Process Book - ITZEL CC

Introduction to Design taught me a lot of valuable skills that I will continue using throughout my journey as an artist. A particular challenge that ended in a triumph would probably be learning how to use some InDesign and Photoshop. At first, I was extremely frustrated with it because I could not seem to get the hang of where certain features were in the app. I felt like giving up on it so many times but I kept going and now at the end of the semester I can say that I got the hang of how to use the features that we learned in class. It comes so much easier to me because I practiced for half the semester on how to appropriately use InDesign and Photoshop. Where I think my design will go next is by incorporating more digital art into my art. Before this class, I did not draw or use any kind of digital art but now that I learned what it can do, I am eager to explore more.

D-school crash course

The purpose of this project was to get our minds going on the idea of designing something from scratch. It helped me by first getting to know Lexi, because from there I was going to sketch down my ideas of an object that I could create to help her get prepared to student teach next year. That went pretty well since I got down five ideas that I would show her so she could give me her feedback. Her feedback helped me decide on an idea which ended up being the robot. This robot would tell Lexi if she did a good job while she practiced to student teach.

Showing unfinished work to another person made me a bit nervous because it made me feel like they were going to judge my ideas when I had not done my best just yet. I might have trusted the process of where all this was going but the other person might have trouble understanding the process.

The pace in which the prototype had to be done made me feel rushed and pressured to do good in a certain amount of time. I like to take my time especially when it comes to art and handson projects. I did not really like the iterative cycles because I had to think of every single detail that needed to be considered when making the prototype. Instead of doing that, what I prefer to do is to start thinking and let my thoughts flow, (not in a specific order) to get to the end result that I am looking for. So what we did in class was opposite of what I usually tend to do.

Engaging with a real person changed the direction of my prototype by being able to get feedback in that exact moment so I could adjust it on the spot. Adjusting it on the spot helped me so I could proceed to get more feedback and make my prototype better. Having a conversation while trying to plan out my prototype helped me better design it because I learned what Lexi liked.

I would go back and try to fix the physical structure of my prototype and some other areas that also needed more work. What I would do over again is think about the prototype deeper, for example imagining it in my head and think of a better way to build it. Maybe even find different elements that could bring more meaning to the piece.

Dot-line Project

This project consisted of using circles and lines to interpret different words in our own way. We had to deeply think of how to show the word without including any kind of text. It was pretty nerve racking because I could arrange the dots and lines in a certain way that would make sense to me but another person could easily not understand what word was being shown. In general, this project helped me to improve my abstract compositions since that is not one of my strong suits.

Gestalt is the main figures, colors and other elements that we first see when we look at a glimpse of a picture. When we look quickly at a picture, we tend to see figures and ground. We have to notice how they relate to one another, it also includes similarity and anomaly, continuation, closure and proximity. All these elements are different ways in which we can describe our pieces of artwork. Gestalt relates to this project by having to use only a certain number of figures in our pictures. For example, we needed to pay attention to how to arrange our figures since we could not have lines that would overlap each other. We needed to be able to make patterns which would make the viewer interpret the word correctly. For the word “rejection”, the majority of people were using proximity with the majority of the figures to show how one figure was being rejected.

Personally at home, it is not that difficult to do well crafted work because I feel comfortable at my desk in my room. But at school it is a bit harder for me since I have to use new tools and get used to having people around me when I work instead of being alone. It is difficult in general, I have to be more careful since the glue gets everywhere and anything that I do wrong gets a stain on the paper. When I start projects, I want to finish them quickly because I want to see the end product already. At times I also like to take my time to have a peaceful process.

It was somewhat difficult to represent ideas without illustrating them because I had to think of ways to express what I wanted to say without actually saying the word. It was sort of like learning a new language because I had to make my own expressions to communicate the word in English in a different way.

Rejection Terror

I have never liked abstract art. I just think it looks weird and does not have any kind of shape. But after doing this project I realized that abstract art can be as simple as some lines and dots together. Our pieces of artwork looked simple and I liked them which made me change my idea of abstraction.

I might use this exercise to do new artwork at home because I have learned a new way to express myself and be able to also interpret different forms of abstract art. Now looking back at my notes I can also use the 5 different Gestalt theories to be able to describe artwork in a different way in the future.

Comfort

To figure out how I should place my shapes on the paper, I sat down and played around with cut-out circles of different sizes and lines of different widths. I would move them around and decide if it was a good representation of the word. For “terror” I felt that the big circles would be a great choice because it is scaring off the small line on the bottom right corner. For “comfort” I decided to use two circles and two lines. Each line guards their circle because they are the same color making the circle comfortable with its own kind. For “rejection” the group of black circles is chatting because they are friends since they are all the same color but would reject the tiny gray circle just because it was different.

letterform Project

The purpose of this project was to learn about the different types of text, their different characteristics, and their anatomy. There are different fonts and within those fonts, there are even more variations of the same font. The basic letter anatomy is the baseline, x-height, cap height, and descender. The baseline is where the majority of the letters rest. But there are some exceptions to some letters, for example, the letter “y” because the tail of the letter goes below the baseline making the tail a descender. The x-height is halfway between the cap height and the baseline (sometimes it can be about 1/3 from the cap height). At last, the cap height is opposite from the baseline. The cap height is the line that tells the letters how tall they can be. Obviously depending on the font, there is more specific anatomy regarding those fonts.

First I started drawing words in different fonts so I could get a sense of the different texts that could be made. My name I just made out of imagination. I really liked how the letter “z” is smaller than the rest of the letters. For the word “block” I wanted the letters to have sharp corners so they would connect with the meaning of the word. I am a huge Star Wars fan, so I decided to draw out the word “dark” but decrease the darkness as it went to the right because the light of the lightsaber would illuminate the letters that are closer to it.

What I would do next if I were to continue working with these letters is play around with them until I create a logo. I feel that if I printed a word I would include pictures and try different fonts out to achieve creating something interesting. I would also like to print using different ink colors, not just black. Maybe even trying to make one bright color foreshadow the black word or vice versa. These three drawings helped me practice my letter shapes

What I learned about working with letter forms is that they are hard to work with. To be able to manually print them in the same baseline and to remove most of the “shatter” outside the letters was a lot of work. I had to sit down to relax for a second and think of a good idea of how to make the word look better. I usually like to just dive in and figure out as I go but if I didn’t sit down and think for this project, the word would come out without a proper shape that would look horrible. I also learned that hand printing is really messy which makes the ink go everywhere if you are not careful.

Hand Printed

At the final critique for this project, my classmates brought to my attention that including the hands and the flame with the word “burn” was not that good of an idea because it was more attention grabbing than the actual word itself which was not the goal. I decided for the process book to play around with the word flame and delete the hands. The letters are still made out of a fire picture and I placed the letters in an upside down “v” shape because that is the shape of a fire flame.

Image that I decided to change

iterative illustrations Project

The purpose of this project was to create different images by looking at an object or animal. It was up to us to choose what we wanted to play around with. I choose a Bengal Cat because I found interesting the stripe patterns that they have in their fur. The different ways in which I had to make a Bengal cat were continuous line, collage, typographic collage, geometric, and two master artists. What I mean by “master artist” is choosing an artist and using their style of art to make the Bengal cat. Roy Lichtenstein and R. Crumb were the artists that I ended up doing some research about because their art style is amazing. With this project, we were able to experiment with a variety of media and different ways to make the same object/animal. There are different ways in which an animal can be shown to the world and this project encouraged us to go beyond our comfort zone.

In process collage cat

Practicing continuous line with classmates

Practicing continuous line with classmates

What I learned about the Bengal cat through this process is that they like to really be curious and make themselves comfortable whenever they can. For example, the pictures I was using as a reference showed the Bengal cats in different positions that at times, made it difficult to get the proportions right when cutting the paper. I also know that this type of cat is a breed created from the Asian Leopard cat which would explain their interesting spots (according to ASPCA Pet Health Insurance).

The most challenging medium for me was Photoshop. I have never really learned how to use Photoshop because there are so many different buttons that confuse me. I know that with Photoshop, amazing masterpieces can be done but I just would have to learn what all the buttons do. Regarding hands-on media, I would say my hardest one was the collage. It was difficult for me to come up with something that would look good.

What I learned from Photoshop that I will use moving forward would be playing with the contrast curve. I was surprised by how easy it was to “erase” the paper outline and at the same time make the object darker. I really enjoyed playing with that curve. I like to also play around with the contrast option on my phone but once I was taught the contrast curve in Photoshop it was so much better.

To the right is the in process Bengal cat poster. I did not really like how the set up was looking so I played around with the pictures some more for the final poster.

Roy Lichtenstein artwork I used as reference

R. Crumb artwork I used as reference

If I were to continue working with this object for a year, I would represent it by making the object out of 3D objects and taking a picture so I could edit it on Photoshop. For example, using water bottles for the cats legs and a milk gallon for the cat’s body, and for the head I could use an orange. For the whiskers I could use straws as for the tail a piece of lettuce would work. I just think it would look both funny and interesting.

To the right, is my final Bengal cat poster. Compared to the in process one, I like the set up of this one much better. I included some light lines around some of my drawings where I thought would look good. I added a cartoonist background to the cat that is sitting in the right. I thought it was a great addition to it.

Who Designs Project

The purpose of this project was to learn about different designers and the different art styles that they work with. We each had to research a designer and learn what they currently do and how they got there. I had the chance to learn about other designers through Slack from my classmates’ research. In Slack, pictures were also included of the designer’s work so the class could better understand the different mediums. Through this project, I learned what qualifies as design and was able to critically think about why the designer might have chosen to explore the medium that they did.

I chose to research Jessica Walsh. Jessica Walsh is an American graphic designer that has a creative agency in New York that specializes in branding and advertising. The picture to the right shows Jessica Walsh and just a taste of some of the art that she works with. Her agency is called &Walsh and on their website it shows the different services that they offer as well as some work that they have done. The images that will be shown in the section of this project, are all works from Jessica Walsh’s agency website.

What drew me to my designer was the brilliant colors and exotic shapes that Jessica Walsh’s agency uses in its ads. They work with really famous celebrities and add fun music as an attention grabber. Her pictures are amazing because they are incredibly bright and it just looks so pretty.

Sharing the information that I found out about my designer was easy because I am genuinely interested in her work making it easier to be able to talk about her and what she does.

A designer that I might research further would probably be Massimo Vignelli because I found it interesting that he designs subway maps. Not in a million years I would’ve thought that subway maps were considered designing. I never really put much thought into how subway maps are made and the fact that they are considered art is just mind-blowing to me.

https://andwalsh.com/ https://andwalsh.com/

Psa Project

The purpose of this project was to learn how to successfully distribute an important message through a Public Service Announcement (PSA). Through the announcement, we inform people of an important issue that is going on. Its purpose is to make the public realize that they have to take action regarding the issue before it becomes a bigger problem. Through this project, we learned how to display visual hierarchy appropriately and were limited to only two different kinds of fonts. These posters have different reasons to be hung up, they can educate, warn, encourage, etc of different issues around your community or the world.

It was challenging to only be limited to text only. I was eager to add color and some pictures that would emphasize the meaning of my announcement. I added some lines to my PSA poster and at one point I felt like it would not look good because I had the mindset that it was supposed to be text only. It was challenging not to add some little images that would make the poster more cheerful and happy.

I first started to sketch out mini PSA posters just to get an idea of where I wanted which information to see if it would look good. Then I decided to make a bigger version of the ones with the pink “x” at the bottom.

The three rightmost pictures show my sketches from the text that my client provided me with. I was playing around on a bigger scale to see which one would look more appealing. The first picture shows a class practice PSA poster. I noticed that as I practiced and doodled more, my posters were starting to look more appealing.

Some skills that I learned through this project that I could take forward to other work is the ability to not add illustrations to text. I am able now to create a poster that is pure text that would be attention-grabbing without the help of pictures. Some ideas that I got from this project is to add speech bubbles/lines to some of the text to make it more appealing compared to the other text.

I used scale in my poster by using hierarchy with the phrase “I love you” because that was what I wanted the audience to pay attention to first. It also was the most important part of the PSA poster since the rest of the poster would be based on that phrase. I used opacity by making the line behind the dots lighter than the rest of the text. I felt like it gave some sort of variation to the dark text around it. I used rhythm in my poster by aligning the text on the left side of the poster with the text on the right side of the poster. That way the eyes could flow through the PSA. The text was the same size showing hierarchy to the I love you phrase at the top. Orientation was shown by placing bigger letters at the top so people would look there first and then keep reading down on the vertical paper. Negative space was used in between the text phrases to show what was more important compared to everything else.

I Love You

Delivered

The image to the left is my final PSA poster without a colored background. My client wanted the message not to be cliche, so she wanted a light delicate color to only make it appealing.

I took some pictures of my PSA poster next to other announcements here at St. Norbert College.

about me

Something that I’ve made in the last two years that I am proud of is my Amigurumi projects, a graphite drawing, a pastel drawing, and a clay mask. Amigurumi is a type of crocheting where you make 3D objects. Lately, I have purchased so many patterns from Melisa Valdes who has a small online business called Que Se Teje. I am proud of the Amigurumi projects that I have crocheted following Melisa’s patterns. I am also proud of a piece that ended up in the Museum of Green Bay for a period of time. I drew a drawing for the cover of the programs for my graduation. It was amazing seeing how my drawing was all over the stadium. At last, I had the opportunity to make a clay mask of some kind that would be hung on the wall. I love Star Wars, especially Anakin Skywalker so I decided to make half the mask as Anakin Skywalker and the other half as Darth Vader.

All the crochet dolls being shown are patterns by Melisa Valdes, by following her patterns I made these dolls.

Anakin Skywalker from Star Wars

I am called to do creative work every day. I recognize the calling by the urge I get to sit down and crochet or draw every day. If I do not have time that day to do any kind of art, I feel empty and sad. I just find so much joy in doing hands-on things every day. Art has been a really big part of my life since I can remember The earliest memory I have of art is coloring books. I would color them the best I could and even draw some separate figures on the sides. As a started to grow up my art skills became more strong and I learned a lot through art classes in school.

Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice: A novel by Jane Austen

Vincent Van Gogh

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