Semester Overview & Reflection

This semester we did several different types of projects that helped me learn so much more about graphic design which I felt I had learned very little last year.

So what were the projects we did this semester?

Name Typography

This project was solely based on making you feel the characteristics of the type so that you were able to tell what it was suppose to be just from looking at it. It took quite a few a weeks to do just because of the long process of sketching and then transferring your ideas to the computer into something that actually gave you the sense of what you were trying to make it look like. One of the challenges I faced was not being able to use color to help make it feel a certain way, I also struggled to add details to the letters without making it all about the details and not the type. Some feedback I was given was that I needed to make some things larger to make sure you would be able to tell what it was suppose to be from far away and then some details I had were not needed to have the impact I wanted, that the stuff I already had was enough. After I was critiqued I went back and I edited the type so that the little details I had actually went along with my type and I went back and edited it so that you could tell what my type was trying to convey from farther away. I enjoyed designing the name typography, it was definitely very difficult for me in the beginning but I feel like in the end I was pretty happy with how it ended. I feel for the most part that I got it to a point where the type actually showed what I was trying to. I learned that how to edit typography in order to distinguish it from any other type.

Rebranding 

For this project we had to take a brand, mostly one that we felt needed a new design and totally rebrand it so that it gave it a new style. This project took about two months because we had to

sketch, create the logos in black and white, and then we began adding color in order to help give you the sense of what you were drinking whether it was blue for the feeling of something cool or another color. Then we headed towards making the label of the bottle and we took pictures of our final product. I was given the feedback that I should try to separate what I had in my bottle by adding a ribbon around the top which is what I ended up doing! I also had my bottles as a different color than my color scheme so I was told that I should try and photoshop my colors so that they much which is something I also did that really helps with the look of the bottles. I felt like this project was kind of challenging for me because I felt that I was not doing a good job of communicating the style of my brand very well and it took me a while to do it without making it based off of type. In the end I enjoyed how it ended up, although I now  know in the future if I were to ever recreate this project I would do a few things differently. I learned to draw characteristics from a product in order to pull them into designing the logo.

Banner For Youtube

I recently took on a project for a friend because they needed a banner for their youtube channel. It took about a week to work on this because they really just wanted a simple banner and not a very intricate one. A challenge that I faced was trying to incorporate the pictures they wanted without them looking out of place with each other. The feedback that I was given was to try and put a little detail that still kept it a simple banner but to also make it pop. In turn I added some color in the middle to make the username of the channel to make it stand out more. I especially liked this project because I was able to help a friend out and I was satisfied with my end product.

Since we had plenty of time to work on all these the projects the next question to ask is how did I use my time in class?

For the most part I have used my time in class but I have definitely struggled with focusing in class sometimes whether I was just talking to a friend or working on homework that I didn't manage to do the night before for another class. I tried to stay productive when I was done early by getting some critiques from a few people and trying to make sure there wasn't anything else I could work on. I have tried to come in during seminars to work on outside projects or any work that I feel I may have needed to edit and tweak a bit more.

What are my strengths as a graphic designer?

I feel like my strengths as a designer are taking my sketches and transferring to the computer to make ideas out of them and trying to exercise my creativity out on the page.

What are areas in need of improvement?

As I mentioned earlier sometimes it is hard for me to focus on work, I feel that I definitely get easily distracted sometimes. I also find it difficult asking for help on some things that I struggle with some of the time.

Overall I enjoyed everything in this class and if I had to say what I loved most about this semester was that I figured out how to really try to incorporate the sense or feeling of something into my designs. I also learned techniques and tips so that my measurements and colors can turn out the correct way I want them to when I send them off to print. Something I would change would be how I used my time because I felt like sometimes I used it poorly which leads me into goal for next semester, to stay more on track with my work and really try to push my designs. 

Individual Project - Making Gifs in Photoshop

For my Individual Project I wanted to doing something along the lines of Motion Design because that is something that really intrigues me. I ended up making a gif in photoshop using timeline. I wanted to make some kind of pattern to start with.

Motion Design

What is Motion Design?

Motion Design is a subset of graphic design that uses graphic design 

principles in film making or video production context through film 

technique. It uses Motion Graphics which are digital footage and/or 

animation technology to create the illusion of motion or rotation. 

Some people wonder and you may be wondering right now, what the 

difference between animated film and motion design is. Animated Film

features a story in which characters express themselves, where on the 

other hand, Motion Design can portray characters but they however do

not directly express themselves.

Some examples of Motion Design are: 

►Graphics used for opening sequences on television or in film

►Spinning, three-dimensional logos of some television logos

►Kinetic Typography (Read below to see what this is)

►Film Credits

► Some TV Advertisements 

And Last but not Least, Kinetic Typography!

Kinetic Typography is simply mixing motion

with text. Probably most commonly seen on

lyric videos for different songs.

Here's a couple links to examples:

Counting Stars - One Republic 

Maroon 5 - Maps

Phillip Phillips - Gone, Gone, Gone

Designing My Logo

For my logo, I started by sketching some ideas out. I had a hard time coming up with something just because my initials do not go together very well and so it's not as easy to combine them.

 I finally got some down though and I started attempting to make some of them in adobe illustrator. So I tried out some of them and ended up not being very happy with them so I branched off of them and played with some other ideas and ended up with the logos below.













For the first logo I used the line segment tool to create the four triangles, which I then filled in with a lavender color and ended up taking the stroke off of them. I put each of my initials in each of the triangles, then obviously there was one triangle left bare so I used the star tool to make a symbol that looked like a sun
because I really like how it looked.



Here is my progression:

For the second logo I had based it off one of my sketches where it had my first initials larger than the rest of the letters in the name. I found that to look way to basic and simple so I ended up editing the effects on the bigger letters and I kind of messed with it until I got something I liked.

Masks

After I did the three masking projects I chose two pictures to mask on my own.

For the first Mask Project I used a layer Mask by using a picture of mountains, and adding the same picture into the text.

For my Second Mask Project I used a Layer Mask and edited the colors of the grapes, I wanted it to look somewhat realistic so I stuck with the green grapes even though it still does not look quite realistic at all.

Floating Mountain

Pattern & Motif

For my Motif I stuck with something pretty simple because I was still learning the tools of adobe illustrator. I was going to make it more complex but I felt like the motif would seem too busy.

I also went for something more simple with my pattern but I didn't want to add anything to it because I felt like it would have ruined the pattern.