Communication design portfolio, comprising fall 2016 semester and some projects from 2014-2015.

1. MIRANDA DUNCAN
PORTFOLIO

2. 720.879.7663
mirandaduncandesign
@gmail.com
38 Skyline Drive
Wheat Ridge, Colorado 80215
CONTENTSCONTACT
1 Photo Montage
2 Logo Design
3 Brochure
4 Photo Design
5 Infographic
6 Web Page Mockup
7 Prezi Presentation
8 Magazine Cover
9 Coding
10 Booklet
11 Poster Typography
12 Stationary Mockup

3. 1
DESCRIPTION
PROGRAMS OBJECTIVE
PROCESS
COURSE
INSTRUCTOR DATE
Photoshop, Illustrator Use Photoshop to blend images,
utilizing layers, blend modes,
and opacity, illustrating gestalt
with the overall theme.
COMM 130
Jason Stucki October 2016
Design a spiritual poster
montage using a blend
of images and type.
PHOTO
MONTAGE
The quote alludes to changing something that is broken, so I
searched for crumbling or broken brick walls. I found an angled
photo of a brick wall which matched perfectly with the angle
of the subject’s head. I had previously found a photo of a man
laying brick and wanted utilized it as well.
I knew I wanted to make it look like the subject’s head was the
surface of the brick, so I worked with several sizes and opacities
of brushes in the layer mask. I used the sharpening tool on the
subject’s eyes, mouth, and hair. I used a duplicate layer of brick
set to overlay to make it more an earthy red than the pale, cold
red it was originally. I intensified the color of the worker so the
highlights weren’t as stark (he’s inside a head, after all). Lastly,
I worked to create an overlapping effect of the subject’s hair
coming over the brick layer.
For the typography, I initially had more of this quote on the
page. I cut out a long sentence in the middle to make it more
readable and interesting. I also really had to work with the
kerning, eventually trying out different fonts so the lines weren’t
so jagged. I settled on a much thicker font, which I think
complements the script font better anyway.

4. BUSINESS
IDENTITY
DESCRIPTION
PROGRAMS OBJECTIVE
PROCESS
COURSE
INSTRUCTOR DATE
Create a logo for a
company and establish
a visual identity across
documents.
COMM 130
Jason Stucki
Years ago, I enjoyed making barbecue sauces with fruit (like a
jam-b-q), and named it “Nan’s Wild Fruit BBQ.” This fictional
company is a take on that idea.
I used Illustrator to create a rough draft of various logo sketches,
and I felt that this one had the most potential. I extensively
processed a photo of a butter knife in Photoshop, reducing it to
a solid color, to give the letterhead and business card something
other than just the Illustrator-created design.
With the letterhead, I focused on good visual flow and
readability. I then set out to design the business card. I
researched quite a few business card design ideas, and I think I
came up with some interesting compositions. The one I chose
really showcases the unique logo – thus strengthening brand
recognition – and left the back not as bare as plain white.
After everything was finished, I found some mockups to really
put the designs on display.
2 October 2016
Illustrator, Photoshop Use Illustrator to organize and
align text and images with
appropriate transparencies.

5. DESCRIPTION
PROGRAMS OBJECTIVE
PROCESS
COURSE
INSTRUCTOR DATE
COMM 130
Jason Stucki
This brochure is for an actual business: my husband’s DJ
business. He’s looking to expand his wedding reception
demographic, so he wanted something elegant, something
“black tie” fancy.
We sketched out several ideas together. I designed his logo
in Illustrator, then went through several concepts of brochure
styles. It was painstaking to watch my ideas go by the wayside,
but the elegance he was looking for kept eluding me. I settled
on a gate fold brochure with cutouts to make his signature white
bow tie stand out. However, I was also stumped when it came to
the layout of the inside. I had several restrictions because of the
bow tie cutouts and the curtain cutout.
I decided to take a risk and place a block of text over a fold. I
thought this out over many days, but my reasons for giving it
the nod included the layout constraints previously mentioned,
the fact that it would be printed on a relatively thin piece of
glossy brochure paper, and how my font size is large enough
that individual letters wouldn’t get lost in the crease. I placed the
pictures in a way to help visual flow, and I creatively contoured
the social media information to fit in the cut-out curve.
December 2016
InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator Use InDesign in conjunction
with other programs to create a
brochure with cut out sections,
contact information, a logo, and
several photos.
Design a brochure for a
company.
BROCHURE
3

6. DESCRIPTION
PROGRAMS OBJECTIVE
PROCESS
COURSE
INSTRUCTOR DATE
COMM 130
Jason Stucki
I began with the quote. I knew I wanted something you wouldn’t
see on an inspirational poster. I found a quote attributed
to Chuck Norris, and I loved it for its strong relationship to
something tangible: steel.
I drove to downtown Denver to take pictures of the old steel
railroad bridges spanning Cherry Creek. I found an angle
which highlighted the vanishing point effect of the angled
girders above. While incorporating various design elements,
I discovered that I didn’t want anything curved, because that
seemed to take away from the solid effect I was after. I explored
straight line and found that continuing the angles of the girders
with design elements created a 3-D effect as well as additional
depth when “shaded” with darker colors within the color scheme.
Then I added the text. I wanted something strong and in caps for
“Steel.” I figured I could go with a decorative font since it was a
single word, and I added some subtle elements to make it stand
out. After playing with the alignment and contrast of the text
color, as well as changing the fonts a few dozen times, I finished
by placing the name of the color scheme and the swatches in
concert with the angles and the rivets in the steel.
Use a well-composed
photograph I had taken to create
a design within Photoshop
using tasteful typography and a
harmonizing color scheme.
October 2016
Photoshop
By using photography
and design skills, create a
project that encompasses
a consistent color scheme
from the image.
PHOTO
DESIGN
4

7. DESCRIPTION
PROGRAMS OBJECTIVE
PROCESS
COURSE
INSTRUCTOR DATE
Use Photoshop to blend images,
utilizing layers, blend modes,
and opacity, illustrating gestalt
with the overall theme.
COMM 130
Jason Stucki November 2016
Illustrator
I remembered reading a great article on how to make better
pizza at home. It talked about the main differences between
pizzerias and home kitchens, but it pointed out how a few
small adjustments can make a major difference in the taste of
homemade pie.
I narrowed down the steps to six: toppings, cheese, sauce,
dough, pan, and heat. These were the essentials. I listed a few
thoughts on each category and began to brainstorm-sketch.
I thought about do’s and don’ts, examples, best practices, etc.
Once I sketched a page of thoughts and icons, I began to sketch
some layout designs.
I wanted to avoid the red-green pizza colors, so I used
something more striking and vibrant. I completely re-did the
layout about halfway through, struggling every step to simplify
things. The end result has a cartoony, accessible feel to it, which
is the whole point: you can make great pizza in your own
kitchen.
Create an infographic
that organizes data in a
visually pleasing way.
INFOGRAPHIC
5

8. DESCRIPTION
PROGRAMS OBJECTIVE
PROCESS
COURSE
DATE
COMM 130
InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator
INSTRUCTOR
Jason Stucki November 2016
Use InDesign to organize front-
end data, creating an engaging
homepage with several photos
and other elements.
This project was unique. I learned the most during this creation
process because I had several iterations and many learning
curves. I learned to do more research in the beginning. I
searched for other jams’ websites to see what worked and what
ratio of text to images I should be using. What did their headers
look like? Did they use columns? How many? How did they
incorporate their color scheme?
I researched Smuckers, E.D.Smith, and Bonnie’s Jams, and I
found many similarities between the first two; namely, a solid
and small header bar, a smaller-than-I-thought logo, pictures as
integral, full-width elements, and equal amounts of real estate
given to pictures and text.
I chose to utilize the original color scheme for main elements,
but I used a complementary color for the background. I also
customized social media icons for this site and changed the
specific fonts. I added a burlap texture to the background,
which goes nicely with the main picture. I edited the photos in
Photoshop so they had similar contrast and vibrance. The bold
action buttons - “Buy Now” and social media icons - keep sales
and marketing in mind.
Design a website
homepage using a grid.
WEB PAGE
MOCKUP
6

9. DESCRIPTION
PROGRAMS OBJECTIVE
PROCESS
COURSE
INSTRUCTOR DATE
COMM 130
Jason Stucki October 2016
Use Prezi to illustrate a concept,
bringing in images both created
by me and stock images.
Prezi, Photoshop, Illustrator
I initially began by thinking of the background as something I
could anchor my frames with, but I quickly learned this is not
the case. I was frustrated at first that I had to use both Illustrator
and Photoshop in addition to Prezi; however, I found this gives
more freedom and ability to customize than Prezi alone.
I chose another of my sketched layouts – the very simplistic
numeral design. I chose a neutral-color background, and I
liked the short field of view serving as a nice variation to the
otherwise ho-hum pattern. I then used Illustrator to create
templates for my numbers and titles. I used a sans serif font
for the central “4”, extending anchor points on the stem at the
bottom to accommodate for more lines of adjacent text. A serif
font (Bodoni) was used for the other numbers. All numbers were
a dark purple color.
I used various license-free pictures from the internet, as well as
a YouTube clip to add variety. The subtitles were lime green and
an in-program typeface called Fira Sans. I utilized Prezi’s fade-
in effect to better display the elements on each frame (other
effects come with paid memberships).
Create an instructional
presentation using
the Prezi software to
demonstrate its features
and capabilities
7
PREZI
PRESENTATION

10. DESCRIPTION
PROGRAMS OBJECTIVE
PROCESS
COURSE
INSTRUCTOR DATE
COMM 130
Jason Stucki September 2016
InDesign, Photoshop Use InDesign to compose
a magazine cover which
demonstrates conceptual
typography.
I began by looking at TIME, Discover, and Taste of Home for
cover ideas, and I liked the casual feel of Taste of Home best. I
switched to my own idea for a magazine title because the Taste
of Home masthead just wasn’t working with the background
photo I had. I initially went with a serif font for the main title,
but I changed to sans serif because it was looking too formal.
Plus, I love the compact curves and perfect circles with the font
I chose, because it seemed to reflect cooking hardware (pans,
etc.). “Cookworks” describes what makes a cook tick, so not just
life in the kitchen but the overall life of a cook.
I took several photos in full sun of myself and a frying pan.
Moving to Photoshop, I finessed the photos to compose the
cover. I took out stray hairs, touched up some areas on my face,
and muted the reflection on my glasses. I also gave my lips a
deep pink hue found in my sunglasses frame.
I set up the wireframe with InDesign, placed the photo, and
began to work with the title first, the articles next, and the
barcode last. I then added the solid color bars on the top and
bottom of the page and put additional story titles within.
Design a magazine
cover that showcases a
self-portrait as well as
articles about yourself.
8
MAGAZINE
COVER

11. DESCRIPTION
PROGRAMS OBJECTIVE
PROCESS
COURSE
INSTRUCTOR DATE
COMM 130
Jason Stucki November 2016
Use HTML and CSS to showcase
a logo, demonstrating a color
scheme and positional coding.
Notepad++, Mozilla Firefox
After I created my logo using Adobe Illustrator, I resized it to fit
comfortably on most screens (400 pixels wide). I composed the
copy for the webpage and included it in an HTML file I created.
I then linked a CSS file to it and made various changes (as
described below), then I adjusted the color scheme of the CSS
document, using the following hex codes and swatches: lilac
#F7B3D0; magenta #D61A7C; plum #7F1A52.
I decided I wanted the bulk of the text to be sans serif; therefore,
I chose an oldstyle font for the heading tags. I organized an
indented list and attached a link to my blog. Both my HTML and
CSS files were validated via W3C.
Code a custom webpage
with HTML and CSS.
9
CODING

12. DESCRIPTION
PROGRAMS OBJECTIVE
PROCESS
COURSE
INSTRUCTOR DATE
The research and design of this booklet began with finding
a talk that I could extrapolate my elements from. “Is It Still
Wonderful to You?” is the name of the talk I chose, and I
envisioned “upward” elements. I chose a simple right triangle as
my main element and began brainstorming how to incorporate
this shape in other ways, such as my text blocks.
Using complementary fonts and contrasting sizes, I separated
different ideas into easily scan-able sections and used colored
side bars to maintain consistency. I also utilized the center
spread by adding a photo of the talk’s author - again, in a
triangle shape. This booklet prints beautifully and is intended to
be a gift.
Debbie Funk
Use InDesign to create several
pages, elements, and text boxes
in various shapes, utilizing the
center spread.
July 2015
ART 230
InDesign
Create a booklet to
showcase a thematic
discourse.
10
BOOKLET

13. DESCRIPTION
PROGRAMS OBJECTIVE
PROCESS
COURSE
INSTRUCTOR DATE
June 2015Debbie Funk
ART 230
Illustrator Use Illustrator to compose a
visual representation of mass
quantities of facts and text.
Create a large poster to
display large amounts of
information.
I researched railroads generally, looking for a theme to use in
my poster. I decided to design a map of the United States and
include railroads from each state.
I loosely traced over a map using Illustrator, then doubled the
lines and created ties to bring in the concept of railways. The
data is organized alphabetically by state, so the viewer could see
tourist railway destinations by areas represented on the map.
I made the illustration’s lines and font relatively very thick to
balance the text-heavy bottom half.
Since there was copious amounts of information, I wanted to
keep the design simple so it wasn’t overwhelming. I chose black
and white as the color scheme due to this thought process as
well. The mockup shows the well-balanced real estate between
white space, illustration, and text.
11
POSTER
TYPOGRAPHY

14. DESCRIPTION
PROGRAMS OBJECTIVE
PROCESS
COURSE
INSTRUCTOR DATE
After several sketches and many iterations within Illustrator,
I began focusing on the lower-case version of my initials. I
attempted to weave the “m” into the “d” to give an interlocked
effect, but the thickness of each letter’s elements took a lot of
thought and effort. The weave didn’t come out as obvious as I
was hoping for, but I realized that what I had created was still as
interlocked as I had envisioned in the beginning.
The stark contrast between the peach-pink and solid black
made the business card a straightforward design, bringing
block elements in to center the logo. This pattern of centering
the logo is echoed in the letterhead and envelope, with all
elements shifted to a left-aligned side bar.
I created a pattern out of the logo for the back of the business
card to keep it from getting lost in a wallet, and added this
pattern to the inside of the envelope.
Illustrator
Create a personal logo
and business identity.
Use Illustrator to decompose
letters and combine with other
letters to form a personal logo;
apply this logo in various forms
to create personal stationary.ART 230
May 2015Debbie Funk
12
PERSONAL
LOGO