A Sprinkle of Design Maddie Mackay
This book is dedicated to my favorite artist and Grandma, Sharon Bigane, who always taught us to be creative and use art to express ourselves. I love you!
D - School
This was our first project of the semester. We were given this project to not only get to know other people in our class but to also get our creative ideas flowing. For this project, we had to pick a partner and create something that would benefit them. It was a fast paced project, unlike the rest of them and showed us what it would be like to show our unfinished work to someone and get their feedback on how to make it better. This is important as in this field of work we take ideas from a customer and give them our spin on it and then they tell us if they like it or how to improve it so, this project was important in learning that for the real world.
I created a phone holder for Kyra as she explained to me that she has trouble putting her phone down to go to sleep so I made her phone a “bed” so that she won’t be distracted and can get more hours of sleep. I learned that engaging with a real person changed the direction of my prototype because we got to discuss their interests and how they would potentially use the prototype I created in their everyday life. A small example of this would be I knew my partner liked the color purple so I used purple tape when creating my prototype. I also created it to be small enough to fit on her bed side table when she is using it. Halfway through I showed my partner the unfinished project and we discussed how the product would be used in her everyday life and how to critique it.
This project was our shortest one, as if I had more time I would have used higher quality materials as the tape did not hold the piece together but if I was given the same materials. I would try and come up with a better alternative given those materials to keep it together so my partner could actually use it. I would create the same prototype because I thought my idea was smart and creative but again, use better, more durable supplies to create it.
Kyra holding her brand new “phone jail” to improve her sleep schedule!
“Phone Jail” with the phone perfecrly fitting inside.
“Phone Jail” closed as this is it’s purpose to not be tempted by the phone when trying to go to bed.
Dot Line
This project was taking dots and lines to create “compelling compositions” with different size dots and lines. This is also when we started to learn about “visual hierarchy” which is taking elements in this case we used paper circles (dots) and cut out straight lines of paper (lines) and arranged them to go with a word.
In this unit we learned about “Gestalt” which is how someone critiques or views a piece of art in their own eyes. This was important for this project because with all of the different combinations of dots and lines everything was up to interpretation.
For me, it was not difficult to make a well crafted project but it did make me think and critique every little thing about it. Towards the end if it is not looking how I want it to it will often frustrate me and I will speed up the process. So in the future, I will go slow the entire time and get every detail perfect before I move onto the next step so I am not rushed at the end. I’m glad I learned this early on, that I truly cannot rush the process of my projects or else I will not be happy with the outcome. This project also affected my idea of abstract because there were so many different ideas on the board that ‘abstract’ to me is now just a unique idea that no one else has thought of.
With this project, it was difficult for me to represent ideas without abstracting them because when using a word for example “exhaustion” I thought about sleeping so I used dots and lines to represent a head resting on a pillow but to explain that without using those words and just describing a “gray line with a large black dot” was harder for me to get my point across. This project also opened my eyes to “critique” and how my classmates view my work especially, if I don’t love it and then they end up loving it then that makes me feel better, creatively. I found that every time I was doubting a piece of my work or I didn’t think it looked like the word I was trying to portray, it always ended up being the one my classmates loved the most.
Exhaustion
Chaotic
Longing
Letterforms
This project was all about lettering. We chose a word and by hand, cut those letters out and arranged them in a way to tell a “story.” This also got us working with “negative space” which is blank space in the piece. I learned during this that negative space can be good and even add more to the project in terms of simplicity and getting a simple point across. It was also interesting to see how one word that has “one meaning” can have multiple meanings based on how it is displayed. It also taught me the different ways you could make letters/words look unique.
To get our ideas flowing we made “mind maps” with our word in the middle and other ideas to support it. This was by far my favorite project of the semester because I used the word “city” as I’m from Chicago and I was able to bring a piece of home into my artwork and design it in a way that people from Chicago wouldn’t have thought of. For example, I spaced out the CI and the TY to show the divide or “turmoil” between the cities in Chicago.
I was surprised with how much I enjoyed this project as there were so many different words and ways that people designed them. Especially when we did the critique, there were so many different ways people portrayed my word that I hadn’t even thought of. This project is the one that made me really LOVE critique and hearing other people’s ideas as they inspired mine to be better.
If I was continuing to work with the word “city” I would make the letters in my map different. For example, I could’ve made the I in “city” black and white to represent the “Chicago White Sox”. There were so many other ideas I had that I liked that maybe I’ll do something like this in my free time.
Modificatiion
Typographic
Typographic
Who Designs
The designer I chose was Gail Anderson who is a part of the 3.5% of African American graphic designers in The United States.
What drew me into her artwork was specific her lettering in her art pieces and how she used different types of hand lettering in her art pieces specifically, how she makes the words look unique and different while still legble.
In her art pieces, specifically in her blog she is very passionate about women in design and how women’s input is important in the art world, graphic design world, ect. In 2002 Anderson began to create artwork for broadway plays that were seen on subway stations and billboards as advertising for these plays. Anderson is very passionate about color in her artwork as she says in New York where she is based, it was rare for artwork in the City to have color in it which is something she wanted to change which in turn, made her stand out as an artist. She also believes designers are “hoarders” and should collect everything. That could be newspapers, books, taking pictures of your travels, ect. Years later she began to design book covers, playbills, posters and was more focused on the advertising side of graphic design.
For me, this was important to note as this is what I want to do as my job after college and I could take serious notes on how unique designs are important and valued in the advertising world.
Subway Poster
New York Times Cover Page
Book Cover
Collected Bottle Caps
Iterative Illustrations
This was our longest project of the semester. We had to pick an animal or an object (the object had to have a function such as scissors that open and close and cut paper) using different illustration styles.
I got to experiment with a variety of materials such as magazine pages, black and white paper and even using my own personal photos to make a collage.
Throughout the process of making iterative illustrations, I learned that an umbrella has a lot of different ways it can move (upside down, inside out, etc.) and trying to capture all those angles in a drawing was challenging, not impossible but challenging and required more thought than I had anticipated.
Out of all the different illustrations, the most challenging was my typographic collage because I had to redo it a couple times because I didn’t like how the words lined up or the shape of the umbrella but eventually I liked my final draft. The most enjoyable media for me was my continuous line because once I got the hang of it I became obsessed with trying to get it to look right, which was enjoyable for me once I got my final product.
With this project, I learned a lot about editing tools that I didn’t know before like quick mask, which was super helpful for me or learning command E or command B as shortcuts to get the tools I needed. Although I wouldn’t redo this project, If I had to, I would figure out how to lay out the pieces of the umbrella to make it look more realistic. I think I did a pretty good job the way I did it but maybe adding more detail.
Overall, I think my performance on this project was my best performance and I enjoyed being creative and learning how to use photoshop.
PSA Posters
For this project we had to come up with an issue that we wanted more people to be aware of. I chose to talk about drunk driving. We made a project brief, talking about what I want my poster to look like, the information I want provided in my poster and the messege I want my poster to percieve. We then were given a partner and we had to switch and make their idea into a poster using only words, no images. My partner’s idea was to make a poster on the importance on sharing one’s creativity and where to do so. I had a title, information about the poster and then a link where peple can upload their artwork for others to see. This project in my opinion, was challenging to do type only. I had a hard time with the poster as I know it would’ve looked better with an illustration like adding a paint brush or something would’ve made it pop. It was also hard for me to pick a font that matched the theme of the poster but overall I’m glad I went with yellow paper and kept it very simple. We also learned more about negative space when creating this poster and how in some instances negative space is needed and can add to the poster. I didn’t have a lot of negative space in my poster because there was so much information, but the way I had the title, the information and then added a link for a website I thought looked very good. I had originally had the important information laid out in different circles, but overall, I felt that didn’t add much to the poster, so I removed those and kept it very simple. I liked the font of the title, I thought it was eye-catching, and the big font made me want to read the poster, as there wasn’t too much to read and I got the message of the poster quickly. Overall, I learned that is possible to make an interesting poster using boxes, colors, and different fonts without adding images. Moving forward, I learned that different fonts make a difference and can even go along with a theme that is being portrayed. I also learned that less is more, I don’t need different shapes or tons of words to create a good poster. when needed, simple is better.
Let Your Imagination
Run Wild
Enjoy Creating! Share Your Creations!
Don’t let people talk you down, there is always going to be someone who will enjoy your work
It feels good creating and showing off your creations to others
Start your career in the creative field
Upload your artwork here for feedback from other arists!
Enjoy Creating &Share Your Creations!
Don’t let people talk you down, there is aways going to be someone who will enjoy your work
Upload your artwork here for feedback from other arists!
It feels good creating and showing off your creations with others
Start your career in the creative field and inspire others to create work themselves
https://www.artplacer.com
The poster on the left side shows a rough draft of my project at a vertical angle. My client essetnialy went with the horizontal version of the poster. I kept the poster very simple, getting to the point and even added a link for other artist’s to upload their own work. I am happy with how my poster turned out and what I learned about fonts through this project.
Vocational Questions
If you were guaranteed it would support you financially, What would you want to design or make for a living?
If I was guaranteed financial support I would design comforters and bed spreads. I am fascinated by the designs and playing with the thickness of a comforter or specifically making a comforter for people they can use all year round that is comfortable when it is cold and in the summer for when it is hot outside. Making different designs, patterns, choosing what colors go together. For example, I love the colors sage green and brown, they go together nicely and would make a gorgeous bedspread. I would want people to know my product for the unique designs but also the quality of the product and how it can be used all times of the year.
What is the difference between a good life and a significant life?
I think the difference between a good life and a significant life is a “good life” is measured by personal experiences like getting married and raising a family of your own. Having hobbies outside of the workplace and a job that they enjoy or one that they tolerate as long as everything else is good. A “significant life’ is one that involves making a difference like dedicating oneself to medicine and finding cures to illnesses or becoming an involved in projects you believe in like campaigning for gay rights. Anything that involves inspiring others, You have lived a significant life.
My Own Projects
Diamond Paintings
