Symbols Mid Term Self Assessment

As our first project in this course I want to start by acknowledging creating my own unique symbols was not only a pleasure for me, but a very large challenge. Coincidentally, the parts I enjoyed the most about this project were the parts I found the most difficult; printing on vinyl, scanning my own hand drawn objects, and finally learning to get in a rhythm using Adobe Illustrator. I think that vinyl may be a material I will have good use for my career in the future, as well as scanning documents and editing them and creating something professional from them. One of the parts of this project that proved to be the most difficult for me was actually time management and what part of the project to focus on during my practice time. To get a good idea of what I mean, I am taking 15 hours this semester, including the courses I get to enjoy, Graphic Design and Science in Perspective, Macro Economics, Pre Calculus, and Principals of Management. On one hand, this is no doubt my number one job, I am going to St. Edwards on multiple scholarships, grants, and loans; this being said I wish it was my only job, so the 24 hours I am gifted each day could go to just those classes, but that isn’t the extent of my responsibilities. I am working as a part time pastry assistant at Fresca’s three days a week, I take care of a dog aka a mini human with separation anxiety, and I take care of my elderly parents as much as possible, living three hours away from them which is difficult. Unfortunately, I’ve had to miss quite a bit of class because of health problems the people I love most are going through. When I am able to give my schoolwork the time it deserves, I spend about an hour each night sketching out my ideas and playing around with adobe.

Though I remain a little confused (generously 30% of my day) with everything going on in my courses, when I started getting the hang of the project, I found I loved the steps I went through to develop my symbols. Initially, I chose my subject or theme based on therapy, something I find many people need in their life whether it is consistent or situation based. I then entered nature into the theme, as well as themes of balance, growth, stress, and chaos. Our first assignment due for this project, the traced symbol confused me for no particular reason, but I was learning to trace on adobe illustrator was a hard at first. From this initial assignment I wish I had been able to download adobe illustrator, but I feared my computer couldn’t handle it, (it turns out it really couldn’t because it broke a few nights ago.) I ended up changing a lot of my symbols to things I thought would be easier on adobe illustrator (for example, my grapes weren’t an original choice, and were in fact way more difficult to work with than anticipated.) The free-hand drawings actually took up more of my time than the previous and the following assignment; I sketched over ten different items before deciding to use the most unique ones. I think investing my time in these sketches put me behind in the scanning and editing process, which turned out to be one of my favorite things because it reminded me why I am studying graphic design.

When I was younger, I didn’t have many friends at school, I was quiet and never really seemed to say the right things. (I guess as my professor you can see not much has changed in that department, but thankfully the St. Edwards students are actually nice and I am getting more comfortable in our class.) My parents got me my first laptop around the same time I was having trouble making friends at school, and I started playing games and exploring the Internet, where I found iconator.com (which I just realized is still in existence, but it has grown and developed with its fans now instead of aim icons you can make all kinds!) This is where I created my first published art, posted for others to use, and sometimes I would get up to 40 downloads! This project reminded me about how art was an escape from the stress going on around me, IF I allow myself to truly get lost in it. The difference between my art work from my past and now, is the support I have. I have extremely talented peers, a brilliant instructor, and a great friend who started helping towards the end of the project. Part of the reason I felt half a step behind some of my classmates on certain days was because I wasn’t using these support systems in the learning process; which needless to say is something I won’t be doing as the class proceeds. When it comes to feedback, it is always appreciated in the environment we have in our class. In other art courses I have taken, including ones on St. Edward’s campus, many of the critiques made by instructors were harsh, but only when the project was due, not throughout the creating experience. In our class, I would have honestly preferred more feed back. I think my lack of accessibility to adobe illustrator and a printer at home, often led me to making last minute fixes and printing in class, causing me to miss out on discussion I could have gained a lot of knowledge and help from. This is something I wish to learn from, I simply want to be more involved.

One thing our classed discussed was the use of white space, weight, and balance. These concepts are not only crucial in making art work, but have been studied for thousands of years, and are relevant in any art topic. When we observed our stickers Tuesday, OF COURSE I thought of multiple ways I could have made my symbols have better contrast. That being said, what I presented was unique, symbols that without a doubt couldn’t be found in any other counter of the world. My bubbly ying yang symbol as one might identify it, was my expression of balance, harmony, and how the universe never hands challenge without opportunity to grow. This symbol actually grabbed about 14 hours from me in the days leading up to our presentation, leaving me less time than my other two, and again I think I could improved my time management. One way I have been taking steps to help with my busy schedule is by beginning to take my ADHD medicine again.

Reading the second point regarding the sophistication of my work, makes me ever so slightly disappointed- the work I do in my own time, always has straight lines, particular placements, as well as a particular unnatural feel- the opposite of what I made. Sophistication as defined by dictionary.com as the change from the natural character and simplicity, or complexity, as in design or organization. I would say that the word simplicity rather than the change from simplicity best relates to the feel of sophistication, though I don’t necessarily see mine as simple. Perhaps the sense of completeness one gets when looking at a piece gives it sophistication. My clock piece was the most sophisticated symbol I presented in my opinion, because of the subject matter of time management, and the use of contrast. When it comes to art, I find my most brilliant things by trying and throwing away and trying and changing again and again until my outcome looks nothing like my original idea. This is a technique I was too nervous to use because of the amount of symbols to be created in the time frame given to us. I don’t think there should have been less symbols by any means, I think personally my projects took me so long to create because they were both unnecessarily large and complicated.

The level of challenge I gave myself was not enough in some parts, but I say that knowing I went from knowing very little about Adobe Illustrator to using it in my free time, learning how to group objects with two key strokes, or converting paths to shapes. The amount of possibilities with the program makes it incredibly interesting for someone trying to communicate their thoughts.

Although I really enjoyed each step, I was presented a new challenge with each that I felt an at home tutor would have really helped me with. My friend, graduate for St. Edwards began to help me at the end of our project because her own senior project had been on vinyl, and she will be helping me throughout the rest of our projects. At some points, I wish I had been less focused on the “image”, “photo”, and “representation”, rather more focused on the symbols. By this I mean it wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy the tracing, drawing or choosing of the photos, but I felt I chose to use ones that were difficult meshing together well. For my expert hours, I went to a couple of shows and exhibits I thought would be eye opening. I am on an art alliance mailing list, which notified me of an international POP AUSTIN show, which I went to a few days ago off of 5^th street. There were inspiring speeches, artists painting in front of onlookers like my personal favorite Jason Eatherly who made a colorful woman’s head. There was a talk about Andy Warhol, which I saw briefly, discussed by a man named Garza (I think?). So basically this is the third year a group of artists, fans, and enthusiasts were brought to Austin, shedding brilliant and inspiring messages and ideas. I also made a visit to the ART on 5^th gallery, on S Lamar, which I am sure you’re familiar with. There were gorgeous statues right when you walk in, as well as unique bunny statues, but my favorite was the Dr. Sues section, where brilliant paintings incorporating his original masterpieces were on display. I am going to take the map assignment head on with my creativity, though I think my experience will encourage me to focus on simplicity.

Finally, I want to discuss my “social emotional development” in and out of the classroom. Recently, I have been a lot less social outside of school for a number of reasons. On top of my prior discussed responsibilities, the ever scary law enforcement caught up with me under very unusual and unfortunate circumstances, not only creating a massive distraction in my anxiously orientated mind, but has proved to put a strain on me financially and with my parents. Another part of my emotional development that would be nearly untruthful to leave out on a personal report is my depression and anxiety I have been fighting since I was young. I felt so much social pressure when I was little, it was verging on bullying at many points, and because of this I have a very strange you might say phobia of school in general. In the middle of my sixth grade year I left the school I had been attending my whole life and transferred somewhere new; this helped me a lot with my development and I found somewhere I fit in. I feel comfortable amongst my classmates, I try to communicate my opinion on each of their projects, as well as ask questions when I need help. This being said I have a natural fear if not phobia of rejection and literally just started asking for my fellow classmates numbers to work on projects with them. I wish to try harder to break from my own mind and enter the classrooms climate, even make the classroom a more energetic environment if possible. When it comes down to the overall ratings, I would give myself: an uneven score on my practice time, somewhere in between awareness and clueless for sophistication, improved work from feedback, some extra stuff for expert hours, young when it comes to allowing what is going on around me affect my school performance, and a warm contribution to the classroom.