Semester 1 Review

What Did I Learn?

Technology

     Throughout the semester, I learned how to better use Illustrator so my patterns looked natural and connected together so when putting my pattern onto mockups and a digital layout of my box, it would all fit correctly and perfectly. I have learned so much in the technology department of e-Com. When I was a Freshmen, I could barely use Photoshop, and Premier Pro. I struggled so much, but i eventually learned how to use both of them efficiently. The next year when I was a Sophomore, I hated Illustrator because I didn't know anything. It was if I was starting over again in the learning process. I eventually learned the tools and shortcuts of Illustrator that I now use Illustrator whenever there's Graphic Design involved, even in my daily life. I used to do very small projects in Illustrator that would take a couple hours to about a day, but now I have done so many month long projects in and out of Illustrator that I have the stamina and attention span to dit down and do what I need to get done. My Sophomore year, we did many Photoshop tutorials, and then towards the end, I did a Vector portrait of my grandfather and many other vector portraits. The Photoshop tutorials took minutes, maybe a hour at most. The Vector Portrait took many weeks and hours to do. I had to stay after school to finish the project. I worked so hard and stayed after school so long that my muscles in my hands were sore. While I worked so much in Illustrator, I do need to go back and do some Photoshop work since those skills have been neglected for some time now. 

Collaboration and Communication

     In Graphic Design, I often asked my teacher and the people around me what they thought of my design once I was done. I'd get compliments as well as critiques. I did my best to fix my designs based on the critiques and see what worked best. Everyone around me had amazing ideas to share. In the past, I wasn't very open or vocal about anything. I was mostly introverted, and still introverted to this day. However, thanks to Video and other events outside of e-Com, I am able to fulfill any role needed and am ready to give my opinion or thoughts on something if need be. I am also more open about asking for critiques during random stages of the creating process. I have made great friends because of e-Com not just in the Graphic Design branch, but in the other branches as well. 

     Before I even entered high school, I was very communicative. I always told teachers when I would be absent and e-mail them when I was sick or gone unexpectedly. So, from a professional standpoint, I was communicative, but from a more casual standpoint, not so much. Once I get to know people, I become very open, but team projects were always something I didn't really like. Thanks to e-Com, I have had many opportunities to be open and communicate what needs to be done as well as goof around here and there.

Project Management

      In middle school and even sometimes to this day, I procrastinate quite often, however if I am away from distractions and given "free" time, then I get projects and other things done usually before the deadline. Going through the e-Com program, I have always completed projects and have been aware of deadlines. I have stayed after school for hours sometimes finishing a project. I try to use class time to my advantage and use as much of it as possible to work on a current project. One thing I wish to correct in the future, however, is to stay on task better and not get sidetracked by friends. 

Leadership

     I wouldn't consider myself a leader. In group projects, I fulfill any role that needs to be filled. However, if being a leader or director or head project person is the role that needs to be filled, I'll step up and be the leader. I do have many leadership qualities like listening to others as well as being able to take control of situations. 

Semester 2 Final

Vector Portrait

       For this project, I had to find a high-resolution photo of me, a family member, or a pet. Then, I put the photo into Photoshop, cropped it, and posterized it. Next, I put the photo into Illustrator and started outlining the different colors I saw in the photo. The second to last step was to fill in all the outlines with the colors from the photo. Lastly, I put a gradient behind all my work as a background. This project took me about a week. I had to stay after school and go in during study hall to finish this project. I learned how to use the pen and curvature tool in Illustrator. Some suggestions I had were to make sure everything as filled in and no blank space was showing on my subject. Some changes I made during this project were making sure everything looked correct and all the colors blended together. I also tried to not get so detailed, but other times I forgot, which dragged out the time I spent on this project. Overall, I love this project. I love it so much that I did several more during Spring break to the point I was sick and tired of doing vector portraits. 

Typography

    My next project was typography. I chose several quotes that I liked and narrowed my list down to the top four. I chose quotes that were in French and English since French is the language I'm learning. For this project, it took me about a week or two to complete. The first part was in black and white and the second part was adding color. I faced a couple challenges like making sure the text was big enough to read. I learned how to wrap text around objects and shapes. a tip I got from my teacher was to make sure the text was big enough to read. Some changes I made were color choices. For the TV, I made little squares to form a rectangle and made it look like TV static. Overall, I really like some of my quotes, others, not so much.

Logo Design

     The next project that I liked was designing a personal logo. I had to sketch thirty possible designs and decide on the top five. I also had to pick three color schemes from a color generator where I could lock colors that I liked, and keep generating more colors that fit with the color(s) I locked. I chose to design two different bees, a tulip, a star, and a bird. Some included my initials and over time I got rid of my initials and ended up with a more simpler design. I ended up choosing a yellow tulip with a black background. I learned how to mix and match colors. Some feedback I had was that brighter colors against dark backgrounds stand out more, so I took that advice and used it. Originally, the tulip had my initials on it, but as I said, the initials disappeared after a while. Overall, I'm proud of the logo I ended up with. 

Class Time

     I spent most of my class time working on assigned projects, and when I was finished, I worked on my own side projects. I worked in both Illustrator and Photoshop to continue learning the tools available and how I could use them. I created more vector portraits and photoshop edits of my favorite characters from tv and movies. Outside of class, I created vector portraits and photoshop edits to practice my skills. 

 Strengths

     I am very strong in communicating with people whether it's e-mail or text. I am also very good about getting projects done on time even if it means staying after school for many hours to get something done. I am also good about asking for critiques from peers and my teacher so I can improve my work before I turn it in. 

Weaknesses

     I need to work on staying focused and not goof off when I'm trying to get something done. I understand it's okay to take a break, but I need to stay focused if I want to get stuff done. 

Conclusion

     What I love most about Sophmore year of Graphic Design are the different projects I was able to do and how I could still use Photoshop and Illustrator for one project. What I would change about next year is to add some side projects for students if they get done early with their assignment. For example, to enhance a student's skill in photoshop, if they have finished their main project, give them a theme like outer space or psychedelic and let them create a collage or edit of that theme in Photoshop and either let them turn it in for extra credit or let them turn it in for endorsement hours. One goal I would like to set for next year is to improve my skills in Illustrator and Photoshop. In conclusion, this year was fun with all the different projects I got to do and the side projects I've done. 

Typography

Pre-Production

     The first steps to this project were finding quotes that were significant to me. I found ten quotes, and then picked four out of the ten quotes to use for my project. All of my quotes were French, so I decided to do this project with the French and English versions of the quotes. The second step was picking fonts. I picked a total of six fonts, however, I did not use one of the fonts in my project. 

Production
      The third step in this project was working in Illustrator. I learned how to use layers, type tool, gradient tool, the tool where I can type around a shape (I forget what it's called), shape tool, and the direct selection tool.

     I arranged my project by making four artboards, one for each of the quotes I picked in Pre-production. I made a different shape for each quote so I could use a reference for what I want the quote to look like. On the first artboard, it was a heart, the second was an eye, third was a tv, and the fourth one was a peace sign. I had ideas for what text to use for the different quotes.

     Originally, our quotes had to be in black and white before we started using color.  All of my quotes had a white background, but I changed two of them to have a black background. This made the two quotes more interesting and stand out from the other two.

     When it was time to move on to color,  I used blue and yellow for my first quote, green and black for my second, different shades of grey for my third one, and two different gradients for my last one. After I finished my first round of adding color, I asked my teacher for any critiques, and she did. I fixed up what she critiqued, and made sure everything looked better with these new changes.

     On my first quote, I added more of the heart shape I made, scaled it down a bit, and changed the color to a brighter blue. I did this process again. In total, I had three heart shapes on my first quote. I also copied the text on the heart and changed the copied text color to a dark gold color, and put the original text over it. Around the heart is the quote in French and in English. I also added a drop shadow to the text surrounding the heart to make it stand out from the page a bit.

     For my second quote, I added a darker green circle to the iris of the eye and added a little white shine. I also fixed the text around the iris.

     Moving on to my third project, I added some texture to the grey squares that made up the pixels on the tv to make it seem more like white noise. I also used the bulge option to make the square of pixels a bit round so it doesn't look flat I later went back and changed the text color to red, yellow, green and blue.

     Lastly, my fourth quote has a purple, blue and green gradient as the background. The text has a red, yellow, green, and light blue gradient. I also bloated the text a bit to add some more direction. For textures, I gave the text a mosaic texture to make it stand out even more.

Final Product

 This is my first one, and I think I did okay. It's cute and simple, but if I were to do this one again, I'd probably pick a different shape. I think the critiques I got on this one improved this one fro being eh to pretty good.

 My second one is very interesting in style. I picked shapes depending on what the quote talked about. The English is very hard to read compared to the French, but the English portion says, "It is with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye"

I chose to do a tv shape for this quote due to how political some tv shows or movies can get. As kids, everything is new and exciting. Eventually, kids grow up and realize that things aren't as mystical as they seem to be. As kids, we watch tv shows full of adventure, and learning new lessons about manners or being kind to others. Eventually, kids grow up to be adults. As adults, there is less emphasis on cartoons, tv shows and sometimes movies, and more emphasis on what is going on in the real world. I used tv as an example to explain this quote. Another reason why I chose a tv for the shape was because when I first saw this quote, the first thing that popped in my head was tv.  I really like how this one turned out.

My fourth and final quote. "Doing is better than saying". I chose a peace sign for this because this quote reminds me of protests throughout the years. Protesters do protests for multiple reasons, but their actions can greatly affect others, whether it's positive or negative. If protesters were to complain instead of doing something, nothing would be changed, dramatically at least. I also chose Gradients for this project just to change things up a bit. I feel like this one is pretty good. The peace sign shape is evident, and the colors work well together.