Final Critique

     Did everyone enjoy the final critique? Could you see yourself working on future assignments like the ones that were presented in this class? Were you happy with your final project? Do you think your respective would use your brochure as their official brochure?

     I just want to say that I enjoyed everyone’s brochures because they all were amazing. Look at how far we’ve come from the first day of class to where we are now. I’m happy with my final project because this experience was more than a class for me. Initially I took this class because I needed the credit, but I enjoyed taking this class this semester. This class presented a comfortable and engaging culture which I loved. It was more of an evolution of my artistic skills. I now have the skills to complete these projects in the future. I would love it if the Strong Museum used my brochure as their official brochure. I would be on cloud nine if they choose my brochure for their official brochure. I hope that my excitement and love came through with this project.

     The Strong Museum is always going to be a part of me because I constantly went there as a kid, and I go whenever I get the chance to. As we get older and we continue to pursue our careers, we tend to lost things that made us who we are. This is one thing that I’ll never get bored of, and I always want the Strong Museum to be a part of my life. If I have kids in the future, I want to share this awesome place with them as well. I can’t wait to go back next summer. Experiencing the Strong Museum every year can become a routine for me. Rochester, here I come!

Least Favorite Project?

     What was your least favorite project from this semester? I think everyone knows what my least favorite project is. Image and Text is definitely my least favorite project for a number of reasons.

     I couldn’t figure out how to fit all of the text from the various articles into one coherent piece. For those who were able to use one of the more difficult text documents into a visually appealing piece, I applaud. I also couldn’t figure what colors I wanted to use. It was a complete mess.

For my project, I decided to use the pumpkin story because it seemed like the easiest one to do. You don’t realize how your poster is until it’s printed and presented on foam core. That’s the one thing you have to have when you compost graphic designs, and that’s confidence. Without confidence in your piece of art, it will fall completely on its face. I think that’s the reason this project turned out the way it did was due to a lack of confidence. I didn’t know how to use the software at the time, but I continue to make improvements every day.

     In retrospect, I think I would have chosen a different template to work with because I didn’t like how my final project came out. I learned something valuable from this project though. I learned that the best designs are the ones that you are truly proud of, and they don’t have to be overly complicated. By sticking with that idea, I was able to produce better projects down the line. This is one project that I don’t want to ever see again. I’ll throw it in my closet, and I’ll stumble across it again one day. I also have the software at home so who knows, I might take another stab at it if I have some free time.

Favorite Project?

     As we come to a close for this semester, what was your favorite project? It’s tough for me to say because I really enjoyed the Instant Book Project and the Poster project the same. I think I’ll give the nod to the poster project because it was the most expressive.

     You could do whatever you wanted for the Instant Book project, but the Poster Project had more meaning to it. I decided to primarily focus my poster project on stealing digital files because companies have to reevaluate themselves due to the fact that so many people steal digital files on a consistent basis. By downloading files, you’re not only hurting the industry but you’re also hurting all of the fans as well. This isn’t a new problem that occurred over night. Illegal downloading has been going on since the early 2000s with Napster. We know what happened to that company. Downloading a file here and there might not seem like a huge problem, but you have to think about it this way. Put yourself in the artists’ shoes. If you spent all of your time and effort in creating this masterpiece, would you want people to rip you off and not pay you for work? Money isn’t everything, but it could help you produce your next project or support you financially.

     Legal distribution might be the answer to the downloading problems, but people will always find a way around it. I felt this topic was relevant so I’m glad I decided to follow through with it. Everyone has downloaded at least once in their due to the convenience of it. A ten year old kid could log into any computer and start downloading files in an instant. It shouldn’t be that easy. That’s what I call Designing with a Conscience.

Least Favorite Exercise?

     Going along with the theme from the previous post, what was your least favorite exercise and why? This one is a no brainer for me. I couldn’t stand the exquisite corpse exercise. Once I completed the exercise, I realized that my final piece didn’t look anything like the example from the website.

     The first reason I couldn’t stand this exercise is due to the number of directions you had to follow, and then I was really upset that the people on the site didn’t even do half of the steps in their final example. How can you expect anyone to create a similar piece of art if you don’t provide the proper instructions? That just doesn’t make sense to me whatsoever. For example let’s say that you had to rotate an image or change the filter on the image, they completely omitted one of those steps from their final example. I would sit there and wonder why my final example didn’t come out like the one that was pictured. This is the only exercise where they “forgot” to do some of the steps. I remember they did the same for the Type on a Grid exercise, but that exercise wasn’t as annoying as this one was.

     Talk about leading by example… The only way we found that out what to do due to the fact that one of my fellow classmates noticed the error as she was finishing the exercise. I’m sorry I don’t remember your name, it was so long ago. I would not recommend this project to anyone for whatsoever reason. Take it from me, avoid this exercise at all costs. I had access to the software at home, and it still took me hours to figure out what I was supposed to do. I had to constantly ask for help with this exercise.

Favorite Exercise?

     What was your favorite exercise and why? I actually had to look through the previous exercises and see which one I enjoyed the most. I honestly forgot what exercises we did because we didn’t have to do them in a long time. I think the “Type on a Grid” exercise was my favorite exercise for various reasons. I couldn’t remember reading any of the instructions for the other exercises and thinking, “I can’t wait to get started on this one.” This exercise intrigued me from the beginning.

     The first reason I enjoyed this exercise is due to the fact that it seemed the most practical in a sense that I would actually use it in a real world environment. I could possibly see a company asking one of use to make a striking design for a newsletter or some other publication. Whenever you think about a company or business, the main thing that sticks out in your mind is their logo or image design that sets them apart from everyone else. That image will make a lasting impression with anyone. The second reason this was my favorite exercise is due to the fact that I had the most fun with it. A lot of the other exercises just seemed time consuming, and they weren’t as fun as this one.

     This exercise just got to the point as well. If I remember correctly there wasn’t a lot of background information associated with this project. Most of the other exercises would give you too much background information where it became a chore just to even get through the directions as well. If they wanted to add a ton of background information to an exercise, they could’ve made a heading that said “Background.” That simple touch would’ve made these exercises a lot easier than mixing the instructions with the background information.

Need Help With Your Brochure?

    How is your final project coming along? Are you facing a standstill, and you’re looking for some help? Where did the time go? Well I think I found the right website for you. It’s virtually impossible to escape brochures. Wherever you go, you will see a brochure for various companies and organizations. While I was snooping around the internet, I came across this helpful site.

    This site is brought you to by the Brother Company. Brother This website will allow you to make free custom brochures so you can see what it looks like before you finally commit to a project. You don’t want to commit to a project if you are truly happy with it. If you didn't know, Brother also makes various types of printers as well. This website is great especially if you don’t have access to the Adobe software at home. Most of us don’t have access to the software when we’re on campus due to the machines being available on a small number of machines. I know what I want to do for my project, but I was just wanted to help others who might be stuck with their project.

     I’m currently in a limbo where I don’t want to finish my final project. I have mixed feelings about it. I have to figure out what’s going on with my printer because I want to make sure it’s perfect before I go, and get my final brochure printed out. I don’t want my final project printed out, and there’s a typo or something on my brochure. The other side of me wants to get this project finished so I can focus on my winter break. I’m so tired of going to school right now. Good luck on your final projects! I can’t wait to see them next Tuesday.

Overall Progress

     As the semester comes to a close, I feel that I have improved in this class in every single way. Does anyone think that we would’ve made it this far? Initially I didn’t know how to do many of the basic functions of InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop. I’ve used Photoshop in the past, but I never did anything this in depth with it before. I couldn’t make a coherent piece of art to save my life. I now have the confidence to compose pieces of art that are more complicated. I mentioned this in a different post, but once you build on the skills you’ve started out with, you’ll amaze yourself at what you produce.

     What used to be a stumbling block is now a challenge that I’m willing to tackle any way see fit. Graphic Communication isn’t hard, but you have to know what you want to express to the world or class, and you’ll be fine. This class showed me that you will hate your project, and then you’ll finally love it once you have finished it. I’ve felt that way so many times because I didn’t know what direction I wanted to take my project in. There was a few times where I would completely scrap a project so I could start over from scratch. Even doing that at times would cause more stress than it should have. I’m proud at everyone because we never completely gave up on a project no matter how stressful it was. I think my experience with this particular class would’ve been totally different if I took it with a different group of students.

     We’re always helping each other out, and we’re not too critical during critiques. I want to say thank you to everyone who made this semester so awesome. I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Final Project

     Initially I didn’t know what I wanted to do for my project. It finally hit me after I viewed what some of the other students were doing. My girlfriend and I always go to Rochester for our summer vacation. Every year we make sure we go to the Strong Museum. It takes me back to when I was a child because I used to go there all of the time with the YMCA, and I enjoyed every minute of it. If you never been there, I highly suggest that you go whenever you get the chance to. You will have the time of your life!

     The main reason why I love the Strong Museum is for the simple fact that you can do whatever you want, and have a good time while you do it. I honestly think the best exhibits to go to include the video game revolution area, or the Bernstain Bears area. I believe I read all of those books as a kid, and I would honestly go back and read all of them if I had the time to. I really enjoy the video game revolution area because gaming has been a part of my life since I was two years, and it will always be a part of my life. They constantly add new areas to the museum as well. They recently added a Dora the Explora area, and they just announced they added a new Star Wars exhibit. I’m going to go back soon!

     I enjoy it now because I can go where I want, and I can choose to stay in one exhibit longer if I want to. It’s a much better experience. I was glad I was able to share that part of my childhood with my girlfriend because she never went to the Strong Museum before we went. What did everyone choose to do for their project?

End of the Poster Saga

I was truly impressed with all of the posters that everyone presented. I couldn’t believe where I drew my inspiration from. I was putting back some returns at work, and I passed by this copy of Batman the animated series. I can’t find the exact title, but I shared the following photo. It’s the Batman costume in the middle.

In retrospect, I wished I spelled Pirates of the Caribbean correctly but I was pleased with the outcome. I couldn’t believe that I misspelled Caribbean. I didn’t notice it until I took a final look at my project right before I presented my project. I’m glad that I chose to experiment with color for this project. The color and the text really came together as one. My poster stood out from the other posters, and I'm proud of that. The reason my poster was different from everybody else is due to the fact that I used a lot of text for my poster. The added text truly drives the point home. I think my main point stuck with a few people because most of my classmates read the poster board over and over.

 I believe this is my best work, and I wouldn’t change anything about this project. I can’t believe that the end of the semester is upon us. It seems like yesterday that we were composing our initials projects, and we didn’t know how to use the programs fully. I can’t wait to see what everyone produces for their final project. For my final project, I’m going to make a brochure that features photos from the Strong Museum. I’ve always loved the Strong Museum because I used to go there all of the time with the YMCA. I don’t care how old I get, I will always love going to the Strong Museum. That will never change.