Header & Image Editing
- Angelina Shen
- Feb 17
- 4 min read
What does the header image convey about your website, and how does this relate to meeting the information needs of your target audience?
I wanted this header to better reflect my background and personality because much of the website focuses on my professional experience, which can at times feel repetitive and bland when there are many other websites out there to serve similar if not the same purpose. I felt it was important to include something more personal, so I used a photograph from my hometown as well as a personal artwork which would remind my audience that there is more to who I am than just my education and work history. With this header, I aimed to convey a sense of personal background by selecting an image of the St. Louis Zoo, a well-known landmark from my hometown. At the same time, I wanted to highlight my creative side by editing the image to appear as though it were being torn open, revealing my artwork beneath it.
Where did you find your source images? How do you know that you are allowed to reuse them?
To ensure that my source images were reusable, I applied filters for reuse when possible and reviewed the associated licensing information. The first image I sourced is a picture of the St. Louis Zoo from Flickr, from which I found through a Creative Commons filter. The second image, a PNG of a hole being ripped into paper, is from Rawpixel, which states that the license for this image is free for both personal and business use. The last image that I used is a picture that I took of my own painting, which automatically grants me the right to use it as it is my own creation.
Briefly address the production process. How did you make use of image editing techniques described in Manovich's article to create a multi-layer image?
Manovich identifies two key software-based editing techniques: filtering and layering, both of which I used throughout my production process. In the context of image editing, he describes these as “media creation, manipulation, and access techniques that are specific to particular types of data” (Manovich 2). In my work, I applied a range of image manipulation strategies across three distinct layers to achieve the visual effect I had initially planned. First, using the image from the St. Louis Zoo as the base layer, I increased the vibrance and saturation to intensify the colors, then reduced the overall opacity to approximately 50%. Next, I layered a photograph of my own painting beneath a PNG of a hole, creating the illusion that reality was “ripping” to reveal my creative side underneath. To clean up the edges, I removed the excess portions of the painting image that extended beyond the PNG using the cutout tool to ensure a clean composition.
Compare your production process to that of a single-layer bitmap image of the sort that Davison describes. How is it similar or different?
In his discussion of MS Paint and how digital programs transform the process of traditional media creation, Davison described how “MS Paint makes visible the properties of the technologies it mediates (the bitmap, the mouse) over the technologies it symbolically remediates (pigments, brushes)” (Davison 3). Similarly, the methods I would approach making this header with digital versus physical materials reflects the differences in the effects of digital program editors and the tangible nature of physical media. For example, if I were to make this header by hand, I would have to gather all materials such as paper and tape or glue, individually print and cut out each image, achieve the layering effect with some sort of adhesive, making the creation process a lot more laborious. By contrast, editing software streamlines the workflow, allowing layering, adjustments, and refinements to be completed at a much quicker pace.
References
“St. Louis Zoo” photograph by Tom Bastin, provided via Flickr (Creative-Commons license).
This image was digitally altered.
“Torn paper png hole frame, stationery illustration, transparent background” image provided via Rawpixel (Personal and Business license).
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