This project helped me better myself at using the Adobe Program Photoshop. I was able to create a couple of GIFs using photos and vector images. I created harmony within each GIF and each part of the icons. I can now say that I have familiarized myself with the program and am capable of using in more times to come. This also taught me patience with each GIF, sometimes I accidently pressed the wrong key or menu section, which ended with a messed up key frame or a weird movement. In the end I was able to make four organized GIFs that represented the gentrification of East Austin.
This project made me aware of organization and how to display icons and typography on a page. I enjoyed working in this book project because I was able to do so much research in diffferemt ways. I was able to implement myself in this neighborhood, I knew very little about, and evaluate the changes happening due to gentrification. Working with this book made me realize how much the changes of East Austin have affected the residents who live there. I gather personal information and focused on the businesses there and how that has changed over time. Many of the answers were the same, the business owners had a decline because they relied on the hispanic families who used to live there. Now of course, taxes have gone up, business has declined and their targeted audience has moved away.
write about something you think I’m wondering about you
I think that you are wondering why it takes me so long to get my crap together and to actually begin to design anything. That if this is something I struggle with, why I am even studying graphic design in the first place. You may be wondering why I am wasting my time or even your time with this major when I don’t even know what I’m doing half the time, but one thing I do know is that I enjoy working with all the adobe programs to create something I like and to try and improve it with all the feedback I get. I struggle at the beginning trying to come up with an initial idea to explore and make it mine, especially for last semester since half the things I did were rush and not thought out properly. I think it’s because I didn’t give myself enough time to process through the ideas that came to me. I basically went with the first thing that pop into my head. And at this point you probably wonder why I haven’t managed my time better and focus more on my designs, considering it’s what I want a career in, well I’ll let you know that next year, my major will continue to be my top priority, but I will cut down my involvement in campus. This will give me extra time to think through designs and think further that the first thought. I will also try to get more one on one feedback with what I do. And here you may wonder why this wasn’t something I hadn’t done before, well Tuan, I was trying to figure out how much I could handle on top of my already busy major and now that I am aware of what happens when I don’t manage my time correctly, I will try to do it batter as the new year roles around.
why you think I think it’s worthwhile for me to be wondering about you
It’s worthwhile for you to wonder about me because by wondering and not understanding you ask the right questions. Whether its about my designs, m y thought process and what exactly my idea is behind it all. You get to learn how I work best and my strengths and weakness as I continue in the graphic design program. You give me the feedback I need and teach me where I can grow and even help me understand my own way of thinking. You don’t tell me I’m designing wrong or that I need to change everything I’ve created. You mention things like “maybe that isn’t working”, but back it up with “well maybe that’s your style”. I don’t feel like I have to change how it is designed, but maybe change some of the factors that aren’t complimenting the other things, for example the type, or color scheme, but not my entire layout or design in general.
imagine me — as I am wondering about you — part of me is smiling, nodding my head, saying “yasss” in my mind’s eye
This is your reaction when I’m finally getting my crap sorted out and I’m going in the right direction. When I understand the project and what to do for my design, I am no longer as lost as I would’ve been in the beginning. I broke through the “fog” that clouded my mind at the start of the project, even so it took me a while to get here, which is something I need to work on.
other parts of me are staring at you with my eyes squinting, nose wrinkled, and brow furrowed or… phrased another way —
This happens when my idea doesn’t make sense and neither you or myself understand it. It is at the very beginning of a project where I’m just beginning to sort through my thoughts to find the “winning” one. I am at the place where I am at loss with what to do, I haven’t found my “call” on the project or design. This is the place where I should ask for assistance or just talk about he project in more detail until I can understand what I need to do.
what are you critical about yourself, why do you think it is critical for you to be critical on yourself about this thing
I am critical about myself on not asking for assistance when I need it or for clarification on the project “directions” that I need to follow. It’s critical for me to be critical about this because as I mentioned before, I struggle to come up with an idea about a design and if I have a clearer picture of what I need to do, I can work better and easier. Asking for help is not what I’m good at, I want to figure things out on my own, but I’ve noticed that with the constant feedback I keep getting, I know what I need to work with to make things better and what I can throw out because its weak to my concept or it makes no sense why it should be included. I’m also critical about how much time I spend working in these designs and how much I can produce in those hours. I need to prioritize my major more than getting involved with campus, not saying I won’t get involved anymore, but reducing the amount of organizations I want to be part of.
what steps are you taking to embrace your destiny and reach your potential.
For my upcoming year, I want to have more one on one feedback with my professor, more feedback with my peers and try to talk to my professor about my ideas to figure out what is working and what is not. I need to talk things out, get a clearer picture and get in the groove of my designs and thinking process. Work on by initial ideas to make them work better or just simply toss them out and think more thoroughly and deeply.
The weather report project made me aware of transitions and key framing. At the beginning the movement of my icons wasn’t as smooth as the rest, but I managed to control how the information was displayed and move it in a smoother path. From After Effects, I have learned that the motion of the latches should have a specific path to follow and to keep things continuous, not all over the place. My weather report shows location, time, and category latches.
My mark was designed on my vision, “I want you to see The Boardwalk as a place where people can come and connect.” The boardwalk is the main connecter of the West and East side of Austin, so I decided to use connect the dots style to make an emphasis that it was the missing piece to the Austin community. I decided to add the Boardwalk to it and make that connect the both sides of Austin to show the connection between the two different sides of Austin.
The research part of the project allowed me to gain an understanding of the site I have been studying. I was able to get a personal experience and perspective with the many visits I did. This helped guide me towards the direction I wanted to take my mark in. I was able to get all my thoughts in order and sort through the many ideas. In the end I decide to create an interactive application that help connect people together. Researching a site gives me s different perspective than what I had from the pictures online. Going out in the field was also helpful, I had first hand experience with the atmosphere of the Boardwalk and the attitude of the people.
This project was the first time I used After Effects. I was struggling to understand how the buttons within the program work, but soon I got the hang of it. I learned what a key frame was, how to make the motion of the objects smooth and in harmony with one another. After Effects became familiar to me and I feel more confident using it. This project strengthened my interactions with the program. I am confident that I can fix minor issues within the transitions. For example, making the white square move in harmony with the rest of the motions. Also having the screen transitions fade in and out smoother than how they are.
The set of plots demonstrates that a single set of rules can produce 12 assorted designs based on how a person interprets the rules. The rule stayed the same throughout the entire project. The set of designs all have things in common, yet they differ. It may be the size of the circle or the lines, the spacing in between or where the starting point was created.
The zine I created was based on the truism I believe in, being true to yourself. I wanted calm and warm colors because my truism is about accepting who you are and not letting others tell you who you should be. The blues and pinks add to the truism they are light colors. The typeface being curvy and round also highlights the tone being calm and soft, as well as the gradient background and the circles as décor. The design is smooth and not thrown at you, it gives you a chance to resonate with the truism and make you understand it.
