Z's Process Book

This tumblr is a Process Book/Blog for ARTS 102_005

[zsumnerarts102-005]

Blog Post #7 - Final Post

This class, overall, was really enjoyable and I feel like I learned a lot. I think the biggest things I learned were adding new steps into the creative process and learning new Adobe Applications like InDesign.

The last project went by a lot quicker than I thought it would. I remember checking the schedule and thinking I could take it easy for the rest of the semester until finals week came along. The design process took up a LOT of time, and, if I'm being honest, I'm still not 100% satisfied with the end product. As all do, with hindsight, I would have done things differently down to the first project. I think my favorite thing about my classmates' projects was their cohesiveness and consistency between their projects. That, in turn, gave for a very consistent and well-flowing process book. I have always had an erratic and inconsistent style in my art, so I know it couldn't have been helped for me, but I do think I did the best with what I had. Although not 100% satisfied, I think I did well and I am not dissatisfied with what I ended up with.

Moving forward, I believe the skills I learned through these projects will be useful in my future.

[zsumnerarts102-005]

Blog Post #6

Process booklets are harder to make than I had expected. I now believe I chose correctly in not aspiring to be a magazine designer.

The challenge that has come from this project was surprisingly large for me. Not in the content, or finding the right layouts for words, but in the overall design itself. I absolutely love the color blocks people are doing for their process books. Everyone seems to have a nice aesthetic to go along with their previous projects. I, do not feel as if I had that. As I see it right now, my booklet is stuck between boring and empty and (still) boring and cluttered.

However, complaining never got anyone anywhere. So, I'm looking forward to this next critique where, for the first time, I will heavily be relying on the opinions of my peers. For now, I have just *put* color on the page. I have a bit of a pattern going with placement, and I like the color palette I have. I didn't initially like it, but I've now experienced firsthand that it really does look different when it's printed out. I felt it was too dark and saturated on the computer, but when it was printed out, some of the pages, to me, didn't even look like they needed changing. So, for this next critique (maybe I'll post an update for myself) I hope to get some honest opinions and maybe some helpful suggestions from my classmates because I obviously wasn't made to design magazines.

[zsumnerarts102-005]

Blog Post #5 - 11/3

Project 5 took me a bit by surprise. It was a super quick project, and it almost felt too easy, especially considering the nature of the project. It was basically just making sure we understood the terms and usage of Syntax and Semantics.

Initially, I was skeptical of the project because of the time frame we had to complete it, but we really did only need two days to finish it. I imagine it took an even shorter amount of time if one chose one of the basic example items we were given to do for the project. I did challenge myself a little. I'm not too big on purses, shoes, or cars, so I decided to choose something random that was just simple enough that I wouldn't confuse myself with the semantics. I ended up choosing chapsticks as my object for this project. I feel like I've gone through enough chapsticks in my day to judge them for this project.

I was only a little wrong. I think the hardest part about choosing chapsticks was finding enough difference between them that one would have a larger impact somewhere versus the impact of one of the other ones. I even had to change one of the chapsticks to a different kind in order to get more contrast between them.

[zsumnerarts102-005]

Blog Post #4 - 10/20

This past project was really fun! I loved being able to look back on old characters that I loved and rewatching the movies for this project.

The characters that I chose to make a logo for were Jedediah and Octavius from Night at the Museum. These characters made up an iconic duo in this movie franchise, and everyone loves a good bromance. There was no way I could do one of them and not the other.

In starting this project, I was immediately starting something new by following the tutorial provided to work completely from my iPad. Procreate is the main tool I use for drawing, so I was really excited about this. It was a bit tedious at times, but I ended up liking the end product more than I imagine I would have if I worked solely in illustrator. That being said, I will definitely be trying it again in future projects.

For Jedediah, I thought it was interesting how different his final logo ended up being compared to the initial sketches that I favored the most. The one I thought I would end up with was either a simplistic lining of a typical cowboy or a full silhouette of Jed holding up his pistol. After critique from the class, I fiddled with both of these ideas more, and actually went against the majority and chose to shorten the silhouette and use that. I ended up really liking it and it was even easier for me to color than the logo idea that I had liked before. I also got to learn really quickly some extra skills that I hadn't had before in illustrator, like how to turn a gradient.

Lastly, for Octavius, I had a lot of different ideas for his logo, but I knew whatever the final product would be, it would include his helmet in some way. The tiny roman soldier is iconic in many ways, but I think his armor, and especially his helmet, are the most memorable and identifying part of his character. I did like some of my sketches a little more than the final product for this one, but I decided to go with what the class favored. I did so because I didn't necessarily dislike the logo they chose, but it was more iconic.

[zsumnerarts102-005]

Blog Post #3 - 9/30

This past project was definitely my favorite so far. As I had said in my previous post, my goal was to do better with the balance of illustration and typography. I do admit, I was heavily focused on the illustration, but I do think I did well thinking about where the text would go afterward. And, overall, I think I did a really good job at the unification of the two.

The biggest challenge of the project was the beginning. I knew but was still a little surprised at the bipartisan rule. However, over time I realized it really wasn't too hard not to specify. I believe this also helps with graphic design in general. Simplicity and Vagueness can be beneficial to your design, but it also pushes you to take a step back and think in a different way to get the same idea across. After the quote, and general idea of the design were chosen, it was all a smooth cruise from there.

I'm excited about this next project because I feel like I'll be able to implement more things that I have learned from the textbook and class time together. I feel like we are now moving more out of the technical/adobe side and now moving more into the actual "real world" design process by thinking about big picture ideas like style guides and company looks.

[zsumnerarts102-005]

Blog Post #2 - 9/15

This next project has my creative gears dusting off and creaking. The previous projects were great, but working with black type on a white background isn't necessarily what gets me up in the morning. Project 3, where we make a non-partisan voting poster, is really intriguing to me all the way around. The whole non-partisan part is the biggest thing for me. I put myself into everything I do. Even if it's super small, if you look hard enough, you will find some trace that I was there. So, trying to exclude my ideologies, while also creating an effective poster, has proved to be really stimulating.

This reminds me of something Matt Luckhurst said in the textbook. He said that when he looks to hire, he looks for “younger, more interesting, and more talented than [himself]”. I feel like I see both projects and partners this way. I always get really excited about something if it has potential for really good ideas and good quality end products, and I get really excited to work with people that I see as more skilled and creative than me. Both situations are a fantastic opportunity to learn, and not meaning just a tiny step forward, but a leap in my understanding of the area I'm working in. The sketch that I ended up going with, the puppet lurching for the ballot box while snapping its strings, is something that would push me both in the sense of effective typography, illustration, and creating a unified work. I often focus on one or the other with type and illustration (which I feel is seen in my first project), so I hope to improve by focusing on the work as one, unified whole for this project.

[zsumnerarts102-005]

Blog Post #1 - 9/1

I found the textbook a lot more interesting, and a lot easier to read than I had initially thought. I felt I learned a lot through reading so many different artists' interviews. It was strange as well because even though they almost all had completely different experiences, the baseline advice they gave was almost exactly the same.

I also thought it interesting that out of the advice they gave, I often paid a lot more attention to the similarities in what each firm/freelancer looked for in a hire. Some preferred to focus more on personality, and skill was also a requirement, but others put skill and efficiency on the forefront, then decided on whether the hire's personality lined up with what they needed after. Every single interviewee mentioned passion, interest, or enjoyment of the job as a requirement in what they look for in people to hire. This is an understandable trait to want, and maybe I'm just not one of those people that they're looking for, but even though I don't get excited over the idea of throwing words and letters around all day, I think I'd still be good at what I would do. Of course, I know graphic design is more than that, but in my mind, visuals (such as images, drawings, characters, etc.) are just so much more fun to work with.

I also think this translates into how I've worked on these last two projects we've done in class. I feel as if in Project 1, I spent a lot more time on the visual/pictorial elements of the project, and had to really try to get the textual information to blend and look like it naturally went with the image. In the most recent project, Project 2, the idea of creating 3 pieces that are both abstract and only made with letters/type seemed like quite a daunting task. Trying to see the type as characters is something I've been asked to do in other classes as well, but it's still taking me a lot of practice. My brain is always trying to categorize and organize, but these classes have taught me that abstraction and ignoring the meaning of letters to create new meanings are skills that may be necessary in the world of design. Thus, I'll do my best and keep working on it to better apply it to future projects.