Enriching the Design Adventure
I was called to creative work because it makes me happy to be visually creative and make things with my own two hands. I have always been drawn to art, drawing, and design. When I was younger, I would draw fashion illustrations based off my favorite characters from books and movies. I was later inspired by my older brother to take up photography and I fell in love with it.
If I was guaranteed that being a photographer would support me financially, I would love to be a photographer for weddings, engagements, sports, and senior photos. Taking pictures that beautifully represent what I’m photographing.
D-school This was the first official art class I have taken. In this first section I was given the task of interviewing one of my classmates and I needed to make something to solve a problem for them.
I interviewed a classmate to solve a problem and sketched out some possible solutions. Their problem for me to solve was that they needed a better way to wrap presents.
Then after I showed them the options they chose one that interested them and I sketched a more detailed representation of it.
Lastly, I built a modle to represent the prototype.
Engaging with a real person changed the direction the prototype went in because it was more personal, and I had feedback that helped me figure out what was the best direction to go. It was awkward to show an unfinished prototype because I feel it’s more difficult to have pride for what you make if you don’t see it as a finished thought. The pace was a little fast, I normally prefer to create at a slower pace and have time to finish my thought. I would go back to the prototype to make changes and make it better.
Dot Line In the second section I was challenged to represent words using a limited amount of colors and using a limited number of dots and lines
I started off by playing around with different sized dots and lines. Then when I pick some that could represent the word, I created different iterations of that design. After that I picked an iteration for each design.
Next I glued together some drafts. Some of the drafts turend out diferent than I wanted so I kept trying.
Finals
Freedom
Joy
Stability
When one of the drafts for each word was completed and looked how I wanted it to, I mounted them on a black matte board. Then I was finished with the process. This ment I was ready to preasent.
Gestalt is, in a way, the basics of understanding the design of abstraction. It is guidelines and the principles of the craft. It was helpful for this project because it gives a range of definition to the lines and dots, as well as reason behind the positive and negative space while focused on giving meaning to the abstraction. It was easier to make something that could be thought out and it was nice take the time to craft it. I prefer to put the time in and have time for small details. I used to think that abstraction was not planned, and the artist found the meaning as they were creating. I now know you can plan abstract art and have a meaning before you even start the project. With a limited vocabulary many designs could have different meanings including these pices. A design you made for one word and you believe represented the word well could be viewed with a different meaning by someone with a different point of view. I would most likely use what I learned in this section in advertisements and marketing designs as a future field of work.
Lettering For the third section I had the task of creating different ways of using type and lettering to represent words without using color or images.
To start off I learned how to create lettering styles by hand.
After picking the word I choose to use, I created a mind map to get ideas and insperation for creating a type style.
Then I experimented with diferent materials that create diferent styles to express the work.
I continued to work with styles that I liked with more restricted materials and picked my the ones I thought worked to represent the word until I was pleased with how theyturned out. When I was compleated I mounted the finals on black matte board to preasent them.
Finals
Hand-lettering taught me that there are so many more letterforms then I had previously thought. I also had no idea that there was such a precise anatomy of letters. I would probably like to keep working on all the iterations we were taught, because I would like to keep perfecting all these forms. I really enjoyed this project and want to keep working on different lettering styles. Next, I would like to try styles that I did not try in the project. I would like to try different words that would work with different styles. I feel that my ideas are better after I worked in many styles, because the fact that it is sometimes harder to execute an idea. I also think one of my pieces was executed better that I expected.
Object Iteration I this section I was challenged with representing a object using different image iterations and imitating the style of two master artists while still avoiding color.
To start of I was taught to create a continuous line iteration. To accomplish this the entire class went around practicing by draw our classmates using a continuous line while being timed.
I used this practice to create several different continuous line drawings of an object I chose, which was Bangle Tigers for this project.
Then I was set with the assignment of making several collages of my object using different clips of paper and other materials. This was harder that the other parts of the project because the materials are not in abundance there was less drafts and more precise gluing on the first try.
The geometric iterations where the easiest by simply using shapes to represent tiger.
Drafts
Final
For my first master artist imitation I followed the style of Rene Magritte. I started by painting a background and then in photoshop I created a outline similar to the ones Magritte used.
Drafts
Final
For my Second master artist I imitated the style of Vincent Van Gogh. I focused on the texture and the color difference that Van Gogh use in a variety of his paintings. I mostly based my iteration off Van Gogh’s piece “The Sower” using the more abstract background and a subject that was more defined.
Finals
Through this process I learned that Bengal tigers hunt at night by finding an area to hide and that they each have their own signature stripes. Probably the collage illustrations where most challenging for me. It was challenging to get a feel of a tiger without using images of tigers. In the end, I think it became easier. I loved imitating the master artists, my favorite being Vincent Van Gogh, but the geometric illustrations were most enjoyable for me. With using what I learn about Photoshop I think I’ll use everything going forward! I would like to either become a professional photographer or a marketing designer. In both careers I see myself using photoshop a lot. If I had to continue with this object for a year I would try more poses with the tiger swimming, running, and jumping. I would also like to try using watercolors to get some of those poses.
Data Visualization In this section I was tasked with representing a Data set visually to tell a story about that data. Drafts Final
The first task to complete was to come up with a set of data about our families and create a visual representation of the data.
Draft
Final
Then I was challenged to make a V&R Table to practice arranging data visually. This was a fun way to get an idea of the creative style I would put into the final assignment. I also learned a lot about how spread out my use of the internet is.
Skeched Drafts
Once I was ready to start with the final project, I first got together all the data I was going to use and then sketched out some simple layouts and design ideas. After I entered all of the text, I created my own little icons to represent the data and visual charts then placed those in and arranged them.
Stats and Facts
Involvement
Financials
Student publications: 2
Students receiving financial aid: 96%
Musical ensembles (band & choral): 19
St. Norbert grants/ scholarships: 65%
National Honor Society chapters: 11
Student Loans: 22%
Student organizations: 94 Students who join organizations: 50%
Work-study: 3%
Final
22 NCAA Division III sports
Degrees Offered • • • • • • •
Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of Science Bachelor of Music Bachelor of Business Administration Master of Arts in Liberal Studies Master of Business Administration Master of Theological Studies
Intramural athletes: 24% Varsity student-athletes: 28% Students: 2,165 Undergraduates: 2,067
Females: 57% Males: 43%
48% of students have cars on campus 85% of students live on campus
Four-Year Graduation Guarantee
We believe so strongly that you should be able to finish your undergraduate degree within four years, that we’ll waive your additional tuition if, through no fault of your own, you cannot get through in that time. While there are some small exceptions, we mean it.
I used the size, placement on the page, and coloring of the information to establish a hierarchy. Some skills or ideas I learned in this project that I can take forward to other work is how to create a way to visually present data sets in an appealing way. Also, I learned about formatting information and the value of placement on a page. I loved using color because it seemed to give a new level of vocabulary to my work.
This book was made as part of the Introduction to Design at St. Norbert College in the fall of 2018. With the guidance of Professer Katie Ries and Elyse. The font used is Cooper Black. It was digitally printed and stapled at the college’s print center.
~Special thanks to my amazing family and friends~
Book by Marybeth Koss Fall 2018 Art 130 Intro to Design Professer Katie Ries