_ai.jpg)
Mermaid Word Cloud
This word cloud was inspired by a mermaid statue in Virginia Beach, Virginia. It was created as part of a college design course at Southern New Hamsphire University.
Initial Inspiration
As part of a college course, we were assigned to create a word cloud based on something we loved and represented us. I chose to create mine based on my favorite place- Virginia Beach. I browsed photos from the beach trip from years past and chose to use one this photo I took of a mermaid statue at Rudee Inlet in Virginia Beach. This represented both my favorite place and me personally because I'm named after The Little Mermaid.
Research
My original photo was taken on a boat in the ocean during a dolphin boat tour. It's a rather distant phot and not possible to create a design with. I researched various mermaid statues at Rudee Inlet and settled on this Google photo of one.
Next, I researched words associated with the beach. I wanted Virginia to be added in there to make it specific to my favorite place, yet also to remain more universal for all beach lovers. I compiled a list and began working on the design.
Initial Sketch
I created a rough outline of the mermaid from the photo in Photoshop. I used this outline as a layer and created a separate layer for my text. This allowed me to toggle back and forth to ensure my text was matching up with my general mermaid outline.
Final Product
My final project took a lot of trial and error to finish. I utilized various sea-themed colors to both mimic the feeling of the ocean and a mermaid, as well as colors that would stand out against my dark background. My dark background is to lead to the mystery of mermaids in the deep ocean, as well as to make the mermaid image pop. I played around with various fonts that provided readability, while still providing that fun and relaxing feel of the beach.
