GDES end term assessment essay
Ok just to get this out of the way, and I’m kind of assuming you already know this based on all the emails/awkward conversations I’ve already exchanged with other faculty, BUT, in case you don’t already know, I won’t be back at St. Ed’s next semester.
I’ll be at UT as a rhetoric & writing major. The leaving St. Ed’s is a money thing. Re: changing majors, I’ve realized that while I do really enjoy design, I like to do academic research and write long papers more and I want to get a Ph.D. and be a professor when I grow up. There was a shift somewhere during the semester where I went from working on my design homework first to putting off my design projects till the end and started editing my papers or doing my readings first. So I took that as confirmation that I should change majors, which I’d already been toying with before. But I’m still really glad I took these design courses! I’ve learned so much about layouts and typefaces and I’m sure the knowledge I’ve gained will be nothing but beneficial.
Alright, now back to the gdes essay.
1 How many hours of practice time per week would you consider excessive? How many hours would not be enough to create sophisticated work? Where are you situated?
1,000,000 hours per week would be excessive. All to say, if you’re motivated and you’re moving forward and you have the time to practice for a massive amount of time, no amount of practicing is going to hurt you. I don’t think it’s possible to practice excessively. However, there’s a point around 42hrs/week — so 6 hrs/day — where practicing becomes less effective. But up till then, if you’re that motivated to practice, then you’re probably good.
Anything less than 6 hrs/week would not be enough to create sophisticated work. I think I’m around 10 hrs/week.
2 What does the “next level” look like? What would the next level in the designs of your maps look like?
The “next level” in regards to the map project looks like more varied color scheme choices… a larger variety of typefaces… more attention to the size of the text as related to readability. I used a whopping total of two different typefaces between the three maps. Also I wish less of the background of my maps was the white of the page. The other maps that were completely covered in ink looked better.
3 What was some meaningful feedback you received about the maps and what did you do with that
feedback?
Some meaningful feedback was to visualize more of the decision map, particularly the pro and con lists, and to use less text. I took that feedback and 1 visualized the pro/con lists and 2 considered what else that was text could be visualized or given a color that would offer a deeper meaning. For example on the final decision map, all the colors correspond to each other — starting from the thermometer-looking graph on the bottom left, locations that are <500 miles away are green, 500-1000 miles are yellow, 1000-1500 miles are red; then on the flow chart, lines leading to each location match those colors; on the pro/con aspect, pros are consistently green and cons red. 4 Describe what level of challenge you encountered in the creation of your maps. What was the hardest part / what was the easiest part? What was the most enjoyable part of the process?
Creating the maps was more challenging then creating the symbols from the first half of the semester. I think because the map required so many more choices: color, typeface, concept, layout, etc. The symbol was difficult in the sense of combining different elements to make one simple sign, but there were less to decide. Choosing colors was the hardest part, which is probably why map 2 and map 3 have virtually the same color scheme. The easiest part was the determining the layout of the elements on the page. Map 2 was definitely the most fun because of the annual report vibe. I like really logical less artsy for the sake of being artsy things. What does that mean? I like when everything in a map has an identifiable purpose. The most enjoyable part of the whole process was doing the math/designing the charts for map 2. I love pie charts almost as much as I love real pie.
5 Did you do anything else outside of class, extracurricular, related to art, design, or creativity?
I continued working at the Riso and got waaaay better at printing on that thing. I made this spreadsheet to keep track of all the orders between Jimmy, Justin, and I even I think I might have been the only one who used it. For my final in my feminism/LGBTQ-themed rhetoric class, I made a zine/booklet called “A Pocket-Sized Guide to Feeling Empowered” aimed at pre-teen girls using all the skillz I learned in visual studies and type 1. My professor thought it was the coolest thing — “oh my gosh I love it” — and gave me an A. That was neat to combine everything I’ve learned in all my classes into one project. The typefaces might look familiar…
This is another gif (!!) clearly obsessed. If it’s not playing, click on it.
6 Whether positively, negatively or neutrally, how has your life outside of school impacted your school work?
Homework is what I do to get away from my personal life. So if things with my friends or family was getting stressful, I would just work on school work more to avoid having to think about the thing causing stress. I guess it’s a coping technique. For example, when my parents told me that they couldn’t afford St. Ed’s anymore after mid-terms, I had a big research paper due a few weeks later, so I worked significantly more on that paper and other projects than I probably would have otherwise simply because I didn’t want to have to think about what to do about the school/financial situation.
7 What does the most ideal classroom environment look/feel like to you? What does it mean to be part of a class? This semester, what was your part / role / contribution to this ideal vision? Looking back in the semester describe the physical location you think you were at your most optimum and flourished the most.
The ideal classroom environment is very relaxed. It’s nice to look at. Low-stress, yet productive and high-achieving. To be part of a class means to be prepared, bring your work to class, show up to class. This semester, I think I contributed to the low-stress feel of our class. I always came prepared, even though I’m definitely not a big talker. But I always had the work we were supposed to have, or at least my best attempt at it.
The physical location that is my favorite/best to work in is the second floor of the library in the morning or around 6 at night; definitely not mid-day in my apartment. It took me probably half the semester the figure that out. I like how everyone else in the library is also working on homework and the open-ness of the huge wall of windows.