GIMP

School is right around the corner. It literally starts next week for me. As an executive board member for this year's Biology Society, we are working double time to make sure that everything is set in place to welcome the incoming Bio freshies. As one of the PROs, one of my duties is to handle the incoming elections for the 1st year batch representative.

Another thing is that just recently, I was announced to be on the Executive Board for the Biology Majors Alliance of the Philippines (BMAP). They put me in-charge of the Promotions and Publicity, which is a good thing since I'm basically online 24/7. As part of the Promo and Pub committee, it is my responsibility to produce the different posters and fliers for our different events, which leads me to the reason behind this post.

In order to entice freshmen to apply for batch rep, the PROs (Melo and I) need to create a poster to catch the attention of the students. Now, usually, I would probably be the last person on earth who would do this. I mean, leave the photoshop to the experts, and leave the instagram filters to me HAHAHA. Well, it just so happens that I'm also the OIC for the Arts and Promotions committee, which means I'm one of the people in charge of this. I'd usually get Ate Cams, 4th year batch rep, to do this for us. However, I felt like it was time for me to step it up. I can't always rely on her and other committee members to do this, especially since majority are seniors. Another is that I'm leading the promotions committee for BMAP, which means there's a lot of pressure on me to produce some eye catching posters. So, since I wasn't doing anything, i felt this would be the perfect time to start letting my creative juices flow and start practicing.

When I found out about the posters, I was in Anvaya cove at the time with no laptop, only my iPhone. I had no way to note down my ideas except for notepad. I came up with 2 concepts, one of which was also thought of by another member of the council. The first one I came up with was top model inspired. It basically was a dark, gradient background which focused on the middle, as well as a silhouette of a man and a woman. The font on top would be similar to the America's Next Top Model font, with metallic, gradient colors. It would read "BioSoc's Next 1st year Batch representative". The details would follow underneath, specifically Melo and my contact information. It would also bear the logo of the Biology Society and the University of Santo Tomas.

Here's the final outcome. The background was changed because it wasn't exactly how I pictured it. In fact, the background looked very plain. So i decided to look for a more interesting background. Luckily, I was browsing through my iPhone wallpapers and saw this number. This was perfect for me. I also changed the title. I added "The Search for" at the top because there was this huge space on top that needed to be filled. I still stuck with the top model theme, match the font as well as the silhouettes of the man and woman.

Later on, Tisha (the assistant secretary) commented that it looked to much of a pageant poster, rather than searching for an officer. After this, I decided to change the silhouettes to head shots so it would seem less "pageant" and more election. In the end, it looked more like a kiddie version that what I had imagined.

My second idea was an old school, western, Wanted poster. Ciara was the first one to comment this, so I decided to go through with it anyway. Not much to say about it except that I tried to keep it as authentic as possible. I only changed the texts just a little bit so that it would fit our situation more. For the silhouette, I used the icon on facebook for users who don't have a profile picture. I edited it a little to look darker, and a little older. I also searched for fonts that had a western theme that was often used on wanted posters such as this.

At the end of the day, I felt good. It felt good because this was a product of my hard work. I felt like I had accomplished something because it was a product of my hard work and dedication. I also felt that these were decent enough to publicize and be posted around the third floor. At the end of the day, what I did was for me more than anyone. I not only designed some posters for BioSoc, but I also taught myself how to use GIMP.

Before I go, I'd just like to send a shout-out to my bro JB. He really helped me while I was in the middle of creating my first poster. He was there for me everytime I had a question to ask, and whenever I needed advice. Love you bro!

Big thanks as well to all the people I went to for their opinions on what I should do, what fonts I should use, etc etc to make my poster better. And thanks as well to the YouTube videos I searched up when I was lacking ideas on how to do something.

BTW, I know these posters aren't the best. But for someone who just learned how to use GIMP in 24 hours, I felt that these were good enough.

Keep Dreaming.