Dropbox, then bring them into Lightroom to edit the RAW images. After that, I bring the selected image(s) into Photoshop or Illustrator. Without a workflow making this type of merge between photography and design can get time-consuming. My workflow saves me a lot of time and allows me to focus on my edits and designs.
Check out How to Create an Effective Photoshop Workflow for more information.
Consistency is Key
You have to create often. It’s like putting in reps at the gym. If you don’t show up and do the work, you won’t see results. I started doing something called “a poster a day.” I would use images I had taken in the past and make a poster out of them. When I couldn’t take pictures every day, I also found stock photos online from time to time. However, I think it would be cool to find a new friend once a month and take photos of them in various outfits and poses. You can then use these images for your next design.
If you plan to do a poster a day like I did, make a folder and label each day. The amazing thing about keeping a folder is, I can see the old work I did in the past and how much I’ve grown.
Ideas Over Tools
People think you need a high-end camera to begin creating work like I do, but that’s far from the truth. In fact, I started with just my iPhone, then got a camera. Honestly, I sometimes still use my iPhone for ease. It’s all about the idea and creative concept you have in mind. Don’t let your equipment or tools make you feel like you can’t bring your ideas to fruition. Use what you have until you can afford what you need. Remember, tools are just tools. Trust your idea and figure out ways to bring it to fruition. If you can’t afford to buy a stock photo of a leaf, go outside and take a photo of one. Sometimes having limited tools can be fun because it makes you think outside of the box!
You can find more information to get started at How to Improve Your iPhone Photography.
Check out more of my work in AdoramaTV’s new docuseries, THE MASTERS.
