Final Reflection Graphic Design

What did you do this Semester?

Paul Rand Project

The project was to research a graphic designer randomly selected for you and make a presentation about them and also make a poster advertising their works in a museum. The project took 3(?) weeks to complete. One (1) week spent on researching and writing up a essay, another week spent on creating a powerpoint, and the last week working on the poster. The hardest challenge I faced was pin pointing my graphic designer. He had an easy style to replicate but I couldn't quite pinpoint what it was that made his designs so neat. Some feedback I was given was to focus more on his way of drawing shapes where they aren't perfect. In the poster I added some bubbles that were not perfect circles. My overall opinion is that I loved this project, I only wish that we had one more piece to do with it because I feel I finally pin pointed his design on the poster section.

Typography Quote project

This was one of my. favorites because it allowed me to have complete freedom.  The project was to Pick 4 quotes and then make an illustration going along with them. I choose quotes I had a connection with. The quotes I choose were "You can't just open up the story of my life and go to page  738 and think you know me" -Arin Hanson  liked this quote because not only was it said by someone who gives me a lot of inspiration but because I like the message behind it. "Where there is love there is life" -Ghandi "Be one with the fire" -Unknown "The world is quiet here" -Lemony Snickett

I think mine took 1.5 weeks because I remember getting done early. I learned about color schemes a lot more in depth in this project.  Some feedback I was given was for the 'Be one with the fire' illustration. The original design had way too much empty space so to solve that I changed the font for 'Fire', added some flame sparks, and boxed It off with darker colors. I loved this project, my only regret was not finding out about the free Webster brushes that Adobe had for download. If I downloaded them at the time of this project I can guarantee it would look 1,000 times better.

Rebranding Project

The goal of this project was to take an already existing brand and give it a makeover. My mother gave me a bunch of recommendations of things who were seriously lacking in the graphic design department but I wanted to try my hand at a more rustic logo so I went with Shatto milk. I believe we had 3 weeks to finish this project. My biggest challenge was coming up with a logo and deciding colors. I learned a lot more on how to actually use illustrator more effectivly in this project.

Misc Projects

When I was done with an assigned project, I worked on something small so I could learn to use the program better. These are some pictures of my personal works:

This was my first personal project and I learned a lot since first starting this in quarter one. I might remake/ finish it Once I get back from break.

This Project was a test with minimalism by using animal crossing characters

As a first step of one of my bigger personal projects, I made a vector of my art

My homemade Birthday Invitations! The Hierarchy is a little messed up in the "Happy Birthday to Raina" but I'm really proud of this

Time in class

I used my time in class pretty well. When I was finished with a project early, I usually went into photoshop or Illustrator and tested out things. I recently downloaded the Free Webster brushes so for the last few days I worked on getting to know those and seeing what I could do with them. Outside of class I like to look at logos and learn about them. Did you know that the new Google logo's G does not have perfect lines that go through? Well that design was purposeful!

Strengths and Weakness

I think my biggest strength is my passion and the fact that I already have a background in art classes and creativity. I think in the future I might be doing illustrations for children's books. I also have a huge love for Typography. My biggest weakness would probably be layout, Hierarchy, and the fact that even though I love typography with my whole heart, I suck at it a lot.

Summary

I loved slowly learning more about the program and developing a better sense of awareness in my works. I think I would probably change and redo most of my projects because with my new knowledge I know I can do better. Next year, I hope to study more about typography so I can confidently say "I'm okay at typography." A big goal maybe but I love type and illustrations and I also hope next year I can come up with a better Behance layout.

Final Project animation

Valuable takeaway you learned

A valuable takeaway I learned from this project is that things go wrong and you have to try to fix mistakes. When things go wrong it's important to stay on task and stay calm.

How did you learn it?

When we forgot to bring supplies we decided to use Helen the fish as a prop instead of Kermit. I also learned it when we were running out of time and I no longer felt comfortable being Wonder Woman. I also learned to fix things when by the time it was the last day the person in charge of Maya gave up and did not tell me so I had to make a Maya model last minute

Why was it important?

Working in groups is hard and no group will be 100% on task. Groups are an awful way to get things done because most of the time no one does anything till the last minute.

Biggest challenge?

My biggest challenge was dealing with my group as they were not fun to deal with. They complain when they don't have anything to do and then when I gave them something to do they just talked with friends for most of the hour.

Strengths/Weakness

My greatest strength is FX and my perfectionism is also a good strength. My biggest weakness was my group as they don't understand that this has to be perfect and that taking shortcuts will not work. My job

Raina, Jessica, Layla, and Cas were in the group
My job was  Creating Story boards, and FX

I ended up doing Maya, Recording, Editing, and FX.
My team was really immature during the project and it kind of ruined my whole experience.

Explosions

 We learned about green screen and FX and put together two scenes using it. In the first scene a vigilante attacks criminals and in the second scene the guy with the trash bag walks away from the explosion that was caused from the bombs he planted.
This was my overall favorite project because it allowed me to be creative with how the scene would play out. I learned a lot about FX especially in the explosion one.

Bouncing ball animation

In this project we took a video of a tennis ball, a golf ball, and a bowling ball dropped from about 5 feet. We recorded the intervals in which it bounced and how high it went so we could replicate it in Maya. I learned about bump mapping from my container project because I accidentally applied a bump map instead of an image. The mistake allowed me to easily bump map the balls in this project. I was playing around with effects and gave my tennis ball legs to make my project my own. I also added a little squash and stretch on the golf ball for an extra added detail.

Candle animation

In the container project, we had to design a label for a container and then model the container. I made a funny  prayer candle label and modeled the candle. I made the lighting very ominous and spooky.  I changed my idea for the label many times and It was difficult finding a label I liked. I learned how to bump map images in this project and add animations. If I were to go back I think I would have made a different label to something more interesting.

Marks and symbols reflection

What did you learn?

I learned the differences and similarities betweens marks and symbols in graphic design. From reading about pictographs and lettermarks to key ideas in symbols.

What is the difference between a symbol and a logo?

Logos most often use words to easily establish their brand name while symbols can use anything from a picture of a bull to a seashell. Symbols are harder to promote where as logos are not as difficult. When logos and symbols are used together they are called combination marks. Nike is an example of a company that has a symbol and a logo and then pairs them together so the symbol can be associated with the logo.

Key facts?

Good symbol designs should be able to be shrunk down to half an inch and still be legible. Making a symbol is difficult and choosing positive traits like upwards directions can allow others to see your company in a positive light with only a symbol. Combination marks are very helpful to introduce a brand if the company wants both a symbol and a logo in the future. Getting the viewer accustomed to the symbol will help you move on to using it without a logo.

Favorite thing learned?

I enjoyed learning about the difference between a logo and symbols and also requirements on making symbols. I always though that symbols and logos were the same thing! The requirements for making a symbol were very informative and will help me in the future!

Conclusions?

Overall, I got a lot out of this article and will be going back to it frequently, possibly printing it out and using it in personal projects.

Graphic Design Typography

Typography

While learning typography, I watched a series of videos and read an article about the basics and rules.

Reflections

Video Summarization

In the set of about 12 videos, I learned about things that seemingly go untouched upon in the basics of typography. I learned about how the spacing between a b and a d are going to be shorter because their round edge allows for the illusion of more space. Not only I learn about tips for aligning the text but also about the text itself. Vocabulary for different parts of type and about the families of type.

Video Takeaways

My biggest problem with the videos was how uninteresting it looked. You had a woman standing in front of a blurred white room and occasionally a demonstration or edit would replace her on the screen. I believe if this video series had more editing segments that were also more intresting, then it would have held my attention more.

Article Summarization

In the article it talked about 10 rules when creating typography like complementary fonts and Hierarchy.  It talked about limiting numbers of fonts but also how you can break the rules with typography.

Key Points Of Typography

• Match your fonts
• Apply the message you want to come across as
• Don't be afraid to go wild

Most Interesting Thing Read

The most interesting thing I read was about how it was possible to break the rules and come up with a good design. It was interesting because usually you follow rules to a T

General Thoughts And Conclusions

The articles and the videos were both very informative and helped me learn more, I only wish the way the info was presented was more interesting.

snowflake animation

With the snowflake project, we created snowflakes by duplicating a polygon. We created a window to view the snowflakes and added bump mapping to the wall, then animated the snowflakes falling. This was one of the easier projects and I still struggled with it greatly. Making the snowflakes fall down gracefully was my favorite part of this project. If I were to change one thing about my results it would be rendering my animation in the correct type.

Salt Shaker

The salt Shaker and cup project involved using revolve and lofting. With the saltshaker, Lofting was used to create the  glass container for the salt. This project was difficult with how specific and touchy some of the directions were and a general misunderstanding of Maya. I accidentally turned my shadows purple and have no idea how to fix it. If I could go back I would definelty ask for help with bump maps, the holes, lights, and basically everything. I have difficulty in arranging the lights to look proper and realistic. Its a lot harder than just grabbing 3 lamps, you have to edit the distance, brightness, color, shadows, ect. My favorite part of the project is the glass, it looks really nice.