1) Where are you in your hours that you declared earlier in the semester? Looking at your work now, are your current accumulated hours enough?
I would say I anticipated 4 hours working outside of class, which turned out to be a pretty good estimate. I would say I probably spent more than those 4 hours working outside of class. I think that I have accumulated a good amount, but I could still be working even more. I don’t have After Effects on my laptop so I was limited from Monday to Friday 7-10 pm since I’m in the lab anyway. Sometimes working with after effects take a bit (for instance, the first hour or so I mostly spend it fixing stuff that got messed up since the last time I opened the file).
2) Has your definition of “sophisticated” work changed from last year? If so, how so? Can you visually document it on the blog entry what is sophisticated in your Power Report?
Last year, I considered “sophisticated” work to be one that was very structured and based on a grid and one that had a very good color palette. This idea definitely changed, and I’m working on other class projects to break out of the “traditional graphic design” and try new things that I would normally not use. I would also go crazy trying to pick a color palette (and when I say crazy, I mean it!) I would make different iterations in different color palettes. Even from the first L.A.T.C.H. practice motion to the Power Report, you can already see improvement. What’s sophisticated about my Power Report is the colors I used (I stepped back, picked 2 colors and used gradients/shades of those colors). I also think that the small animations, like the wink and the paintbrush, make the video more interesting.
I3) Describe how the new things you’ve learned so far connect to what you already had known coming into the semester.
I had absolutely no knowledge of how to use after effects. I sort of knew how to make short videos using the timeline in Photoshop (which is super limited and honestly sucks) so I had an understanding of using a timeline and basic video concepts (frames per second etc). I also understood that depending on what you want your work to focus on, for instance, hierarchy, you can do several things to emphasize that. However, for some reason, when doing the still frames I would often think I was emphasizing it enough when I really wasn’t. So I think that I’m starting to become more conscious about that.
4) What are somethings you are still unsure about in this project that you would like to know more about?
The map!! I’m still struggling with how to make the elements appear more cohesive and not make it look like a mess. I was wondering if it would be easier to start with the map as the first latch, or simply keep what I have and try to make the map work out. I just feel like no matter what I try things are always colliding with each other. Also, the animations for my map right now seem a little distracting.
5) Assign a level of value to this project. Identify two favorite projects in your creative life and place this Power Report project relative to them. How close or far are they from one another? What qualities did each project have that the other’s didn’t, that would rate them higher/lower? If this project rated low, did that mean you could have spent more time on it? What did you spend your time on?
My two favorite projects are the Truism Zine and some Instagram highlights I made for my internship this summer. Ranked from most favorite to least: the Power Report, Truism Zine, Instagram Highlights. The one reason why I rate this one higher is because I’ve interested in doing short videos but I had no clue how to use After Effects. For my internship I wanted to create some videos and using the Photoshop timeline was honestly a pain. Also, both the Power Report and the Zine (but mostly the Power Report) require a level of difficulty, and I enjoyed challenging myself. Despite how painful using After Effects can be, it’s exciting to be able to show my video to my friends.
6) Break down the percentages of what entities are responsible for creating growth within the creative you. Am I part of it? Part of it is on you, right? Do you consider your classmates/friends as influencers on the course of your trajectory for success? At the end of the semester you will be evaluating me, but right now within your own pie piece, how much have you brought to the game? How did it end up that you brought that much?
20% Other professional designers (I will look at their work online)
25% Professors (Jimmy and You!)
15% My classmates/My friends
40% Me
I do think that my classmates and friends have an influence on my trajectory for success. I think we all encourage each other to succeed but mostly push each other to work harder. I would say I’ve been working a fairly average amount of time. I know my video could possibly have even more animations if I spent more time working on it. So I don’t think I’ve been going above and beyond, but I am proud of what I have accomplished and most importantly I do like what I’ve created.