Art 4110 / GD4
Workshop 1 | Productivity App Design
Instructor: Kristi-lynn Jacovino
Selling Page
Video of desktop app in action
Favorite Features
My favorite features on the app include sharing notes by attaching a file, creating groups via hashtags, and that it is linked up to your school’s net ID. Though sharing notes may be frowned upon by some professors, I think it is an important tool because sometimes students miss class or part of a class and the professor may not always upload notes on their own. We created a function that allows students to create channels in their classes by using a tag system they can filter through. They can create study groups online or decide where they want to meet in person. Lastly, I think it is so helpful that our app syncs to net ID, because it creates an organized system of class channels.
Reflection
Overall, for designing an app with three interfaces in 4 weeks, I think we were able to achieve the goal: create a productivity app for students. There were definitely some challenges working with a large group of 14 people. I found the work within the small groups to be easy because I think my group was able to spread out the work load nicely. The hard part was then trying to make sure that all three small groups were staying consistent with designs and functionality all together. I felt like my group was able to put our brains together and bounce ideas off of each other, however, I noticed it wasn’t the same with the other groups. Some individuals would come to class with their own designs instead of having worked with their group to further push collective ideas.
When it came to deciding the main function of the app, it was a struggle at first because it was hard not to want several main functions. As students, we wanted this to be the most useful for us and it was hard to choose one direction to go in, but we had to given our time constraint. It seemed like half of the class wanted to make this as simple as possible and the other half wanted to include several ideas that we had already decided weren’t going to be doable in the amount of time. I often found myself at the front of the class facilitating the discussion because I felt like I was seeing both sides and could ask the right questions to help us make decisions and better understand each other. In the end, I think we were able to achieve an app that encourages productivity. It is essentially a merge of Slack and HuskyCT. I think pre-coronavirus, I agree with many of my classmates that this wouldn’t be quite as useful given those 2 apps already exist. Pending the future of the coronavirus, I think this would be a great app to utilize if classes were to move online in the fall. Class pages would already be created because of the link to HuskyCT/Net ID, something Slack doesn’t do. (Then it would need a video chat function and the ability to link to google drive, dropbox, etc.)
To improve the process, I think the class could maybe be broken in half and create 2 different apps. OR there could be designated facilitators/leaders/liasons.
Workshop 2 | Exhibition Design
Instructors: Chris + Kathleen Sleboda
3 Alphabets
Title Wall Proposals
Exhibition Brochure
Approach
I wanted to create a sense of balance between both Florence Henri and the Bauhaus. Though the Bauhaus is more well-known, they influenced each other in several ways. Therefore the logotype remains the same weight for both names. Florence Henri’s photography was black and white so that determined the base of my color palette. I chose red as my accent color because Bauhaus advertising is often seen in primary colors (red, blue, yellow) and oranges. Out of those four colors, red symbolizes powerful femininity. The title on the cover page stands out like a bold 1920s red lip while also tying back to the Bauhaus. Henri also used a lot of mirrors in her surrealist photographs. I chose to add mirrors to my exhibition proposals to further emphasize her work and add a level of interactivity to the exhibition. I chose a 2 column grid in my brochure to show another element of balance and reflections. Lastly, the tilt of the logotype on the exhibition proposals is another nod to Bauhaus advertising + design.
Reflection
I genuinely enjoyed this brief. I wish it was a semester long because I wanted to keep working on this. If I wasn’t already aware of my interests, this project further made me recognize that I really like researching, designing books, and designing interior or environmental spaces. I also really liked creating the typefaces in the first brief. It was really exciting to get to play with and find materials to create letterforms out of. This session inspired some elements for my BFA thesis. I incorporated that sense of exploration + play and turned it into a publication. The exhibition design proposals also inspired and encouraged me to generate a 3D digital mockup of what my personal exhibition would have looked like had the coronavirus not moved our exhibition online.
Workshop 3 | Booklet Design
Instructor: Daphne Geismar
Reflection
I also wish this session had been a semester long and also sooner in my graphic design education. I think it was really helpful. I felt like I learned more about grids and typography in 4 weeks from Daphne than I have in the last four years. I honestly wish she had been our Design 1: Typography instructor. (No offense) Her info sheets were incredibly helpful and I have to tell myself to stop using the grid she showed us because I keep trying to use it for everything (Villard’s Diagram). I also really enjoyed hearing about her work and her research. I was delighted to see her process of documenting her family history because I had chosen to produce a book based on mine for this assignment. My only grievance is that I wish we could have had the opportunity to print + put our physical books together because I love bookmaking and I think we would have learned a lot about that as well. Obviously, this was not possible due to the present circumstances.
Concept Sentence
Acadian history is full of hardships, simple living, and hard work, yet it is not often discussed and our story and culture is important to share.
Front Cover
Spreads
