Book Process and Goodbyes

(Insert Pictures here....having technical difficulties, will resolve soon)

With my book, Kacey and I found that the best way to put things together was to have the objects we used be our main category and then have the parts of those objects that we used (as marks) as the subcategory.

Our book-making process was bar none, the worse experience I've ever had in this dept.  It caused me great despair making mistake after mistake, even though both of us tried our damnedest.  I could no longer get angry anymore, I just feel deeper and deeper into depression.  We had to improvise a lot, just because we had already redone it so many times and run low on money.  It reminds me of all the reasons why I"m leaving this dept.

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But I must be clear....I have to get this off my chest.

I may be leaving...But I never gave up and never just blew things off to get them done.  I tried my best...and if it wasn't good enough...its because I'm not good enough, not that I didn't care.

Its been a fear of mine since I announced my departure that my teachers and classmates would believe that now I didn't care.  I never stopped, I still do.  Even when I tried not to care, I screwed that up too.

Its a matter of pride.

I would never allow myself to just blow off this dept., even if I got nothing from it.   But I got plenty from it.  My work is cleaner and more precise (even casually) then it has ever been.  I have a sense of precision even in thought that makes organizing more natural and less evil then before.  I am better for the experience

The hardest part is that I've made an enormous group of friends, that I am part of a UNIT with.  And despite the difficulties I've had here...the teachers and faculty are some of the finest I've ever had.

We're a true team, and it hurts me to leave them, but I must.

I will continue to maintain this blog (under the banner of an illustrator). and it will be more about LULZ and wont be as heavily updated, but it'll be here, if you ever want to keep track of me.

Later guys, I'll visit, I promise

Final Storyboards

Final Flash

Semester Reflection

Goals?....that is an INTERESTING question.

Somethings should be pretty obvious when discussing them in this class: It's called VISUAL COMMUNICATION, we learn to COMMUNICATE VISUAL concepts in abstract forms in an aesthetically pleasing way. To do that we had to master various analog and digital techniques and provide a polished approach to craft.  All of it allows us to convey surprisingly complex ideas with simple shapes and forms.

For ME, it became all of that and an attempt to capture a sense of precision and perhaps cleanliness in my work and for the most part that has happened.  My abysmal craft due to incompetence with my tools has been greatly improved (admittedly I still need more practice).  "Nailing it"has become the key idea in my technique, less mistakes now,  more awesomeness later.  Its even applied to my causal sketchbook sketch: where once there was a whirling dervish of pencil marks and smudges that would be nigh impossible to fix, now theres page after page of cleanly lined and inked work.

Past Process Critique

This is one dead end iteration that comes to mind.  It was a composition WAAAAAAAAY back to the dot book when I was trying to fit the word "passionate" into the book. It was my ineptitude with the abstract form that made me veto this composition AND the word. However, now that I look at it, I could rework this and make at least a passable iteration.

With this piece the main problem was that I kept inadvertently making forms that resembled literal things.  This made a writing passion I wanted, but i kept seeing this little monster with hairy armpits dancing (lol). As much as I actually like that, it sure didn't help me.  If I had kept the movement without the details or the touching of forms, it would be possible to keep the word.

(sigh)

I still like my hairy armpit monster

Final Statement

To meet the objectives of the flash movie and the taxonomy book, i employed a method that I hadn't used since the beginning of the semester by making quantities of work and selecting from the bulk.  I made SO many marks and copies of marks and copies of copies of marks that it became a simple matter of selection for the taxonomy book.  It also allowed me to find the perfect mark through serendipitously trusting in the materials, hoping for a random bit of excellence.

The generation of marks was a great deal of fun compared to some of the more cut and dry aspects of design

Linear Transtition

 

The Tools used were the lens of our flashlight for both stamping and spray-painting.  For the man it was spray-painted matches.  I then separated the shapes and copied them

  

Martin Vanezky....

He's a successful graphic designer that was resistant to the idea of computer generated design, and instead used unconventional analog means to make an interesting and unique style.  He likes cut and paste techniques, creating very interesting Pollock like prints.  His work can be easy applied to our project that has doing anything BUT traditonal techniques

Final Project,: Typography

 

For my final project, we were tasked with making a poster for the Reach Out and Read program and if we were members of AIGA we were encouraged to further refine and submit to a contest within AIGA.  I am not a member, so its a dead certainty that I wont be involved in the contest.

I was allowed to do ANYTHING but combine it with what we learned in our classes and make it typographically dominant.  I was pleased that I was allowed more freedom to do things like illustration, but I found myself getting nitpicky with the poster.  I finally have one I'm pleased with...but I could still tinker with it for a long time.  

I improved the color scheme significantly from last time and added the setting of the the hallway.  It was agreed that the last iteration was WAY too depressing and pressured the audience (mainly stressed parents).  So I tried to convey a sense of whimsy in the final piece. I also added digital (and therefore more legible type)