Tufuga Media

There are many, many techniques in Adobe Photoshop for cutting a foreground image from the background.  I choose to use masks, and in this tutorial I will explain the reasons why I do that, and demonstrate how to use them.  But, let me list some of the main reasons I use masks:

• Leaves the layer untouched, meaning the cutting-out is non-destructive
• Allows for changes throughout the entire process of editing
• Have the ability to create hard and soft edges by using different brushes.  Shaped brushes can also be used for difficult areas, such as grass
• Ability to duplicate the mask to use it on another layer

You dont have to use this method, but personally, I have yet to hear any arguement which would convince me to not use masks and to use another method as my main method for cutting out.  Of course there will be times when other tools are better, but this is usually the best one for the job.

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Have you ever tried to remove someone from a background, but they have some crazy hair which makes this very difficult?  Check out the Extract filter!  We’ll show you haw to use this to cut remove a subject with hair that stands out from a background.

Just a note, this filter is NOT included in CS4.  I dont know why they had to leave this out, but you can download it from Adobe’s website.  You can also find these plugins on the CS4 install disc.  Seems odd to me that you have to go through all this to get a filter that was included by default in past versions.  I guess I dont understand software enough…

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These are a few web banners that I have created for blogs and other websites.  Lots of Photoshop and Illustrator. These were used on a couple different blogs that I had.  One was my personal blog, one was my portfolio blog, and one was a blog I created for my projects at school.  The blogs these banners represent are being retired and replaced by this website.  They served me well, but its time to move beyond Blogger and into something a little more professional!

I had a need to create some business cards for a recent trip I took with the BYU–Hawaii SIFE team. We went to Washington DC and Philly. Didn’t end up giving many of these out, but it was fun to finally make a good business card!  I used Illustrator to design the card, with only a little work in Photoshop to prepare the photo for importing into Illustrator.  Since I never really use browns, it was fun to experiment with different colors I havent used before.

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Here are a few logos I have made recently.  The Glocal Solutions was one that I created in only hour and a half for a friend who was entering a business competition and came to me last minute to help make their logo look a little better. The Lpoint logo was for a business I was going to join, but then it kind of dissolved before I was able to do much in it other than create a logo.  I had some help on this one from a co-worker, John Kung.  He’s the man!

My first Christmas, my first steps, my first birthday…life is full of firsts and they carry a sentimental value.  They represent a starting place which gives birth to something great.

Here are my first ever attempts at designing a website.  Our school’s website is in dire need of help, and so as a part of a failed redesign phase in 2008, I created these drafts as idea generators.  It was harder than I would have expected, so many little things to put on the page   But now I haver really generated a great interest in web design and implementation.  I am not a coder, but I like the design side of it.

I was asked by a producer here to create some disc labels, in my spare time, to be used for printing on a multitude of discs – CD’s and DVD’s – which are sent out from the school. These are basically templates. The person creating the disc can then print a title on the available space. I was asked to utilize the middle only to save on ink and print time, rather than make full color discs. I anticipate making more of these in the future.

Some of my buddies here at school started a business creating audio tours for the island of Oahu.  I was contracted to create the CD and DVD cover.  This business idea rocks!  They are going to take the content of their CD and then tether it to GPS coordinates so as you approach a destination, an audio recording about the location comes over the stereo.  Way cool!  Sorry, the idea has been patented, so you gotta try and find another one. The images include the cover, the map included inside, DVD Design, store display, and back cover.

One of the first projects that I was assigned to after I arrived at BYUH was the graphics for the BYU Hawaii choir tour in China. There are many products of this project. The first was an audio cd which featured all the songs the choir sang on their tour in China and Mongolia. I was asked to create the CD cover and label. What you see is the finished product. It was printed on hundreds of CDs and distributed.

I have also been involved in making motion graphics for the video documentary. If you click here, you can see a segment of what I produced. It is an animated title sequence. It starts just over 1/3 of the way through the clip and is the only animation, so its easy to pick out. I also made some lower third titles that show the names of people as they are interviewed for this film.

One of the things I learned through the project was how to meet the needs of clients, instead of simply doing what I felt like was the best.  This seems so simple, but in reality it is easy for designers to be arrogant and believe that since we have the “eye” for design, then our way should rule.  However, it is ultimately the one who signs the checks who has the final call on things, and unfortunately, projects often have to be designed to please the decision maker, rather than creating a design that would be most effective.  In some rare cases, those two goals can fuse, and when it does it is a beautiful thing!  This is usually the sign of an openminded leader.

I created these during some of those dull moments where you feel like you dont have anything to do.  They actually came out of some video projects which never fruited, but I like the design well enough to modify them to be a desktop background.  I’ll consider putting the full versions up for download soon.