I must say that class is coming along great since the beginning of this semester. I appreciate Professor Lin giving us time to do our projects in class. I think it’s getting more competitive because the students in the class are getting more creative and stronger in their design and concepts. So, it’s getting harder to up the ante with my own designs. I also think getting in groups to come up with ideas has also helped with my project design. You feed off of other’s energy and ideas. Sharing in this creative process has helped me with this upcoming project and the last project. I like the way the class is flowing through class critiques. The critiques especially help me because you hear other’s opinions and reasons, and you can also compare your work with theirs. I’m really glad I decided to go out on a limb and take this course because it’s been beneficial to me in my everyday life and with my career choice.
I knew Project #5 would be difficult to execute because it’s hard to make something creative when it’s already been done. Choosing a a popular book’s front cover design was hard. I wanted to choose something that represented me, my interest, and something that would be creative to design. I went with The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisenberg. It was hard choosing an image because I wanted to stick with the feeling and emotion of the original cover, but adding my own twist to it. I had to choose an image that wasn’t provocative or costume-like but that represented fashion and sassiness. I tried to choose text/font that was clear and legible, but at the same time that had an artistic flair. I didn’t want to be too over-the-top yet not simple either. I was pleased with the overall design and execution of the text, but I felt like the overall book design was too cliche and simple. With the last two projects, I’ve had a creative drain, but now I’m excited about the new project and I’ve had a jolt of creative energy.
I initially went into project #4 very excited because I thought it would be great to illustrate oxymorons through type and image. I had all these ideas about ways to show “Barely Dressed.” I thought my image was appropriate and the font I chose was appropriate, but it was hard to incorporate both and text in Photoshop. I thought I did a good job with it though considering my limited experience with the software. I think through my picture and text that people got the point of the oxymoron and the contradiction in the meaning. That was ultimately the point whether or not it was visually appealing or not, I don’t know. At the time, I did what worked and I hope my classmates liked it.
A last minute spark of creativity caused me to change my entire design. I decided to go with a more collage type of layout because I could play around with different fonts and directions. I tried to use the typefaces that represent the meaning of the word. I decided to stick with InDesign because I’m getting use to the program, and it had some pretty interesting typefaces and effects. My final design is more plain than my original design, but I think the message is conveyed and I still stayed within the constraints of the project. This idea literally came at the last minute, but I feel good about the project. It gave me a chace to play around with some of the tools in InDesign, and it forced me to look at typefaces in a diffrent way considering we had to pick the appropriate font to either compare with the meaning of the text or contrast with the text chosen. I think all the words describe how diffrent and complex my personality is on a day-to-day basis. I hope that my peers and professor appreciate how I executed my ideas.
This project has been the best thus far. It allows for more creativity and self-expression. Some say a picture is a worth a thousand words, but I think it’s the other way around. I’m going to focus on using words to paint a picture of “LaTonya.” I hope that my classmates can learn about me through this project. It’s hard to pick words from a list to describe myself because I am so quirky and different. There’s not ten words to describe me or a billion. I’m just me. However, I am going to throw myself into this project because it’s just one of those that allows you to be artistic, carefree, and creative. It’s going to be interesting to see how others perceive themselves, and how they choose to arrange their words. As I progress in this class, I’m learning how influential and important type is to everyday life. It simply can make or break a business venture, whether someone reads something or not, advertisemens, or even a term paper. Like I stated before, I am going to use the words to form a picture since images cannot be used. I am going to arrange my words in one of the most prominent and favorable images of mine, the Eiffel Tower. Paris means a lot to me because fashion is my life, and it’s also a beautiful city or so I’ve been told. I also think the shape of the Eiffel tower is perfect for word arrangement, weights, and sizes without getting too complex. It is with hope that everyone will not only grasp the concept of this image, but see beyond the picture into the text.
