Careful what you fish for

Midterm review, classes and construction paper

I couldn't have asked for a better midterm review. Good feedback on all sides. I wasn't expecting a bad review or anything, but there have been times (recently) when I questioned my design or writing choices. Perhaps it stemmed from a recent (awful) work situation. And it's always difficult to see your work the way other people see it, especially when you've been staring at it for 8 consecutive hours. But, like I said, good feedback from both Stephanie and Allison. I like having my work validated by working professionals outside of my immediate job, especially since they get to see my non-corporate, free-thinking design as opposed to the corporate box I normally work in.

I decided against taking 9 credits in the fall. Why put myself through the torture? Instead, I'm taking Hypermedia this summer and then Media Design and Editorial Style in the fall. I'm pretty excited about Media Design since it seems like it will be a little like digital storytelling, which I find fascinating.

I'm anxiously awaiting the scanned files for our little 2D design project from class on Saturday. I quite liked our "Careful what you fish for" story, but we definitely needed some gray construction paper. Our shark, despite our best efforts, still looked a little like Shamu with teeth.

Speaking of collage

Rebecca's post with her collage made me think of this book I've been dying to buy. It's all about incorporating handmade objects and art into graphic design. I'm buying myself a nice, expensive scanner so I can do start doing this.

Project 2- profile (writing & layout), final copy

Keywords: publication design, interview, editorial writing

Why project 3 is making me crazy (otherwise titled, I need a Mac)

This poster is a nightmare. The file is freaking huge (over 800,000 kb) and kept crashing my (pc) computer today. I was planning on taking the files to the printer during lunch today, but since I couldn't save the files, no trip to the printer for me. As I write this blog, the poster is attempting to save. It takes about a fifteen minutes to save the damn file. Now, I'm a day behind and I'll have to cram everything else in tomorrow since I've spent the evening fighting with this stupid file.

ETA: I finally saved the stupid file, but now my disk keeps freezing up when I'm trying to burn the files to it. How the hell am I supposed to get this thing to the printer if I can't even burn it to a disk? What a freaking PITA. It's not even that big (physically) - 18"x24" shouldn't create massive issues, but I have a lot of layers, so that's the problem. I'm having a difficult time trying to make it better because every change requires another 15 minute save. I officially hate this poster. And I think the feeling is mutual.


On a brighter note, since Stacey requested a picture, here's Lucy. Isn't she adorable?









Stella also wanted to say "hi."

I need air

I'm trying not to get overwhelmed by the amount of work I have to do this week. This campaign project, while fun, is extremely time-consuming. Fortunately, my profile is pretty much done. Stephanie liked the writing and it only needs a few tweaks; same for the design. So, I can throw all my energy into the campaign. I suppose I should work on some of my freelance projects, too.

I stayed home from work today because, 1) We got a new dog over the weekend and she's having some issues adjusting to our other dog, 2) I didn't get a very good night sleep last night and feel like crap, and 3) I need to work on this project. The two animals have me sandwiched between them on the couch, which is making it slightly difficult to work, but they seem to be happy that someone is home with them today.

Time to get back to work. I need to finish this poster ASAP, so I can deal with any printing nightmares that are bound to occur. I figure if I start on Wednesday with the printing process, I'll have three days to get it under control. And, I'm really glad I didn't choose the arts in education as my cause since two other classmates chose that. Even though, it is my biggest soapbox, I think it was a wise choice to go in a different direction for this project.

Project 1 - Final images

These are my final files from Project 1 - compare/confuse...errr, contrast.

Project 3 ideas

I've narrowed my soapboxes down to a few front runners and I think my favorite one for this project is voting, especially with the impending elections and the close primary race between Obama and Clinton (go Hillary!!!). I still think I'll bring rough drafts of at least one other topic (the arts, buying local/downtown revitalization or elderly care) and see how it all pans out. But I really like my voting idea and I've got a lot of good ideas for visuals for it as well.

ETA: I've actually decided to do a few different concepts for voting. I really love this idea and my mind is brimming with creative ways to execute it.

Project 3- Cause & Effect / Show & Tell

Thoughts on project 3

I'm ecstatic about this next project. I already maintain a few social awareness soapboxes, so my only issue with this project will be narrowing down the selection field to the most viable issue. I also love the campaign element of this project. Campaigns are one of my pet projects. I am not, however, looking forward to the impending logistical nightmare when I attempt to print, cut, mat and transport the ginormous poster. No 11th hour Friday changes for this project.

Show & Tell

When we first got this assignment, I immediately thought of an "America's Next Top Model" episode from last season when the models did a photoshoot/campaign for the effects of smoking. The final photos showed the cause and the effect all in one image. I loved it. Much more than I love "America's Next Top Model." I'm not even sure why I was watching it that day, but at least I got a good show & tell out of it.

Two images from the photoshoot: