THE RISING STAR
C R A S H
Engaging with a real perosn made my idea more clear. I was able to get a better understanding than being online. My partner was fun and really easy to talk to, which made this process easier for me to show my rushed design. Being able to explain my design to her made it easier for the both of us.
My prototype didn’t prove that this was me as an artist and showed what I could do. While I was working on it, I looked around and noticed how my classmates were feeling, it made me feel a lot better knowing that we were all in the same position.
Showing my unfinished, rushed work was stressful, scary, and I felt embarrassed. I am very hard on myself so I wasn’t proud of my work or myself. But, as I looked around, I saw that my classmates were having the same feelings.
I was not a huge fan of how impulisve i had to be with this project. I like to brainstorm, come up with a design in my head, put my idea on paper, and think it all though before I do anything. Based on what I learned, I would go back and not be so stressed. I was trying to get my design to be “picture perfect”. I would do my whole idea over, do something a little bit easier, and not overthink it so it would be easier to describe and show what it is.
C O U R S E
D O T
This project is designed to get you working abundantly and iteratively with both words and images. It may feel hurried and that’s ok. The faster pace is to encourage you to work looser and freer with an initial emphasis on quantity over quality. As with every project in this class, you can always go back and refine your work. For now, jump in and make things.
L I N E
I think gestalt theory is is about the perspective and the organization/sum of the piece. It relates to this project because we need to make our projects easy to understand to the eye without having to explain.
It was not too hard but for me I would like to have more time so I could get my perspective across for everyone so they understand. I am not best friends with glue so I wish I could have more time just so I didn’t loose my patience. I think my pieces were “well-crafted” but if I was more patient and more time I feel like I could have a way better turn out.
I would rather spend extra time to get all the small details right because I am a perfectionist.
It affected me because my version of abstraction is different than my classmates. It was difficult for me to get my idea through my ideas onto my paper for my peers to see it through their eyes.
I liked not illustrating them because it was anonymous to everyone. That way you could hear what people were thinking and seeing when they saw in your piece.
In the future I will be thinking of gestalt theory more now that I know what it is and how to use it in my art. Abstraction I will just have to combine what I see and what others see when I talk and hear ideas from them.
L E T T E R
A big part of graphic design is handling text. How letters look (their form) can impact how we recieve their meaning (their content). In this short project, we’ll carve and print letter by hand to get a better understanding of how things like negative space (specifically kerning and leading) impact how a word is interpreted.
R F O R M S
E
What I learned about letterforms was that there were so many different ways to show your ideas/your thoughts. You can be creative with letterforms or you can be minimal. I loved learning about other descriptive words and learning how to use them. I didn’t even realize that there were so many different letterforms in magazines, newspapers, ads, etc. I will be looking for that now when I see them.
I would find more was to show my creative sides and different ways I could describe my words/letters. I would take my time and really focus on getting my idea across. Since it was only my second time working with letterforms, I feel more prepared for the future when working with letterforms.
I T E R A T I V E I
The assignment will require a longer engagment with your subject matter as we work to distill, translate, and transform the essence of the selected object with a variety of illustration styles. You’ll be working to communicate clearly while presenting your object uniquely and beautifully. This is an opportunity to explore laterally to go broad before going deep in your thinking. This assignment is designed to get your working iteratively, to help you experiment with a variety of media, and to ensure that you’re entertaining possibilities as you strive to communicate the essence of your object or animal.
I L L U S T R A T I O N
From start to end I was learning more about my animal. My first master artist was Susan Kare and her work was very “boxy”. She would use graph like paper to make her illustrations. When I was researching more about my animal, I was able to find different ways to break down and figure out how I could make this animal work through my master artists. It was a challenge but I loved taking that challenge and making it my own.
The most challenging media for me was the geometric shape iteration. It was hard for me to cut out shapes and put them together to create my animal. At first I did not succeed, but I kept trying over and over again until I finally got it. I wasn’t too happy with the end product but at least you got the idea of what I was trying to interpret. The most enjoyable one was the master artists. I loved trying to interpret their art but also making it look like mine. It was an amazing experience for me and I loved every second of it.
I will be using it when I take pictures on my camera to edit pictures, change the curves, remove unwanted items, and adding more items wanted. I can see myself using this in the future. If I were to continue with my animal, I think I would try to put in different elements or different environments. I would also like to try different mediums, research more about my animal, and try different master artists.
P S A
Public Service Announcements (PSAs) are messages distributed, for free, through commercial media to inform the public about a variety of issues, often related to health and safety. They usually come from governments. They can warn, educate, encourage, cajole, or chastise, but their purpose is to move people to a change in action. For our assignment, you will choose an issue of importance to you, research it, draft the text for the poster, and create a creative brief outlining your ideas about the poster. You will give your brief to a fellow design student to execute and serve as their art director and sounding board for the piece.
P O S T E R
STOP THE WAIT BEFORE ITS TOO LATE
OVER 41,000 SPECIES ARE IN
DANGER OF EXTICTION
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s Red List displays every threatened species of plant, fungus, and animal and their level of endangerment. The IUCN Red List is created by a collection of organizations, researchers, and scientists from around the world and is used to adjust environmental policies, conduct conservation research, and serves as a source for accurate information regarding the world’s biodiversity. The mission of the Red List is to call more attention to the variety of species being threatened and hopefully change their futures for the better. This cannot be achieved without your help and support to keep the list updated.
41% of Amphibians
38% of Sharks and Rays 33% of Reef Building Corals 27% of Mammals
13% of Birds Are on the IUCN Red List
For more information and ways to get involved, visit the IUCN Website: https://www.iucnredlist.org/
THE WAIT BEFORE IT’S S T O P L A T E
TOO
Over 41,000 Species are in Danger of Extinction 41% of Amphibians 38% of Sharks and Rays 33% of Reef Building Corals 27% of Mammals 13% of Birds Are on the IUCN Red List
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s Red List displays every threatened species of plant, fungus, and animal and their level of endangerment. The IUCN Red List is created by a collection of organizations, researchers, and scientists from around the world and is used to adjust environmental policies, conduct conservation research, and serves as a source for accurate information regarding the world’s biodiversity.
The mission of the Red List is to call more attention to the variety of species being threatened and hopefully change their futures for the better. This cannot be achieved without your help and support to keep the list updated.
For more information and ways to get involved, visit the IUCN Website: https://www.iucnredlist.org/
I think it was challenge since we were limited to only typing and no pictures which in my eyes seems boring and bland sometimes. I liked this challenge as I had to get out of my comfort zone and try new things that I am not used to.
I tried my best to make my poster be appealing to the eyes so people would want to read my poster. I did this by using bigger and bolder text at the top of my page. I also made the word “stop” be much bigger so it would catch people’s attention. I tried to make the text easy for my peers to read and not squished together.
What I learned through this is that not everything needs to have pictures or be very busy to catch peoples attention. I had to think outside of the box and to not make it look like an essay.
W H O
Susan Kare is an American artist and a graphic designer. She is best known for her interface elements. She is also known for her typeface contributions for the first Apple Macintosh (19831986). She used to be a design consultant for Microsoft, IBM, Sony Pictures, Facebook, Pinterest, and Niantic Labs. She has been celebrated for her “early pioneer” of pixel art and graphical computer interface as one of the most significant technologists of the new modern world. Susan was born in Ithaca, New York. She graduated from Harriton High School in 1971. She graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Art from Mount Holyoke College in 1975 with an undergraduate honors thesis on sculpture. In 1978 she received a M.A. and a Ph.D. in fine arts from New York University. Her goal was to be “either a fine artist or a teacher”. Susan was always focused on her fine arts. During her high school years she interned at the Franklin Institute for designer Harry Loucks.
D E S I N G S
Harry Loucks was the one who introduced her to typography and graphic design. Susan did not attend an artist training school but she built her experience and portfolio by taking many probono graphic jobs. After receiving her Ph.D, she moved to San Francisco to work at the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco as a sculptor and an occasional curator. A few years after that she decided that her idea life would be art full-time but sculpture was too solitary. Kare’s design principles are meaning, memorability, and clarity. She focuses on simplicity in creating visual metaphors for computer commands. She thrived in the problem-solving approach to serve technological constraints of the 1980s. Kare spent three decades on her career. She co-created the original Macintosh computer and documentation. She drove the visual language for Apple’s graphical computing.
V O C A T I O N
Are you called to creative work? If so, how do you recognize that calling?
If not, to what do you feel called?
Yes, I feel called to creative work. At times when I feel anxious or stressed I gravitate toward creating works as it is a great source of comfort and calms me. I like to play with colors and various textures to create pleasing images. Working through my hands has always been a great opportunity to express myself whether it has been by drawing, painting, or building things using wood, nails, rocks, and other mediums. Another area I enjoy is nature and like to capture it through my artwork and photography.
What, if anything, distinguishes art and design? If you have to pick a side, which do you choose? Why?
I believe that art inspires thoughts and emotions, while designs is a way to solve problems, represent an idea or convey a message. I enjoy art because it allows me to freely express my creativity and imagination through a variety of ways. I feel with art there are less rules to follow which allows me endless possibilities.
Q U E S T I O N S
If you were guaranteed it would support you financially, what would you want to design or make for a living?
I would love to be an interior designer because in high school I had to design, create, and make a model of a tiny house. This model was complete with flooring, wall colors, light fixtures, and furnishings. This would support me as many people need guidance when designing the layout of their homes as well as how to decorate it. In order to be successful at this, I will need to understand how to question them to get a solid understanding of their likes and dislikes in order to pick out colors and textures that will work for them. I will need a solid understanding of math concepts so that I can make sure to use their space appropriately and allow for good traffic flow.
What is the difference between a good life and a significant life?
A good life is one that you have enjoyed and were able to fulfill your basic needs by meeting your goals. A significant life is one that you were able to thoroughly enjoy, help others around you especially those less fortunate than you and you leave the world a better place because of the things you contributed to it.
Thank you Professor Ries for an amazing semester!