My first document

I Filled Up the SPACE

By Evelin Bestul

D-School Getting to Know the Class

When I first entered the classroom, I was filled with nerves and excitement. Being an elementary education major, I never had the chance to experience a class much like this one. Luckily, we were given the opportunity to get to know each other on the first day through an extremely creative project. We had to create something that would benefit our partner, proving to be loads of fun! As a result, we were able to grow collectively as a class, while gaining a few new friends!

My partner struggled with connecting with his roommate, so I decided to construct a water slide for them! This was especially tricky because we were only given a handful of materials, which was a struggle for me. We also had a set amount of time we were able to complete this project, so I felt a little overwhelmed. But, this only meant that I had to branch out of my comfort zone!

prototype took because they inputted more information either accepting or rejecting the idea. It gave them a chance to explain themselves, and, if they enjoyed the idea, then you can add to your prototype. However, if they reject your idea, you have to

The water slide is constructed out of various materials: paper, foam, orange tape, and yogurt caps. First, I decided to construct the actual slide itself. I cut and folded the paper into two separate parts, overall giving the slide a rim to make sure that the people don’t fall off the sides. Next, I taped the two slides together and I added a platform at the top of the slide using the black foam. Then, I added a base to help support the slide, which was especially tricky. It struggled supporting the actual slide, resulting in the entire project collapsing which was frustrating. Finally, I added the yogurt cap acting as an inner tube.

Looking back at my project, I would have added more detail, such as adding a ladder and more inner tubes for my waterslide. I would probably create my platform over again because it was not sturdy or supportive.

I felt disappointed in myself when showing unfinished work to another person. I had so many ideas that would have made it more finished and more appealing; however, the time limit was restraining.

The pace felt rushed, overall requiring you to think on the spot. I normally work at a more medium to slow pace, so I felt a tad stressed.

Striving to convey comfort in my piece, I opted to use the same color paper for both my lines and my circle. I chose to do two lines and one circle because I wanted to create a sense of security, ultimately leading to comfort. Equally spaced, the outside lines never touch the circle, which also adds an element of comfort to the piece.

COMFORT TERROR CHAOS

Using only circles, I wanted to fill as much space as I possibly could. This resulted in using various sizes, along with using both black and gray circles. Each circle is touching one another, and there is no specific pattern. Therefore, chaos reigns throughout the piece.

For this piece, I used one line and two dots. One dot was extremely large, while the other was super small. I placed the small circle right next to the line, and I decided to place the large circle in the upper left corner, looming down upon the small circle. So, a sense of feeling crushed is established, leading to terror.

Dot-Line

Creating Emotion with Shapes

This project required us to use only a couple of shapes to convey a specific emotion or idea: dots and lines. Therefore, the placement, color, and size of these objects were key factors in this process. Asked to select three emotions from a series of ideas, I chose comfort, chaotic, and terror.

Gestalt is when objects that are grouped together based on similarities (in size or color). This relates to this project because we worked with because we could only work with dots and lines. We also were only able to use the color black and the color gray.

For me, it is not very difficult to think about making a “well-crafted object”. I understand the process and time commitment needed in order to create a “well-crafted object”. I always strive for (almost!) perfection, which can take up a significant amount of time. Therefore, I would much rather spend extra time to get the small details right.

This project definitely changed my idea of abstraction. I was always used to a very literal interpretation when it comes to analyzing artwork. I have never truly appreciated abstraction until participating in this project. The idea that simple shapes can convey such a powerful sense of emotion, either positive or negative, is truly amazing. This project helped me appreciate the time and effort people spend on doing abstract pieces of work.

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Personally, I found it difficult to represent ideas without illustrating them. Again, I tend to view artwork in a very literal sense so it was a struggle to make only a few circles and lines match a specific emotion.

I might use abstraction later in life when teaching my students in my classroom. I will prompt them to think creatively and outside the box in new ways.

Letterform Using Ink to Express Words

Only able to choose one word, we were expected to create at least four iterations using the proper letterform technique: ink. We were each assigned two letters to carve out in order to print our desired word using ink. Shown various methods required to express our word by only using letters and simple drawings, I decided to choose the word “float”.

In order for the class to fully grasp the importance of various letter fonts when creating appealing images or posters. By participating in this, I became more aware of the different terminology used to describe each font.

If I were to continue working with these letters, I would try to add more illustration features to it. Personally, I am drawn to drawing, so I would try to include that somehow in my artwork. Maybe I would use the ink or actual letters to form something that is floating.

Ilearned how to print letters by working this particular way. I learned that the process can be tedious, mainly when applying an even amount of ink on the letters. Additionally, I learned that letters can carry so much meaning. In order to convey a specific message to your audience, you had to focus on the formation of the letters, the size, the spacing between the letters, and the placement. I always wanted to focus on more of the creative aspect, including drawing, when it came to letters, but this project taught me that letters themselves carry just as much meaning as the illustration.

In order to gain more experience with various letterfonts, we were also asked to create an array of different fonts.

I also decided to express the word “float” by physically cutting out the letters and placing them in running water. Even though it was tricky having each letter stay in its original position, I believe this composition turned out nicely. However, a different contrast would have been more beneficial when showing this to my peers. I aimed to physically show the letters floating in water, which added a more literal sense to the word “float”.

Attempting to express the word through the use of movement, I first printed a straight line of the letters in the bottom left corner. Then, I copied the same letters using less ink and placed them slowly moving upwards towards the right corner, thus alluding to the word floating off of its original form.

When I immediately thought of the word “float”, I connected this word to balloons. Wanting to draw a balloon connecting each letter moving upwards in a positive direction, I soon realized that this was not the most beneficial way of expressing the term “float”. So, I decided to replace the “o” in “float” with a balloon. Therefore, the drawing was physically a part of the word. Since a balloon drifts upwards once released, I decided to curve the letters into that direction pointing upwards.

Continued

During the creative process, we were also asked to construct a mind map. Therefore, we weren’t limited to one ivdea and we could creatively think outside the box. This also pushed us to look past any norms or cliches when constructing our letterforms.

Required to draw a straight version of our word, I found this piece of the project to be the most complicated. Being a perfectionist, I strived for a completely straight word. Placing this higher on the page, I also alluded to a floating aspect.

Iterative Illustrations

Experimenting with art forms

Asked to focus on one animal, we had to use four different art forms that represent one animal of our desire. We were additionally asked to choose two master artists and create our animal in the form of their creations. I decided to choose a humpback whale as my animal, and selected Keith Haring and Beatrix Potter as my master artists.

Keith Haring

I was initially drawn to Keith Haring’s artwork because of how simple, yet perfectly placed each of his squiggles or various linework are in his artwork. Therefore, I decided to base my tail composition off of his work.

Beatrix Potter

I immediately noticed her fantastic portrayal of animal fur and attention to detail, proving to be a challenge for me to create. Mainly using watercolor to create her masterpieces, I decided to mimic that by using ink dipped in water. Sometimes, the ink was hard to manage, so this was a difficult task for me to create. However, I persevered and the image of the whale turned out exactly how I wanted it to be.

Throughout this process, I learned about the amount of detail’s whales have, along with how eloquent they are when swimming through the ocean. I also learned that Photo-Shop and Indesign take a lot of time and effort, which can be intimidating. This pertains to me because I am a perfectionist when it comes to my work, so I have to analyze every individual detail on my pieces.

If I had to continue with this object for a year, I would try to bring in the aspect of whale hunting for their oil. Maybe I could try painting with oil, or include oil somehow in my piece. I would also try to incorporate the whale eating because their mouth grows extremely large when eating, which is unlike most animals.

Photoshop was the most challenging for me simply because I am just not techy. I prefer more hands-on forms of media, such as painting my whale using ink in order to imitate Beatrice Potter’s amazing work. Unfortunately, photoshop did not have that hands-on piece that I love and enjoy about art. My favorite form of media was using the ink to create my whale because, again, it was hands-on and it allowed me to expand my creative resources.

Through Photoshop, I learned about adding a background to my image, which I think will be useful moving forward. This will allow me to transport my art into new lands or elements around the world.

Typographic Collage

For this specific collage, we had to use words that accurately represented our animal. So, I decided to use the words “thirst”, “popular”, “a dream”, “bold”, and “rescue” in this collage. I found each of these words in different magazines. Whenever I think of a whale, I immediatley think of water, hense the word “thirst”. Whales are also extremely huge, so I picture them as being bold. Additionally,,whales are magestic beings, so it almost as if you are dreaming if you see a whale.

Continued One-Line

This image is created by drawing a continuous line without lifting the marker. I found this part of the iteration to be difficult and frustrating because I am such a perfectionist that relies heavily on my eraser. Therefore, I created this iteration a lot in order to find the one I wanted to use in my project. I also decided to fill in both whales with a gray color to make this image stand out amongst my other work.

Collage

I decided to use a variety of different shapes and colors to create the whale. Constructed out of magazines, I first started by laying the base of the whale down on the paper, then slowly building it upwards to create the different details found on the whales. I also decided to invert this picture to really bring out the whites and highlghts.

Continued

Final Whale Collage

Geometric Whale

I used a variety of diamond shapes, ovals, and trapezoids to create an overhead image of the whales. I wanted to include the baby whale since it is such an important part of a mother’s life. I also decided to add a background to this collage, overall placing an emphasis on the overhead view.

STOP THE WILLOW PROJECT!

277 million tons of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere!

Species of animals will DIE! Beauty of Alaska will beFOREVER changed!

#stopthewillowproject

Sign the petition to put an end to this!

I decided to bold the words “forever”, “die”, and “277 million tons” in order to place an emphasis on how detramental this project would be in the state of Alaksa. Additionally, I decided to place the information at a slant, overall standing out amongst other posters.

PSA Posters Using Art

to Convey Meaning

Given a specific topic that needs to be brought to light by our assigned classmate, we were tasked with creating a poster addressing the topic. Requiring us to use every detail or fact provided to us by our classmate, or our client, this project focused on the words used to convey our message. Additionally, this project prompted us to analyze word placement and structure. My topic was the Willow Project, specifically focusing on the destruction of Alaska’s beauty and wildlife.

It was challenging to be limited to type only because I naturally gravitate towards drawing or expressing the prompt via drawing. Throughout this project, I felt the urge to draw something that accurately represented my topic. However, I was limited to strictly text, which required me to slightly shift my mindset.

I used different opacities to create visual hierarchy to make the poster more eye catching, along with emphasizing various words that I believed to be important. I also placed the words at an angel to be unique and have my poster really stand out among other posters.

Creating different gradients, along with understanding the various fonts in the design world, are some skills that I can take forward to other work. As an educator, it is important to make assignments visually appealing and exciting for the kids. So, this will help me in the future classrooms.

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Who Designs

Focusing on Marian Bantjes

We were asked to research a master artist in order to gain new perspecitives on various styles of creativity.

She created her own design studion with her friend: Digitopolis. Yet, this company really limited her creative outlook so she decided to sell her half of the studio to her partner. Struggling to get her name known in the graphic design world, she decided to enter a t-shirt competition in 2003 called Speak Up. Winning this competition, her career took off and she began gaining more recognition. After this, she was able to do more freelance work, write books about her life (“Pretty Pictures”), and even give a speech at her old art school!

Marian Bantjes was born on March 23, 1963 in Canada. She started her career in design and typography when she dropped out of Emily Car College in 1983, leading to working at Hatley & Marks and Typeworks. As a result, she gained more knowledge about typography and letter-work. After working at both companies for roughly 10 years, Marian branched out into the graphic design field.

Mostly described as a graphic artist, crafts her beautiful pieces from an island off of the West coast of Canada. She uses various forms of art, such as drawing, painting, and digital graphics. Mainly including words and unique patterns, Marian Bantjes enjoys thinking outside the box. Additionally, she also uses many bright colors in her work with decorative line work. So, she is able to truly capture the audience with her eye-catching pieces of work. Overall, Marian Bantjes truly had a whirlwind experience with graphic design, and is truly an inspiration to all aspiring women artists.

I was immediatly drawn to my designer because of her usage of vibrant colors throughout her artwork. Not only does she create intricate patterns, she also loves placing contrasting colors next to one another.

When it comes to sharing information with my classmates, I am very open and energetic. I am always eager to share any information regarding a specific topic, especially if passion and interest are involved.

One other artist that caught my eye was Jessica Walsh because she is a very modern and relavant artist. Some of her designs I can totally see in a modern or updated house. I also love her contrast in colors!

Vocation Questions

Are you called to creative work? If so, how do you recognize that calling? If not, to what do you feel called?

I consider myself to be called to creative work. I enjoy doing hands-on projects and crafts, and I tend to put forth lots of time and effort when completing them. My grandpa was an artist, so he always inspires and encourages me to continue with art. He pushes my creativity and always prompts me to think outside the box. Therefore, I always try to be as original as I possibly can when doing my projects.

What’s something you’ve made in the last two years that you’re proud of?

I am proud of my drawing of my grandparents. They asked me to draw them, and I said yes. I love my Nana and Papa so much, and I would do anything in the world for them. After I drew their portrait, a smile immedialty flooded my face. Everytime I look at the potrait, I always think how crazy it is that I was able to create such a masterpiece. Even though it took a lot of time and effort, the end result was amazing.

This book was made as part of Introduction to Design at St. Norbert College in the spring of 2023. The fonts used include Rockwell and Lucida Grande. It was digitally printed and saddle stapled at the college’s print center.