Critical Assessment
My first 2 years as a Graphic Design student have been filled with learning, trial and error, development, passion, hard work, grit, failure and triumph. Over the last two years my skill level has grown tremendously and I feel way more confident than my freshman self. I am proud of how far I have come and the work that I have made and I am excited to broaden my skills. Through critically assessing my Type Specimen Book, my Cognitive Map and my Weather Report, and as well looking at where I began with these projects and others, I can see my progress, see where I can improve and develop goals for the future. I believe through these three projects I have developed an eye for design. These projects have made me excited to be a graphic designer and they have pushed me to use all of the knowledge that is available to me.
My Type Specimen Book was the final project that I completed in my Typography 1 class. In this project I believe I was effectively able to develop a grid system and create a clean specimen showcasing the Scala Superfamily. I think this is evident in my work by the use of negative space, alignment of text, and similar identity throughout the book. I believe there is definitely room for improvement in this design. I could have been more creative with showcasing individual letters and numbers. I would have liked to increase the text size on certain pages, magnifying how Martin Majoor designed Scala. In completing this project I felt confident that I had incorporated most, if not all of what I had learned during the course of the semester. I believe this Book showcases my hard work and my ability to quickly learn and adapt my skills with Adobe programs.
My Cognitive Map taught me a lot about patience, failure, trial and error, and triumph. Developing this map was a major challenge for me as coming up with the concept, symbols/icons, and layout did not come easily. In this project I was challenged think outside the box in representing the cognitive process of the brain. I believe I was able to develop distinct symbols and icons to give readers a visual representation. After completing many iterations, I was able to come up with clean and meaningful symbols. I believe one area that definitely needs to be improved is this project is the typography. Although it isn’t horrible, I feel I did not critically think about what typeface I implemented and therefor did not enhance the Map in a significant way. Also believe I could have aligned the typography in a better grid system.
My Weather Report was by far the hardest and most fulfilling project that I have completed in my Graphic Design Career. I feel it showcases my hard work and skill ability and commitment to the final product. I am proud of this project because I was successfully able to learn how to use after effects, with no previous knowledge of the program before this project. I was successfully able to understand the LATCH concept and as well use illustrator to design all the individual parts. This project taught me the importance of organization within my work and the necessity of refinement. I believe this project with its success, could still use a copious amount of work. I think using multiple typefaces and paying attention to hierarchy could have made this project very successful. There are also some craft issues and transitions that could flow more smoothly together.
Overarching, I feel through all my projects, I learn something new. I refine previous skills and continue to develop my passion for design. I have been able to more easily approach projects with better organization and as well develop my ideas and inspirations more clearly. I am able to look at the world around me and critically assess good and bad design. I feel I have grown tremendously and I feel more confident as challenges are presented to me. I am excited for what I have yet to learn and for the future of my design career.