Just Doing My Best A collection of work from Art 130, Introduction to Design, Fall 2021.
Emma Fry
List of Projects Crash Course Dot Line Typography Variations Object Iterations Public Service Announcement 20x20 Talks Vocation
Crash Course For our introduction to Introduction to Design, my classmates and I took part in a design school crash course, during which we were paired with one another and tasked with solving a problem for our partner. My partner wanted to be able to utilize the fitness center. She said as a commuter it was difficult to find parking for the fitness center and to find time to work out during its open hours. The solution I came up with was having my partner bring a little gym bag with her to school that she can keep in her car. This way there would be easy access for her to drop off her school bag and switch it for her gym bag after her classes were done. During this time we did quick iterative cycles, using quick sketches to get our ideas across to one another. This work pace is similar to how I work when I do thumbnail sketches for bigger pieces. I like to get the idea of what I have in my head on paper, so that way I don’t forget what I’m imagining. However, I, admittedly, do not usually spend a lot of time ideating. Instead, I usually go with my first idea and jump right into a piece. A lot of my experience as a digital artist and as an artist with a following is feeling like I need to constantly be churning out content for people. Taking a step back, and being forced to think about multiple
solutions was really helpful, and something I need to do more of. Showing these quick iterations to my partner was fun! I have been in art classes since high school, so I’m fairly used to showing people my unfinished and unpolished work. Both I, and my partner, had an understanding that these quick iterations would be rough, and that helped make the process less awkward. Engaging with my partner as a client was also a really great experience. It made me consider that my job as a designer is to make the client happy, and so I had to rely on my partner’s feedback to make the best product for her, not for me. If I could go back and change something, I would definitely make my prototype “Chris” out of a material other than tape. It surprisingly didn’t want to stick to itself and hold its shape. My next step to address the issue of the fitness center being less accessible to commuters would be to expand the parking lot or have better signage for parking at the fitness center.
This is a prototype of Chris, gym bag in hand, going to the pool for a swim. This is made of construction paper, purple painters tape, and blue painters tape.
This is the same prototype at a different angle, showing off SNC’s beautiful Mulva Family Pool.
Dot Line
First round of iterations. Row one is terror, row two is exhaustion, and row three is scarcity.
Second Round of iterations. Row one is exhaustion, row two is scarcity, row three is terror.
The dot line project tasked us with creating abstract pieces based on a word from a list of our choosing. We had to create three pieces in total. The words I chose were scarcity, terror, and exhaustion. Once again, a lot of emphasis was placed on the ideation process, and on utalizing the different Gestalt principles. Gestalt is a collection of vocabulary that people use to describe the formal structure of pieces. This was important to this project because it gives us a base level of vocabulary to articulate our work and the work of others, and to understand the design decisions we and our peers made.
I personally like making things quickly and a little less “perfect” because I, as a person, tend to bounce around from one project to the next. If I get too bogged down on the details of my piece I end up obsessing and will never feel completely satisfied with my final result. When I work quickly, I think I get a more organic and authentic piece, whereas if I spend extra time on the small details it tends to feel a little less me. This is why taking the ideas brought forth by the super quick thumbnails and tweaking them slightly while making the finished product allows me to make my most authentic pieces. It has that quick “inspired” feel, but it does not sacrifice quality.
These are the pieced I settled on, and I’m happy with how they turned out. I made multiple versions of the same design, so that way I could pick the one that turned out the best, and had the best craft to it. Admittedly, abstraction is not my thing. I’m primarily an illustrator, but this has made me feel more comfortable working with abstraction. It wasn’t necessarily difficult representing ideas without illustrating them because I have experience with abstraction from previous classes; however, this was sort of a more refined version of creating abstraction for me, controlled chaos if you will. I think I’d like to incorporate abstraction into the backgrounds of pieces, as background work is something I personally struggle with.
Exhaustion. For this piece I wanted to create a piece that was exhausting to make, and exhausting to look at.
Scarcity. For this piece I wanted to evoke the feeling of resources dwindling.
Terror. For this piece I wanted to evoke the feeling of claustophobia. I did so by using the black paper on the white paper to make the piece feel like it’s closing off.
Typography Variations For our letter forms project we had to use typography to convey a word of our choosing. I decided to do the word pause. I had a hard time deciding what to do because I personally didn’t want to do a straightforward word, but pick a more abstract word. I struggled a bit with this project. I had a difficult time doing a straight print of the word pause. This task took me at least twenty different tries until I finally got a print I was happy Hand Lettering Crimes, Posca Markers on sketchbook paper with, and then I tore it slightly. I almost cried. But I was able to match the edges together almost perfectly, and nobody noticed. I also was able to play with analogue ways of distorting the text. My favorite design was made using a copy machine (see second final print). I took one of the prints I made, and while the machine was copying, I swivvled my print around on the copier. I think this print feeds into the abstraction of the word An example of my struggle with creating a straight print. This gave me at pause, and is the least three gray hairs, I’m sure. strongest piece of the project.
The one piece I’d like to expand on is the TV static piece (Page 11, image 6). I think using the static has a lot of potential to be cool and interesting, and because of a time constraint, I wasn’t able to fully develop the idea. I’d also like to try to evoke the idea of a TV turning off. If I were to continue this project that’s the next direction I would go. I really liked this concept of using cut outs of the letters to mimic the linoleum tiles, however, it wasn’t reading as “pause.”
Overall, I learned that letter-forms have a certain uniqueness to them that other forms and figures do not. Because language is an ever-evolving entity, words can take on different meanings, and using those double meanings can add to compositions. I also considered how to use text to add life to compositions, and how it should be considered a part of the designing process, not an afterthought. I also really enjoyed the actual printing process, and I want to learn more about it. A lot of traditional Japanese art that influences my art style was done using woodblock printing, and other methods of printing, so I would love to experiment more with that medium.
One technique that was really fun to experiment with was using the photocopier to create a “wobbly” effect.
Here I expereimented with ghosting letters. This was done by charging the linoleum tiles with ink, and making the initial mark on the page. I then used the tile with the left over ink to create less opaque letters on the page. This was fun, but the technique didn’t read as “pause” to me, so I scrapped it.
This print is one of my final prints for this project. This ended up being my most successful straight print. I did press my pencil too hard into the paper when making the guide, so the impression of the lines are still visible. If I could go back and fix it I would, but I’m really happy with this print, because it was a struggle to get it just right.
My second final print. This was made using the photocopier to create a distortion of the print. This one was definitely a happy accident. As Bob Ross once said, “There are no mistakes, just happy accidents.” Although, I will admit, this sentimate was not as refreshing week two into the project.
My third final print. For this piece I wanted to experiment with TV static, and the connotation of pausing a video tape or TV show. I think the noise I chose was a bit too small, and it gets a little lost in the piece; especially with the chatter in the original print. This is the final print I am the least satisfied with, and would like to go back and tweak the most.
My fourth final print. This print I wanted to play with how people read the word. I deliberately put space on either said of the “u” to force the audience to extend the word in their mind. The unintended effect of this, however, was the blank areas appear like a pause sign. Once again, a happy accident.
Object Iterations
Sorry, Ted Kaczynski, whoever you are, your mailbox is forever immortalized as a capybara in this book.
An attempt at a geometric capybara. This was too organic for the assignment.
The object (or animal in this case) iterations project challenged us to illustrate the same object or animal in different art styles. This included doing contour line drawings, two master artist drawings, many collages (both traditional and text collages), and a geometric version of our subject. We also were taught how to scan traditional work to make it digitally available, and how to use photoshop and indesign.
If I were to continue with studying capybaras, I would love to watch videos of capybaras running and interacting and try to capture a sense of movement with them. I might even try to do a little animation of it walking. I’d also love to play with even more art styles, like doing an animal crossing or 8-bit capybara.
My animal of choice was a capybara. I learned that capybaras can be really expressive, even though they’re pretty lazy animals. I’ve really enjoyed playing with how humor can help give these animals a personality and create unique work.
I really struggled with the traditional collage pieces. I like to work fast, and having to sit down and page through magazines to find something that might work for my collage, and then cut it, and then paste it, was really tedious and frustrating for me.
I wanted to play with creating a capybara out of negative space in this collage.
One version of the continuous line drawing. This wasn’t the version I chose in the final, but I liked the compostition, and reused it in the text collage.
My favorite version, however, were the two master artist works. I love looking at work and stealing aspects of it to incorporate into my pieces. It was great practice for me, and it made me look more closely study the illustrations from Soviet Union propaganda, and the work of Katsushika Hokusai. Begrudgingly, I must admit, it is much easier to edit traditional work using photoshop than Procreate (my digital drawing app of choice). It’s also much easier to edit photos in photoshop when you know you will be using in InDesign because you can just refresh the link instead of having to re-airdrop work from an iPad and then messing with it in InDesign. I may strongly dislike using photoshop for painting and drawing, but it has its uses for design.
Another continuous line drawing. I think this one looked silly, so I included it here to make you all giggle. You’re welcome.
A scrapped text collage. This turned out cute, but I thought it looked too vague, and didn’t radiate that quintessential “capybara” energy.
This continuous line drawing was scrapped because it, strangely, ended up looking like a llama. I couldn’t tell you why.
A side view of a geometric capybara that also did not make the cut. I think the final geometric version I chose was just a stronger image. The final poster is the next page in the book. Fun fact: This is poster is now hanging up in my bathroom, per my roommate’s request.
Public Service Announcement
The sketching process. Many notes, and many thumbnails.
For the PSA project, we were paired with another classmate and asked to create engaging posters using only text. We had to make creative briefs for our partner, and then had to design a poster using our partner’s brief. My PSA was for “Meatless Mondays” a movement to help reduce waste from the environment. We once again ideated quite a bit, getting feedback from our client along the way. We ultimately made our finished posters in InDesign. Being limited to type was very challenging for me. I am someone who loves to illustrate, and not being able to do that was a challenge. I think it was a good exercise for me, as it made me think more about how text should be thought about as design, and not just the illustrative side of the field.
These are bigger thumbnails, to give additional details for my client.
Furthermore, I learned that text is a powerful element of design that I, personally, often forget about. I usually add text to my pieces as an afterthought, when it should be a part of the design process. I want to try and incorporate cool and unique typography into future projects, and make my use of text a bit less cliche. As I am drawn to more illustrative works, having the text be a part of the composition will help my work improve.
One thing I did to create a visual hierarchy within my PSA is use different scaling for the text. I wanted the viewer’s eye to get drawn to the middle of the poster so the eye would go to the information underneath the heading more naturally. I did this by making “save” slightly larger and bolder than the “Meatless Mondays.” I tried playing around with orientation in my design during the work in progress, and it wasn’t doing much so I scrapped having an unusual or different orientation. I also used opacity to make the headline and call to action feel “punchy.” I reversed out the text on black print to make it stand out from the paper.
A work in progress, that was lovingly ripped apart in critique, and ulitmately scrapped. This is the final “Meatless Mondays” PSA. I think this is definitely much stronger than my previous attempt. I think this is because I had awesome peers who did lovingly rip me apart during in process critique. One piece of advice I have is to always ask to be lovingly ripped apart in critique. It’s the fastest way to make note of what you need to practice more, and make exponential improvement.
20x20 Talks Our last assignment was to give a presentation on a prevalent designer. I chose to do mine on Jessica Walsh. I was drawn to Jessica Walsh’s work because of her use of bright colors. I absolutely love bright and obnoxious colors, and her designs rely on the boldness of colors in a really unique way. I also love supporting women in design, especially one that tries to bolster the voices of other women in the industry. On the day of the presentation, I had some technical difficulties, so I had to record my presentation via loom instead of presenting to the class. Jessica Walsh Sagmeister & Walsh 2018 for Bombay Sapphire
I was really excited to present to my classmates. I really love public speaking and talking about art I find cool and fascinating; so I was really bummed when I ran into technological issues on the presentation day. My classmates however, gave really great presentations about their designers! One of the designers I’d like to know more about is Ruth Ansel. I think her story is fascinating about how she was able to break through the gender barriers of every company she worked for with no formal design education. I think her story really resonates with me, as I am a woman pursuing a career in art. Ansel proves that if the work a designer does is good, it can, and should, be able to speak for itself.
Sagmeister & Walsh 2018 for Artz
This is my favorite piece of Walsh’s I think it shows her blend of corporate and surrealist styles to create engaging and fresh ad campaigns. Sagmeister & Walsh, 2017 for Aishti by the Sea
Vocation First foremost, I am an artist. I feel the drive to create in order to express myself. I show my love, admiration, pain, and most importantly, life through the pieces I make. There’s something inherently special about creating something only you can make, and I choose to honor that. I often daydream and think in images. Beautiful fully realized paintings that I, sometimes, have the skills to recreate. The ones that I can’t quite make yet drive me to improve, and become a better artist. It would be a disservice to myself, and those who enjoy my work, to ignore these images that bring me comfort.
The second reason this statement breaks my heart is that it discredits the work I’ve done to get to where I am now. That might be a bit selfish, like God Emma, take a This statement breaks my compliment; but, I have, heart a bit for two reasons. The first being, that it means once again, been drawing seriously for this person was once passionate about art, and, for ten years. Since I was 9 whatever reason, has lost that years old. passion. Art doesn’t have to I didn’t start off be perfection. Hell, if people being good at art, no could just draw perfectly I would not have spent the last one does. Claiming that artists are so “talented” ten years slowly getting discredits all of the hard better at drawing and work and practice, and spending about $50,000 a failed drawings, year to go to college for art. paintings, long nights in Art can just be fun. If the studio, tears shed someone feels drawn to over finals, hours upon create art, they should, and hours upon hours upon I want to help people refind HOURS of work put into that spark in their life. getting to where I am now. Art is a never-ending journey, and I want to educate people on that. I aspire to one day be an art educator. I want to be able to inspire people to love art as much as I do. People often tell me, “Wow you’re so talented, I wish I could draw like you!”
I am an artist,
and as such, I express myself by creating, and I feel a need to educate others on the beauty and power that lies in artistic expression.
This book was made as part of Introduction to Design at St. Norbert College in the fall of 2021. The fonts used include Neuzeit Grotesk Light and Interstate Regular. It was digitally printed and saddle stapled at the college’s print center