Alex Cotton

PORTFOLIO

CONTACT
ALEX COTTON:
83756 Novilla Dr.
Indio, CA 92203
760.808.0477
alex@alexcotton.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS
BROCHURE 04
LOGOS 06
BUSINESS CARDS 08
LETTERHEAD 10
WEB PAGE 12
EVENT AD 14
FLIER 16
MONTAGE 18
IMAGING 20

BROCHURE
Description:

5.25in x 5.25in (when closed) vertical trifold brochure for an iOS app called
Hikers Harvest.

Date:
03.26.16

Course/Instructor:
Comm 130 - Emily Kunz

Program(s)/Tools:

Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop

Objectives:

Set up and align a two-sided, folded document.

Create an original, new logo and use it in a brochure.
Incorporate quality images. Incorporate at least four quality images.
Trim for a full bleed and print in duplex (two-sided) color.

Process:

I wanted to make sure the finished product would be large enough for the
text to be legible without pushing everything else off of the page, but I also
wanted it to be able to be printed on a single page. I set up the InDesign
document to 5.25in x 15.75in so it would easily fit on a 1117 sheet of paper. I
used graph paper to create a smaller version of the brochure to get a solid
grasp on how the folding would affect the design. I used Illustrator to create the logo, which was build using a 99 square grid. I built the the phone
app graphic in illustrator and incorporated the leaf shaped waypoints
thoughout the brochure to tie it all together.

BUSINESS CARD

STUDIOS

Description:

Business card design; front and back

Date:
02.27.16

Course/Instructor:
Comm 130 - Emily Kunz

Program(s)/Tools:
Illustrator, InDesign

Objectives:

Use the basic tools in Illustrator & InDesign.

Create a new logo to fit a company or personal image.
Use the new logo to design business card.
Apply typography rules, keeping small copy.
Keep designs simple with light watermarks and drop shadows and
plenty of white space.

Process:

Prism Studios is a fictional business I created for this project. I wanted

to do something colorful and fun and the idea of incorporating a prism
popped into my head so I opened up google to do some research. I
sketched half of the prism in illustrator, and then duplicated, flipped,
connected, and adjusted the prisms outlines. I created a bright color pallet
and then found a suitable blending mode to make the colors transparent
and blend when stacked. I use a strong type and kept with the same
overlapping effect to really sell the design.

Alex Cotton

SENIOR DESIGNER
760.808.0477
alex@prismstudios.com
PRISMSTUDIOS.com
3487 Santa Monica Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90406

LETTERHEAD
Description:

Stationary design

Date:
02.27.16

Course/Instructor:
Comm 130 - Emily Kunz

Program(s)/Tools:
Illustrator, InDesign

Objectives:

Use the basic tools in Illustrator & InDesign.

Create a new logo to fit a company or personal image.
Use the new logo to design letterhead.
Apply typography rules, keeping small copy.
Keep designs simple with light watermarks and drop shadows and
plenty of white space.

Process:

With the logo completed, i appplied what Ive learned about layout,
contrast, and white space to make this stationary functional. The
background is the logo blown up and mostly transparent.

Alex Cotton

STUDIOS

SENIOR DESIGNER
760.808.0477
alex@prismstudios.com
PRISMSTUDIOS.com
3487 Santa Monica Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90406

WEB PAGE
Description:
Webpage design

Date:
03.12.16

Course/Instructor:
Comm 130 - Emily Kunz

Program(s)/Tools:

Illustrator, Dreamweaver, InDesign

Objectives:

Size and optimize an original logo as a .png for a web page.

Acquire a working knowledge of HTML.
Acquire a working knowledge of CSS.
Identify hex colors to match logo, using Photoshop color picker.

Process:

I used Photoshop to pull the hex values from the colors in the logo and
used HTML and CSS to layout the web page. I tagged all of the sections in
HTML so I could use CSS to apply specific size, font, and color attributes to
each section. I alo used CSS to round the corners at the top of the page.

LOGOS
Description:

Logo design options for a local Attorney

Date:
02.20.16

Course/Instructor:
Comm 130 - Emily Kunz

Program(s)/Tools:
Illustrator, InDesign

Objectives:

Create three completely different, original logos to fit a company or

personal image that will appeal to the audience.
Market research: gather opinions from at least ten people about which
logo appeals most to them.
Use only the Illustrator tools to create and draw your logos.
Refine one logo with variations for color

Process:

I decided, right away, that I wanted to stay as far away from anything clich
as possible. The logo would be for a law practice and it would NOT include
a gavel or scales of justice. I decided to use the first letter of each of the
partners names, and make it look strong and sturdy. I also wanted it to be
a little abstract. I broke down the M and the K into their most basic parts
and then began shaping them until they looked more like and M and K.

EVENT AD
Description:

Event Flier for a Family History-a-thon to raise money for the LDS
Humanitarian Aid Fund

Date:
01.30.16

Course/Instructor:
Comm 130 - Emily Kunz

Program(s)/Tools:

Photoshop, Microsoft Word

Objectives:

Comprehend image sizing (how pixels and inches work together)

Find, scan and import a high-quality image.
Create a full-bleed design.
Choose a color scheme and typeface(s) that work for your message and
audience.
Learn to use only Word design features without using any Adobe
programs, including Photoshop.

Process:

I used photoshop to scan the background image and Word for layout.

Begats are more interesting when theyre yours.

Thursday February 25th
Shadow Hills Ward
77-482 Washington St.
Bermuda Dunes, CA 92253

FLIER
Description:

Black and white flyer for a graduate leadership conference

Graduate

LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE
October 21

8 a.m. 5 p.m.

Lincoln Convention Center

Do you want to have the competitive edge in business?

Date:

Come learn how at Vouant Communications annual Graduate Leadership Conference.

Vouant Communications is devoted to helping tomorrows leaders gain essential leadership
skills in the workplace.

Course/Instructor:

During this dynamic three-day seminar, attendees will:

Meet with top executives of Vouant Communications.
Discuss breakthrough leadership techniques.
Cultivate attributes of leadership that will market to any employer.

01.23.16

Comm 130 - Emily Kunz

Program(s)/Tools:
Photoshop, InDesign

Objectives:

Apply the design principles and use appropriate typography.

Incorporate basic InDesign skills to improve basic flier layout.
Retrieve image and logo from links on this page.
Create a project folder with image, logo and InDesign document to keep
links in InDesign intact.

Process:

My process began with sketches and then I chose the one I liked most and
rebuild it in InDesign. I wanted the photo to fade to white without affecting
the people in the image so I removed the background of the image in
Photoshop and then used a gradient mask to fade it back in.

Conference is available to graduating seniors. Space is limited.

Registration and more information available at
http://www.vouantcomm.com/leaders

MONTAGE
Description:

Spiritual montage design project

Date:
02.13.16

Course/Instructor:
Comm 130 - Emily Kunz

Program(s)/Tools:
Photoshop

Objectives:

Use the FOCUS design process with strong focal point and flow
Unify a layout with a consistent theme and dominant spiritual message
Learn to blend two or more images together gradually, using masks
Photoshop skills for layout with multiple elements
Use a mask to apply a filter to one part of the image
Apply typography principles
Format type: Legibility; Small copy & Title with varying text size.

Process:

I searched unsplash.com for an image with a good amount of negative

space so Id have plenty of room for the other images. I was also looking
for something with imagery that could be used as a metaphor. Once I
had the background chosen, I searched for a quote containing the word
lighthouse and LDS. Then I found two other images that would also fit
with the quote. I used Photoshop for 100% of the editing and blended the
images with masking layers.

IMAGING
Description:

Photoshop photodesign project with an uplifting quote.

Date:
02.06.16

Course/Instructor:
Comm 130 - Emily Kunz

Program(s)/Tools:
Photoshop

Objectives:

Learn basic photography skills.

Choose a color scheme, take a photo to match those colors, then
incorporate the colors into the layout.
Use a digital camera to take a quality image, then download it.
Adjust image levels, saturation, color balance, sharpen tool on separate
layers for NDE (non-destructive editing.)
Size and crop the image, then place on an 8.511 page layout.
Use layers to design text, and repeating graphic elements in Photoshop.
Print with full-bleed margins. Trim only 1/8 (0.125) from all four sides.

Process:

First I photographed these apples in a Target while shopping with my wife,

then I used photoshop to edit the image, adjust the color, and add the text
and design elements.