Critical Assessment

Looking back at my designs in typography I, i can say that i have grown as a designer in terms of having a better eye and knowledge of design. There is much more to design than simply putting things on a page and make it look “pretty”. There are thought processes and growth of ideas to create something that is original. The button pin module and the information graphic project both express my growth and better understanding of design.

The project that i enjoyed and had a strong connection with was the button pins project or Rules. This project embraced the  concept of rules and emphasized on the idea that although you are restrained with rules, you have endless possibilities to create something just as good as something that was done without restrictions. A facet of graphic design that i have the ability to notice and use effectively is consistent style. The button pins, in my opinion, show style because the image used and the pins are unified by color. Also since the image is focused on the texture of the tree, i decided to focus on textures seen at a park.(Red Bud Isle). In terms of improvement, although there is consistency, changing the footprint texture to a more nature based texture would strengthen the connection between the image and the pins.

https://sites.stedwards.edu/visuportfolios-msantosa/2015/02/15/rules/

 

Another project that i enjoyed and saw transformation in my design was the information graphic. This is another project where i spent a lot of time about the style and the actual data graphics. My data was about music preferences of college students. I initially displayed the data simply on semi stylistic pie chart and bar graph. However i started thinking outside the box in terms of what else i could do with the data graphics. Thats when i decided to implement the pie chart within the ipod and create equalizer bars for the bar chart. Also i wanted to make my symbols more useful, so i put them in places where necessary. For improvement, i would adjust the spacing of the text in relation to the graphics and possibly stylize the line graph to have the same consistency as the other two graphics.

 https://sites.stedwards.edu/visuportfolios-msantosa/2014/11/28/informative-map/

 

From comparing my most recent work to the work i have done my freshman year, there has definitely been improvement. I started with little knowledge of the adobe programs but i gained countless skills in creating design through different projects. From being so involved in the world of design, i now notice in my everyday life. From paying attention to design outside of classes and projects really influence inspiration and ideas. I try to tackle each project with this mindset and try to also keep a mindset of : “If this has been done, what can i do to improve it” to create something new.