This is my final project with every step for my freshman class Graphic Design Foundational Principles. Inspired by the video game Borderlands 2, I took a photo on south mountain and converted it into a scene that looks like it is from the game.

1. THE HYPERION
CORPORATION
INVADES TEMPE
Austin Messer-Forster

2. DESIGN INTENT
I plan on turning my image of South
Mountain into a representation of the
Highlands from Borderlands 2
through the viewpoint of a Hyperion
Loader.

3. Original Image
Taken on a trail
in South
Mountain.

4. Adjustment One
For my first
adjustment I
toyed with
level
adjustments,
hue/saturation
and color
balance to
brighten up
the image.

5. Adjustment Two
I copied the
terrain and
the sky on
their own
layers and
added a
gradient to
the sky to
make it look
like it was
from
Borderlands.

6. Adjustment Three
I selected
each vault
hunter from
their
respective
images and
posed them
into my image.
Then, I played
with
transformation
and color
balance for
each of them
individually so
they fit better
into the
environment.

7. Adjustment Four
I added
shadows to the
vault hunters.
Then, I lowered
the opacity to
63 and used a
Gaussian blur
filter on the
shadows.

8. Adjustment Five
I used selection
tools to single
out the phase
locked enemy.
Then used the
spot healing
brush to try to
blend in the red
orange numbers
because they did
not really fit.
Then gave the
orb a shadow. I
decided to move
Zero closer to
the center
because he was
being blocked
too much by the

9. Adjustment Six
I used various
selection tool
methods to add a
few extra loaders
to look like a fight
was going on
between the vault
hunters and the
loaders. I played
with their levels,
saturation, and
added shadows to
them as well. I
also used levels
and burn on Axton
and his turret to
remove the red
glow.

10. Adjustment Seven
I used a quick
selection to grab a
couple of
surveyor bots to
add some air
support for
Hyperion. I then
painted
exhaust/smoke/st
eam lines that
came from the
surveyor bots.

11. Adjustment Eight
I added a red
layer on top with
27 opacity with
the linear light
blend mode to
act as the red
filter that covers
the Gun
Loader’s “eye.”

12. Adjustment Nine
I used the
custom shape
tool to make
Identification
boxes around
the hero’s heads
that act like
information is
being pulled
from Hyperion’s
archives. The
Wanted posters
were pulled up to
justify the attack
on the vault
hunters.

13. Adjustment Ten
I wanted to add
some sort of HUD
so I added a
functions display,
battery display,
signal display, and
some text. The
function display
shows that my
loader’s arms are
dysfunctional
because they were
shot off and the
text indicates
response to its
injuries and
justifies the
surveyor bots'

14. Adjustment Eleven
I used three
filters on my
landscape to
give it more of
that borderlands
feel. I used
Cutout, Poster
Edges, and
Cross Hatch.

15. Adjustment Twelve
To finish it all off
I merged the
layers and
applied the warp
transformation,
Fisheye, to make
the Loader seem
to be looking out
of its glass
viewing
mechanism.

16. comparison
ORIGINAL
FINAL

17. Self Evaluation
I love the way my Hyperion Invasion image turned out, there
were however, a couple of things I think I could have done
better. I really wish I had attempted to paint more and use
selection tools less. Painting would have made it that much
more personal but at least I know how to use several
different selection methods. I really tried to avoid making my
image too busy because I know that could be overwhelming
in an image. I wanted there to be more to my HUD but I
could not think of anything more and I was afraid it would
make my image busier than it needed to be. The rest of my
HUD is probably my favorite thing about my image. I really
liked the idea of how the loader was pulling up information
like a street camera identifying a person on the sidewalk and
how the loader’s arm functions went haywire cause they
were blown off. Overall, It looks almost as good as I
imagined with everything placed like they are fighting each
other and they belong in Tempe.