truman art adventure }: 2012

Well, well well....it is that time of the year again. The time where, although everything was fine a few weeks before, everything just goes straight to hell. Time runs faster than usual. People neglect their sleep, exercise schedules, and personal appearances. Yep. It's finals week.

Yep....I have lost track of how little sleep I have. Or how much food I haven't eaten.

It have always lamented the fact that all my visual communications and art finals for the past 2 years have fallen on the first day of finals week - Monday. Hey. At least it is not a Tuesday. I've had a notorious time with bad luck falling on Tuesdays this semester. It's strange.....since I do not have my usual CS classes this semester, I shall thankfully be over with finals before Reading Day. I get to go home early! If only I can manage to pack everything into my car....oh boy.

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Despite my claims to keep up with this blog (although I think I have created a large and satisfactory improvement on my blogging from last semester), for the last few weeks, the onslaught of other class demands and allergies and sickness and a too-messy room and a horrid pattern of sleep had all distracted me from the class that I truly did enjoy the most this semester.

I poured a ton of work into most of these projects and I am very happy with them. Some are haphazardly thrown together, but still up to my personal standards. My craft for printing wasn't my best either, but I do say that for one try my beverage packaging (not the labels...lustre was a horrible decision for bottle labels. What the hell was I thinking) turned out pretty snazzy. However, some I spent way too much time attending to. But...in a good and bad way. I perfected them, but lost time to work on others.

So yeah...spent a lot of time in the darkroom and in the ceramics studio....had to forget about Viz for a while, but look at all this awesome work! And this is just studio...forget about Leadership or Spanish. Despite my stress, I feel accomplished. Someone even bought prints of one of my photographs. My first sold work. Exciting. And look! I made my tissue box print my CD cover. :D

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More on Viz Comm. Curse cd packaging. I was never any good at assembling it. Didn't get better since Viz 1 on that at all. I think I have a problem with assignments that require duplexing on paper you can't duplex. My book cover? That is the shit. I folded that...and my beverage packaging so well. Well....at least I am happy with it. I have a lot to learn about packaging, but I feel I have a better sense for future semesters about what I need to mind or do or buy to suit 3D vs 2D. Also, the format of this class has been a real game changer. It's challenging to work on multiple assignments at the same time! Also, the approval process has really made it clear how important it is to have a 2nd eye look at and revise your work. It really reminds me of debugging code or math problems. Sometimes you just can't see your little mistake and it really jumps out to somebody else. I've really felt good about seeking critique or giving critique in this class. It is so important for all kinds of work.

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Since I will probably be in Costa Rica (At a design university!) next semester to take advantage of the viz comm break, I am going to miss Viz Comm and the lab and the familiar faces a lot. Right now, I've had a bit of my fill of Viz, but I know in a few weeks I'm going to start dreaming about red pen, print receipts, process books, and InDesign throwing a fit.

This summer, I really want to devote myself to doing more illustration work! I want to get even better with my tablet and conquer digital illustration. I want to design a resume for myself as well. Besides that...I'm not sure what else to do but I just know I need to do personal projects and flex my design muscles so they don't atrophy while I'm not in classes! Maybe I should do book cover illustrations for some of my favorites or get a head start on re-learning the language of HTML5/CSS. Maybe I'll keep this blog up over the summer and just keep track of what I do. :) You should all keep watching just in case!

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Visual Communications 2 Final Portfolio }

1) The Secret of Feeling Full

This was my second spread that I began. It was difficult because of how copy-heavy it was, however I really did enjoy the chance to work with so much type. I feel that the graphics aren't up to my standard, but the theme and appearance of the layout and text is solid enough to me. This is where I began trying to limit myself typography-wise. I used 3 typefaces, a lot, but the two serifs aren't too different stylistically. I like the balance between the light sans-serif and the bold serif. It is definitely a dynamic that I am drawn to.

Total time : about 8.5 hours

2) How Safe?

I really enjoyed working on this spread. Well...this must be the 4th actual new layout and concept that I attempted. I was inspired by a color pallete in a photo and the idea just came. I like the interaction between vector and photo. I think it all meets in an in-between fantasy creepy what-if? world. The spread draws me in and there is a careful grid in there.

Total Time : about 10 hours

3) Book Jacket & Audiobook

My, my, did I have a hard time printing this one. I had to ask the print monitors to print the jacket 4 or 5 different ways for the color to come out true to the document. I spent a lot of time on that jacket. Photoshopping the cover, then designing and getting the rest of the jacket to fit my book. It looks great on the book and folded easily. As for the cd case, I based it off of one of the templates. Design-wise, it is pretty solid, with a pocket in the middle that makes it seem like the cd is burning. Construction-wise it was difficult though. Didn't allow myself enough time and shouldn't have printed it on Luster. From now on....nothing duplexed on 2 sheets of one-sided paper. I need to buy double-sided matte paper. It is amazing how much more easily something folds when it is only one sheet of paper. Design is solid. 1st part of construction : solid. 2nd? I am ashamed...

Total Time : 15 hours

4) Beverage Packaging

Man, man, man. I did so much research for this project and was really looking forward to doing something amazing. Not that this is totally bad either, I kind of like it. It is good for the time spent on it. However, I had done a lot of writing and observing and sketching about marketing techniques I saw on beverage packing. However, when it came down to it and I found myself with little time left, this is what happened. I still think it is bold and visually interesting. I like the sketchy youthful feeling. I based the swirls off of my historical pot from ceramics. I feel like I built the packaging well, but when it came to the bumpy bottles I had and limited resources, and again....I shouldn't have used lustre for the labels....it wasn't my strongest. I still feel that this is still solid, though.

Total Time : 7 hours (with research and sketching)

You know what....I am going to make it a personal goal to redo this over the summer. Do my own thing now that I know how. :)

5) Black History Month Poster

Click to watch animation

Original Illustration :

I am very proud of this project, and although I may have spent too much time on it, I am very happy with the quality of the illustration and the poster itself. I love how largely it was printed and although the thin paper didn't like spray mount that much....it worked and looked good. It is true that maybe working on this illustration so long made my other work suffer, but I am really passionate about drawing and painting. And I miss Illustration...gah. I worked from reference after coming up with a concept and composition. Then, I pulled everything together in InDesign with a B&W file with pantone spot color. I love that mustard and the typography that I used. Poster and Illustration are both really strong portfolio pieces for me.

Total Time : 20 hours

6) Society of Illustrators

I have shamed myself and my family and my honor....well....I think it is visually appealing but I never got around to actually get my drawing done. Despite that...I think the sketch itself if interesting and in a way....shows an illustrator's process and raw thumbnail work. I mean...look at the difference in process between this and Black History Month. I based the inside of the mailer on that and the strokes found in sketching. The color is bold and beautiful. So...I am not entirely sad about this. Just sad that it could have been EVEN MORE AWESOME.

I still am liking this though. I really love that sketch even if it is not a "final" work. Sometimes some ideas are never truly finished or they are abandoned. Sometimes they are just ideas...whispers and suggestions. I have acrylic paintings that I only "finished" halfway and figured they actually don't need to be finalized. They look great as they are. Raw and beautiful regardless. Hell...I would still hang this on my wall. For a digital sketch, I am still in love with the gestural quality. And of course....I had to use Futura for the mailer. My favorite. Actually, I really love that deep coral color too....maybe this was subliminally a really complex project and I just haven't figured it out yet.

Total Time : 8 Hours

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Visual Communications 2 Old Work }

To supplement the 6 final works from this semester I have carefully chosen the four I wanted to add on. I am including my Typeface Poster, Newsletter, Native American Heritage Posters, and my Stress Layout. I feel like they are not only the stronger and more solid works that I turned in last semester-half, but also they are great examples of my typographic and grid work. Very foundational. This half of the semester I think I focused more on color, imagery, and illustration. Layout and type were important, but that had already been nailed down I believe.

Well....that was a lot of writing for today. Still have my Spanish and Ceramics final to worry about. Yikes! But I at least feel better knowing Viz Comm is finished and I am happy with my work this semester. Watch out for the future! I'm going to work hard this summer.

OH! OH! I almost forgot. I added up all the hours of work I have done and I have poured in 113 hours total into all of my work this semester. That is crazy! That is about 4 and a half days of straight work, or according to my daily amount of free time, 44.3 days of working for 3 hours straight each day....which I definitely did not do....but if I had I bet my life would have been much easier.