Month: March 2017

1. What is the “thing”?
After looking at the files that were inside the mystery folder, the “thing” looks to be a conference for the Fulbright program and scholars. Many of the logos in the folder come from universities that probably offer opportunities for the Fulbright program, and other logos that are not from universities are probably business sponsors of the program. Also within the mystery folder is a subfolder with images of people. I think that these people are previous and/or current Fulbright scholars.

2. What can I design for the “thing”?
For the Fulbright celebration/conference, the first thing I thought of that could be designed for it would be a poster. The poster would most likely be sent through digital platforms such as emails or social media, but a print version could also be made in addition to digital ones.

3. What is the order or process to design the “thing”?
First and foremost, I would need to know basic direction information for the conference. Things like the physical venue and the date and time. From there, any particularly important guest speakers would need to have their names on the poster, as well as the sponsors for the conference. Because the conference is for the Fulbright program, the Fulbright program logo will definitely need to be shown. Once the necessary information is gathered, I will need to figure out the hierarchy of putting it on a poster design. What is placed at the top, in bigger text? At the bottom in smaller text? What goes in the middle? An image? A series of images? Whatever I choose will have to be interesting, but clean for the sake of a quick read.

4. How granular? What’s the big picture? What details to include?
As a notification for a conference, I imagine that there should be quite a bit of information included on the poster so that recipients know what to expect. At the same time, it should look clean and easy to read, not cluttered and busy. For example, is the venue a well known location, or will a map thumbnail need to be included? Can the time and date be represented through an icon, or does it need to be spelled out in text? How many guest speakers? What is the color palette, even? It should match the theme of the event, the location, and/or the Fulbright program’s official logo, that much I know.

For my expert hours at the beginning of the semester, I said I was around 4500 and wanted to gain around 100 more by mid-semester. I certainly spent many hours learning new methods in After Effects (after spending hours doing something the long way). Additionally, I used several hours to iterate the graphics that I created for the animation in Illustrator before and during I worked with keyframes in After Effects. I would definitely say that my hours are enough.

I think that my definition of sophisticated work is still the same, but I think that this weather project made me work harder at a more sophisticated end product. This included making sure that each element of the animation is cohesive. Specifically, I had to pay much more attention to making sure that the style of of animations that I used for the elements on screen were consistent and harmonized.

Coming into the semester, I already had experience with creating graphics in Illustrator, such as the symbol and maps projects from GDES I. This made the process of creating icons and text for the weather report a quicker process, and in fact the quickest process of the project. I also had some experience with After Effects through the Interface App assignment in Image Methodology. However, the knowledge I had was very basic, so I grew much more comfortable with the application after using it extensively for this weather report project. Additionally, I was able to use the LATCH technique to work around the problems of keeping elements on the screen at the same time while making their movements cohesive and not cluttered. This I think can even be useful for static graphics and layouts outside of animations; how to be aware of space between objects and the hierarchy of how the eye perceives them.

I think that I’m still curious about how I could make the animation more appealing if I used different LATCH methods, or if I went about it in the most effective way. There was a conversation last class about what the best order of LATCH structures would be for these animations. I suppose I’m most curious to know if there would have been a better way to rearrange the structures that I came up with.

I think that as far as value goes, this project is the most valuable. In comparison to the maps that I did in GDES I, I was able to take what I learned on making sophisticated icons and put that knowledge to use to make effective weather icons and other related graphics for the animation. After years of iterating various symbols and icons, I’ve become very comfortable with using them. In comparison to the Interface App project in Image Methodology, this assignment is much more fluid and polished as an animation. I have had more time to understand how After Effects works. I can now easily dictate to the program what I want to happen, rather than letting the program dictate what I can do because I didn’t previously know enough about it. Overall, this weather report assignment is a culmination of learning experiences that is thus far the most valuable to me because of how much I learned from it.

Lastly, I would say that my own work and self-growth has contributed at most 40% toward the overall growth and creativity of my project within class. I tend to use my life’s experiences to influence how I might resolve a problem I come across, or as a starting point for what direction I want to take a project. I would say that quite a bit of feedback from my peers during class, my friends, and my family has contributed toward the other 60% (and below is a visual representation of such). I use their critiques and outsider perspectives to think differently about whether or not the things I make are coming across to other viewers the way that I want them to. And if not, I am able to discuss with other people how to make it more clear, and highly value their opinions.