issa galvan

graphic design

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Graphic Design Minor

I am a graphic design minor. Therefore, I did not take Junior Studio or Interaction Design.

I am currently taking Advanced Issues of Typography.

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Weather Report

In Advanced Issues of Typography, we were to create a weather report for a location of our choice. The weather report was to be based on the distant future and was to project the high, lows, and climate conditions of four cities over a three day weekend.

We were asked to use three of the five L.A.T.C.H. concepts— Location, Alphabet, Time, Category, or Hierarchy— to interpret motion in our weather report.

 For my weather report, I chose to do time, location and hierarchy for four cities in Meixco— Acapulco, Ciudad Juarez, Nuevo Laredo and San Luis Potosi. The report started from a blank screen to random cities to the first concept of time, where Friday, Saturday and Sunday were emphasized to show such concept. Secondly, objects moved into the second concept: location and slowly transitioned to the third: hierarchy. In hierarchy, temperatures from the four cities were placed in order from the highest ‘high’ temperature to the lowest ‘high’ temperature.

For additional attributes for my weather report, I used a color palette of grey, purple and shades of blue. Additionally, I used different weights of the typeface Gotham to differentiate hierarchy throughout the video.

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Locating Place: Book

For the second part of our locating place project pertaining to east Austin, we were to design a book that explored a theme related to our work in the east Cesar Chavez neighborhood. The purpose of this project was to gain a deeper insight of creating an original experience for the reader while relating to the east Austin neighborhoods.

To create an experience beyond reading, I decided to continue with my concept of Mexican culture and heritage. I designed a book to focus on Mexican folklore. The book features the most popular tales and superstitions rooted in Mexico’s culture, which have been passed on from generation to generation and have entered the homes of east Austin neighborhoods. The book features six short tales and seven superstitions. Each tale and superstition has been matched with vectorized images of the photography that the class took during our visual research in east Austin.  Images were modified to better interpret the story, as needed.

The book is perfect bound with a black dust jacket and inner red end papers. It measures 5 ½ inches by 8 inches. Typefaces used include Adobe Garamond and Century Gothic.

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Locating Place: Interactive

In graphic design III, we spent the semester taking in and researching the east Austin area, specifically the neighborhoods along East 3rd Street, crossing East Cesar Chavez to Willow Street. We conducted visual research through derives and many visits. Our visual research dealt with taking photos of people, textures, typography, color, architectural details, daily life, activities, structures and buildings, as well as eating at local food trucks and communicating with those living in the area. After much research and many visits, we were assigned an interactive project that would embody our interpretation of the community using the images the class had taken and our own experiences. We were asked to move past the surface of the neighborhood and find its deeper meaning.

I chose to create an interactive piece in the form of a webpage. Being that Mexican culture is deeply rooted in east Austin, I decided to surround my interactive piece around that very aspect. The webpage serves as a learning guide to those not familiar with Mexico’s culture and heritage. Referencing my Mexican roots, I created a webpage to focus on the some of the main aspects of the Mexican culture— the Virgen de Guadalupe, the Loteria, Pinata, Tacos and the traditional quinceañera.  

Above you will find these five aspects making up the country of Mexico. Each part has its own rollover image, and when clicked tells the meaning behind that very tradition, along with a slideshow relating to the text.  

Link: http://myweb.stedwards.edu/igalvan/GDES3/ElChavez.html#

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History of Graphic Design Timeline

At the start of the fall semester, students were asked to create a system for our final timeline project. Our timeline was to include historical context of graphic design that we collected from class discussions, lectures, readings, assignments, projects and presentations throughout the semester.  I took note of historical events, context, people and any design and its elements that I felt were relevant to the history of graphic design. I took note of important dates, first acts of graphic design, tools for communication, various important art movements, books, gestalt principles and other visual elements that together I felt embodied graphic design. At the end of the semester, I put together the information I had gained to create a large timeline that included these elements and answered the following questions.

Is there a universal design system?

What is more important: image or type? Form or content?

What does design have to do with politics?

What does design have to do with democracy?

How does the invention of the internet and the World Wide Web compare to the invention of the printing press?

In a world of computers with fonts, templates and free images, what is the new role of a designer?

What do you think are the three biggest challenges that graphic design is facing today?

The timeline was designed to start around 15,000 BC and go through 1999.

  Overall, this semester long project was a way to gain inspiration for our individual, future designs as we learned the roots of typography and the meaning behind each art movement. It was also a great way to gain insight on the ways typography and design is interpreted in different countries and their reasons behind it.

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Visual Effects, Shapes and Gestalt

In graphic design history, my team researched graphic design objects that included logotypes, symbols, posters, typefaces, book covers and more. Together we collected different images and works that represented gestalt principles, visual effects—which included movement, depth, transparency,  and 3D— and basic shapes.  We made a collection of the images that best fit that criteria.  On my end, I collected the following images to represent the gestalt principles, transparency, movement, depth, and three dimensional figures.  Images vary from the Arts & Craft Movement, Futurism, Art Nouveau, and Dada.

  To conclude our team project, we were to individually chose a word, statement or create a design that we believed best represented the visual effects we researched. I chose  the word “surface" to embody the pieces I chose for Depth, 3D, and transparency.

How I see it, is that through these principles, the surface of the design is always what helps us describe a design as 3D, having depth, or being transparent. Having a surface, an uppermost layer, results in one of those principles.

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Symbol Design

In graphic design history, we were asked to create a symbol/logo for a cause of our choice. After researching human trafficking all semester long for my advertising class, I decided to chose this cause to design a symbol for. For the past couple of years, human trafficking has become a problem larger than we could imagine. It's become a problem that has targeted teen girls and young adult women. Due to this, I chose to depict a female in my symbol. The symbol was left black with no features showing to represent how females trafficked have been stripped from their identity. The sewn-shut mouth was used to represent  those who have been trafficked and have no voice. They are fighting to be heard and fighting to live as they once did. Lastly, the bar-code was placed on the neck to represent that they are no longer seen as human beings in the eyes of those who are trafficking them. They are seen as just a number.

Overall, this black and white symbol was created with the intent to bring attention to those who have been trafficked and for others to be aware. Hopefully, through such symbol, a call to action will occur—for others to be aware of what is happening in their own neighborhoods and "Give them a Voice and Beat Down Human Trafficking".

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Website Redesign

When visiting the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas for our graphic design history class, we  were shown different typography books from different movements. We sketched different typographic styles and grids and took note on how they varied depending on the era they were created in. After, we were asked to pair up with a classmate and take the inspiration from our sketches and recreate a webpage of our choice.

Mallory and I recreated a twitter page titled "Sh*t designers say". The site redesign was inspired by William Morris. The background was made to depict William Morris' fabric designs and patterns, and typefaces used were matched as closely as possible to his work made during the Arts & Craft movement.

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Identity Series

The goal of this project was to establish a visual format for continuity and identification related to graphic design history.  For the identity series, I created buttons for the Blanton Museum of Art, which resembled the Dada movement showcasing a system I created. My system was made based on the days the museum was open and various artists who had an impact during this avant-garde movement in the early 1900s.  In my system, each day was dedicated to one of six artists—Francis Picabia, Kurt Schwitters, Max Ernst, Raoul Hausman, John Heartfield, and Hannah Hoch. Artists are in order of the year of one of their most popular works. Attendees have the option of choosing between one of the three buttons made for that particular day of the week.

Along with the individual buttons, we were to make a poster that showcased our system where it was to be interpreted as a way to pitch the museum staff of our ideas, system, and representation. The poster showcased the actual size of the button and how it would look when placed on a t-shirt.

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 Kitchen of Meaning

In graphic design II we were to select a word from a varied list that we would focus on Kitchen of Meaning poster on. The poster would be advertising the date of an upcoming art show while illustration and defining our word through the poster. The poster was to include our word, the name of the show- " The Kitchen of Meaning"-, the location, place and the names of all the students. After researching our word and designing studies, we were to draw thumbnails and begin the process.

Metonymy is defined as a figure of speech used in rhetoric in which a thing or concept is not called by its own name, but by the name of something intimately associated with that thing or concept. It works by the contiguity between two concepts and may also work by calling up a domain of use and as an array of associations while working with the associating meanings in the same place.

In my poster, I defined metonymy by creating two different concepts bordering each other representing how its definition works through contiguity. While communicating that concept, I was able to show how it calls up a domain by using sub-domains that are associated with it. They grey scale circle represents the domain as the bordering concepts represent its associations/sub-domains. Though I chose a somewhat simple layout, the hierarchy and organization of all the elements were most difficult to place within the poster. Wanting to include very few words to better get across the definition made it hard for placement. Also, the curve and shapes throughout my poster made it difficult to place text. However, the challenge made me think outside the box allowing me to find new ways to work with text.

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Instructional Design, Part 2

In addition to the recipe card, I designed an accordion book which included the instructions on how to make migas along with a coupon for Picante Pace Chunky Salsa. The same elements and colors were used in the accordion booklet for the exception of the arrangement which was simplified to fit in a smaller space. The coupon shape and size was designed to fit perfectly on a large Picante Pace Chunky Salsa cap. This project really helped me think outside the box as I was challenged to fit many steps and illustrations in a small constrained area without leaving anything out.

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Instructional Design, Part 1

In Graphic Design 2, we were to choose from common tasks that most people already know how to do but put our own twist by creating something new and innovated using instructional design, instructional experiences used to make knowledge and skills more efficient. While being aesthetically pleasing, our design would have to correctly communicate instructions graphically.

My chosen common task was how to make eggs. However, I put my own twist by doing a specialty dish, migas. I chose to do a recipe card and accordion book which included instructions and a coupon. My intention was to do these two creations as part of the brand Pace because I use Picante Pace Chunky Salsa in making my migas. The 4 x 6 recipe card is back and front and the color scheme was chosen to correlate with Pace's branding. The recipe was created with the intention to be passed out at grocery stores where sampling of the salsa was available.

(See next entry for Accordion Book)

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Personal Geography

My personal geography consisted of my walk from the parking garage to the art building. My interactive map had initially started out very detailed but then got to complicated to try to communicate my experiences through my icons. My final map was left simple as buttons were incorporated to show what I saw along my walk. My buttons included heavy acorn mess, squirrel sightings, bike racks, crow crossing, lawn mowing, and heavy traffic as the remaining icons were just used to explain what that one icon in the map represented. The map is navigated by clicking the two sides arrows, right arrow to go forward and left arrow to go back. Once you get through the path with the side arrows, you can then click on the icons to show where you might see the specific sightings. My last component involves viewing the history of the buildings and what goes on within them. You can mouse over any building and read up and see photos of where you're at on my journey.

http://myweb.stedwards.edu/igalvan/issamap.swf

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Symbolic Methodology Process

After drafting many symbols on illustrator, I was able to finalize the three symbols for home goods, machinery, and technology. However, once choosing my final symbols I was to document my process on finalizing them. The video above shows how I narrowed down nine of my symbols to the final three, one representing each category.

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Symbol Methodology

In graphic design 1, we were assigned a project exploring symbolic form. The project was to familiarize ourselves with the conceptual aspects of signs by creating symbols. We were to choose a topic to base our symbols on and make sure that our symbols clearly communicated our topic. The topic could range from a certain industry to a current issue.

Once I brainstormed through industries, I chose to focus my symbols on environmentally friendly products. The three logos focused on home goods, machinery and technological devices that were considered to be environmentally friendly. The intention of the symbols was for them to be placed on products found in these categories in order for consumers to know they are Eco-friendly and energy efficient at the same time. My first symbol represents home goods by having the silhouette of a home with half of the recycling symbol place on it. The second symbol has a machinery gear with a globe placed within it to represent the environmentally friendliness. My last symbol represents technology as a leaf is used as a USB device. My topic was chosen by considering the wide-spread issue of being energy efficient and environmentally friendly now-a-days in order to help prevent/lessen issues we are dealing with today.

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Duck

In graphic design 1, we were to trace an image of a duck to create a vector version of the image. I used illustrator to create shapes and lines with the shape tool and pen tool to create the vectorized image. Through this exercise I got a better understanding of how to use illustrator tools such as the pen tool, as well as recognize the difference between the select and direct select tools, how to add/subtract anchor points from a path, and how to zoom in, zoom out, pan and move around illustrator documents on the art board.

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Blue Squares

In graphic design 1, we were given an exercise entitled "Blue Squares" before beginning an AfterEffects project. The exercise was intended to prompt us to start working with AfterEffects and work with rotations, transformations, scales and other elements on different axes in the program to prepare us for future projects and assignments.