Over the last two years I have seen myself develop as a designer through the progression of school and freelance work. I have seen my typographical, compositional, and conceptual skills improve and change with each subsequent project. While my fine arts background provided me with basic color theory, since starting the graphic design program at St. Edward’s, my color theory has been refined even more.

I believe that my strongest capabilities as a designer are my compositional  skills. Since I have such a strong background in fine arts, I have extensive knowledge of the do’s and don’t of compositions. While graphic design compositions are not the same as say the composition of a painting, the same basic principles remain. I strive to achieve balance, harmony, and flow through the relationship and arrangement of the elements of my visual projects. In my Typography I class I didn’t struggle with the compositions of my work as much as I struggled with the concepts behind them. I would design a poster and be happy with it’s appearance, but had no reason behind the placement of my type and graphical elements. I overcame my initial troubles with composition when I designed my Type Specimen book for Typography I. After being dissatisfied with my Design Culture Now poster I was determined to improve my compositional and layout skills. I achieved this by trial and error and making several versions of each page until I decided on one that worked. I realized that this was when I developed my own personal design process. I was exceptionally proud of my Type Specimen Book, which showcased the typeface ITC Century Standard and featured the essay Drinking from the Crystal Goblet by Gunnar Swanson. I was pleased that the type family of ITC Century Std contained sixteen different typefaces because it gave me a variety of different styles to work with. This allowed me to highlight and emphasize certain words, which I felt helped the reader to understand the essay in a different way. I felt that my color scheme helped was relevant to the essay which references wine, so I felt that the deep plum was appropriate and that it was nicely complimented by the mint and cream.

ITC Century Standard

My second project that I would like to discuss is my process animation from my Image Methodology class. I was assigned to create an animation that depicted a process of some sort, so I chose the metamorphosis of a butterfly. I was eager to create an animation using my own drawings because I am very interested in integrating my fine art skills into my graphic design. When I created this project I was not as well versed in Adobe After Effects as I am currently, but I am still very proud of this work. It was a very challenging and engaging assignment that I truly put a great deal of effort into. I wanted to make it more interesting than a stereotypical informative metamorphosis video that you might  see in a middle school science class. I decided to go with a psychedelic, Alice in Wonderland inspired theme, which I felt made the process of metamorphosis just a bit more interesting. While there are aspects of this project that I now see are not 100% perfect, I did not want to alter it because I think it is beneficial for me to be able to see how my animation skills have developed and what I still need to work on. I have definitely improved my timing, fluidity, and transitional skills, but could use further development with effects, transformations, and finesse.

Another one of my strengths as a designer is my illustrator skills. While I feel that my true abilities are not exhibited in all of my projects, I believe that they truly are in my Cognitive Decision Map. I created a map that showed the decision making process of someone trying to decide what pet, if any, is the right fit for them. I create an animal icon for each pet that I referenced. I spent countless hours designing the animals for my map and this was definitely the most successful of my three maps that I created for my GDES I class. I feel that the detail in the animals gives my project more depth and sophistication. This project definitely tested my organizational skills a great deal. I had so much information that seemed random, but I had to figure out a way to make the scattered process of making a decision appear to be a clear, step by step process. While this could be further resolved so that there aren’t quite as many lines and arrows, I feel that it is still a successful design and I am proud of it. I initially had several more pets to add to the exotic section of the map, but the map felt too crowded and busy with the additional pets. I thought the edition of the reference to the level of difficulty of each pet was also added another level to my design because it is an integral part of deciding to purchase a pet. For example, while chinchillas are adorable, people often overlook that they require a great deal of care and upkeep.