- What did you learn?
A lot of the process was brainstorming. The ability to be naturally creative is difficult to master. I still don’t think I have the complete list of it. That, alongside the technical skills that I developed while using illustrator, was both challenging and rewarding when the end product was developed.
- What was easy?
Finding a saying to work with was the easiest part. There are so many to choose from it could honestly overwhelm you if you try to do too much. I was able to relatively quickly find a phrase I liked and made the focus of my project.
- What was challenging?
The most challenging aspect of this project was the planning phase. Trying to find some way to represent abstract ideas such as words and actions is difficult to say the least. I finally was able to have a bit of a breakthrough when the idea of working propaganda popped into my head. It is the definition of actions mattering more than words, where the purpose of the propaganda was to turn the identity that had been developed in speech, into action that could produce results.
- How could your submission be improved?
My submission could definitely be improved in its choice of images. For some reason, no matter how many different ways I tried to select the images, they produced a bit fuzzy. The images I chose actually were the ones that turned out the best. Other than that, I could definitely do with a bit more usage of color. Perhaps in the background, but I couldn’t seem to find a way to do so without making the orientation of the project look a bit too loud.
- How could the professor improve the assignment for the next class?
I enjoyed the assignment as it is. I don’t really see a reason to change anything. I found the lectures to be quite informative on the technical aspects of the project and the incorporation of a peer review at the start of the project was helpful as well.
- How might you apply your knowledge in future assignments or work scenarios?
The ability to be more naturally creative will definitely help. Being able to see things in a different light or generate ideas based on abstract images or thoughts is a skill that I hadn’t really utilized until now.
- How did a specific reading or video inspire or help you?
I read a few articles, but two that helped in particular were http://arno.uvt.nl/show.cgi?fid=143641 and https://gallery.lib.umn.edu/exhibits/show/labor-in-the-eyes-of-artists–/world-war-ii-propaganda-poster. The first article helped with my understanding of what I am looking to represent as far as what word association I could play with, or how I should think when it comes to the project overall. The second article was helpful after I had an idea of the direction I wanted to take my project. Once I had the idea in my head, it became a matter of looking for inspiration and referencing material in a way that I could understand it.