Katalyst Design Emporium

Hey y'all! It's time for the final design blog post of this course, so I'll try to keep it short and sweet.  This week’s black and white photography assignment was by far my favorite. I've always loved black and white photography, but now that I can combine that love with the knowledge I've learned this month, I feel like it was easier to fall into the subject when I was presented an opportunity. As I said in my black and white photography submission, our Uromastyx, Pikachu, decided that he wanted to be included while I was walking around trying to decide what to shoot...or maybe he just wanted to fight the camera, it's still undetermined. What I love about black and white photography is that without color, I couldn’t rely on bright tones or warm lighting to make an image interesting (which was difficult in this case, because Pikachu has a bright yellow underbelly and it would've photographed so well in color!) . It all came down to texture, form, and contra...

"Little Dragon" "Fireling"      This is Pikachu, our Uromastyx. He accidentally became my subject when I noticed him sprinting towards me in his enclosure every time he heard my camera shutter go off. Would you believe me when I told you that he started posing as soon as I started photographing him? He loves attention from a distance apparently (he is not a fan of being manhandled). I swear this little guy looks like a dragon that just happens to be fun-sized. The first photo, Little D ragon , you can almost feel the warmth and the quiet. He's just relaxing, soaking up the heat under his lamp, practically sleeping he's so still.  Then in Fireling , the light hits his face just right and suddenly he looks alive again. He's alert, though maybe a little suspicious of me and my camera. I realized partway through shooting him that (I think) the sound of the camera was actually agitating him. He started "slithering" and was attempting to get to me th...

Hey everyone! For the final creativity exercise of this course, I tried a quick one that didn’t involve writing or drawing. It just required looking at an ordinary object. The idea was to take an everyday object and imagine it as something completely different. I picked a candle. Normally, I think of it as something that makes a room feel cozy or smells pretty, but I tried to look at it from a different perspective. The flickering flame, the way it cast a soft glow on the wall, suddenly reminded me of a tiny lighthouse, quietly guiding ships through the dark. That small shift changed how I saw it. The melted wax became rocky waves, and the flame felt less decorative and more alive, like a little beacon doing its best to cut through the night. It sounds simple, but exercises like this help loosen up the creative side of your brain. They make you notice details you usually overlook and remind you that inspiration doesn’t have to come from big ideas. Sometimes it’s just about seeing so...

This week’s assignments ended up teaching me a lot about design.  Product photography showed me how much design depends on simplicity. Every detail matters: the background, the light, even how shadows fall. It isn’t about adding more; it’s about choosing what really needs to be there. Landscape photography taught me about balance. The horizon, the lines, the way color and texture spread across the frame, it all affects how your eye moves through the image. It reminded me that good design has rhythm and flow, just like a well-composed photo. Lifestyle photography tied it all together. It’s about mood and a story. Everything in the image works together to make you feel something. I saw how design can do the same thing. Overall, these assignments made me more aware of how design shows up everywhere. It’s all about being intentional.

For Week 3, we were instructed to do three separate photography projects, one of which was Product Photography. For my product, I chose a lipstick from the brand Coven Cosmetics and tried to follow some of the critiques given to me this month. I wanted to try to focus on not making everything dead center, and also played with my backdrop items in an attempt to create a more interesting image. I'm very limited on what kind of light is available to me (we don't have any lamps, which hasn't been an issue until now), but I did use a camera-mounted flash. I tried a few editing techniques to get the brand on the lipstick casing to stand out, but I had a lot of difficulty. Because the brand name is Coven , I wanted to lean into the witchy-metaphysical branding for the backdrop. I researched for a while before setting up two separate concepts, which is what you'll see below!  Looking back, there are a few minor changes I would make, such as not zooming in as far on the second ...

It was particularly sunny this weekend, and with the nice weather, my boyfriend and I decided to go for a walk around the lake by our home. The first photo is my favorite. I think Spanish moss is absolutely stunning, and I thought that it was adorable that they put a bench under the tree. I did have some difficulty with the sun, and had a few images with sun spots on them, but overall, I really like these. The biggest challenge was trying to picture shots that would hang in an office or museum. 

One of our assignments for week 3 was Lifestyle Photography, and the instructions were to depict a lifestyle, event, or gathering. This weekend, I went to Great Scott Farms and took some photos from the watchtower.  I always get homesick during the Autumn and Winter months, so this is the perfect way to remedy that. I  really wanted to capture the nostalgia of going pumpkin picking as a kid. Getting up early on a crisp Autumn morning, driving out of town and into the rural areas of Long Island (I know Florida doesn't really get crisp Autumn mornings...it was 84 degrees when we arrived at the farm), and sprinting to the corn maze.  The challenges I faced were the sunlight (the sky was blown out in a lot of my photos), and trying to take pictures of the event without a bystander doing something that would ruin the shot. No one wants an unflattering photo, and since we were told to imagine it being in a magazine, I wanted the photos to reflect what might actually be pub...

  Last week I wrote about the 30 Circle Challenge because I hadn't tried it yet...and I had some difficulty. So I decided to try it again this week to see if I had gotten any faster, and wouldn't you know it, I was able to get a few more ideas on there! My drawing skills are not that great, but we're not critiquing my drawing abilities here! You know the drill, but here's the breakdown of how to do the 30 Circle Challenge if you haven't done it: 1. Gather supplies. You will need a pen or pencil and a piece of paper with 30 blank circles drawn on it. You can either trace a coin to make your own circles or find and print a template online (I downloaded mine for free from this link:  30 CIRCLES FREE  ) 2. Set a timer. The typical duration is 3 minutes, though it can be done in 2 to 5 minutes depending on the desired intensity. 3. Start drawing. Turn as many of the blank circles into identifiable objects as you can before the time runs out. Focus on speed. The goal...

For this assignment, we were asked to find 5 local photography locations that would make for exciting photos. While I am partial to botanical gardens and nature preserves, I wanted to make sure I had a good range of different types of locations. I was surprised by how many locations were so close! Personally, I think I'll be making a trip to the Morse Museum sometime soon. Where will you go? 1. Hollis Garden Hollis Garden is a beautiful photo location known for its formal design and neoclassical architecture. Located within historic Lake Mirror Park, this 1.2-acre botanical display garden features patterned flower beds, ornamental fountains, public art, and over 10,000 flowers, shrubs, and native trees. Its structured layout and vibrant colors make it ideal for portraits, nature shots, and architectural photography. Hours and Cost: Free Sunday–Thursday: 10 AM–6 PM Friday & Saturday: 10 AM–4 PM Closed Monday Exclusive rentals: Friday & Saturday, 4–6 PM Photography Limitat...

Happy Monday, everyone! I hope you had a great weekend!  Our assignment was to take a series of photos and choose the best 5 to represent different photography techniques. Full disclosure: these are not recent photos. I've been basically bedridden for the past few days, but I didn't want to fall behind in my work. For this reason, I decided to use photos from the very first photoshoot I ever did for my clothing brand. These were definitely edited previously, but I used my current knowledge to re-edit them. Anyway, let's get into it!  Framing: Leading Lines:   Negative Space: Rule of Thirds: Symmetry/Patterns: What I learned:  I learned a lot while going through this folder, trying to find good representations of each of these techniques. While I'm learning about these techniques for the first time, I realized that I was already employing them (or attempting to) when taking photos. For almost all of these, I adjusted the saturation to an appropriate level and altered...

  This photo tells a story of a dog surrounded by his favorite toys, capturing a quiet moment that feels both playful and protective. I shot it from a low angle to be at Chase’s level, which helps the viewer feel part of his world instead of just looking in from the outside. The soft lighting in the room adds warmth to the scene, softening the shadows and giving the image a calm, comforting tone. It also helps draw the viewer’s attention toward the pile of worn toys in the foreground, subtly leading the eye back to him. Chase is a rescue pup with a big heart and an even bigger personality. He can be reactive at times, but moments like this show his sweet, gentle side; the part of him that feels safe and at home. The scattered toys reflect his playful nature, while his calm expression adds a feeling of trust and comfort. Using depth of field to blur the background slightly helped emphasize the connection between him and the toys that clearly mean a lot to him (seriously, we can't ev...

Hey everyone! I can't believe we're already about to start Week 3. Time really does fly when you're having fun!  For Week 2's assignment, we were told to take a series of 10 photos for each of the elements of design: Format, Line, Shape, Value, Texture, and Color. I was restricted to my house this weekend (seasonal allergies, am I right?), and then upload the best of those images for critique. You'll notice a lot of my images have a blur around the edges - this is because of my camera lens...I'm working on fixing it, though I do like how it captured in some of the photos. Let's get started!  Color:   I wanted to try to maintain a limited color palette, so I chose a mug that was pink inside and a tea bag that had a red tag. I was trying to get up high enough to make the mug a perfect circle, but alas, I am too short even on a step-stool. However, I think I accomplished the color aspect, especially given that the countertop and the tea inside the bag are very ...

Okay, okay. Yes, we've probably all heard of the 30 Circles exercise by now, but I haven't tried it! I decided to give it a go.  Goal: Loosen up your brain and boost visual creativity. Steps:      1. Draw 30 blank circles on a sheet of paper (just quick, rough ones—think a 5×6 grid).      2. Set a timer for 5 minutes.  Your goal: turn as many circles as possible into different things.      3. Fill them fast—no overthinking.      4. When time’s up, look over your page.     5. Notice patterns: Did you stick to one theme, or were your answers random? What I learned: I understand why this is such a popular creativity exercise! I was able to come up with 8 before I ran out of time. I realized how quickly my brain starts overthinking when I try to be “creative.” Once I stopped worrying about making something perfect and just drew whatever came to mind, the ideas started flowing...and then abruptly stopped (haha)....

Hey everyone! We've gone over SO MUCH regarding design this week, but I was most excited to learn about lighting in photography - how to use it, when to change it, what type to use for different effects - and we learned A LOT about that yesterday when we had a guest speaker.  Artificial lighting has always been a struggle for me, which I believe is why I tend to shoot outdoors (plus, nature is beautiful and it's easy to find something worth photographing). During yesterday's class, I learned how to create and manipulate shadows, while also finding the best type of lighting for a specific model. I found the I nverse Square Law to be really interesting because I didn't realize it had a name. The  I nverse Square Law  states that the intensity of light decreases proportionally to the square of the distance from the light source. In simpler terms, light gets dimmer as it travels further from the source. The further the light is from your subject, the more the light spread...

“Opposites Attract” Photo Challenge Welcome back to another creativity blog post! I've decided to gear these exercises towards photography to hopefully help with this class.  I found this exercise really helpful when working on the composition assignment. While I didn't actually practice this, it helped me to think about how my surroundings would work with each other - hence why I went with the subject I did for that assignment. I actually started that assignment with a different subject - a crystal - and using this exercise, I ultimately decided it was the incorrect subject to use in the setting available (taking lighting and setting where the subject would be sitting into consideration).  Goal: Spark creative ideas by mixing two opposite concepts in one photo. Steps: Pick two random opposites. Examples: soft vs. sharp , light vs. dark , motion vs. stillness , natural vs. artificial . Spend 5 minutes brainstorming how to show both in one frame. Jot quick ideas...

Hey everyone! I hope you had a great weekend! Man, this assignment was more intensive than I expected. Yes, we were definitely warned that the first 5-10 photos would be easy and the rest wouldn't be...But I underestimated how many angles I would ACTUALLY need to figure out. I also didn't anticipate how terrible the lighting in my house is. For this assignment, I tried to find something interesting in my house to use as a subject. I thought my octopus tentacle wet specimen would give some fun textures, different angles and shapes depending on which side I was photographing, and the glass orb would interestingly conduct the light. These were shot with a Nikon D3200 with a 35mm mirrorless fixed lens (it can't zoom in or out, and I have to manually focus the lens due to my camera being a little broken). As I mentioned in a previous post, I tend to lean into darker compositions, but I tried to play with the aperture settings a bit (I'm still figuring it out, and finessing m...

 Hey everyone!  I don't really know what to write for my first design blog post, so I'm just going to wing it and see where it takes me. I've always had a love for photography, so I'm super excited to be starting this class. A close friend of mine is a concert photographer, and we used to do silly photoshoots when we were in high school and college, so it's amazing to see her succeeding and finally being recognized for her talent (she's been published a few times!). She's taught me a lot, and I'm excited to be able to learn more! I'm including one of her photos (they're property of NIKKI MARIE PHOTOGRAPHY) because I'm just really proud of her!  I've noticed since taking Graphic Design Theory last month that I am beginning to notice more design-related things in my everyday life. Not all the time and not right away, but occasionally I'll notice when I see a storefront sign or a menu that something may feel off (maybe the colors don...

 Happy Friday, everyone!  I've been so excited to start this class. I've dabbled in photography on and off since high school, where I took my first photography class (and totally fell in love with it). I am by no means a professional, and I can't wait to learn more about a hobby that's always been a fun, creative outlet for me. I have primarily used Adobe Lightroom, but I definitely wasn't using it to its full potential, and I hadn't learned a lot of the basics of "what makes a great photo". I'm hoping that this class (and future classes) will help me hone the skill, as I genuinely love editing. It's cathartic, and with my ADHD, it's the perfect high-focus activity!  To be totally transparent, I had a hard time choosing between two photos for this assignment. I considered submitting both, but I'm hoping to have another opportunity to submit the runner-up during this course! The other photo was definitely over-edited (intentionally), and...