Katalyst Design Emporium

Hey everyone! Welcome to my last Graphic Design Theory blog post! It's time for another creativity exercise. I heard about this one from a friend and thought it sounded really fun and interesting. It's called the Metaphor Hunt. Its purpose is to stretch your thinking by connecting unrelated ideas. Steps: Pick an everyday activity, object, or process. ( ex: cooking pasta ). Choose something unrelated to compare it to ( ex: building a playlist ). List similarities — even if you're reaching. Cooking pasta: boiling, straining, and seasoning. Playlist: selecting, trimming, and arranging mood. Write a short statement or sketch based on the metaphor. Example: “Cooking pasta is like building a playlist: you start with too much, cut it down to what works, and add flavor until it feels complete.” I found this really entertaining, and it helped me look at things differently. I would've never thought that making pasta was anything like building a playlist, but when you break it dow...

 Hello everyone! For our final project, we had to create a poster for an upcoming event, movie, or concert. With it quickly moving towards October, I decided to use an autumnal event! Being from New York, fall has always been my favorite season - the scents, the food, the activities, and the colors. Living in Florida, we don't get a lot of those things, so it's exciting when I can find events that fill that part of my year.  With this poster, I aimed to capture all the cozy fall vibes and colors, while clearly communicating the event and its offerings. I decided to play around with different typefaces that still appeared to work together, but also conveyed this casual, family-friendly event. I'm still learning how to choose the most appropriate typeface and when it makes sense to mix them, so I'd love some feedback on that aspect. I chose to alternate the colors of the font to work with the colors in the image. Because it says "at Keel Farms" in the main infor...

 Hello again, everyone! For project 5, we were tasked with using a national magazine as a template to design our own magazine covers. We had to try our best to mimic the typography, layout, and content, while using our own images and article titles. This was the first project where I had a clear vision of what I wanted to accomplish, and Billboard Magazine had numerous similar references, making it a clear choice for my national magazine.  I've always loved it when magazines would use their cover model to cover part of their masthead, and I knew I wanted to attempt that myself. It was actually much easier than I anticipated! I selected the image of my friend Nichole, which was taken during a photoshoot we did for our collaboration release for my clothing brand, and then copied the layer but removed the background so that she's overlaid a 2nd time on top of the first image and the "billboard" masthead. Most of the typefaces used on the reference photo are custom, so I ...

 Hey everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend. For Project 4, we were instructed to design a travel poster for a place we'd like to visit. I chose Iceland for a multitude of reasons.  Seeing the Northern Lights is something that's been on my bucket list ever since I learned they existed, so it's only fitting that I want to travel to Iceland, stay in a glass igloo, and see the Northern Lights firsthand! That's not all Iceland has to offer, though. Travelers can hike through ice caves and across glaciers, stand on active volcanoes, and relax in turquoise hot springs, which is why I decided to highlight those in my travel poster.  I went with the layout shown because when most people think of traveling to Iceland, they think of the Northern Lights, so I wanted that to be the primary focal point. I chose to highlight the other things to do with two photos each, separated by text, so that the viewer would receive the information  (that they can see these things in per...

I will seize any opportunity to discuss the rave community and what it means to me. It's why I started my small business, which is highlighted in my collage. What makes the rave scene stand out is the core value of PLURR —Peace, Love, Unity, Respect, and Responsibility. It’s not just a saying; it’s a culture. Whether you’re a first-timer or a seasoned raver, you’ll find that people want you to have a good time. There’s no judgment, just expression. No competition, just connection. You’ll see the most amazing outfits, from DIY masterpieces to cozy onesies. You’ll hear uplifting cheers when the beat drops, and casual “You look amazing!” compliments shouted across the crowd. I've made some of my closest, lifelong friends through seemingly random interactions at crowded festivals or local venues. The rave community is a reminder that joy, kindness, and connection are still very real in this world. It’s not just about the music...it’s about the people. And once you experience it, y...

Happy Saturday, everyone!  For Project 2, we were tasked with creating an event flyer using only 3 colors and one typeface family. I created a flyer for a fictional event called The Enchanted Botanical Market . I wanted it to feel earthy, but with a hint of fantasy.  I chose the name to blend nature and magic. “Enchanted” gives it a mystical vibe, while “Botanical Market” makes it sound like a cozy local fair, but also lets people know it's primarily plant-related vendors. I've also added some extra "offerings"  to give a broader idea of what other types of vendors will be present. The black, dark green, and cream color palette gives it a natural and calming feel.  I decided to go with Cinzel for the font. Normally, I would steer away from fonts that are all-caps, but it just felt right to me for this particular flyer, as I wanted all of the information to be clear and legible, but not overwhelming. I added a dotted border to make the main info stand out withou...

 Hey y'all! Welcome back for another blog post AND another creativity exercise. I wanted to do something a little different and give my imagination a workout, so I tried the " What If?" chain exercise . It starts with something ordinary, then you just keep asking yourself questions that transform it into something new. Objective: Push your imagination past its most predictable idea and see how far you can stretch the thought. How it works and my example: Start with something ordinary:   Pick an object, event, or situation (ex: a lamp, a party, or making breakfast ). Ask “What if…?” Write down the first strange twist that comes to mind. (ex: " What if the lamp never turned off?" ) Keep chaining “What ifs.”  - Each new question must build on the last. What if the lamp turned on by itself, even when it wasn’t plugged in? What if it only turned on when someone in the room was telling the truth? What if the light grew brighter the more honest the convers...

Hello again! Long time, no speak (haha).  This week, we were tasked with creating a 3.5" x 2" business card in Adobe Photoshop, being mindful of our use of color, whitespace, typeface, and C.R.A.P. (Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, and Proximity).  I have some experience with Photoshop, and this still proved to be a challenging assignment - I couldn't stop picturing the business cards I had previously made, which go against many of the rules we were taught this week. I really wanted to start from scratch and learn the proper process, versus just editing an old design!  I spent a solid 30 minutes getting reacquainted with the program before creating this. There was a lot of trial and error (mostly error) before I decided this was the route I wanted to take. I used my small business as a guideline, as it gave me a jumping-off point for the color palette.  My business colors are black, purple, and silver/white, and I have a tendency to use imagery that reflects th...

Hey y'all! Welcome to my first-ever blog post - I'm super excited to get started on these creativity exercises, so let's jump right in!  Have you ever looked at an object and thought of a silly, unrealistic use for it? If you have, then you're already one step ahead on this example. The "Constraint Remix" exercise forces your brain to work around limits, sparking new ideas and hopefully getting you into that creative flow. The cool thing about this exercise is that there are so many different variations you can try! You can remix a fairytale, or do a genre swap by retelling a story in a different style (like Sci-Fi to Horror), try to find the reverse use for an item...really, the possibilities are endless!  For this example, we're gonna keep it simple. This exercise should only take about 15-30 minutes, depending on how in-depth you want to go. The Objective: Flex  your creative thinking in a structured but whimsical way, while strengthening flexibility a...