Author Archives: aherna2d

Interview Booklet

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For this project we created and designed the content as well as hand-bound the booklet.  We all conducted and recorded a 15 minute interview of one of our classmates. Then we made a transcript and edited to half the length and this became the content for our booklet. We designed the size of our book based on the typeface, leading and point size we chose. Then, after making various proofs, we learned how to make imposition dummies on our press-sheets. After the files were  finalized, we sent it to our rizo printing press.  After we received are sheets back we folded, hand-bound and trimmed our booklets to create our final product. We made about 25 copies each. While these booklets did not incorporate a  lot of design in terms of visual elements,  I learned a lot about the printing process and all the work that goes into printing books and assembling them into one final product.

Directed Studies Posters

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In this directed studies class, we approached design by starting with research and then rule making.  After conducting research in the event that we were assigned, we made rules for typography, image making, color, hierarchy and composition. By  making these rules,  the intention was that it would enable us to focus and push past our first ideas  and what was expected without having to take too much time focusing on these elements. Most of the products of this class, primarily posters, were done at a fast pace. While both the final products of these posters  and the approach to creating were different then what I’m used to, the experience allowed me to learn a different perspective of designing.

Locating Place: Book

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Locating Place: Book. This book was made as part of the Locating Place Project for Graphic Design III. It explores E. Cesar Chavez Street in Austin, TX. For this project, I mainly focused on the nature aspect of this specific street. In the early stages of the project, I noticed large variety of flowers, trees and plants that could be found while we were exploring the street. I after more exploration and research I came to realize how important it is that nature is present in any given place and in our every day lives.  They are good for our health, aesthetically pleasing and they also add personality to the place in which they grow. Therefore, for my project I decided to choose specific locations that had such flowers, trees and plants that added personality to the place.
Home is a short story I wrote about a little boy that walked around E. Cesar Chavez in his dream looking for a way back home. During his dream he encountered different plants from specific locations that gave him hints back to his home. I based all my illustrations on places where I felt that their foliage added personality and that others could recognize if they visited this specific area of Austin.  I decided that the only color necessary was that of the plants to give emphasis to their presence. I  also decided to use speckle-tone paper and hand bind it using the Coptic stitch  because I felt that these gave a more natural feeling that would match the style of the illustrations and the overall concept of nature for the project.

Overall, I am happy with the final product of this project. While there are some small details that I would change, there is not anything  I am extremely unsatisfied with at this moment.

Animation: Beyond

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Beyond was the final video project for animation class. In this video, I included a walk-cycle was well as sounds and music. The project was open to any theme of our choice and I decided to make a video about a girl who goes through a magical door in the forest and ends in a different world where she encounters different creatures. My main characters were a girl and a guy that was based in  a pencil pouch that I have.
I am satisfied with the overall project, however there are a few things that I would need to fix such as some awkward movements and some small oversights in the way the body parts are layered.

Animation: Self-Portrait

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In animation class, we made these short videos in which we practiced our use in after-effects and the walking cycle. The theme of this video was to portray a type of self-portrait. In my video, I decided to include illustrations of my my-self as well as some things that I like in general.

Locating Place: Animated GIFS

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ah_p1_Gif1 GIF_2 GiF3 GIF4 GIF5

 

Locating Place GIFS: The previous 5 GIFS were made as part of the locating project in Graphic Design III. They are based on the E. Cesar Chavez Street and were made as a form of brains storming and iteration process that would help us define what aspect of the neighborhood we wanted to continue exploring for the next part of the project which would be a book. I really enjoyed learning how to make these GIFS. While there are some GIFS that I would remake, I believe that they served their purpose. I thought that they were fast and easy to make and really helped me  explore various styles such as photographs, illustrations and collages.

Directed Studies Website

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For this project, we got into  small teams  of about 2 or 3 to make a website for the different visual departments. On my team we focused on making the website for the art department. The process began with getting in touch with the client, in this case a faculty teacher, and then making wire frames and style tiles. Then we made a mock-up and tweaked more design and layout elements. Finally, we  coded the website. We made the website  from the scratch, without using a template so we could learn about the basics of HTML and CSS. Since our groups were small, and they were also people on two  different teams, I was responsible for most of the Art website. I did most of the wire-frame, design and coding.  I think there are many things that could improve, but for a first encounter with web-design, I learned a great deal and I feel relatively satisfied with the end product.

Fulbright Program Booklet

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Program Booklet_Final

The theme for this program booklet is Adding Perspectives.  Taking into account the fact that the conference would be about different issues in our modern society, the theme connected with the different ideas of the speakers and the various perspectives that the audience would gain on these subjects by attending this conference.   This idea of different perspectives was also shown in the cover where the text is displayed at different angles inside the circles.  The bright colors were chosen to give a feeling of energy and innovation. For the graphics, the circles were chosen to give a feeling of unity. Overall, the feeling that I wished to convey on this booklet was that of new ideas and energy gained by knowledge.

Adventure 5- Adventure!

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The objective for this project was to go out on someone else’s adventure from project 3 and make a 30 second video. My place was the Mayfield Preserve and according to the instructions, I was to go look at the area were the peacocks were and this was supposed to give me a sense of wonder. After actually going and looking at these birds, it was not hard at all. I really enjoyed the visit and I tried to portray the peace and wonder I felt in my 30 second video.

I went twice for shooting since I was barely learning how to use the camera and there were some technical issues like overblown shots and out of focus scenes but I got better by the second time. I also returned so I could re-shoot scenes with a better composition. During the editing faze, I tried to cut the footage and edit it so it matched the music and it built up to revealing the peacock. Overall, I am satisfied with the video although I feel like a few of the shots could have a better composition.

Adventure 4- Tournament!

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INFECTION BASILISK

 

For adventure 4, we revisited the games we modified in adventure 2 to play as a tournament. We chose one as a class for this adventure and split into teams of four. The objective of this project was to come up with the team name, color as well as our individual nickname and then have them screen-printed on t-shirts. The team name design was made as a team and the nickname design was made individually.

Our team name was “Infection”. After many iterations, we decided we wanted our design to look intimidating so we used a bold san-serif font and made it look like the shirt was drooping over it as well as the name dripping down. We opted for green as our shirt color to make it look like slime and chose black for the design.

For our individual names, we chose various monsters to keep with the theme of intimidating. My individual nickname was Basilisk. Out team decided to have the name and an image representing the monster. I made the design really bold and simple, but after finishing, I think that I would have liked to add more detail to it.

Adventure 3: Instructions

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Buttons Go Here!Adventure-3-Pictures

For the Adventure 3 project we had to go out and explore different places in Austin and then post about them in one of our social media such as Facebook or Instagram.  Then we had to choose 2 places and write instructions so that someone else could have the same experience and feel the same emotion as us. For the final product we made mementos for the two experiences and packaged them along with our instructions.  Someone who completed the instructions would then earn the mementos.   After this project I realized that if we take the time to explore, there are many things in the city we might have never noticed before.

 

 

 

Weather Report

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For this project, we had to make a weather report that included three of the four L.A.T.C.H structures and organize four different cities’ temperatures and weather conditions over a period of three days. For my video, I tried to make it look like an app created by fictitious company named Global Travel. This project allowed me to continue learning about After Effects. I also learned about the importance of sub motion in addition to the overall motion of an object when trying to emphasize it.

Adventure 1: Groundwork

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Items in my Bag

In the Adventure 1 project, we had to pack a bag that we would take with us if we were to go exploring the city and then photograph all our contents and make a poster in InDesign. In this project, I learned how to isolate objects in Photoshop and after looking at other’s posters I also realized how the items of a bag can tell a lot about a person.

LATCH Exercise

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This project was about using movement to show the components of the L.A.T.C.H structure which are location, alphabet, time, category and hierarchy. In this project a learned more about the different tools in After Effects. I also learned about how movement of the object itself is an important factor when trying to emphasize a specific structure.