bas•ket•ball
/ˈbaskətˌbôl/
noun
1: A game played between two teams of five players in which goals are scored by throwing a ball through a netted hoop fixed above each end of the court.
1.1: The inflated ball used in the game of basketball. (Oxford Dictionaries)
For my second “Random Words” post, the word generated from the word generator was “basketball.” I wanted to do something different than the obvious that comes to mind (an image of a basketball), so I started thinking about other parts of the game and lifestyle that surrounds it. I started thinking about things that could be used as shapes to play with or feelings associated with the game or thought of basketball. The fashion in basketball was something that came to my mind as well; the funky patterns, the bright colors, the retro homage that’s so hip in the urban basketball world. I knew I wanted to do something with simple shapes, bright colors, and throw a little retro-flare in as well.
For the simple shapes, I decided on using the lines of a basketball court to create a set of shapes that were blatantly based on a basketball court without overcomplicating it. For the bright colors and retro flare, I decided to play with an old-school 3-D effect used in comic books known as “Anaglyph 3D.” Anaglyphic images have been used for over 150 years, but they really started becoming popular during the 1950s and 60s for comic books and magazines. Here’s a link to learn more about Anaglyphic 3D.
I created a Red layer and an identical Cyan layer for the basketball court shapes and offset them to create a vibration effect that I believe would lend itself well to the use of actual anaglyphic glasses. To make a texture in the background and also create another area of interest, I took a basketball icon and layered the background in a dotted-grid-like feel. I made these red and dropped them back to 20% opacity so they wouldn’t be distracting. Next I duplicated the set of icons, but only where the “crowd” would be located around the court. I made these Cyan at 20% opacity and offset them to hopefully give them a slight 3D effect if glasses were to be worn.
Though hard to look at for any extended period of time, this was a very fun image to create and I had a lot of fun exploring the way the colors interact with each other. Stay tuned for more fun Random Words posts!