Who?
Jacob S. Humphries
(Look at the logo again) 🤯
The Art
I'm a digital artist focusing on graphic design. I excel in photo manipulation, designing with social media in mind, and enhancing photos with motion. I have spent a lot of time finding what I want to create and I know that I will never have a definite answer. I am constantly experimenting with what I want to make and how I make it. I will always want to improve and try new things with my art.
Pop Culture
A lot of my free time is spent perfecting my craft through personal work. I love to make graphics based on relevant movies and TV shows. I'm an avid Star Wars fan, (excluding the sequels sorry if you like them) I just love to get lost in the world that George Lucas built. I mean it's literally about space wizards with light swords that have the power of the sun! That's pretty f***ing wizard! I just get so inspired by the visuals these shows and movies produce that I want to give my own takes on it.
Sports Design
Another subject I come back to often for graphics is sports. I value how creative you can get with sports designs. The audience for these graphics is very open to a variety of different looks and feels. It really opens the door to get more wild with textures, colors, layouts, and strive for a .jpg that makes you say "wow". I am also a huge Cincinnati Bengals fan, you can find a page of some fun designs I created for my personal growth and show support for the team. WHO DEY!!
Education
The Modern College of Design, Kettering, Ohio
Associate Degree in Applied Business Design, August 2019 - August 2021
Program Skills
+Photoshop
+After Effects
+Premiere Pro
+Illustrator
+Blender
What?
Social Media
Does your idea or business have a presence on social media? I hope so. Lots of people spend countless hours scrolling, and many lose track of time. Your goal on social media is to grab the attention of someone who is aimlessly scrolling. This can be done by implementing a "hook" in your post. Once you have someone hooked you can then and only then show the value of your product, service, or promotion.
Photo manipulation
I absolutely love photo manipulation! Using photos to create something brand new simply from an idea is a powerful tool. You can easily take photos and edit them as you want. The placement of the assets you use is also easy to change, if you don't like the subject on one side of the design you can change it. Blending modes, hue/saturation, levels, and many more tools allow you to implement unique and vivid changes to the composition with just a few sliders.
Motion Design
Animation adds more intrigue to a piece. You can use many techniques to grab and retain attention. Flashy graphics can be used to grab attention quickly and the use of music and sound effects can retain the interest of the viewer. I use motion design in tandem with my photo manipulation. This allows me to have all subjects in place ready to animate without having to worry about motion right away.
Where? and Why?
From Cincinnati
I was born and raised in Cincinnati, well more specifically Amelia, Ohio. I always had a passion for art, which I got from my dad. I drew things all the time as a hobby.
I took almost every art class there was to take through my high school years. Junior year comes along and I take this class called "Computer Graphics", all of a sudden I have this new hobby, +Photoshop.
The first few things we made in this class were simple, like swapping your face on some celebrities and tracing over the photo with the brush tool. But I gravitated toward the tool that allowed me to manipulate pictures and create ideas from my mind with relative ease.
I knew I wanted to master +Photoshop. Enter The Modern College of Design...
to Kettering
Long story short, the years of art classes paid off and I got accepted into The Modern College of Design.
I move to Kettering, Ohio, and start college life. I was very happy to move as it felt super fresh and I was surrounded by tons of creatives who have a similar mindset to mine.
I went through classes learning how the design process works and why a rectangle looks good here but not there. What programs are used for, such as using +Illustrator would allow graphics to be blown up to the size of a semi-truck trailer with the help of vector, whereas +Photoshop would be better off with staying small or on the web due to the rasterized images.
Portfolio semester comes along and it was my favorite time throughout all of the two years at The Modern. I start creating some of the best work I have ever made. But that isn't the reason it was the most enjoyable time I had at the college. (It certainly helped though)
It was because I felt the most creative, a big thanks to my classmates and my teachers. I was introduced to new ways I can utilize +After Effects and +Premiere Pro with +Photoshop. This opened the floodgates to how I could tell stories with my art. Incorporating motion into my static designs?! Yes, please! Now, this is something that I am still working on, but it is a damn joy to figure out.
Before I knew it portfolio was over and I graduated. I was fortunate enough to continue the externship with Tour de Gem through freelance projects. I was able to learn a lot about the process of preparing files to be print ready for various applications like road signs, tent canopies, and more.
The lease to my apartment was coming to an end so it was time to move back to Cincinnati.
and Back
Coming home was a bitter-sweet thing. I didn't want to leave all of the creative friends I had made. They really helped my motivation and pushed my skills with their critiques. On the other hand, I got to see my friends and family more often again. It felt like a short break before I got back to it.
The job search was on. I was able to comfortably search for jobs with the projects from Tour de Gem still coming in. I landed a few interviews with a couple of companies. Coming out of these interviews I knew I was qualified for them. I just didn't feel I couldn't work at these companies. I would've been doing mundane work, making labels and making calls to order more supplies is not what I had in mind.
So I continued freelancing, and it's been great! I got an opportunity to do some sports design with Vanguard Sports Group. I then got work with 7th Gear Exotics creating advertising pieces. Throw in some work here and there for friends and family of course.
I am glad I learned the skills I learned as they are very essential, but I wasn't getting the same passion high school me had. All of the projects we were making just didn't feel fulfilling to me. I don't want to make pamphlets where the majority of the design is filled up with words. I don't want to make corporate presentations where the coolest thing I get to add is a graph.
I want to create album covers.
I want to create sports graphics.
I want to create things that are fulfilling.
I want to create something that tells a story.
I need to create art.