Disclaimer: I’m not an artist

For this graphic design project my goal was to convey the contrast between the hard work of an airlines ground service agent, and the incredible opportunities it provides outside of the job. I chose one of my less glamorous selfies as a foreground to show the rain or shine conditions the work demands. Behind and above me I included snapshots of travel I’ve done with my flight benefits, which would have been unaffordable otherwise. I purposefully strayed from the thought bubble cliche, and wanted the scenes to take up the majority of the background to express how these memories are the main motivating factor for remaining at this job. I was careful to keep the images behind the plane so as to establish a hierarchy of importance. Though I am constantly recalling the fun times I’ve had traveling, I don’t let it interfere with my job at hand. I’d like to find a better way to portray the concept of a preoccupation with travel, than the scrap-booky way it turned out.

The original picture of me in the rain does not have a whole lot of motion in it so I layered in a stock photo of rain drops to create the impression of downpour (link below). Each travel photo varies in opacity based on its coloring and intensity in relation to the rain backdrop. I liked the idea of giving each one a different layering style to create a unique individualized feel, but I question whether that may have detracted from the picture’s overall unity. There was a lot of trial and error at first as I got the order of layering down right. I found it logically simpler to start completely over, then to try and alter the base image with the other layers already added. The most difficult learning curve for me was to figure out the subtle program quirks like having to press enter before being able to move on to the next task.

What do you think? How can I improve this image? Is it too cluttered? Disorganized? Do certain areas need more light or contrast? Let me know what you think! Any and all critiques are welcome!

https://www.pexels.com/photo/water-rain-raindrops-drops-of-water-8486/