Semester Reflection

A dead end Iteration: a Past Project Critique

At the beginning of the year I chose to do my dot project on a hurricane. The concept was fine, but the formal excecution was not quite up to par. The project as a whole could have been pushed further and explored more deeply to solidify a strong message. There was a lot of concideration in this project but perhaps consideration in the wrong areas. I was stuck in a mind set of communicating the obvious. Rather than taking the oportunity to transform my book using imagery, it seems to me like the book was "safe."
I should have taken the imagery into more consideration. There was a chance to use altering imagery instead of supporting imagery. Although there seems to be a slight nudge at the idea of altering vs supporting, I never really took advantage of, and exploited the strength of altering imagery.

Semester Reflection:

Throughout this semester I have grown as a designer in more ways than I thought possible in a few short months. The harder I worked and the more I pushed the stronger my work became. It seems obvious but really, nothing can be so obvious that it is obvious. One thing that I will utilize for the rest of my life as a creative person is the skill of iterating. Quantity, Quantity, Quantity seemed to be the theme for me this semester. Before this semester my process of making was a lot different. I would chose a concept, usually the first in my mind, and try to execute it to the best of my ability. In design I've learned to exhaust everything in my brain. What good is an idea if it is only a thought. Everything must become a visual artifact. Everything needs to be put on paper and evaluated. By exhausting every thought possible, it is then easy to push past the cliche and find an original idea, a fresh concept. This method of making has led me to grow in multiple ways. The two most important are the rate at which I work, and the level of conceptual and formal strength. This idea of quantity makes quality, really hit me mid-semester and will affect my work from here on out.

In the first project I struggled to get where I needed to be. I would say my work was decent. Diving into the project I struggled conceptualizing my theme. The beginning stages of a project are the most crucial and critical to producing meaningful, brilliant work. Because of some gray areas in  my concepts and formal decisions, my book was lacking what it needed to be great. Craft was sacrificed on a few pages due to the time crunch. This boils down to time management, which is another skill I have started to harness.
In the second project I really pushed my self to create something I was truly proud of conceptually and formally. I tried to iterate on every decision made throughout the project. I think Pushing myself from the start allowed me more room to explore the posters in the end. Also, I spent more time digging deep into all aspects of the project to strengthen my posters. Because of the amount of iterations I did, I feel like I was more easily able to stronger work than in project one.
Project three was possibly the most enjoyable and the most frustrating at the same time. I struggled creating motifs that weren't overly obvious or too far of a stretch to comprehend. Visually communicating an idea in one shape gave me a run for my money. I enjoyed the hands on approach to gathering the marks that would create the motifs. Moving into animation, the project became more frustrating but more exciting simultaneously. I have found a new affinity for motion graphics. I think animating typographic compositions would be exciting.

All in all the semester turned out pretty good. I can see growth, which excites me, but I still have a ton of expanding to do in order to be the designer I want and need to be. The fundamental principles I have learned in this semester have enhanced my work already so much. I am excited to see where I go from here.