Graphic Design Portfolio - Eric J. BestEric J. Best

Book Covers

This book cover demonstrates the ability to layout a design to specific print dimensions, the use of transparencies, subject isolation from photographs, blending of fabricated elements into other photographs (note reflected eye image) and basic use of layering and fonts. Unfortunately, this cover didn’t fit the motif of the previous two books, so it wasn’t used, but I still like it the best.

This cover uses a commissioned background painting by Dan Baginski of a post-apocalyptic Brattleboro Vermont. The title was done using a draw pad in an effort to “degenerate” the fonts. The painting has been altered to fix errors in the car tires and hair color of the characters. A dark gradient was added to the top to aid the readability of the blurb over a busy background, while also adding to the sense of foreboding. The author appears to come out of his photo by having his arm go beyond the boundaries of the apparent photo background.

This background was painted by Susan Norton. Similar techniques are used here as above. Though the fonts are layered above the background image note that–in the spirit of degeneration–the character is still able to step on the author’s name. The author image is desaturated with only one specific element still in color, a technique used in advertising to emphasis one thing, often the product. Layout takes into account the placement of a barcode (not seen) by the printer.

CD Cover

Website Images

This was the banner image for a webpage about the book “No Dominion,” showing character Brandy Grey caught between the trauma of her urban past and the healing of her rural future. This image shows the blending of separate photographs, subject isolation, and desaturation by gradient.

This banner was for a webpage about the fantasy book, “Lost Sovereignty,” and was rightfully rejected. I only put it here to demonstrate a technique. This is a completely fabricated image. Each person here is the same model taken from different angles and poses and positioned in the image in a way that gives a sense of differing height and size. Lighting effects are used to fool the viewer into believing the torch (fake) is casting light and shadow. A flat stone wall image is bent to give the illusion of distance. This requires the ability to design a shot in 3D and then capture the pieces one by one.

Product Labels

These images show the ability to create product labels of specific dimensions for bottles of different shapes and sizes taking into account print margins. (It also shows that small fonts in 300 dpi used for print do not always translate well into the 72 dpi used for the web.) The first labels show the need to fade the background for legibility. The round label clearly shows a foreground image cut out to reveal a model layered with colorized irises, her skin overlain with a tribal tattoo.

Vector Graphics

This is the mockup of a game board using Adobe Illustrator.

Video and Audio Media

Here is a video editing project showing an overview of the final Tweed River Music Festival in 2015. I was given three days of footage by a camera man who never used a tripod, used a single camera, and believed in record fast pans (he’s primarily a sound engineer). There wasn’t any board mix and any time the camera was shut off the audio went with it. Out of this, I constructed a fairly stable video using the most solid audio I could find. With a consistent audio background, the cuts between scenes give the impression that people are dancing to the song that is playing (they’re not). Notice that the images of each day’s performers are cut to the music. While editing this was a challenge, it also lent itself to a demonstration of editing effects and video layering that covered the short comings of the raw footage. Also effective was the documentary technique of panning still shots.