Postcard brief

Piyabut Chairatna










Nicholas Leineman

Paul Murray

Design Brief ‘Postcard’

Adobe Photoshop has many tools to manipulate pre-existing photographs or 2D artworks but it also has the digital equivalents of the more traditional tools like pencils, pens, brushes, sponges, erasers, etc. You can render and change by using a range of artistic filters that simulate the effect of different media.

For this brief you will create postcards that explores Adobe Photoshop’s ability to simulate traditional painting and drawing techniques as well as the digital manipulation explored in the ‘Strange Self Portrait” brief.


Theme - Self portraiture
Image size
2 documents – 1 for Postcard Front and 1 for Postcard Back
150mm x 107mm, 300dpi (includes allowance for 2mm bleed -that’s 1mm extra all around the card) This allows for a bit of the image to be cut off during the printing and cutting process.

Source images – all high resolution
· Photos or scans of the self portrait and other colour works you have been creating in ‘Drawing and Design Principles’ including food drawing images.
· Images of yourself - face and body
· Images of things or places that are ‘symbolic’ of you

Postcard back
Organise the space to include details about the artwork and artists; a space for writing; and an area to include an address and stamp, appropriate for postage with Australia Post. You may want to include an image with reduced opacity(watermark) or logo

Postcard 1

Postcard Front
Collage of original work with overdrawing
Digitally collage images of artworks, objects and places , together using copy and paste.
Import a photo of yourself as a new layer
On a new additional transparent layer use the drawing, painting and modelling tools to define your face, fill with colour and model highlights and shadows. Delete the layer with your photograph on it.
Enhance and unify the images with the application of filters, adjustments, colour and saturation.
Save a copy’ of image
Flatten original image Save as JPEG in your Finished Work folder

Postcard 2

Postcard Front:
Freehand digital self portrait (with no imported images).
Use a mirror and use your mouse and drawing tools to do a contour drawing of your face
Remember to use your navigator to zoom in; this will give you greater control with the mouse.
Try a few different brush libraries, like wet media or special effect brushes.
Use the transform tools and liquefy filter to adjust the contour line. Choose your skin colours and brush them in. Use the modelling tools for adjusting highlights, shadows and saturation.
Draw in a background
Enhance and unify the images with the application of filters, adjustments, colour and saturation.
Save a copy’ of image
Flatten original image Save as JPEG in your Finished Work folder