What did we do?
Homecoming Package
The first project the seniors worked on this year was the design for the homecoming poster, ticket, and breakfast invite. The theme for homecoming this year was Above and Beyond and Senior Committee came in to pitch their ideas of what we should include on the poster and in the design. This project only took about 3 weeks to complete. The short time was due to the fact that homecoming is at the beginning of the school year and they needed the posters up before then. The main challenge I was faced with in the project was the limited amount of time to complete it. Something I learned during this project was that I need to prioritize my time a lot better in order to complete the project without being rushed. Some feedback given to me during the critics of this final were to be more creative with my type. I struggled a lot with deciding type and being able to manipulate it in the allotted time. Something I did change was the color scheme and the type that I originally had to something better. Although, the type could have been better I needed to turn it in for Senior Committee. Overall, I think this project was a good experience, in the fact that, it was pretty fast-paced. I do wish that we were given more time to complete the project, though, because I think I would've been able to improve my design from what it turned out to be.Here's a link to my Behance for this project.
https://www.behance.net/gallery/56627351/Homecoming
Hand Typography Card
After the Homecoming project was the hand type card. This was to be made by hand through sketches and tracing, scanned onto the computer, and then design the card and clean up the hand-made type. The card itself was to look like something seen in a Hallmark store. I based my card around Halloween. This project we were not rushed as much as the Homecoming project. The card took almost 1 month exactly. Some of the challenges I faced in this project was being able to make my card look like Halloween even though I didn't want any color on it. Another challenge for me was that I had a hard time mocking it up and, therefore, it does not look as good as it could have. Something I learned during the card project was too take more time on making the final mockup look good and not just rush through it because I want the project done. Some of the feedback I was given was that I had great hand type but I needed to incorporate that into the design better. I ended up changing the design to just spiders and the creepy, oozing type I created. Overall, I enjoyed this project because it really centered around the hand-drawn aspect and allowed me to do more of something I enjoy, which is draw. I think the design process was good too because we were given plenty of time to work on it. I think my project turned out well, although, the mockup could be better.Here's a link to my Behance for this project.
https://www.behance.net/gallery/57618879/Hand-Typography-Card
Company Branding
The next project we did was the company branding. The requirements for this project were to create a realistic company, design its logo, letterhead, envelope, business card, merchandise item, uniform, phone app, and the interior and exterior of the company's building. For my project I came up with a home insurance company. We just recently finished this project and it took about 2 months to complete. Some of the challenges I faced while doing this project was creating a company logo and the mockups for the merch item and uniform. During this project I learned that I need to be very specific when I send things off to print because they have special settings for different types of projects. For example, my letterhead was printed on an 8.5" x 11" with a bleed but I needed the actual letterhead at an 8.5" x 11". Some feedback that I was given on my company branding was that I needed to package my logo better. So, instead of having some type and a symbol off to the side I tried to make my symbol flow better into the type so that it obviously goes together. Overall, I enjoyed most of this project and I am happy with what I've come up with. I think it was nice to have lots of time to design because there were a lot of different elements.Here's a link to my Behance for this project.
https://www.behance.net/gallery/58372913/Company-Branding
Breast Cancer Awareness T-Shirts
This was a project I decided to take on myself that was not associated with school. I have a family member that was diagnosed with breast cancer and it was planned that I could come up with some encouraging t-shirt designs. This project took me a little over a month to create, although, I added it to my Behance much later. A challenge I faced in this project was being able to come up with original ideas and not just something I found on Google. Throughout this project I learned how to design a t-shirt because that was the first one I have done. Some feedback I was given was to change some of the t-shirt colors and make different color designs on each. I did that, I also cleaned up a lot of the designs and made more sketches to see if I could come up with more ideas. Overall, I really liked this project because it means something to me and I also was able to go at my own pace. I think it turned out really well and I plan to get some printed.
Here's a link to my Behance for this project.
Time Spent in Class
The way I use my time in class is that I put the priority project first and once I get that done I move to the next project or I try to update my Behance as best I can. Although, I only have a few outside projects I do do those when I finish my class work. To stay productive when I have finished early I try to improve some of my Behance or I work on an outside project such as the Breast Cancer Awareness T-Shirts or the logo I am currently working on for a friend. Things I do outside of class to enhance my work would be sketches or sometimes I look at Behance to see what other people are creating and that might spark some inspiration.Strength vs. Improvement
Strength
One of my strengths in graphic design is that I enjoy drawing and I would say that I am pretty good at it if I try hard enough. In order for me to maximize that I strength I like to make a neat sketch or drawing of a part of my project to see if I would like it or sometimes scan it in. That is very similar to the sketches we do for every project but I enjoy making them look very nice for the designs I like.Improvement
An area that I really need to improve on is making my mockups. Some of my mockups look realistic and decent while others just looked like I plastered it on there. To improve on that I am trying to find a mockup for my outside project so that I can work on making another mockup. I hope that I can improve in this aspect sooner rather than later.
Summary
The thing I loved most about this semester is that I get to spend a lot of my time with people I really like and I get to be creative while doing it. As far as projects, my favorite so far is my Breast Cancer Awareness T-Shirts. Something I would change about this semester is that I would try to find more outside projects so that it isn't as hard to catch up on my hours. I would say my overall takeaway from this semester is that it is really important in graphic design to prioritize the time given and really make the most of it. The goal I would like to set for next semester is to improve my mockup design skill and to prioritize my time better so that my projects look satisfying when I am finished with them. I enjoy being able to get creative at school and even if this is not something I plan on making my career in I am glad that I have the opportunity to improve in this field.
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