Month: October 2016

I’m still not too sure whether I did this correctly or not but this is an idea a I have for this sequence project. I explored some of the University of Texas campus and came across a vast amount of nature. That being said, I decided to revolve my idea around development and growth. The first row represents the growth of an individual which inevitably results into the beginning of a life-time and start to a grand journey. The middle row is blank because it is a representation of where many college students stand considering we are still trying to create something of ourselves while also trying to find out who we are and what we are passionate about. It is up to cherish, learn, and work where we desire to be in life. The bottom row is the direct result of what comes from the middle row; depending on whether we keep believing in and taking care of ourselves, it will either lead to a happy and pleasant ending or a miserable and displeasing lifestyle.

Although the presenter that spoke about advising did not really speak much about anything i did not already know, I found it helpful when he used Graphic Design as the example for planing for upcoming courses. As he presented about the curriculum, it helped me plan for the future and have a better idea of what courses are to come. That being said, it is helpful for me to know ahead of time so I plan to my future as customized and convenient as possible.

The presentation that most attracted me was the advisor from the GEO center. Because I got many of my general and basic courses out of the way in high school and because my major has courses that are only offered at certain times, it would be harder for me to travel abroad. However, I would like to take the required religious course abroad sometime next school year, particularly somewhere in Europe because my sister did so and really enjoyed it. It was really helpful to know about their office hours and when is the best time to plan about studying abroad one-on-one.

The art and fashion presentations were rather interesting because all of the information, material, and passion they displayed was new to me. This particular presentation showed the sophistication and pride they take in their work, so being involved in something is what I would like to experience at St. Edwards as soon as possible.

             Memento Sequence of Events Review            Memento was hands down one of the most complex, yet, captivating films I have ever seen. At first, I was somewhat confused at the beginning, but as time in the movie progressed, it was easy to see the recurring pattern in which made this movie so effective. I felt like the theme of this movie’s sequence of events was displayed by showing a complicated snippet of the future in one scene, and then a clarifying part of the past that ties the two time frames together; sort of like a cause-and-effect, except in this case, the audience is presented the effect before the actual cause. In a way, the sequence may also be a representation with how Leonard’s mind works. Because of the injury Leonard sustained in the middle of the night, he is only able to remember his life prior to the incident which, ultimately, limits his ability to create new and long-lasting memories. The film works similarly to his condition because the audience is exposed to unexplained movie scenes that leave us in wonder, much like how Leonard feels after five minutes have passed and he has no idea what he has gotten himself into. The only difference, however, is that the scenes that follow show the audience what happened, whereas Leonard’s only resort of reasoning and knowing come from photographs, writings, and documents. The film as a whole also moves through a spiraling motion. The first scene of the movie is what would have eventually happened to Teddy because of how Leonard’s mind lives for the daily, vengeful hunt for his wife’s “killer,” even though he cannot remember that the person he is chasing has already been caught. Likewise, the story with Sammy Jankis is actually just a fictional representation of Leonard’s own story, with the exception of a few alterations. For example, both Sammy and Leonard have short-term memory disabilities and a wife who is diagnosed with diabetes. Since Leonard’s wife, in fact, was not murdered that night, she could not bear the fact that her husband was unable to create new memories. Because of her disbelief, she decided to have her forgetful husband give her excessive amounts of insulin which led to her death—which is the same thing that happened to Sammy Jankis. This ties with the sequence because it shows how the outcome of that night has haunted his existence, which led him to believe that his only purpose for living now is trying to find his wife’s killer– even though his determined and on-going conceptual cycle for revenge will never stop. All in all, time, memory, and sequence were all the key components this movie needed to successfully express its theatrical theme and focus.

Based on the presentations from both alumnis, I would say that it is always nice and refreshing hearing from students who have gone through the same process that I am just beginning. Its also interesting to know that there are many doors waiting for me to open if I properly apply and prepare myself. Because it was confusing to distinguish what Abbas was saying, I feel as if I could relate to Camille more because of her interest in Graphic Design. I feel like her experience and that this is a new journey in her life made me realize that that could hopefully be me in a few years. I learned that there is a job for graphic designers in the Student Life office in which will enable us to gain practice and experience through something we are passionate about. Hearing the recommendations from her also made me mentally note to try and take the Print Makings course along with also aiming for a paid internship opposed to a non-paying one. She also mentioned that practicing her creative skills was a fundamental step in which lead to her over all knowledge.

I had posted this earlier but somehow it is not opening up anymore. Anyway, these are some scans of some of the items I scavenged On SoCo a couple of weeks ago.

Because this was the final collage and the instructions were open to the artist’s interpretation, I feel like combining the digital and applying it the a physical analog (and vise versa) allowed me to express myself in more than 1 way. Although now I know that I can upload my Photocollage as a PDF instead of taking a picture, I made this one the day before Wednesday’s class because I did not save it. However, this will serve as a learning lesson for future references in terms of more efficient uploading. But as far as the analog, I used snipets of a past collage and incorporated them in a cleaner and less chaotic manner because I learned that less is usually more. I feel like my experience with Photoshop is slowly but surely improving along with really applying myself to make a clean, organized, and presentable, physical analog. That being said, I am forward to upcoming projects!

SKILLS INVENTORY

My greatest strengths in Rhetorics and Composition II would have to be my experience and willingness to continue to learn about writing.
For greater success in this course, I need to continue to learn from class discussions, reading assignments, and by communicating about my work with my professor.

Computer skills:

My computer skills include experience with Microsoft Office, internet exploration, and alight knowledge over Adobe Applications.
I still need to learn how to master Adobe applications to elevate my skills  as a young Graphic Designer.

Research & writing skills:

My greatest strengths as a researcher/writer include my past experience in past college-level rhetoric courses and knowing more or less about the elements that are composed for making an apt writing.
I need to work on these aspects of research and writing though more practice and learning from class.
I learn best & accomplish most when I collaborate with others and review books/notes pertaining for that particular class.
ACTION PLAN

Although I am not struggling in any classes, I would have to say my most intimidating class would have to be Visual Studies.

1.) Clarify directions for an assignment with my professor.

2.) Invest more time towards my work.

3.) Work on spacing time for project throughout the week instead of towards the ending of the week.

4.) Learn from peers and collaborate my ideas with theirs

5.) Research other artists and their work.

6.) Read instructions more clearly.

7.) Learn Mac commands and shortcuts.

8.) Self teach myself about applications.

9.) Review notes from past concepts.

10.)  Get familiar with technical terminology.

I was glad that I was finally able to get my hands on a project that had to do with Photoshop. Although I have had a little bit of experience prior to this course, I am no where near being close to an expert. Although I had a few moments of confusion and uncertainty, I feel that I will have a slightly clearer vision and some more quality practice with this application when dealing future projects. For one collage, I tried going for more of a chaotic and meshy approach, while the other collage is a bit more focused. These collages are not the best, but I feel that only time and effort will allow me to improve my skills.

Part 1:
1.) The first picture is a collage on Photoshop composed of photo’s I took on South Congress for Tuan’s Visual Studies class. The second is the concept, except on a physical analog. The goal of these projects were to make a completely abstract and unrealistic collage from the pictures we took on South Congress from past class projects.

2.) I was more confused on the physical collage, which is why it is considerably less abstract than the Photoshop one. While working on the Photoshop collage in Trustee, Tuan was there to help guide me in terms of making it more illogical and abstract. I tried reaching this goal by making it nearly entirely abstract and unrealistic as possible through unusual geometric cuts.

Part2:
1.)The strongest aspect I felt towards my own work would have to be the color spectrum and paradoxical chaotic organization that is displayed in both pieces.

2.) The weakest aspect on the physical analog would have to be its lack of abstraction and focusing on instinctive logistics.

3.) Conceptually, it can be fixed by focusing my attention on making it more ambiguous or abstract instead of whether it is realistic or believable.

4.) Technically, I could have just simply cut into the pictures more so that way they are less evident as to what they are– leaving the viewer to see a more abstract piece of work.  For the digital collage, I could just use more practice and experience with this application to gain more knowledge on how to properly work it.

5.) Overall, I enjoyed working on the digital collage and I look forward to working with more of those application in the near distant future.

Personally, I enjoyed working on these collages and making them each have a certain focal point. In the first collage, the main color associated with most of the pictures would have to be red. Red is such a vivid color that is found on pretty much every corner of South Congress. The second collage’s theme deals with nature. The top part of the collage is blue which is a solid representation of the sky, while the bottom color is predominately green with elements of dirt such as stones. The final collage is in some ways scattered, but that is partially what I was going for. Both side show alliteration, but the right side is more subtle, black-and-white, organization while the left side is more whimsical and colorful. At the center, “So Nostalgically Austin” is the center piece; ultimately related both sides towards this amazing city.