overview............
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crash course.... ... This was the first project we did to kick off the semester. It involved working with a partner and designing something quickly with limited materials. We had to trade off with our partner over short intervals, interviewing eachother then building eachother something we thought they needed to improve their life. I was partnered with Carsen and since I know her very well, I knew she needed a little squirrel. She had been interacting with the squirrels since the day we arrived on campus and I figured it would be a fun challenge to make her a squirrel from the odd materials we had. I ended up using a cork for the body, a piece of cardboard for the tail, pieces of bottlecap for the feet, and a sticker for the face.
squirrel front Engaging with another person impacted the direction I took when designing my prototype significantly because my design had to be detailed enough to be understandable by another person. When making prototypes or thumbnails for yourself it’s easy to create something a bit more incomplete because you understand your own thought process. Showing unfinished work to other people is very stressful for me because I am a perfectionist who gets very insecure about my art. I only like showing people the finished product when I’m completely satisfied, which is rare. The quick pace of our tasks was also stressful for me because I knew I wouldn’t be able to create anything impressive and I felt very rushed. The changes I would go back and make would include a design that allowed the squirrel to stand and a better method of adhering the parts. I would redo the face of the squirrel because it was just a sticker that I put on the cork because I was rushed for time and didn’t have a quick or easy way to create a head for the squirrel.
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dot / line............ This project was focused on using minimalistic approaches to larger concepts and feelings. Only dots and lines were permitted with only two color options: black and gray. We had a four by four white square to work in, so planning out the spacing before cutting out shapes was very important. We were also limited on the different combinations we could work with (all dots, all lines, two dots two lines, two dots one line, or one dot two lines) which increased the difficulty and frustration. In order to convey the word we were working with, we used the concepts of gestalt such as similarity, continuation, closure, proximity, figure/ground, and symmetry. To me, gestalt is using smaller pieces to create a larger meaning by using aspects such as parallelism, proximity, and more. By utilizing these principles, art can evoke certain emotions in the viewer due to unconscious mental evaluation. Differences in the way objects are arranged drastically impact the interpretation of the piece and each composition can potentially evoke different reactions from
thumnail sketches of various ideas
refined thumbnails, tweaking favorite designs
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“energetic” final
different people. It was a little difficult to create a “well-crafted object” because I was so worried about messing up in the final stages and having to start over after spending so much time attempting perfection. This project affected my perception of abstraction because I’ve never attempted abstract art before so I never understood it. After this project, I can now appreciate an artist’s attempt at evoking emotion without spelling it out perfectly on the page. I found it difficult to represent ideas without illustrating them because I’m not used to that art
“longing” final
style. I gravitate towards a more literal expression of ideas and emotions so figuring out how to convey a mood through limited materials was a challenge. I might also use the ideas of gestalt and abstraction for future projects to enhance the piece. Even when using literal art instead of abstract, the abstract properties and gestalt concepts can apply and create more significance in the piece.
......................... “chaotic” final
letterforms...... ...
practice with different types of hand lettering
This project explored the nuances of type, particularly how different arrangements of letters completely change how a word is read. We began by hand lettering different words, experimenting with how words are interpreted depending on how they’re written. We then carved letters out of linolium and proceeded to use ink to print out our words. We then had to print three additional iterations, each time changing a different aspect of the lettering to create a new feel to the word. I learned several things about letterforms while working with printmaking such as the impact tiny variances has on the appearance of the word and how differing leading or the baseline drastically changes the overall vibe of the word. If I were to continue working with these letters I would try experimenting with the copier, seeing what I could alter by manipulating the paper.
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straight print final
smeared final
offset final
double printed final
object iterations. This project was a deep dive into one specific object or animal. I chose a hedgehog because I think hedgehogs are cute and underrepresented. The essence of this project was to use different types of art - collage, geometric, single line, and imitation - to explore every aspect of our object. Through this process, I learned about the general behavior of hedgehogs and their habits. Hedgehogs are nocturnal, which contributed to darker backgrounds in several of my iterations, and they are very shy animals, which is why some of my hedgehogs are curled up. The media that was the most challenging for me was the collage aspect because I found it difficult to find pages that I felt were usable or interesting. The most enjoyable media was my two master artists I did one with acrylic paint and one with Sharpie and I enjoyed making both of them. I liked the master artist iterations so much because their structure was a lot more free to my interpretation and less cut and dry. In Photoshop, I learned more about different layer modes and how they affected the look of the image. I’m sure I’ll utilize their design capabilities in the future. If I had to continue with this object for a year, I would represent it through different mediums such as printmaking, realistic painting, and maybe sculpture.
first draft wip
final draft
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V SA
E
O
CEANS O R U
Reduce Your Plastic Consumption
Every minute, one garbage truck
of plastic is dumped into our oceans
Every day, about 8 million pieces of
plastic pollution find their way into our oceans
The average U.S. citizen consumes 167 plastic water bottles each year - but recycles only 25% of them
first draft wip
psa poster.......... I didn’t find it very difficult to create a type-only poster because sometimes adding illustrations or images can be difficult when the subject isn’t based around a specific image. I made my title and subtitle larger to put them at the top of my visual hierarchy, I increased the darkness of the boxes as I went down to keep the eye movin gdown and to set apart what I thought was the most hard-hitting statistic, and I used negative space to keep the composition from being too dark and crowded which allowed the information to stand out more. During this project, I learned the importance of visual hierarchy which can be translated into every composition for both organizational and clarification purposes. I also learned how to manipulate text to create a visually interesting piece without the use of images or illustrations which can be carried over to future posters and designs.
......................... original non-specific thumbnails
vvvvsdvvvvvv
final psa poster
refined thumbnails
E S AV
O
U
E A C N O S R
Reduce Your Plastic Consumption
Every minute, one garbage truck
of plastic is dumped into our oceans
Every day, about 8 million pieces of
plastic pollution find their way into our oceans
The average U.S. citizen consumes 167 plastic water bottles each year - but recycles only 25% of them
designer talks.....
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