Taking A Chance on Art
I would like to thank everyone who constantly pushed me to do better in my work and life. I would specifically like to thank my parents, friends, mentors and teachers, and my classmates. I would not be anywhere without the help of others.
When starting my college career, it was very hard for me to find out what I wanted to study that I would have a passion for. I decided on my major to be Business Administration because I knew that I was interested in business, however I did not know if that would be something I could be passionate about. Being a freshman, we had to go to what were called gateway meetings. In these meetings they got us ready and prepped for college. One of the questions they had asked of us was, “What was something you had a passion for? And how could you apply it to your career.� When they asked me this the first time I did not know, I did not have a passion for much of anything besides knowing that I could do something in business. Then I had remembered that I really enjoyed doing yearbook in high school and it was something I looked forward to doing daily. I then realized after asking around that my calling was to do something in business, but to also add a graphic design minor to my degree. This was a big risk because I had not done an actual art class since middle school so jumping into something so different than what I had been used to in other classes was scary, yet exciting. Therefore I was taking a risk on art, something that I would come to find was a profitable idea.
D*School
In the D*School Project we were supposed to work with another student to try and build a prototype of a gift that they could give a loved one. Engaging with a real person changed the direction of the prototype I built because it was made to fit that singular person even though it could also have worked for other people’s needs. When I had to show my partner the unfinished work we made throughout the process, it was intimidating because I felt like it could have been better, and I wanted to wait to show them until I was finished. However, I also liked it because then I could hear their constructive
criticisms as I was working, instead of when I thought I was done. The pace felt unusual because usually I take my time to make sure what I’m making looks good, but the fast pace also was neat. It made me work under pressure and I’m not usually used to that. If I could do it again, I would have asked more about a singular problem with gift giving that my partner needed help with. I would have focused on that one thing and worked at that more, so I knew what needed to be accomplished.
When starting to interview my partner, I had to ask her questions. This allowed me to gain an understanding of who she is, and what she might like, or need in her life.
We came up with a problem statement that reflected what my partner needed to do to help her find out what type of gift other people would want.
This was the part of the process where I had to illustrate an exact object that she could use to solve her problem.
Then we built a prototype of the invention. We were only given a few minutes to do so with limited supplies. Once we were done with the prototype, we showed our to improve the partner, and solution even more got feedback that could have in the future. been used
Final Prototype:
Dot / Line
In the Dot/Line project we were taught the Gestalt principle, and then were given guidelines on how many dots and lines we could use to represent a singular emotion. The Gestalt principle represents how small elements can make up one bigger picture. In our dotline project, Gestalt is represented by how dots and lines made one bigger composition and represent a single word. For me personally, I take a lot of time to make a well-crafted object. I struggle coming up with a good concept, but when I do I make sure to put extra time into having a clean-cut project. This project affected my idea
of abstraction because I had to come up with a way of illustrating words with very limiting rules. This project will help me in the future to think more abstractly in my artwork. One thing this project showed me was that everyone sees abstract differently, so when trying to convey a message I’ll have to be more literal so people can understand what my point of the artwork is.
First sketches; These were my first sketches of my ideas for the three words; stability, longing, and terror.
Second sketches; In each of these sketches I tired to portray a certain idea in multiple ways.
Finals: Stability; I had come to this one because I liked the aspect of arms holding something in the air.
Longing; I like this one because it is supposed to represent two entities that are close to being together but will never reach. Fear; I decided on this one because it represents fear well by the crushing of the object in the bottom right corner.
Hand Lettering
In the Hand Lettering project, we had to find different ways to convey emotions of a specific word. We were taught different fonts and styles of writing and had to come up with ways of conveying the emotions our words can evoke with different mediums. Hand lettering taught me the different styles of writing letters. For example, I learned how there are a lot of different ways to write letters; using serifs, slanting, and even when to use capital letters. The techniques I need to spend more time continuing and refining are the spacing in between my letters and perfecting the way I
write my letters correctly. If I had to do this project again, I would spend more time painting and making sure that my ideas come through better for different audiences. For my finished projects, my ideas were stronger than my execution because for example in my 3rd art media I had the idea to photograph two people holding “ache� in the shape of a heart. However, during the critique no one could understand what the background was so my idea was executed improperly.
When Starting this project we had to practice different font and styles of writing different words. I got my inspiration from posters and fonts I looked up online.
Finals: Picture Media; I used a cut out word of “ache� and had two people hold it up to represent heartache. This is one image that was executed poorly because it was too zoomed in. If I could do it agian I would zoom out more to get a better picture of the two people in the background so the message will come out better for the viewer. Charcoal Media; I wrote ache out in charcoal and then had smudged it out to make it seem like it was coming at the viewer like aching can come at one fast.
Cut Paper Media; For this one I cut out “ache” from white paper and glued the outline on black paper to utilize the negative space it created. I slanted the words in an odd way to make it seem like the word itself was in pain.
Ink Media; In this version of “ache” I wrote out the word in black ink in a loose way with thorns on the letters to represent the pain of a thorn on roses.
Object Iterations
Object Iterations was a project where we had to use different forms of media to make our animal. We were supposed to be creative and diverse in our art while still maintaining the subject’s integrity. For my project I had chosen to reiterate a polar bear. In this project, I found that it was more difficult than I thought it was going to be. I thought that the different design elements would be easy to do, but they all took time and trial and error. The most challenging piece I had was the Wangenchi Mutu piece because her work is so complex and intricate it was very hard to reiterate. The easiest
one for me to do was the continuous line one. I thought this one was easy because it wasn’t hard to restart or coverup an error and I could easily get this accomplished to look how I wanted it to. Since it was my first time using photoshop I learned a lot that I was use in the future. One of the most helpful tools however was the quick selection tool, because it could allow me to select what I wanted to and do a lot with it. If I had to new ways of doing these iterations I would most defiantly
work with my Mutu piece. I feel like there are so many ways of doing her work I could still try. If I tried something new though I would want to do something with acrylic paints
because I didn’t really get the chance to work with it for this project.
We practiced multiple different medias one of them being the use of a continuous line.
For some of my first drafts I had to decided on different views to go with. For the geometric one I decided more of a front view of the polar bear would be better.
For the Mutu iteration I originally had this iteration but I changed it so it was more of a collage like her artwork and I also had to change the nose because it looked to much Koala Bear-like than like a Polar Bear. I decided against the “Y� because it did not add to the Polar Bear-like nose. Like that of the Mutu iteration.
Final:
For the final I composed six iteration of polar bears and tried to do a checkerboard layout. With there being darker images opposite to lighter images that had a black stroke. One of my stronger images was the polar bear in the bottom left hand corner. The negative space fits well, however if I could change something I would have worked harder on the Mutu iteration.
Data Visualization
In the Data Visualization project, we were supposed to use things that we picked up on throughout the year to create a poster showing SNC’s Fast Facts. We were supposed to use visual hierarchy to tell a story using the fast facts. When I was creating my posters, I used visual hierarchy in the overlapping of the circles on my poster. I put the four-year guarantee in the middle on top of the other circles surrounding it to show that it was the most important piece of information. In this project, I learned that I must make sure I put type on lighter colors so that it is easier to
read for people. Since this was the first project where we could use color I found that I did enjoy experimenting with color because I learned a little bit more about what colors look good together and what ones do not.
First Draft; This was the first draft I had roughly done for the Fast Facts Poster. I mostly stuck to this design when doing my first final. When I created it in In Design I had to play around with the colors because I had not originally put color in my first draft.
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Academics
Financials
More than 40 majors, minors and pre-professional programs Student/faculty ratio: 13-to-1 Average class size: 19 students Faculty: 92% with Ph.D. or highest degree
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●Students receiving financial aid: 96% ●St. Norbert grants/scholarships: 65% ●Other grants/scholarships: 10% ●Students graduating with no loan debt: 30% ●Average indebtedness of graduates receiving loans: $33,641 ●Work-study: 3% ●Student loans: 22%
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be ab le to th at yo u sh ou ld ly ng ro st so fo ur ye ar s, W e be lie ve de gr ee w it hi n e at du ra rg de , th ro ug h no fi ni sh yo ur un ti on al tu it io n if di ad ur e. yo ve ai ug h in th at ti m th at w e’ ll w ca nn ot ge t th ro u yo . n, it n ow ea ur m fa ul t of yo ce pt io ns , w e e so m e sm al l ex W hi le th er e ar
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Values and Outcomes ●Freshman retention rate: 83% ●6% of our students graduate in 3 1/2 or fewer years. ●More than 70% of the aid offered is money that doesn’t have to be repaid. ●93% of graduates for whom we have knowledge were placed in jobs or grad school within 12 months of graduation. ●We have one of the best 4-year graduation rates in the Midwest.
Final:
First final; I decided on these colors because I still wanted to bring SNC colors into the poster to go along with the colors on Norby. However I wanted to do another color for the middle circle because I wanted that to stand out because it was the most important piece of information. Which is also why I had put it in the middle of the poster and layered above everything else.
Revised final; I flipped everything because I wanted the bulleted points to line up with the edge of the poster. I also made the gray background lighter so the overall poster did not look so dark. Another thing I had changed was creating a new separate title and titling the Four Year Guarantee. I also moved Norby up so his finger was on top of the middle circle.
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Academics
Financials ●Students receiving financial aid: 96% ●St. Norbert grants/scholarships: 65% ●Other grants/scholarships: 10% ●Students graduating with no loan debt: 30% ●Average indebtedness of graduates receiving loans: $33,641 ●Work-study: 3% ●Student loans: 22%
More than 40 majors, minors and pre-professional programs Student/faculty ratio: 13-to-1 Average class size: 19 students Faculty: 92% with Ph.D. or highest degree
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FACTS Values and Outcomes
●Freshman retention rate: 83% ●6% of our students graduate in 3 1/2 or fewer years. ●More than 70% of the aid offered is money that doesn’t have to be repaid. ●93% of graduates for whom we have knowledge were placed in jobs or grad school within 12 months of graduation. ●We have one of the best 4-year graduation rates in the Midwest.
In conclusion I learned a lot in this art class. Not only about art itself, but also core values about how to do projects over time, work with others and critiquing myself in the process. I have bettered myself a lot in this class and I believe that it will only help me in the future, not only in my career but my life too. There are two types of lives one can wish to accomplish; a good life or a significant life or maybe a little bit of both. A good life is a life where I believe you are happy with yourself and what you are doing with your life. A significant life is one where you are doing something with your life that shows your success to others. For me I want a good life. I want to be happy with myself and what I am accomplishing. I would want to have a significant life simply because then I could be able to live comfortably. However, most importantly I want a good life. I want to live a rich life that I can proudly say I am happy with. Which is why I am doing this design minor. Therefore, taking a chance on art, I believe, will pay off in my future endeavors.