Visual Communications Emphasis
Being a
successful graphic designer does not come easy. A designer needs to be
creative while remembering the formal aspects of a good design as well as
demonstrating thorough knowledge in many different computer programs. I have
come to learn these aspects and many more details of graphic design during my
studies at Weber State. I started taking the foundation classes at the
University, but I was not sure that graphic design was what I wanted to major
in. After taking Color Theory, where I learned to create projects in Photoshop,
I realized I loved the challenge of creating art on the computer. The following
semester I took 3420B, C, and D. This was when I realized that graphic design
was what I wanted to study and someday start a career in.
Typography has always been something I admired, but I had never
really thought about how I could apply it to everyday life. Typography is
challenging, but I believe that through practice it has become easier for each
project. In Typography and Design, I created a 16 page spread and until that
point I had never worked with that much text before. I was unsure of how I
would be able to complete this project successfully. Utilizing a grid to lay out
the text was beneficial because I found there was repetitiveness throughout the
spread. I was able to choose fonts that worked well together and fit the feel
of my design. All the little things like kerning, line spacing and
size also played an extensive part in making this project come
together.
Graphic Design has really put my knowledge from previous
semesters to the test. The project Symbol to Identity, has been
challenging yet fun. I started with a basic shape of a diamond and then tweaked
it until I had something I liked. I had a mixture of basic designs and complex
designs. I struggled with this at first because a successful logo is not
normally complex, but it is still creative and different than anything we have
already seen. I had to keep reworking my symbols and ended up having three
different designs that I explored even further. The symbol that
seemed to be most successful was the hardest to identify. After I identified it
though, I thought of names and looked at fonts that would fit. I personalized a
particular letter to make the font I chose match my symbol. Starting
with a symbol, then giving it an identity made me think differently than if I
had already known what the identity was.
Out of all of the experiences I have had during my studies, I
have come to the conclusion that critiques are very important.
As terrifying as I thought they were going to be, I have learned so much from
them. It is important to have other people look at your work. They can see
things the designer has overlooked. A designer may think they have a great design,
but if your audience cannot identify with it, then you have failed. As
designers, we have to put our feelings to the side and listen to the criticism
and then apply it to our designs. As I am finding myself and growing as a
designer, I will always remember the importance of critiques and what they have
taught me.
