Overall the work for the last three maps was a lot of time but in the end produced presentable maps for show. At the beginning of this project I did not spend as much time in the lab and spent most of my time looking at other graphs on pintrest or Google to gather ideas of what had been done. However, by the middle of the second map I was spending about 2 hours in the lab every day not including class time. After the “final” critic for the third map I was spending 3 hours in the labs on Monday and Wednesday and 4 to 5 hours on Tuesday and Thursday. During this time I would be going between the three maps so that I did not get annoyed with one when I would get stressed about something not turning out the way I wanted it to look.

When we did the first round of critics for all of the maps, my sophistication of my work was medium. I knew what I wanted all of my maps to look like however they were not at the level at all of a professional or to be presented. The time after the third map was very useful to me because this was when I did a lot of the biggest changes to my maps that moved them towards professional looking maps. I think that I was able to push towards to these more professional final maps because I was able to see my work against the other students of the class and was able to see what was and was not working with everyone’s work. In the end, I feel that the my maps are now real world presentable however I still do not feel that they are the best that they could be. The campus map (#1) is still having some trouble with the presentation and use of colors. The information map (#2) I feel is not arranged in the most productive and visual pleasing way. Lastly the decision map (#3) still has some cluster problems with the car names and the rest of the visual work. I will be working on this to see if I can do some final fixes before the final interview.

Dealing with feedback can be hard at times if you think that your design is amazing or if you know that your design is not up to quota at all. I feel that the critics that I get in this class, though harsh at times, is very informative and allows me to see views that I would not have thought about. I know that my final decision map would not have turned out the way that it did if it were not for Alexa Bogram who I asked opinions for outside of class. Although I know that I did not used or identify all of the critics that I was given, I feel that I was able to grow as a designer because of the ideas and changes made from the critics.

Me, as a person, is a very perfectionist person. I want everything to be perfect and right the first time that I do it. I have learned in this class that that will never be the case. However, this idea of perfection has pushed me to try and produce the best designs that I can. I have a high standard of my work and when it is not there is annoys me beyond belief, it encourages me to fix the design.

Some of the outside of class experiences that I have done has been searching through the Internet for ideas and seeing what other designers have done with their designs. I have also gone into see all of the art galleries on campus, although I was never able to go to opening nights because of work. Even so I made sure that I went and got to experience the works exhibited before the new exhibit went up. I also went with command G to Houston to attend the Zinefest down there. This experience was amazing and a most awarding experience. I loved this because I was able to see what I would be doing in my Image Methodology class but also because I was able to talk and have conversations with real designers who have experience and were very encouraging about continuing with design.

I am a bit of an emotional person in that I bottle all of my feeling inside from everything until it kind of explodes. Although it is rare for this to happen, it has occurred a few times when I have been working on a map and the map was not working out the way I wanted. When this happens I know that I have to leave the lab so that I do not mess up the map that I have and come back when I am more calm and able to make rational decisions about my design. I know that it is unmature to lose control of my emotions, however it is mature of me that I am aware that when it does occur I should not continue and calm my head before continuing work.

I am almost never the first person to talk whether that be in regular class or during a critic, however I try to always make some comment during these times so that I can get my opinion and voice out there for others to hear and possibly correct if it is wrong. During this project, I did provide critics during the actual critic time but I feel that I did a lot more critic during “free time” when me and others were just working in the lab at the same time and we asked for each others opinion. The fact that even outside of class we are willing to ask for others critics means that as a class I feel that we trust one another and the opinions that we give as designers.

As an overall grade for these maps, I feel that I did B level work. Four of the “Meta-Skills” categories I felt hat I was in the highest rankings. The other four “Met-Skills” were in the middles range. I believe that my use of feedback and challenge and level of work I want and approve of is very high. My use of time and emotion level at times is not at its best; these fluctuate depending on my mood and the time of the project. I need to get better at managing my time better and not letting my mood affect my work ethic.

decision_map_final

This decision map was the hardest of the three maps to do. I spent a good chunk of time working on deciding how the different decision paths would flow from  one topic to the next. I had to be aware of the design hierarchy between the design icons, the text, and the arrows to direction. I also spend a good amount of time developing ideas and designs for each decision so that it would be less of a reading map and more of a easy icon map.

Visual_information_final

This mini Zine book was a project allowing us students to learn about the printing from the Rizograph. I chose to work with two layers that incorporated scanned elements and hand drawn elements to enhance the “story” of the Zine. I focused a lot of my time on the hand drawn portions to embed the idea of the words so that they were creative but still legible. I also focused on the use of strokes and deciding colors for when the Zine was to be printed.

This map involved using visuals to provide data in a more interesting way. I focus on the individual designs of all the graphs from the pie chart that compared amounts to the dollar design that provided a total sum. I also spend time on the layout of the designs on the page and how they were being read from bottom to top as well as side to side.

geography_final

This map focused on the green space and shade located around St. Edward’s. I focused on the differences of street and sidewalk withs as well as color. The color choice of illustrating shade at different times of the day was a bit of a challenge. I tried to enhance the difference for far away views by adjusting the green shade against the strips.

The interface was a layout design of a writing app that would be used on a phone for specific groups of people. I chose to work towards teachers and make the design simple and easy to create things on the go. My design focused on having big simple icons and nice pre made templates that can be accessed for easy development. My design also incorporated color and the neutral blues that are inviting and stress free for the user.

Overall I feel that my two of my three vinyl cuts were presentable. My use of practice time during the process was uneven. I did a lot of work in class and about 2 hours in the lab Tuesday and Thursday when I did not have class. I also spent about an hour in the lab on Sundays. I brainstormed a lot with Pinterest and wordhippo.com to generate ideas for word selection as well as some basic ideas for designs. However, I feel like I should have spent even more time collecting expert hours. Like I said earlier, I feel that two vinyls out of three were presentable in the end. I felts that one of my vinyl’s was not finished and definitely could have been worked on more. As far as the vinyl cutter, it took some time to make sure that the cuts were good but in the end I was able to make sure that the cuts to my final was good and precise. I feel that the first critique that we got feedback for I did not really use because what I presented was not the best production. They were really basic and not well put together. I ended up making whole new designs that really did not go at all with the ones presented. The second critique I listened a lot more to the feedback that was given because I had “solid” designs that I was sure that I was going to continue to use and develop. I feel that the level of challenge that I gave myself was about medium. At the beginning I do not think I challenged myself enough to generate good, solid designs. As the project progressed, I became more judgmental about my designs and challenged myself to make them the best versions that they could. As far as other experiences go, I really only used the things we did in class. However, at the same time we were doing this project I was also working on designs for posters for the Students for Sustainability events that I made in illustrate. As far as social emotional development goes, I feel that I was in the middle or “young”. While doing the project I tried hard to stay focused and use others feedback to better my design. However there were times when I got stressed and angry when the design was not looking how I wanted it to; throwing a little internal temper tantrum about why I was unable to produce the product that I wanted. As for the last component, I feel that I contributed to the climate of the classroom when we did critiques by giving insight on some people’s logos and talking with the people around me in class. I definitely could have helped more by giving even more feedback to people and not just the same people that were around me. I also could have talked more when we tried to answer questions about the project and our views and ideas on them. Overall I feel like all of the components together and the final product will be equivalent to a medium or high C (74-79).