Easten Wember
Art 130
Spring 2020
Art 130 was equally as challenging as it was fulfilling. In the past most of my projects were done digitally. This class allowed me to get out of my comfort zone and try new things. Since I have a graphic design minor, I am excited to use what I learned this semester in my upcoming courses. I learned that I need to be open to new ideas and not be afraid to try them. I also learned that in-process feedback from peers is really helpful. Feedback encouraged me to make multiple iterations of a piece and was an important part of my design process to get a final iteration I was proud of.
d*school For this project we worked with a partner. After interviewing our partners we determined a problem that they had. In a short period of time we attempted to create a product to solve that problem. My partner’s problem was that she wanted a creative outlet. To help solve her problem, I created a design board that she could draw on every day for a month.
Engaging with a real person and making a product for them made me more cautious about the product I made because I wanted it to be well received. Because the project was based on personal information I wanted to make something that could theoretically be useful as it’s usability would be a testament to how well I interviewed and listened to that person and then how I applied that knowledge.
It’s scary to share any work you make, but especially when you feel like it’s not the best. You always want to show and give people your best and it’s hard to display work that is the exact opposite because you fear negative/harsh reactions.
I usually like to take my time on projects to brainstorm and draft ideas because rarely do you create something perfect on the first try. But, when you take time on projects you begin to second-guess and critique yourself which isn’t always great for the creative process. Because of this, I think the quick pace was kind of fun because the first idea in my head was the one I tried and I was able to improvise as I went.
Based on what I learned I think I would go back and break up the piece a little more. Instead of a flat, rectangular piece of cardboard I could have cut the cardboard into pieces and made more of a layered piece or made something more 3D (the piece just looked really flat). What I would do over again would be making the grid/sections uneven and colorful. Some of the feedback I received was to include more prompts or challenges and I think that would be a good addition (I taped some random objects like a leaf and googly eyes to the poster which would help guide/inspire).
dot/line For this project we had to select three words from a given list. Using black, white, and gray we made compositions representing these words using only dots and lines. I made of number of sketches for the words “chaos”, “oppression”, and “joy” before deciding on three final designs. Gestalt is the initial image we see when looking at something and the relationship between all the components that make up that something. For example, aspects of gestalt like continuation helped convey energy, closure and confinement helped convey oppression and terror, and parallelism and proximity helped convey stability.
In the past I never made sketches but I think that it’s a process I’d like to use in my future projects because it’s a quick way to make small alterations to a piece to see what I like best before actually executing a whole piece. The ideas of gestalt will be helpful in future projects because the principles helped me take into consideration how other people might interpret whatever I make.
I like spending time on a single project to get things right. Since this project required 3 pieces I think I felt like I had a lot of work to do to try to make every piece look the best I could, making it difficult for me to create several “well-crafted” pieces. I think this project helped my idea of abstraction. Coming into this project I already enjoyed abstract styles and it was fun to try to create some abstract pieces myself. I also enjoyed seeing what my classmates came up with, a lot of their pieces had elements that I never would have thought of trying myself. It was not too difficult to represent ideas without illustrating them. As someone who doesn’t typically draw, the lack of illustration didn’t really bother me. However, I did find the sketches a really helpful way to brainstorm ideas since we had a limited amount of dot/ line combinations to work with.
CHAOS
OPPRESSION
JOY
letter forms For this project we selected a word to make multiple variations of. We started by sketching the word in a variety of ways. Then the class carved linoleum letters to create an alphabet. This allowed us to practice typography by using ink and the letters to print our selected word straight and even, with different typographic characteristics, modifications, and one of our choice.
“FUTURE� VARIATIONS
By working with letter forms I learned that font impacts how we read/perceive things. Anything from bold fonts to scripts to sans serif fonts changes how a reader interprets something, especially when distorted or combined with surrounding negative space (or lack of it).
If I were to continue using my letters/phrase I would have tried to cut and distort the letters to form a word. Or also putting tape or something similar over parts of the word/ letters before inking to create a different design. One of my pieces was really dark and I would take some of the feedback I got on it and make it more legible from a distance.
PROCESS TO MAKE WHITE OUTLINES
FINAL VERSION
AFTER FILLING WITH INK
FINAL PRINTS
object iterations For this project we chose an object or animal to make multiple iterations of. My selected animal was a chimpanzee. The goal was to explore different mediums and create the chimpanzee in non traditional or cliché ways. The final format was a poster with six square pieces. Through this process I learned a lot about chimpanzee social hierarchies, habitats, and endangerment.
“BLIND” SKETCHES
In Photoshop I learned how to use quick mask and layer masks which will help me be more precise in what I am editing and also helps me practice non-destructive techniques. These techniques help preserve original copies and versions. The most challenging media for me was paper for my geometric iteration because it involved cutting and gluing a lot of smaller pieces. The most enjoyable media was acrylic because it was something I had never used before. I think the texture of it is really fun.
IN-PROCESS ACRYLIC HABITAT
IN-PROCESS ACRYLIC SILHOUETTE
If I were to continue with this object for a year I would have tried a different geometric design that involved more shading. I also would try redoing my Wayne White imitation to make the letters the same size and maybe arranged in a more complex way.
FINAL POSTER
PSA poster For this project we worked with a client to design a public service announcement (PSA) poster. The project was type only so the client provided a headline and body text. As designers we were supposed to make a black and white design on colored or white paper and receive feedback from our designer during the design process.
It was challenging to be limited to type only because a lot of what we see in media is graphic based. It was also difficult because I was not able to decide the content of the poster (body, headline, etc). This made me focus on the layout of the poster more to be able to convey the message as clearly as possible.
INITIAL SKETCH
IN-PROCESS CRITIQUE
Creating visual hierarchy scale, orientation, and negative space was really important. The most important information (headlines and dates) were scaled larger than body information. The diagonal orientation of the boxes helped the rhythm of reading. The negative space was important to give emphasis on the information provided and to help the poster not seem so busy.
From this project I gained InDesign skills, specifically about how to use guides and grids to create an even layout. I also practiced sketching which helped create multiple iterations of the same design with minor differences to see what I liked best.
FINAL POSTER
designer presentation For this project we selected a contemporary designer to research and present information on. The presentation specifications were 20x20: we had to present 20 slides that transitioned automatically after 20 seconds. This encouraged rehearsing the presentation to help give smooth transitions and avoid awkward pauses. I was drawn to Michael Bierut as a designer because of his wide variety of logos and type that were in both color and black and white. He and the design firm he was part of, Pentagram, worked on a lot of projects I had seen in the real world so it was cool to see familiar work.
1999 POSTER FOR THE ARCHITECTURAL LEAGUE
It was weird to present to my classmates. Since the presentation was not live it was hard to tell how the information I was sharing was being received (was it interesting or not). If I could research another artist it would be David Carson. He was really interesting because his typography design is abstract and different from Michael Bierut’s.
vocational I think that a good life and a significant life can be one in the same. A good life might be considered one where you are happy with your current situation and where you may end up. Similarly, a significant life might include pride in your life accomplishments. Striving to be happy through meaningful work is the gateway to a life both good and significant. During my senior year of high school I made a poster in Adobe Illustrator for one of my favorite shows, Mr. Robot. The poster is a low poly rendition of the show’s main character, Elliot Alderson. After I finished the design I was able to print on posters and canvas. I am really proud of the design because it was a project I was not sure I would complete before the end of the school year. The split face design was difficult to finalize because the mask features did not match up with the normal face. I ended up matching the eye positions on either side and worked from there.
INITIAL FACE DESIGN
CANVAS PRINT
This book was made as part of Introduction to Design at St. Norbert College in the spring of 2020. The font used is Alber New.