Sophmore Critical Assesment

During the course of my first yer at St. Ed’s I’ve been exposed to a side of design that I thought I understood prior to being here. I learned quickly that I was wrong. While having a background in Printmaking did help influence my understanding of some Graphic Design concepts it certainly didn’t give me everything. One of the more important things I have learned along the way is that Fine Art is more about asking questions and experimentation while Graphic Design is about communicating and finding solutions to problems. The three projects I’ve chosen to analyze demonstrate my growing understanding of this idea. At the start of my time here I had a tendency to design things to be visually appealing without really finding ways to communicate with the audience. Of course I don’t feel I’ve completely shed my Fine Art visual stimulation tendencies. However, I have made some progress which is evident in my Type Specimen Poster, Information Map, and Weather Report.

TypePoster

The Type Specimen poster was one of the first assignments I really got into since starting at St. Ed’s. This may be because the project’s requirements closely resembled that of a printmaking project. Or perhaps just the fact that it was a “poster” helped. Old habits, I assume. When taking a closer look at this project thing I was more focused on trying to make something that I thought was visually striking hence the color choices and bold composition. What happened along the way though is that I grew attached to the visual aspect and the information that needed to be conveyed per the assignment requirements became an afterthought. This is evident by the fact that the placement of Books Posters Newspapers seems a bit half hazard. The other part that sticks out like a sore thumb to me now as I look back is the fact the different weights of the family itself are almost hidden in the background. They take a backseat to the composition itself despite the fact they are the whole point of a type specimen poster. One area that I do think my inner Designer began to show is where I made some defining characteristics of Franklin Gothic evident by framing the spur of lower case b and d, with the taper of lower case p and q inside the counter of the lower case g.

DataVis3

Next is my Information Map from GDES 1. I enjoy a good infographic as much as the next person but prior to this assignment had never thought much about what goes into making one. Upon getting this assignment I knew the information had to be center stage. That shows some growth in itself. Where I found myself struggling (and where I’ll likely continue to struggle throughout my career) is finding the best way communicate information visually and minimally. Here I made use of color to make visual connections with information. I felt that that giving what I’ll call “visual scale” is an effective means of communicating information without having to litter a design with tons of numbers and percentages. While I still agree with this idea I think my execution of it with the pie chart/ bar graph combo is a bit lacking. I will say that I still feel the design over all is straightforward in its message though.

WeatherThumb

Click to watch the clip.

Lastly, The Weather Report from GDES 2 earlier this semester. This represents my first significant project with Animation let alone After Effects. I tend to be somewhat slow on the uptake with new programs so I struggled a bit craft-wise. The glitches and jumps that can be seen throughout the clip came as a natural result. I’ve since learned how to avoid those as well as some best practices within After Effects in general. In terms of design the first project we had in GDES 2 (LATCH sequences) found me more enthralled with moving things around the stage because I could. For this project I wanted to make sure that the movements were pointed and necessary to connect information. I went with a color scheme that complimented the idea of weather by using vibrant colors found in nature. I also wanted to use a visual connection to place. My solution was to make small illustrations of landmarks within each city. These Illustrations sit in the background where they couldn’t demand more attention than they merit. Just the fact that the purpose of each element informed my decision making process demonstrates growth from last semester to now.

Overall I think the Design program, albeit frustrating at times, has definitely pushed me forward as a designer. By forcing me to think about why I put elements into a design and shedding some preconceptions of what design is and does I’ve made progress in my image making over all. I’m looking forward to and anxious to see what the rest of the design program has in store.