A Kenpo Karate Black Belt Achievement
Personalized Diploma Design
As a karate instructor at a local school, I was tasked with redesigning the black belt diploma to make it more distinctive and special for those who earned this impressive achievement. After careful consideration, I decided to create a custom illustration of twin dragons to serve as the centerpiece of the design.
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The twin dragons symbolize strength, courage, and honor, and are a powerful representation of the qualities that define a black belt in karate. By incorporating this striking visual element into the diploma, I was able to create a design that truly stood out from the typical student diplomas.
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Throughout the design process, I worked closely with the school to ensure that the diploma included all necessary information and met their specific requirements. By combining their input with my creative vision, I was able to create a final design that was both functional and visually compelling.
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Overall, this project was a great opportunity to flex my design skills while paying tribute to the hard work and dedication of the school's black belt students. I am proud to have played a role in creating a special and memorable diploma that will be cherished by these students for years to come.
Process
After a few iterations of rough sketches, we agreed on choosing a design based on a napkin sketch from the early planning stages. I decided to take the rough as-is and traced a refined image in Photoshop.
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I enjoy the idea of vectorizing a single-color image for versatility so I opted to bring it into Illustrator to create a scalable image ready for future use in other projects.