GRAPHIC DESIGN SEMESTER REFLECTION

SEMESTER PROJECTS

This semester I really enjoyed creating infographics, designing personal logos, as well as creating a powerpoint on a graphic design movement or person. One of my personal favorite projects was creating an infographic. For my infographic, I chose to create it over the varsity cross country team because this year the varsity girls qualified as a team for state. For this project, I used a simple blue color scheme and included several graphics that related to the sport. This project took around 2 weeks to completely create and I am very pleased with the way it turned out. On this project it was difficult to come up with a layout that I liked that would be organized and relative to the topic. However, from this project I learned how to create graphics to represent certain topics or ideas. All my feedback on this project was positive. Lot's of students in my class enjoyed my graphics as well as color and typeface selection. 

Another project I really enjoyed was creating a personal logo.  In this project I got to design a logo that would most represent my brand. Since I am very interested in hand lettering I decided to add a cursive L into my design. I chose an L along with my last name to represent who I am as a designer. The fun design of a decorative L really adds a creative style to my brand. I also have a patch version of my logo that uses the word designs to explain what occupation my logo represents. I tried not to use sharp edges and shapes because I wanted my logo to be more friendly and in a creative style. I also have a darker color scheme to balance the very smooth and creative graphics. This project didn't take that much time and was around 5 days max. It was really hard for me to come up with an idea for my logo, but I am happy with the way it turned out. If I was able to have more time on this project, I would probably have perfected the L more and created some ways my logo can be used in branding. As a class we didn't review each others logos, so I didn't receive much feedback on my design. Overall, being able to create a logo was really enjoyable because I got to come up with my own ideas in a less structured step by step procedure.

By far, my favorite project was the powerpoint project.  In this project I got to design a powerpoint in adobe illustrator about a specific graphic design movement. For this project, I got to research Swiss Design. The first part of this project was creating a 2 page essay on this movement. Although, the research wasn't that fun, it really helped create a more interesting powerpoint.  Swiss Design is most known for its bright colors and geometric designs along with sans serif fonts. I was able to incorporate that style into my powerpoint by developing a blue and purple color scheme as well as a combination of two sans serif fonts. This project took around two weeks to complete and involved a lot of time at home. Since I wanted to create a tittle slide for each idea, it took a long time for me to make it match the color scheme as well as the overall aesthetic of the powerpoint. I tried to make each slide contain a geometric style along with bold fonts with clean designs. A few challenges I faced was having to come up with new ideas. It was sometimes hard for me find new ways to add graphics and find new ways to use the same color scheme. I definitely learned a lot as a designer through this project. I not only learned about Swiss Design, I also learned who to create a simple clean aesthetic along with a strong color scheme. This project definitely challenged my creativity because of all the different slides I had to make with new designs on each. Overall, this project was very enjoyable because there wasn't many limitations on what you could do as a designer. The project was very open to any ideas you had and you were able to use your creativity to create a design that you liked.

This semester in graphic design, we also used behance to post our projects. I have really enjoyed using behance to publish my work to the world. I also really enjoy being able to design a theme for each project I post.



Throughout, this semester my graphic design skills have definitely improved. I now have a larger understanding of using adobe photoshop and illustrator. My portfolio in graphic design has also really expanded. My blog posts have begun to be more visually interesting as well as my Behance page.

TIME IN CLASS

In class I spend my time very well. With my very busy schedule, I try to make sure I can get as much of my graphics designed in class so that I won't have too much to do at home. Even though I try to get most of my projects done in class, I usually end up spending several hours designing again at home. I am fortunate to have adobe illustrator and photoshop on my computer and this has really helped me design more projects outside of class. In some projects, I have finished early in class and have had free time to design extra credit projects such as the swinging monkey project. I have really enjoyed the extra credit projects because they are another way I can expand my understanding of illustrator.




With the skills I have learned in graphic design I have also been able to help with graphics for my friends and family with any extra free time. For my brothers robotics team, I helped design their informative posters for their signs. I have also been able to help other friends choose good fonts and graphics for their school projects.







STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES 
Throughout this semester, I really developed my skills in photoshop as well as in adobe illustrator. I have always been familiar with the adobe tools in photoshop and now I understand how almost all of them work. By creating the collage of the girl near the beginning of the year, I learned how to make layers and expand backgrounds. This project helped me become very skilled at removing marks or objects from backgrounds by using content aware fill as well as the patch tool. I have also gained several strengths in adobe illustrator. Illustrator has always been my favorite program and now I can easily use the pen tool to trace images or to create unique shapes. I am also very strong at creating color schemes and designs that work together and are simple, clean, and organized.

However, there are a few areas I could use improvement. The pathfinder tool is still a skill I have yet to master. The pathfinder in Adobe Illustrator allows you to rearrange overlapping shapes to create new outlines and designs. This tool is very helpful in graphic design but it does take some time to master. I was able to get more practice with this tool in my powerpoint, but I will continue to practice with the pathfinder tool throughout the rest of this school year.


SEMESTER SUMMARY