Phase 1: Brainstorming
I used one of my best friends, Jessica, as the concept for this project. I picked her because I find her personality very interesting. For the brainstorming phase I picked three of her qualities and made them into secondary concepts. The concepts are “girly girl”, “party girl”, and “brainiac”. Then I added objects that relate to those three concepts.
After I did the brainstorming web, I did a few hand drawn objects just to start my ideas for the symbols.
Phase 2: Creating 9 Symbolic Icons
After I had all my concepts and ideas written down, I came up with nine different symbolic icons. It was three for each concept and I had to break it down into three categories which were photo traced, hand drawn, and abstract. The first three that I did were from the photo traced category. I traced a photo of the University of Texas tower, a photo of a pair of high heels, and a photo of a game of beer pong.
Phase 2 Continued: Creating 9 Symbolic Icons
The next ones I did were from the hand drawn category.
Phase 2 Continued: Creating 9 Symbolic Icons
For the final step of phase 2, I did the abstract category.
Phase 3: Using a Matrix Methodology
For phase 3, I had to sketch out twelve new hybrid symbols. I did three for each concept using combinations of the three different categories. These first three I did were from the “party girl” concept.
Phase 3 Continued: Using a Matrix Methodology
The next three I did were from the “brainiac” concept.
Phase 3 Continued: Using a Matrix Methodology
I then did the ones for the “girly girl” concept but I only managed to come up with two ideas.
As part of a class activity, I had to have a student critic my work.
Phase 4: 3 Vector Symbols
For phase 4, I had to choose three of the twelve hybrid symbols and turn them into vectors. These were the three that I chose.
We then had another class critic where students could leave comments or suggestions on my vectors. They could also point out any errors that I had.
Phase 5: Symbol Iterations
For phase 5, I had to come up with as many iterations as I could for each of the three vectors. These are some of the ones I came with for the “party girl” concept.
Phase 5 Continued: Symbol Iterations
I then had to choose my top three iterations for each concept. From these iterations is where I had to choose my final three symbols for the project.
Phase 6: Polishing Final Symbols
For phase 6, I had to polish my final three symbols to represent their respective concepts. I had to make sure they looked clean without any errors or sloppy work.
The Final Product
These were my final three symbols after I polished them.