midterm

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.

In my opinion, the first meta skill correlates to the “ten thousand hours” that were brought up at the beginning of the class. Experience in general, of anything that relates to what we do in class, or anything that makes use of learning from the programs that are used and will be used for graphic design. This meta skill evaluates just how much practice one has made time for and used for improvement. On this skill I would give myself a consistent rating. I use programs like Photoshop and Illustrator nearly every day, and I’m constantly finding new ways to perform a task, such as finding and using shortcuts and “cleaner” methods.

I believe that the second meta skill evaluates how involved the creator is with the work. By this, I mean that here is where iterations are critical in producing the best possible outcome of a project through repetition, and smoothing out any “kinks”, physically or metaphorically, in the piece. For this skill, I would give myself a medium rating. I don’t often like to do iterations, but I understand how important they are in the production of a final piece.

The third meta skill regards feedback; to me, this is asking how much consideration I gave the feedback. It means that if I made good use of the feedback, I was able to explore more options to the process of my work rather than simply “tweaking” a few things here and there. On this skill, I would give myself a meaningful rating. I made sure that I recalled any “issues” that my peers had with my work during critiques and thought about several options to changing it. Not only did I just simply amend the problems, I used that as a reflection for figuring out how else the piece could be improved or changed. Often times when I went back to change something, I made changes from the critique first, but then I improved upon them by making other changes that needed to be fixed as a consequence of my first edits.

I believe that the fourth meta skill deals with my mentality throughout the entire creation process. It regards whether or not I did the project just to have it done, or if I did it because I was truly engaged with the process and the end result. On this skill I would give myself a medium rating. I would have given myself an intense rating except that I do not feel as though I engaged every single facet of the project and pushed it to it’s limits. As I stated above, I do not iterate often enough to say that I have gone above and beyond on challenging myself.

The fifth meta skill also regards the “ten thousand hours” like the first. However, this one is different because it does not just regard practice time of the projects in class; this one also includes other projects for other classes or for personal work. In a way, this meta skill regards a wider range of practice hours than the first meta skill. On this skill I would give myself a rating for “lots of other stuff”. I am constantly working in Photoshop and Illustrator for personal artwork or things for other classes that are not necessarily centered around my major.

To me, the sixth meta skill evaluates to my growth as a student pursuing graphic design and how I have learned and developed from my experiences in the classroom. It evaluates how I have reacted to problem-solving and critiques and practice time for myself and for my peers. For this skill, I would give myself a mature rating. I feel as though I have certainly learned new things and have developed through this course, benefiting from crits (both those on my own work and from others, I feel like I was able to use those to think differently about my own projects) and having to problem solve.

Lastly, I believe that the seventh meta skill solely regards my relationship to my peers. It evaluates how helpful and constructive my suggestions might have been in critiques. On this skill I would give myself a room temp rating. I would hope that I have given helpful suggestions for my peers to help them problem solve or think about something differently to work around an issue, but I honestly don’t think that anything I said would be more “mind-blowing” or complex than feedback any of my other peers could have given.