What did we do?
This semester
in Graphic Design we had a Name Typography project, Rebranding project,
and are now working on designing menus for restaurants.
Name Typography
In this project we were to
take characteristics/interests of ourselves and put it into a clear
representation in our name, through manipulating fonts. This project took about
3-4 weeks, as it was the first one. We took a few days to sketch, then about a
week to find and manipulate fonts, then a day to critique our work, and another
couple of days to clean up our project. Once everything was how we wanted it to
look, we mounted our work, and published our designs onto Behance. Some
challenges I faced during this project were, not quite knowing how to
manipulate fonts, and bringing in images to image trace them. When I figured
out how to do these things the project became much easier. I learned how to
manipulate fonts, image trace and expand images in Illustrator. Some feedback I
was given was to not focus so much on a graphic in my project but the type, and
making it flow better. Something I changed was that I didn’t put as many graphics
on my project and I used more type manipulations. My overall opinion on this
process and project was that it really helped me branch out more into
typography and I learned a lot about type and manipulating type.
Rebranding
In
this project we were to seek out a company that did not have a well designed
logo, re-design it, and then create more appealing packaging for that company.
This project in total took around 8 weeks. We needed to start with sketches,
then move to working it out on the computer in black and white, then add color,
make multiple concepts, critiques, editing from critiques, labels, putting the
labels on the bottles, photography of the bottles, and finally putting the
project up on Behance. Some challenges I faced making this project would be
making the label. I don’t feel that before this project that I was good at
labels so making my own was difficult. On the way, I learned to look at lots of
different labels online for inspiration. It is much harder without inspiration.
Some feedback given to me was to change the white bottle labels I had, to black.
This, I think, added a much more professional feel and look to my final
product. I did end up changing the labels to black and I also changed some
positions of words on my labels. Overall, I think the design process was really
well formatted. I think it was good to go in steps, like we did. I am pretty
confident in my final product and I think this was a fun project.
Menus
This project
we just started. We are creating a nice menu for a restaurant that either does
not have one or their menu does not look good. We have been working on it for 2
weeks now. The biggest challenge for me in this project is that we are working in
InDesign and I am not familiar with this program. I am however learning how to
use it. It’s hard but I’m learning it. I don’t enjoy this project as much as
the others because I don’t like the program we are using and I am not as good
at it. So far, I have done my sketches, made a paper grid, and finished one out
of the two concepts we are doing.
Time Management
In class I believe I used my time
productively. There were times that it was easy to be distracted and off task,
as well. I used the time in class to work on all the computer things because I don’t
have that access at home but I can sketch at home. Staying productive when I finished
early was harder for me because I didn’t really know what I could’ve been
working on. Sometime I would ask a friend or two if they thought I could do anything
to make my work better. Other times I would work on my Behance and make sure it
is cleaned up. Outside of class I do not have much time to work on graphic
design. Although sometimes I do come in before school starts to get a head
start or to catch up on a project.
Strengths and Improvements
My areas of strength in graphic
design are finding inspiration, turning things in on time, and giving feedback
when someone asks me. To maximize these strengths, I help people when they need
help and I know how to help, and I also make sure I know the deadlines so that I
can have my work in and ready to go. An area of improvement for me would be
getting out of my comfort zone and asking for feedback for myself, and focusing
on graphic design in my extra time. To improve this, I can go to someone else
in the room for feedback, and I can listen to music so that I am not as easily
distracted.
Summary
What I
loved most about this semester is the rebranding project. I thought it was a
lot of fun and a good challenge. It wasn’t too easy or too hard. Also, making
new friends in this class. Something I would change or do differently would be
making an effort to stay on task better so that I can get the most done that I can.
Overall, I think I learned a lot about the processes that come with graphic
design and the steps involved in making a successful product. A goal I would
set for next semester would be to find a project or something to do when my
class work is all finished. I think graphic design in my most fun class and I enjoy
it!
