For the symbol methodology project, we started by coming up with a topic that would be an umbrella for our symbols. My umbrella topic was running. We went through a process of creating icons and stylizing them, to hybridizing different designs together. I think this project really showed the importance of process. It was through the process that I was able to create something abstract that still fell under the category of running. I started with literal representations then when I started making non-objective symbols, it opened up a whole new world of creating for me. My symbols embody the concept of running by incorporating themes of running within each symbol. Together, they make a system that represents running. Overall, I was satisfied with both the process and end result. These symbols allow you to think and go deeper into running.

For this project, I addressed typeface selection, the grid, the spread, and the text flow across the paragraphs, columns and rows along with consideration of design elements. This helped me with hierarchy, type style and the document parameters like margins, gutters and many more. By demonstrating all of this, it impacted the message, meaning, readability and legibility.

These are screenshots from this project and at the bottom is the link to the PDF.

FINAL PROJECT- typography-1ia0xc3

Typography is one of the main foundations of design. I created my own font called Skinny Please that was narrow and then I created the poster to show it and how it can function as a typeface. This project really helped me understand hierarchy because of the different levels to show my typeface. The primary level hard the large display and then going down it gets smaller. The process of this project was challenging because we had constraints on the program we could use to create our font but I am very pleased with the end result.

From the letterform scavenger hunt to find the alphabet in nature, the next step was to compare what I found in nature to actual typefaces. I had to research different typefaces and pair them with what I found. It made me familiarize myself with the major typeface groups to build a relationship between found letterforms and existing typefaces. These are screenshots from the powerpoint that I turned in.

These are screenshots from the powerpoint I turned in.

The Letterform scavenger hunt project was about going out into nature and finding the alphabet throughout it. The goal of this project was to develop my own power of observation and challenge myself to see something where it might not seemingly exist. This project was interesting and really forced me to focus on my surroundings and really look at nature to find hidden letterforms.

These are screenshots from the powerpoint I turned in.

All the information that was given to me is about the Fulbright Associations 39^th annual conference that took place at George Washington University and it happened in 2016. I think we were given all this information because we are going to help give it a brand. I noticed that the schedule that was given to people at this time was confusing and hard to follow. My ideas are that we are going to make programs, schedules of events and a logo or icon for the conference.

I am on track with my hours that I declared earlier in the semester. I think that I have enough hours because of all my extracurricular activities outside of class. I am on the cross country and track team at school which requires hours of practice and dedication. I am on scholarship and have to do what is required of me to maintain that. I also do a lot of volunteer work. It has been difficult to keep up with my expert hours and balance everything but I am doing my best.

Sophisticated is work that one can be proud of and feel like they have completed what they aimed to do. In my weather project, I communicated the same pieces of information in different formations which I believes I achieved in a sophisticated fashion. My weather report was simple but I really wanted to work and focus on trying to capture the choreography and movement. I thought my weather design was good but it could have been made more sophisticated. I feel like I achieved my goal and created a sophisticated piece of art.

Learning more about after effects has been so helpful and I really like the program. It definitely connects to the portfolio app we made last semester in image methodology. The weather project has made me pay more attention to space, time, colors, and especially movement which I think are all important principles of design. Freshman year we did the circle book with helped with movement but it was interesting to use movement more like choreography to a dance. I still have a lot to learn with the program but it has made me very interested in the animation field.

I think overall I would want to know more about after effects so I can make more things and and expand my skills on animation. The part that I was most unsure about in this project was what typeface to use. I have a hard time picking one that goes well with the rest of the project. I feel like I need a better strategy and purpose for picking a typeface. This project definitely challenged me and made me focus on the relationship of motion to meaning. I think understanding this relationship better helps one communicate what needs to be communicated.

I think the value of the project is very high and important. It allowed me to discover more about after effects and the relationship between motion and meaning. The idea of choreography is challenging but so important to know as a designer. A project that I think relates to this is the portfolio app that we made in image methodology. It was my first time using after effects so it was very challenging but I was glad I was familiar with it before starting the weather report. I would say it is important that I did the portfolio app first and then did the weather app. The two are close but my skill level between the two is far. Another project that I find important was the plotter project from image methodology because it was about creating a strategy and was about making our own process which I think was also involved in the weather report. I think all three of these projects have many aspects that make them close together. What sets them apart is my skill level but have these two projects before the weather report better prepared me.

I feel part of this class and I have gotten closer to my classmates that I would definitely consider them my friends. We have bonded over projects and I love that we all go through it together. As a designer, critiques and feedback are so helpful. I think our peers help us grow the creativity within us. Actually anything that I experience has had an impact on my creativity. I feel like I have brought a lot to the game because I participate in crits and when we have work days, whoever I sit by, I always ask them for feedback or what they think about my work and I do the same for anyone who wants my opinion. I think the key to bringing something to the table is listening to what my peers are asking and to give them the best advice/feedback I can. All this stems from my creative growth entities.

For this class, my goal is to dedicate at least 5-6 extra hours a week out of class but in addition to our assigned class work. I want to understand type faces more and explore all there is to know about type.  My goal is to learn all I can in class and spending time learning and practicing outside of class. I hope that by doing this that by mid semester, I will be able to increase my extra hours and balance everything together. My goal specifically for this class is to increase my knowledge on typography and reach up to an average of 10 hours a week. By the end of the semester, I hope to reach over 100 expert hours so that during the summer I can achieve even more expert hours.

I think it is important to practice a lot per week. As an athlete, I have always believed that practice does make perfect. It allows me to work on where I am weak. Personally, I think that as long as you can handle a lot of practice and still have time to complete other obligations that you are doing the right amount but if you cannot get other things done then I would consider that excessive. If you barely do anything and you have a lot of free time, then I would consider that to be weak and not enough to create sophisticated work. I would situate myself in the perfect balance of doing a lot of practice but also handling all my other obligations.

Sophisticated is work that one can be proud of and feel like they have completed what they aimed to do. I think my icons on my last map are sophisticated. I worked hard on them because I really wanted to test my ability to create icons and show that there are more ways to communicate things compared to just writing. I feel like I achieved my goal and created a sophisticated piece of art.

I think I am very good at dealing with feedback. I take everything that is said about my work into consideration because I believe that is how you grow as a designer. Some of the most meaningful feedback that I got was how to make my tony pierce map have texture and for my decisions map, I loved talking in a group and getting feedback on how to make it easier to read and the hierarchy of it. I tried to incorporate all the feedback I got and I also wanted to use the feedback that others got as well. I wanted to fix and grow from the choices I made in my process of creating my maps.

I definitely think that the maps challenged me. Every map was unique and required different attention. The challenges I encountered on the first map was coming up with a topic. I had a hard time getting started but then I realized that I wanted to try more food trucks and that sparked the idea of taco food trucks along south first street. The ones I chose are the ones I want to try and see how good their tacos are. I think making it personal helped me get passed the obstacles. The easiest part was putting it all together once I had a plan for what I wanted. For the second map, the hardest part of organizing the information and trying to understand excel.  I wanted to find a connection between the information I graphed so I gathered everything about entertainment. The easiest part of this map was the colors and the text. For the third map, the hardest part was deciding where to place my icons and how to set up the map. The easiest was making the icons and it definitely was the most enjoyable. I loved being able to create what I wanted to see and I am really happy with how it came out.

Outside of class, I am on the cross country and track team at school which requires hours of practice and dedication. I am on scholarship and have to do what is required of me to maintain that. I also do a lot of volunteer work and I am trying to start up my own organization to raise awareness for an illness I suffer with and so many other women do as well. Creatively, I have entered into a design contest and I submitted some of my work to an on campus magazine. I also help my mom, who is an interior designer, with her projects. I am looking for an internship so that I can learn hands on skills in the job environment.

My life outside of school definitely has an impact on my school life. I am taking 18 hours and its stressful and requires a lot of me. I also suffer from 4 stomach diseases which puts me in the hospital often and requires me to cram my work in sometimes. I have to go to physical therapy twice a week for one of my illnesses and I drive an hour there and back to do that. I have some personal issues at home that are affecting my family as a whole and I just always have a lot on my mind but I do the best I can to juggle athletics, academics, outside of class practice, sickness, and my social/family life. I think I have excellent time management skills because I always make sure to complete my work but I put in a lot of effort to make sure I do the best that I can. I am a perfectionist and I love to do well and I think I have an excellent work ethic though I have many things on my mind that I have to deal with every day.

The most ideal classroom environment to me is one in which everyone is excited and willing to work. I feel like the classroom environment this semester has been exactly what I like. I feel part of this class and I have gotten closer to my classmates that I would definitely consider them my friends. We have bonded over projects and I love that we all go through it together. As a designer, critiques and feedback are so helpful. I have anxiety talking in front of groups of people but I feel like I have gotten better because I am more comfortable giving feedback and talking about my work. I truly believe there is always room to improve and be better but I definitely think I am on the right path to meet my full potential. I know I still have a lot to learn but I am excited and ready to continue this journey.

These are the maps I designed:

This is one of the plotters I submitted to an on campus magazine:

Midterm Assessment Essay

 For my expert hours in relationship to my use of practice time, I would say I am consistent. I am creating my own line of elegant dresses and I always set aside a few hours to work on it. I do all my work on time and I give my best effort every time. I feel like throughout the projects we have done in class, I have been consistent within each step of the process.

I think the sophistication of my work is at the medium level. I don’t have much experience with illustrator but I have been practicing and doing my best to learn how it works. Because my experience level isn’t too high, I feel like it shows in the sophistication of my work, rating me at medium level.

I think I am very good at dealing with feedback. I take everything that is said about my work into consideration because I believe that is how you grow as a designer. I would rate myself at meaningful because I care and want feedback on my work so I can improve and so that I learn from my mistakes. It helps teach me what works and what doesn’t work.

These projects have challenged me in different areas. Using illustrator and learning how to use the vinyl cutter have definitely challenged me. I also challenge myself to learn from previous projects so that I can grow in all areas, especially craft. I would rate myself between medium and intense. I think I am above medium but I haven’t reached intense yet. I still strive to get there.

For other expert experiences I would put myself at “lots of extra stuff” because I am a part of the cross country team. I am on scholarship and I have to work hard and travel on the weekends. It takes up most of my free time but I am also a part of other organizations. I am taking 18 hours which requires a lot of extra time for each class and I have to do all of this while still improving and exceling in my running.

My social emotional development is at the mature level. I am in control of myself and my work. Yes, I stress out and put pressure on myself but I work well with pressure and I feel like I haven’t procrastinated at all this semester. I have been on top of my game with all my assignments and feel like I am striving in my working environment.

I feel like I contribute to the class and would rate myself at warm. I enjoy learning and contributing in this class. I give feedback and participate on a daily basis.

One of my elegant dress designs

Match Box from Image Meth.