Process Documentation
Part I: Sketching Thumbnails
Before I began sketching my thumbnails, I jotted down what came to mind when I thought about each word.
This was helpful for me in the brainstorming process. It helped me differentiate each word because some of words were very similar. For example, to differentiate fluid from graceful, I realize for fluid I thought of a solid or a substance. For graceful, after recording what came to mine, I thought of movement and adjectives. This was useful in helping me translate what was in my head to the pencil sketches.
Part II: Digital Iterations
This is where I thought I had the most progress. Part 1 was difficult because I wasn’t sure what was expected of us. After interacting with other students I realized how much freedom we had with this assignment and it inspired me to think about the assignment in a new way. Aside from rules about hierarchy and negative space, I realized we could incorporate different aspects into the project such as a narrative or gravity.
After iterating, I found myself gravitated towards the words Rigid and Fluid and Active and Passive. Like I mentioned earlier, I viewed Rigid and Fluid as more of objects. For Active and Passive I created a story-like arrangement and chose to use color to help add emphasis to what I wanted in the story/what I wanted the viewer to focus on.
Self Evaluation
Overall, I felt like I did a decent job with exploration. I think after the first critique with classmates, I was able to step out of my comfort zone and definitely explore more. It was almost easier to iterate on Illustrator because I felt like i was able to visualize designs more easily. I definitely paid attention to craftsmanship and made sure everything was aligned the way it was supposed to be. I felt all my designs were very clear in what I wanted to communicate. The reverse/ground one was probably the least clear because as stated in the final critique, most people see a ladder first. What’s interesting is that I actually made boxes on a factory line (or people going through a tunnel) before i saw the ladder!
Critique Feedback
I really enjoyed the critique and how much time was spent on every person’s work. It was very relaxed and not as scary as I thought it would be yet still constructive. There weren’t any “I don’t like this” or “This is wrong.” We went in depth about each piece and the designers’ intentions which was really nice.
