SOURCE mindmap

The philosophy of design I would say is that go with whatever captivates the viewer’s eye. I believe that my process is particular different when it comes to making identities for projects like “SOURCE” I think creatively and the assignment is for a Symposium that wants something a bit modern in taste with no room for creative imagery. My method of tackling this project was to try something different, something that I haven’t seen on campus. Something I can call mine but also St. Edward’s. By creating colorful and dynamic imagery I would attract the attention of the liberal students that attend St. Edward’s university because that’s who I thought my audience would be. Students who would be genuinely interested in hearing presentations of their majors. My idea was to mix in pop culture influences like Andy Warhol, and Martin Venizky, only taking my own twist and combining elements from movies like the Vertigo movie poster. Again, layering multiple ideas into one thing that can be read across all of my design decisions. I believe that human expression is an important part of creating my poster and that’s why I chose to incorporate people and human parts like hands. I believe I dabbled too much on the poster because during critique I wouldn’t really get answers and I’d get so caught up in my questions being answered with questions that I had a vague idea of what was meant to be changed and what was meant to stay. Vague criticism is my weakness  and I don’t know how to interpret it.

I want to ask of you Tuan is to tell me what YOU see in me? Do you think I’m a designer? If I am what kind of designer am I? Why do you think I hesitate on creating ideas? Why am I so hesitant to stick with one? What should change? Am I a good designer? Am I a good student?

I’m very passionate about design and I don’t hate it. Of course, I want to be a part of the field but I feel like nowadays I rarely have time to invest in all of my projects and classwork because of my circumstances that I have in my daily life.  I’m currently in the process of removing things from my life that do not bring any value or direction in my life. Friends, some family members, objects, etc. I don’t expect you to understand but I want you to know that I’m trying my best to understand myself, my purpose, and my life in general.

1) Where are you in your hours that you declared earlier in the semester? Looking at your work now, are your current accumulated hours enough?

In all honesty, I believe I could’ve accumulated more hours into my work for this class. I’m not satisfied with the work that I have currently, which is my fault because I chose to redo my project and start over. Overall, I feel like I should’ve used more of my time planning exactly how to structure my project rather than going in blindly and trying to create visuals that later overshadowed the actual information found in my project.

2) Has your definition of “sophisticated” work changed from last year? If so, how so? Can you visually document it on the blog entry what is sophisticated in your Power Report?

Yes, I’d say “sophisticated” work is the kind of work that shows a great amount of time spent on creating a specific kind of work in for it to become refined and be considered “sophisticated”. I can’t really visually document what’s sophisticated in my Power Report since I had to restart my project, however, I believe what’s sophisticated about my Power Report currently is it’close attention to detail and visual illustration.

3) Describe how the new things you’ve learned so far connect to what you already had known coming into the semester.

For one, I’ve had a tremendous amount of experience working with Illustrator and Photoshop, so that allowed me to use that knowledge to combine it with the animation skills I’m currently learning in Aftereffects. I’m also learning to be more focused on the actual information I display in my projects. I’ve realized before I used to only focus on the visual or “icing” part of an assignment, while I should be focused on making a concise and well-constructed piece of work.

4) What are somethings you are still unsure about in this project that you would like to know more about?

More information on tools and animation tricks on animating objects. I feel like a lot of my illustration or animation of text and objects can be amplified by the use of the tools that you’ve taught us. Another thing I’m unsure about is how to create a well-made power report. I’ve struggled to organize the information within the project to make it concise, informative, and visually appealing. Sometimes I feel like I spent too much overthinking about whether something works or not within my work.

5) Assign a level of value to this project. Identify two favorite projects in your creative life and place this Power Report project relative to them. How close or far are they from one another? What qualities did each project have that the other’s didn’t, that would rate them higher/lower? If this project rated low, did that mean you could have spent more time on it? What did you spend your time on?

The level of value of this project to me is very close to the works I’ve done in the past.  Below I shared two images of works I’ve done in my creative life. Both are illustrations, however, one is more creative and art-based while the other is an infograph I illustrated for a class in graphic design. The only problem is that the project we are currently working on isn’t focused on the illustration or creative process. It’s more about the information presented and with a balance of visuals. I have to admit, however, I found myself working on digital illustrations that I have on my instagram: @jerrysilvadesign. Each illustration took about 2 hours to create, which was the time that I could’ve used to work on my Power Report. Overall, the value of this project can be considered much lower than the other projects I actually want to be involved in or work on.

6) Break down the percentages of what entities are responsible for creating growth within the creative you. Am I part of it? Part of it is on you, right? Do you consider your classmates/friends as influencers on the course of your trajectory for success? At the end of the semester you will be evaluating me, but right now within your own pie piece, how much have you brought to the game? How did it end up that you brought that much?

I think the entities that are responsible for my creative growth is 50% my will to succeed and become a great designer, 30% friends I see on social media grinding in their own career paths and possibly doing better than me, and 20% for your approval. Yes, I do consider my classmates as influencers for my success because I don’t want to turn in a project that would disappoint them because I clearly want to impress them. I’m giving my 50% of the pie piece I will explain how it ended up being that much on the next question.

7) Ask me or express something, you feel like you can’t in class or even my office: tunarice.tumblr.com/ask

So it’s my first time having two jobs, paying rent, and juggling school altogether. Sometimes it’s hard to find time to work on my projects for this class and it’s frustrating because I really want to do well but I’m constantly overwhelmed with responsibilities. How do you, Tuan, classify something as good work? How do you find motivation? How do you get rid of distractions when creating or working on projects or work?

My first notable creative experience when I joined the Art Club in La Grulla High School in La Grulla, Texas. I painted an Acrylic painting on plywood and entered it at the STARR County Fair. I ended up winning Novice Grand Champion and won a cash prize and two ribbons. It was one of the most proudest moments of my life and it was for a work related to this topic.

I’m envisioning most of my time going to perfecting my skills using Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and After Effects. I’m really excited to use new software especially if it makes me more viable and useful as person. I’m looking forward to spending most of my time working on Typography 2 assignments rather than other design or non-major classes. I love creating new things I’m actually slowly turning my room into a creative work space where I can work on projects so U can fulfill my 10,000 hours faster by being able to work from home.

I think 10,000 hours is a lot of time, however, I’m determined to do everything I can to put myself in an environment where I can constantly be using the software I’m learning in class and being constantly creative. I believe 10,000 is achievable and the best way to achieve it is by changing the environment to a more creative space.