Module 7 • Lesson 1🎯 Choose Your Brief & Plan
Welcome to the Capstone. There are no new tools here, only you and everything you have learned. This final module is one self-directed project, taken from idea to presented portfolio piece. It starts the way every professional project starts: not by clicking, but by planning.
📚 What You'll Learn
- Choose a capstone brief that plays to your strengths and interests
- Define the goal, audience, and constraints before touching Photoshop
- Gather references and build a quick moodboard
- Map the skills and layer strategy your piece will need
⏱️ Estimated Time: 45 minutes (planning), then your own build time
🎯 Project: Produce a one-page plan and moodboard for the piece you will build in 7.2 and present in 7.3.
In This Lesson
🗺️ The Goal: A Plan, Not a Blank Canvas
On the right is how most projects begin: a vague idea and a blank page. On the left is where you want to be before you open Photoshop: a clear plan with references, a palette, and a rough layout. Drag the handle:
🧠 Mental Model: Brief Before Brush
Here is the difference between a frustrating project and a smooth one. The frustrating version opens Photoshop first and hopes an idea appears. The smooth version answers three questions on paper first, and only then opens Photoshop to execute a plan it already trusts.
- What is it for? A poster to hang, a photo to restore, an image for a portfolio, a product shot to sell. The purpose sets every later decision.
- Who is it for? The audience shapes tone, and the destination (print, web, social) sets size, resolution, and color mode.
- What does "done" look like? Define success up front so you know when to stop, instead of fiddling forever.
🧠 This is where "no eye for design" goes to die
People who feel stuck usually skipped the plan. A moodboard and a rough layout do most of the creative deciding before the pressure of a blank canvas hits. Great work looks effortless because the effort happened in the planning.
💡 Pick Your Brief
Choose one that excites you and shows off a range of skills. Any of these makes a strong portfolio piece:
| Brief | Leans on | Great if you liked… |
|---|---|---|
| Movie / event poster | Compositing + type + layer styles | Modules 4 and 5 |
| Surreal photo composite | Selections, masks, match light, shadows | Module 4 |
| Portrait, fully retouched | Frequency separation, dodge & burn, grade | Modules 2 and 3 |
| Old photo restoration | Healing, cloning, tone, color | Modules 1 and 2 |
| Product hero shot | Cutout, background, light, generative | Modules 4 and 6 |
| Brand mini-kit (logo lockup + social set) | Shapes, type, Smart Objects, batch | Modules 5 and 6 |
⚠️ Ambition, calibrated
Pick something that stretches you by one notch, not ten. A finished, polished piece at 80% of your dream idea beats an abandoned masterpiece every time. You can always make the epic version next.
🎛️ Set Up the Document Right
Your destination decides your document settings, and getting them right now saves pain later. Here is the New Document dialog as a diagram:
🛠️ Guided Build: Plan & Moodboard
This lesson's deliverable is the plan itself. Make it in a notebook, a document, or a scratch Photoshop file.
Step 1: Write the one-line brief · 5 min
Fill in this sentence: "A [what] for [who], to be seen [where], that feels [three adjectives]." For example: "A gig poster for a local band, to be seen printed on a wall, that feels loud, retro, and warm."
Step 2: Gather references · 10 min
- Collect 5 to 10 images that capture the feeling you are after: color, composition, mood, type. Screenshot them into one board.
- You are gathering feeling and direction, not things to copy. Note what you like about each.
Step 3: Build a quick moodboard · 10 min
- Pull a palette of 3 to 5 colors from your references.
- Pick one or two fonts (Module 5's rule).
- Sketch a rough layout: where the focal point, title, and supporting info sit. A thumbnail scribble is enough.
Step 4: Map the skills · 5 min
- List the moves your piece needs, tagged by module: "cut out subject (M4), match light (M4), type hierarchy (M5), grade (M2)."
- This list becomes your build checklist in Lesson 7.2. If a required skill feels shaky, do a five-minute warm-up on it first.
✅ Plan complete when…
You can describe the finished piece in one sentence, you have a palette and layout, and you know which skills you will use. If all three are true, you are ready to build with confidence.
🧗 Now You: Commit to a Brief
🌟 Your challenge
- Choose one brief and write its one-line description. Commit; do not keep a back pocket of alternatives.
- Finish your moodboard and layout sketch, and set up your Photoshop document with the right size, resolution, and color mode.
- Show your plan to one other person and ask a single question: "What do you expect this to look like?" Their answer tells you if your plan communicates.
Going further: give yourself a real constraint (a square format, a two-color palette, a 30-minute limit). Constraints make decisions easier and results stronger.
🍳 Recipe Card: Plan a Piece
Before you open Photoshop
- One-line brief: a [what] for [who], seen [where], feeling [3 adjectives]
- Gather 5 to 10 references
- Moodboard: palette + one or two fonts + layout sketch
- Skill map: list the moves, tagged by module
- New Document at the right size / resolution / color mode
Mantra: brief before brush.
📓 Learning Journal
Add to your journal after this lesson:
- Key concepts you learned
- Techniques that clicked for you
- Questions or confusion points to revisit
- Ideas you want to try
- Your progress and feelings about learning this
✍️ This lesson's prompt: Reread your very first journal entry from Module 0, the one about what you hoped to create. Does the brief you just chose connect to it? It is fine if you have grown in a new direction; notice either way.
📝 Lesson Summary
🎓 Key Takeaways
- Answer what / who / done before opening Photoshop.
- A moodboard (palette, fonts, layout) makes most creative decisions up front.
- A skill map turns a vague piece into a concrete checklist.
- Set the document's size, resolution, and color mode from the destination.
🎉 What You've Accomplished
You have a real plan, which is the hardest and most-skipped step. Everything you built over six modules now has a target to aim at. The blank-canvas panic that stops most people is behind you before you even started.
❓ Common Questions at This Stage
What if I cannot decide on a brief?
Pick the one that makes you slightly nervous in a good way, and set a timer. Deciding is the skill. A committed choice beats a perfect one you never start.
How finished does the moodboard need to be?
Rough is fine. Its only job is to make you decide on mood, palette, and layout before the canvas does. Scribbles count.
🔭 Looking Ahead
Lesson 7.2 is your studio session: you build the piece, working non-destructively and keeping your file organized so a complex project stays manageable. Plan in hand, you are ready to make.
✅ Before the Next Lesson
- Finalize your one-line brief, moodboard, and skill map.
- Create and save your working document.
- Write your Learning Journal entry.
🌟 Encouragement for the Journey
Choosing a brief can feel scarier than any tool, because now it is your vision on the line. That nervous excitement is the feeling of doing real creative work. Lean into it. You are ready.