As a history buff, I was interested in doing something with that in mind. Recently, I have been learning about ancient Greece, specifically Sparta, so I decided to design something around them. The design came together pretty smoothly. For the most part, I let my creativity take the wheel and drive me towards using what we learned about making GIFS, combined with a dramatic composite of a spartan looking on toward the world he fought so many battles. I thought it would be interesting to use flames as a metaphor for the fighting and the precarious lifestyle Spartans led. Greece is kind of a hard country to recognize for most people if there is no context, like a world map, so I wanted to assist the viewers by putting the Greek flag in the background, since that was the territory of the Spartans, Athenians, Corinthians, and other ancient Greek city-states. I made the flames a little transparent to prevent separation from the flag, as it was Ancient Greece that was where the majority of the battles were fought and wanted the two to feel one and the same. I chose to use a greek flag the was worn and rugged to enhance the dramatic feel the rest of the photo gives off.  I positioned the Spartan with his head caught in the middle of the cross on the Greek flag so people's eyes would go straight to him. Immediately after looking at him, they would follow his gaze to seeing his world burning. This was all done on purpose and for reason. A subconscious directing of the viewers if you will. I'm sure there is a better way to do this -- there always is. For some reason,  I wasn't able to export the GIF without it being slightly transparent. If you can tell me, I would appreciate it.

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