Comic Sound Effect Door Decs

Yellow comic book style spike text bubble with the name "Noah" typed over it in a comic book style font.

Brief

As a Resident Assistant at La Salle University, every semester we create name tags, or door decs, to put on our residents’ doors. For the fall semester, the staff in my residence hall chose to do a building-wide Marvel theme, and each RA picked a different character for their hall. To tie in with the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse theme that I chose, I designed door decs inspired by a similar comic book art style used in the movie.

Design

I designed the shape of the sound effect bubbles in Adobe Illustrator and brought it over to Photoshop to create the gradient Ben Day effect in the background.

For the font, I used Classic Comic by Canada Type since its name fits its tone perfectly. I created four different color variations since my residents lived in quads. This way each roommate got their own color on their door, and it was easier than making 32 variations.

Succulent Plant Door Decs

Illustration of a succulent plant in a red pot. The name "Cam" is typed on the pot in a rounded sans serif font.
Illustration of a succulent plant in an orange pot. The name "Jenna" is typed on the pot in a rounded sans serif font.
Illustration of a succulent plant in a blue pot. The name "Kyla" is typed on the pot in a rounded sans serif font.
Illustration of a succulent plant in a purple pot. The name "Sanaeja" is typed on the pot in a rounded sans serif font.

Brief

Our staff decided against a building-wide theme for the spring semester, and I wanted to design door decs that felt related to “spring” but wouldn’t feel out of place going up in January when it could still potentially snow several times before the real spring hit. I decided to go with a plant theme for the door decs and a “Grow Through What You Go Through” slogan on the hall’s bulletin board.

Design

Instead of landing on stereotypically “spring” flowers like daffodils or tulips, I opted for succulent plants. Not only were these door decs going up in mid-January, but succulent plants felt more gender neutral for a co-ed wing. Plus, campus events where students get to take home free succulents have been a hit in previous semesters.

I drew the plants in Adobe Illustrator from several references and used the same pot illustration in several colors.

The previous semester, I realized I had made a grave mistake when printing and cutting out the comic sound effect designs, so I made sure to add a solid color, rectangular background to these so I wouldn’t have to shamefully ask other RAs in my building to help me cut them out last minute. You know what they say: work smarter, not harder.

Skills

Tools