Collage Me Project

You are all unique individuals with a complex variety of talents, dreams, and interests.  The Collage Me Project asks you to show who you are in a very visual way.

This Collage Me project should take you several class periods to complete.  I want you to do it well, so take your time!

PART 1:

Create your silhouette.

1.  Open a new 11x17 canvas in Photoshop.  Make it portrait style.  You're going to put a silhouette of your body or your torso/head so it needs to be longer than wider.

2.  Go to EDIT -> FILL and fill your background with a color of your choice.

3.  Pull over a picture of you from your portrait collection.  Pick one where you are the clear focal point of the picture.  Look for something that is relatively easy to trace and that makes sense for a silhouette.  If you're climbing a tree, that's probably not a great choice.  If you want to take a new portrait just for this project, go ahead.

4.  Select the MAGNETIC LASSO tool.  Use magnetic lasso to trace your image.  Then choose LAYER -> DELETE LAYER.  You should then see your magnetic lasso marching ants on top of your background without the portrait.

5.   Next duplicate your background layer.

6.  With the background copy layer selected, hit the DELETE key to get rid of the cutout (the marching ants shape) inside your silhouette.  Then delete your original background layer.

Your project should now look something like this:

PART 2:

Fill your silhouette!

Collect at least 20 different images to put inside your silhouette.  You can use pictures that you've taken OR pictures from the web.  You can use photos, cartoons, logos, etc.  Anything goes!  Your goal is to show the many sides of you.  Don't fill in your entire silhouette with pictures of the Phillies if you're a Phillies fan.  Think about the people, places, things, and ideas that matter to you.

Remember that your canvas is 11x17 (really big!)  Zoom in to 100% when working on different parts of the collage so that you can work in "real view."  

Resize, rotate and layer the images so that they fit inside your silhouette.  There shouldn't be any empty space. 

NOTE - Your silhouette layer has to go ON TOP of all the collage images.  It's like a reverse cookie cutter...

PART 3:

Make a text layer with your name.  Use at least four effects to make your name pop.   Make sure the text layer is the top layer so that it is visible.

Use the brush tool to add embellishments to the background and/or collage.  Use at least three different brushes.

When you're done, print a copy for me and save your project as a JPEG in the student common folder in the COLLAGE ME folder.

I have developed this project based on a post from Paul Ferraris, a high school teacher in San Francisco.  Many thanks to Paul and the students at City Arts and Tech High School in San Francisco for the inspiration!