A Little Overwhelmed

Whew!
It has been one busy week and it looks like the rest of the semester is going to be just as busy. So far my calendar is pretty booked in until the end of March. I made a post on Monday out of frustration, but took it down the next day. So don’t be surprised if you see something one day and then it’s gone the next. Sometimes I just need to get things out and then delete the evidence.

I’m setting a goal of posting at least one new blog a week, preferably project related. But this week I mostly have news.

AIGA & SPE
I am now a student member of the AIGA and SPE. I’m looking forward to learning more about both organizations and getting involved. I’m also really excited to announce that I am now officially attending the SPE (Society for Photographic Education) National Conference in March. The conference is in Philly and I’ll be attending with a few classmates and professors from March 3rd-7th. I’m both super excited and a little bit nervous. This will be my first trip anywhere via plane, and it’ll be my first time in a big city without a constant companion. I’m definitely looking forward to this awesome opportunity and am so thankful to all the people that have helped raise and donate funds so that I and others can attend.

Class Updates & School Projects:

Far Eastern Art History
This semester my class has to work on some sort of project together or singularly. So far it seems as if everyone will be doing some sort of project to hopefully assist a local museum. Everyone will be working on research, but we also hope to put together some brochures, get new information on the website, and maybe even put together a temporary exhibit. I’m definitely very interested in putting information up on the web, as I’m a total web geek and love any web opportunities, plus I get so frustrated when I visit the museums website and can never find any interesting information. I’m also planning on researching Foo Dogs/Protector figures, and/or I may end up helping to put together a temporary ceramic exhibit.

Graphic Design Workshop
My class has just about wrapped up its first project, which involved creating a cover design for the annual College of Arts & Sciences Student Research Symposium abstract booklet and program. The semester got off to a quick and rough start so I don’t think anyone got to spend as much time on the project as desired. I was a little interested in the project at first but then quickly became overwhelmed so I focused on exploring some of the easier design solutions I had brainstormed. I was really interested in creating a design inspired by scientific charts. The design I ended up finalizing is inspired from a flowchart. I designed it in grayscale and printed it on gray cardstock. It’s very simple, but I’m pretty happy with it.

The program cover looks the same but the university logo was moved to the back. This was a quick design job for a very limited budget and printing options: university printer, no bleeds, as inexpensive as possible. My design is obviously reminiscent of a tree and a flow chart. I tried to arrange related departments somewhat close together, but maintain an aesthetically pleasing balance. The class will turn in the designs on Monday, and a committee will pick one of the designs to be used for this years event.

We were given our next project, which will be done in teams, and involves creating a t-shirt design for a Children’s Advocacy Center.

Letterform
My professor has been out sick, but one of my other professors came in and did a class on bookmaking via paper and cardstock. Everyone made 2 different types of books. (I’ll add pictures later.) I have to submit a project proposal when my professor returns. My current proposal involves creating ligatures/monograms for popular gamerspeak abbreviations. I wanted to do something fun and interesting, so I’m hoping to do that with this project.

Photography IV
I submitted 3 relatively simple project proposals this past week, and will begin work on a few of them soon. This class is sort of like an independent study in that I get to dictate my own projects. And my basic goal in this class is to develop my photography portfolio. For someone concentrating in graphic design, I am really involved in photography. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad. If I wasn’t so involved in it I could be focusing more time in graphic design, but I’m not a particularly strong drawer and I absolutely love the magic of capturing light, so…oh well.

Outside of Class:

• I am working on plans for the Art Alliance.
• Doing Freelance work for a local company.
• Collaborating on a design for the Department’s newsletter.
• Collaborating on the design elements on a map for Tannehill State Park.
• This weekend I am attending a 2day Paste Paper making workshop, and working.
• Working on an abstract and presentation for the Student Symposium.
• Trying to get organized for the many shows and exhibitions happening this semester.

(imported from blogspot)