Table of Contents

The Chicago Downtown Page 2-3

Day and Night Page 4

Millenium Park Amphitheater Pages 6-8
The Ferris Wheel Pages 10-11
Trump Tower Chicago Pages 12-15

The City Around Us Pages 16-17

Lake Michigan Pages 18-19
Wrigley Field Pages 20-21

Life In Sports Pages 22-23

Matt Ginnetti Pages 24-25
Nick Ratajczak Pages 26-29
The Johnson Twins Pages 30-31

About The Author Page 32

 The Chicago Downtown
By: Brett Ratajczak

The City of Chicago has been one of America’s most

intriguing cities since early 19th Century. The city offers so
much for tourist groups, vacations spots and is the host of a very
important lifestyle for those who work and entertain. The City
of Chicago brings a site seeing adventure along Lake Michigan
and on the paths of Millenium Park which lead tourists to the
most popular Navy Pier and the ferris wheel from the World
Fair. Finally, Chicago offers a skyline of skyskrapers that show
a magnificant blend of colors, architectual differences and sizes
that simbolize power, strength and culturalization.

This magazine offers a peek of Chicagos greatest features,

buildings, sites and the lifestyles which distinguishes the City of
Chicago from just an ordinary city. I bring together photographs
and illustrations that bring different eye catching experiences that
this great city has to offer. I foces on Michigan Avenue, Mil-
lenium Park, and Navy Pier. These three sites bring may people
form all over the world together and emphasize the wonder and
the nature built from many years of excellance in Business, Art,
and Entertainment.

“Chicago offers a skyline of skyskrapers that show magnificant

blends of colors, architectures and culturalization”

This picture was captured of the Chicago Theater. I took the

origianl photo and by using Adobe Illustrator I created a il-
lustrated annimated photograph. The craft of this compostison
was created with making new layers for each part of the picture
starting with the brown building and working my way forward
to the red sign. Each layer adds a new graphic that exposes
the details in the building and eye catching colors of the sign.
I chose this compostion becasue the sign emphasizes a very
traditional but yet one of the largest signature objexts of the
City of Chicago.
 Page 4

Day And Night By: Brett Ratajczak

I choose three pictures from around millennium park to recolor. Each picture was desaturated in photo
shop to where the picture was in black and white. A light blue was added to the entire layer one and the
original picture was multiplied and moved in front of the light blue. The picture at the fountain pushes
the skyline to the background and illuminates the fountain with a teal color. the picture with the ferris
wheel brings the wheel to an illumination and forward as the main concentration and and the idea of a
little bit darker shade of blue for the concert hall to allow for the illumination and stand out of the main
stage.

The concept I chose with the idea of tourist attractions of Chicago, photographing some of the main
sites that people enjoy viewing as they come to Chicago.Most of these pictures are architecturally
intriguing and I wanted to work with them to show off their features.

The pictures compose the idea of some of the greatest tourist attractions in the City of Chicago. Buck-
ingham Fountain, the concert hall of Millennium Park and the famous Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier all
show the feeling of great architecture and beauty. The different shades of blue illuminate specific parts
of the pictures and allows for the view to concentrate on the beauty. I used a lighter blue on these four
because it allowed for a better view of the skyline and then allowed the fountain stick out more.

“These Pictures Compose the ideas of some of the Greatest

Tourist Attractions in the City of Chicago”

This pictures was taken from its original photographed document and using Adobe Pho-
toshop, was constructed into a new visualized picture. I used a different perspenctive to
highlight the outline of Chicagos buildings with a dark shade bringing in a great deal of con-
trast from the fountain which is illuminated and showing awsome detail in the water flow.
Day and Night Page 6

Millenium Park Amphitheater

“ One of the most accessable and entertaining parks not only in Chicago, but in
By: Brett Ratajczak the world”

I chose to photograph and reiterate the details of the architectual design of the
pavillion because it is one of the most intriguing figures around the city. After
photographing the pavillion, I changed the images color and focus by playing
with the hue and saturation tools of Adobe Photoshop. I concentrated using three
different blends of blue starting with a light blue and light opacity for the back
ground giving the buildings just a hint of color. Following the background, I
moved to a darker two blues for the sound beams and grass leading up to the
shell. This paint was applied using a simiple circular brush tool and eraser tool to
make the lines and details exact. I finished the picture with a sharp silver and by
brightening the light and contrasts, I was able to make the shell and soundstage
stand out from the back and bring to the viewers eye.

The Millenium Park Amphitheater is one of Chicago’s most

architectural structured tourist attractions. Also known as the
Jay Pritzker Pavillion, the pavillion is the only free outdoor
music venues reamaining across the nation. This outdoor the-
ater is home to the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra and Cho-
rus. The venue also welcomes numerous performers ranging
from mainstream rock to classial musicians. Everything about
this venue exceeds viewer desires and welcomes everyone to
the shows and also exploits an unbelievable backdrop with the
skyskrapers.
Day and Night Page 8

“Created to provide a unique live music experience,

offering near-perfect acoustics, a modern design
and a stunning landscape”
Day and Night Page 10

“THE” Ferris Wheel

By: Brett Ratajczak
The idea behind my photography of the ferris wheel was to continue with
the idea of Millenium Park being a great tourist attraction. I moved down
lakeshore more to Navy Pier where people from all over gather to enjoy
the walk along the lake and ride some of the attractions it has to offer. The
Ferris wheel is one of the most eye catching attractions on the pier so I
decided to color it into a illustrated picture. Compared too the original
photo I turned the photo into a darker image and had the wheel stand out
against the dark sky. Using Adobe Photoshop I once again used a simple
circle brush tool to paint the object and used the hus and saturation to
find the best color combination for the piece. I think the three levels of
blue add a great contrast to the bright white of the ferris wheel.

“Chicagos most premier tourists rides for unbelievable city, lake and skyline
views for an uffordable price”

They famous Chicago Ferris Wheel located at Navy Pier’s Crystal

Garden Platform next to the Pepsi viewing deck was created in
1893 by George Washington Gale Ferris for the World’s Fair. The
ferris wheel was an eye catching awe and wonder of the world
which gathered tourists from all over even if scared of hieghts to
take a ride and experience all of what Chicago has to offer from
above.
Day and Night Page 12

Trump Tower Chicago By: Brett Ratajczak

The Trump International Hotel and

Tower located in Chicago is a sky-
scraper condo-hotel. The buidling
is developed and named after real
estate developer Donald Trump.
The building stands at 1398 ft
with 98 stories. It was originally
planned to be the tallest building
in the world but is the second to
Chicago’s Sears Tower. The tower
offers a wide range of activities
within it besides a 339 room hotel.
On the 16th floor, a five star res-
taurant called “Sixteen” sets a very
high class mood with great food
for anyone who wants to dine with
excellent views of the river. Also,
the building offers a 23,000 square
foot spa. It offers a great number
of massage treatments, along with
saunas and private couple suits.
The elegant and building establish
es a sense of class and money
which offers a great experience
to the city in both a viewing and
personal experience.

I used Adobe Illustrator to il-

lustrate the photograph I took
of the Trump Tower. My picture
really shows the great detail and
architectual design and layers that
the building has. Each section
I broke down and added the fill
colors of the building and used the
line tool to drastically emphasize
each line in the window structure
of the building. This building
intrigues me because its one of the
most facinating buildings in the
city based on how the bluish tint
relfects iteslf against the darker
buildings that surround it.
Day and Night Page 14
These recolors are of Trump Tower Chicago. They
represent the same theme that I was going for
throughout this entire secton of the magazine by
keeping that night time theme. This theme really
goes well with this photo because there is just som
much I can do with the different details and layers
that the photo gives. Both photos offer a different
range of colors that illuminate the building in a
different way.
The photo on the left was created in Adobe Illus-
trator. I used the same picture from the page be-
fore and just adjusted the hues and saturations to
give it a darker look. The time of day in this photo
is late night with a high moon beaming off the left
side of the buildings windows, giving a dramatic
reflexion. The darkeness of the building also al-
lows each line outling the windows to stand out
and give that great detail of the building.
The photo on the right was an expier-
imental picture in which I looked ot
use colors that were very opposite and
stood out against eachother. I thought
the orange and greenish hues offer
great contrast and if you look to the
top of the building, the lower you go
the less opacity appears in the shades
which allow you to see more of the
original photo but still gain an idea of
the color scheme. Both of these build-
ings offer an example of the different
ways of changing similar ideas but
having drastic outcomes.
 Page 16

The City Around Us

By: Brett Ratajczak
The photo below is a shot I took of the city skyline just off the Jackson street exit
of Lake Shore. My current position is a half a block down from the Art Museum
on Adams. This position was very influential to me because there are so many
objects to look at in this photo. As I glance back and forth at the photo, the first
thing the eye is pulled too are the buildings followed by the objects at the bottom.
The objects at the bottom of the picture add a great deal contrast to the rest of the
photo. The railroad tracks which I am standing over, although not the main focus,
offer a great deal of depth of field and gives the image a deeper perspective that
rolls up to the shadows of the city buildings. Chicagos Trump Tower and Prudential
building are two stand out buildings that our known across the country as two of
Chicago’s signature business places. Believe it or not, the Prudential building was
once known for being one of the tallest buildings in the world. As you can see now
the architecture has made a significant difference in the city since then. This photo
was also facinating because based on the angle of the camara, the picture shows a
great deal of depth into the city. Each street along side the different buildings goes
deep into the heart of downtown but its up to me to capture the rest of the city.

This series of the magazine brings in the exploration of the City of Chicago itself
and what it has to offer. Many times people come to Chicago on business or on
vacation and never really stop and watch what is happening around them. Chicago
is a city of atmosphere and environment but many fail to see it. As a commuter,
Lake Shore Drive is a primary route into the city and immediatly you can see the
changes in senory. While in route in, the lake brings a feeling of calmness and
makes you want to sit and think. However on the left of you brings the complete
opposite feeling. Traffic jams, civilians excercising, via bikes, rollerblades, or
jogging, city buses, horns and the sounds of the elevated trains bring a more fast
paced senory and almost a complete kaos emotion. Drivers look to get in and out
of the city and fail to take in the full affect.
The City Around Us Page 18

Lake Michigan brings the sights and

sounds of the city to a bare minimum.
The lake is a place of relaxation, great
views, unbelievable color schemes,
and entertainment during the Summer
months. When I was photographing “Water offers a great relection in photographs because it
the lake, I was able to get a great light offers a form of layers an shadow on a smooth surface”.
placement from the sun across the lake
from different angles. The idea’s run-
ning through my head were to focus on
a certain visual object or more than one
object and allow the sun to change the If you look out to the horizon, you can see that the lake
photos on its own. In the figure below, almost appears endless. Which is why this tranquil place can
I concentreated on a dock just off of be used as a personal location for both personal excitment and
Navy Pier which had a great shadow exercise. Day in and day out people from all over the city use
from shallow to deep as the picture went the jogging paths to bike and exercise. No matter what season
farther and farther out. Water offeres a it is, exercise enthusiests use the surrounding visual to enjoy
great reflection in photographs because it some time at peace with themselves and nature.
creates layers.

The summer season really drives the lake into its purest moments of perfections
for many people. As the picture above shows, many people have their boats and
yachts located in the lake for personal family weekend enjoyment as well as the near
by North Avenue beach opens up for sand volleyball, beachside street hockey, and
Castaways restaruant and bar all bring in excited tourists who want a piece of the
Chicago flavor. The the closets thing the Midwest can get to the shores of Miami or
Panama City Florida or Souther California coast. It is at this time that the streets of
the city move south to the shores of the lake and the atmosphere becomes a thrilling
experience for many who take the time to participate. So besides the entertainment,
the views and scenory of Chicago extend much farther than the downtown city
streets.
The City Around Us
“the friendly confines”
- Earnie Banks
The Friendly Confines, also known as Wrigley Field and home
to the Chicago Cubs was built in 1914 and was known as Cubs
Park until 1926 until William Wrigley Jr of Wrigley’s Chewing
gum bought the team. Wrigley is located in the neighborhood
known as Lakeview. The surrounding neighborhood brings in
a vast amount of Cubs fans as well as individuals who like a
thrilling live night life. Wrigley’s streets thrive on night clubs and
bars which bring people of all ages from young 21 year olds to
people in their late 40s. The neighborhood thrives in an electric
atmosphere day in and day out especially on game days. Wrigley
Field has held many die hard fans whether the team is winning
or losing, weather its raining or sunny, the fans fill the stands for
every game.
Page 20
Welcome Cubs Fans!
My illustration of Wrigley Field really falls into my favorite portrait that I have created
becasue being such a big Cubs fan, I really liked the idea of the making the hystorical
landmark an illustration. It took me about 3 days of on and off work to create due to
the fact I wanted to create and make as much detail as I possibly could. The illustrat-
Wrigley Field is the second oldest ballpark in sion was created in Adobe Illustrator, I created new layers based off the background of
the major leagues today behind Boston Red Sox the blue sky and worked my way forward to the gray street. Each piece on the building
Fenway Park. This historic landmark stadium has created a graphic detail which put the building together one part at a time. The over all
seen some of the most moments in baseball history construction was built to be a illustrated cartoon replica of the original photo shot by
including Babe Ruth’s “called shot” in the 1932 me.
World Series, Earnie Banks “Mr Cub” 500th career
homerun, all the way to Kerry Woods 20 strike
out game out of 27 outs. and Sammy Sosa’s 60
homeruns in 2000 while he raced Mark McGuire
for the homerun race. All of these events make this
stadium a more and more piece of history each year
the season starts. Ive seen many games at this park
and never have had a time I regreted.
 Page 22

Life In Sports
By: Brett Ratajczak

Matt Ginnetti and Phil and Alex Johnson are

Growing up in Joliet Illinois where
friends who have been around for awhile on both
sports are a large part of a persons life since
sports teams and social events. These three guys
the young years of our lives. Joliet is known for
all were standouts in high school sports. Matt was
being the City of Champions because of thier
the starting quarter back for our football team his
private high school, Joliet Catholic Academy.
senior year, and went on to play collegiate ball for
Growing up, Joliet had three high schools lo-
St. Ambrose Univeristy in Davenport Iowa. Phil
cated in the city and one stood out as the power-
and Alex are twins who grew up dominating the
house school in the state. As it stands today, Jo-
states hockey world. Today they are currently se-
liet Catholic Academy is knowsn for its College
niors at the University of Iowa where they are on
Prep education and athletics. Joliet Catholic’s
the Hawkeye hockey team.
Football team tallied in 13 state championships,
their Baseball with 2, and Girls Volleyball with
Throughout this section of my book I
four. Growing up with this kind of environment
wanted to design a part where I could show the
to hopefully play in really makes a kid work
illustrations I put together on my free time. I
hard to get at this level.
wanted to create these photos of my brother and
our friends because they offered a visual that
Throughout the years of high school, I
many could not capture and I enjoyed recreating
have had the opportunity to watch many of my
the idea of them being in a live setting while I
friends along with my brother succeed to the
used adobe Illustrator to make a new visual to the
collegiate level in their prospected sports. My
viewers.
brother Nick was a starting second basemen on
the baseball team and starting corner back on the
football team inwhich he won a state champi-
onship on each team his senior year. He moved
on to play baseball at Gulf Coast Community
College in Panama City Florida for the past two
years.
Life In Sports Page 24

Matt Ginnetti
I created this picture off the origianl piece. The original picture was taken while
Matt was playing a football game at Joliet Catholic Academy and it is a live action shot
of him taking a snap and looking to hand the ball off. This picture intregued me because
of the graphic in it. Based on the picture, from the smalles part on the field “his eyes
“ to the mud on the uniforms, the picture adds such great deatail and exposion of emo-
tion. I used Adobe Illustrator to create a new template of layers and add the colors
based in the original picture to exemplify an illustration. The first layer was a simple
Matt Ginnetti a 20 year old brown and green backgroud to establish the back drop and the grass. I created new
student at St. Ambrose University in layers each time to add a player and details to the piece.
Iowa was a stand out athlete his entire
life. At young age, Ginnetti a graduate
of Drauden Point Middle School in
Plainfield Illinois was a driving force
on the baseball field as well as in his
pee wee football league. Growing up
Matt participated in Pony Baseball
with the Plainfield Power and the
Plainfield Force. It was during this
time when Matt grew into the customs
of being a good ball player which led to
him continuing on and playing in high
school for Joliet Catholic. Ginnetti
was a fast and very smart outfielder
that always looked to put the ball in
play almost every time he stepped
to the plate. He also was a standout
football player in which he went on to
play in college. In the begining years
Matt began with the Plainfield Jr. Cats
football program that was known as a
junior powerhouse and instructional
level football. He continued his play
as the quaterback of Joliet Catholic
and participated in the 2008 State
Championship Game. Matt continues
to play for Saint Ambrose Univeristy
in Davenport Iowa.
Life In Sports Page 26

Nick Ratajczak in shape for the baseball season. Ever since fresh-
man year, Nicks dream was to make it big on the
baseball field and no matter what it took go on to
Living in his comfort level at the second base position,
His hard work and patience on the field eventually led to
yet another State Championship ring and the one thing
a big time school. Little did he know that football many players all wish they can do which is the “dog pile”
would turn into an almost natural secondary sport This was Nick’s last big trip on the yet almost last stage of
where he fulfilled the defensive back position just as his life. To many after high school, the stage has been set
good as he played second base on the baseball field. and they attend school as students and not a student ath-
He proved himself by becoming an everyday starter lete. Nick moved down to Panama City Florida where he
which eventually led to a State Championship Ring played baseball at Gulf Coast Community College. After
his junior year. The glory of being a two sport stand two years of college ball under his belt and living on the
out prevailed and Nick welcomed it with open arms. beach, it was time for a new situation where Nick needs
Nicak Ratajczak was to move on to yet another level of ball and compete for
an aspiring ball player his entire Since his sophomore season being moved up to the another stage which is the College World Series formally
life. Growing up Nick played varsity baseball team was a high accomplishment and located in Omaha Nebraska’s Rosenblatt Stadium with
baseball for St. Joes Pony it set the block for his path to strive in the future. Af- potentially of getting drafted to the Major League Profes-
Baseball which was one of the ter and unbelievable season as a sophomore, Nick’s sional Draft later on in his career.
most competitive developmental Junior and senior year were his best yet and the re-
kids leagues in the area. Ev- cruiting process started but Nick continued to do his
eryone who he played with up thing on and off the field being a leader to many who
until high school were apart of looked up to him.
his team at St. Joes which made
the tradition of playing baseball
in high school and even bet-
ter one especially when rival
schools would come into town.
As a young kid, Nick and his
St. Joes Allstar teams attended
every World Series tournamnet
at each age they were offered.
This shows the competitive mind
that he as well as his team had
as such a young age and this
began by having a passion for
the game. This passion continued
through out grade school where
he attend The Cathedral of St.
Raymond in Joliet and finished
1st in the IESA State Tourna-
ment. This was the last and final
big stage Nick was able to reach
before entering high school at
Joliet Catholic Academy where a
whole new set of stages were in
sight.

Coming to High school, Nick
became a two sport athlete by
joinging the Joliet Catholic Foot-
ball team. Never before playing
the sport, he went into it with an
open mind and as a way to keep
Life In Sports Page 28

I used Adobe Illustrator to create illustrations of Nick at different moments of his career. One photo shows him holding the State Champion-
ship trophy after wining Joliet Catholics second Baseball Championship since 1993. I created each part of the picture separatly on different
layers until finally revealing the finished product at the end.

The other picture is of Nick standing outside the hitters box awaiting signs from his third base coach just as he is about to hit. The same idea
being created here with Illustrator and making each layer piece a different way with the pen or brush tools. The dugout really adds detail with
the opposing team looking out onto the field.

The photo on the previous page is a photo taken during a game in florida and is really showing the effects of the sun light brightening up one
part of his uniform. The illustrations had great detail to the pieces and allow for a drastic cartoonish change in the art work.
Life In Sports Page 30

The Johnson Twins to skate and fundamentally develop thier
hockey skills in order to excell at the level
they hoped and all kids hope as the grow
older. Watching players such as Chris
Chelios, Jeremy Roenick, and having
Bobby Hall as a Chicago legand, they
knew that there are a lot of shoes to fill
in the hockey world. But the continuous
hard work continued through out their
lives where they became more notified of
higher competitive hockey for instance
becoming members of the Chicago
Flames, a nationally competitive team
who thrived in national spot lights win-
ning tournaments and traveling week in
and week out. This environment was just
what the twins were looking for consid-
ering other players on the Flames roster
came from neighborhood guys that Phil
and Alex all grew up playing with.
With their team stacked with tal-
ent was ranked number one in the
national polls and they rolled through
every competiton they met. This idea
of playing at the highest level didnt
stop here with the Flames, but they
carried on to attend the Univeristy of
Iowa where the currently continue
play on the schools hockey team.
Both players were recently added to
the MACHA Allstar team and with
great grades in the classroom, were
also nominated for All American. So
as kids the dream has made a great
impact and has carried the twins to
greal levels in life and in sports.

Phil and Alex Johnson, also known
as “the twins” have been competitive athletes
their entire lives. Their sport of choice
however goes in the opposite direction of the
previous two. The twins have acceled in the
sport of hockey since the begining of their
lives. Persuing goals such as Juniors or Big
time college hockey, the twins have played
not only the best in the state but also the
best nationally competitive hockey one can
imagine. From the Junior high school of
Timber Ridge in Plainfield, Phil and Alex
began their journy on the Joliet Jaguars
Hockey Program. Here is where the learned
About
The
Author
My Name is Brett Ratajczak, I am a senior
Marketing student with a minor in Graphic De-
sign. I am from Joliet Illinois where I attended
Joliet Catholic Academy and was a student
athlete in Football and Baseball. I graduated
in 2007 before coming here to play baseball. I
will be graduating this May and going to work
downtown. I grew an interest in graphic design
because I always had a passion for it and I
wanted to go into some type of marketing that
allowed me to use the art and design aspect to
increase the sale of a product. In the past few
years, the television show MAD MEN on AMC
really caught my attention because the show
really illustrated how art and ideas are very
important to the marketing world. Based off
this idea I really wanted to best put fourth my
art ideas and talents into the marketing aspect
just as they did in the show and possiby work
for a large advertising company. I am an outgo-
ing person who likes to be outide and enjoys
the City life a lot which is why i focused it as a
topic in my magazine.

When I was brainstoromg ideas for how to put this magaizne together, I wasnted to use
my work that Ive done for the past three years. These past years I really have focused
my attention on the City of Chicago and the excitement the downtown area brings to
people who reside there or all those who are tourists. Two of the sections in this maga-
zine focus on downtown but offer two different ideas. One focuses on the Millenium
Park and Grant Park area along with Navy Pier, and the other focuses on going along
the lake and deeper into the city streets to Wrigleyville. Chicago offeres an exciting
environment during the day and even more at night therefore drawing my interest even
more for an area of concentration for art. I chose to do the last section on my brother
and friends from home becasue I was able to make a great illustration of them during
their participating sports or high memories in their life. It was a different turn from
going downtown but gave a more insite to other peoples abilities or carry on with their
passions into schools and hopefully farther in life.