Justin Schwaitzberg's DMA Page

1. What did you learn?
   • I learned that some fonts have a surprising amount of variables that can be adjusted. Using those, you can be incredibly precise.
2. What was easy?
   • I found the act of choosing fonts to be pretty easy. I would scroll and look through a lot, and found myself instinctively knowing when I found what I was looking for.
3. What was challenging?
   • Actually assembling the “Tetris” pieces into an aesthetically pleasing design was fairly difficult. I found frames that had more words were easier to make layouts for than the ones with only a few words.
4. How could your submission be improved?
   • I think there are a few areas where the word-Tetris could be a little tighter. Also, I’m sure there are some word placement choices that could be improved on.
5. How could the professor improve the assignment for the next class?
   • I think starting off without the square frames would be good. My initial approach to the assignment was with the assumption that they had to be square.
6. How might you apply your knowledge in future assignments or work scenarios?
   • I think knowing how to lay text out in an aesthetically pleasing manor is a universal skill. It can be helpful both with text on a computer, and with handwritten text.
7. How did a specific reading or video inspire or help you?
   • We briefly looked at some kinetic typography which was very helpful for getting the general idea of what the assignment should look like. It also gave an example of how what we were learning could be applied elsewhere.

1. What did you learn?
   • I got better with Photoshop’s new AI object selection tools in order to remove some backgrounds (although some I still had to do by hand). I also used a trick we learned in Figma to add blurry sharks to the background.
2. What was easy?
   • I had a good time going through stock image sites to gather things to cut out and put into the scene. It was really easy to find high quality images of fish and other aquatic life.
3. What was challenging?
   • The most challenging part was coming up with what I was going to work on for my metaphor. Once I came up with “Sea of Trees”, the rest came easily, though.
4. How could your submission be improved?
   • I think I could get a better diversity of aquatic plants if I had more time. Currently, I rely on horizontal flips and warping of the same image to create variety.
5. How could the professor improve the assignment for the next class?
   • I think this assignment was very well designed. If I had to come up with something, maybe focus less on Figma, since I don’t think its masking tools are the easiest to use/understand.
6. How might you apply your knowledge in future assignments or work scenarios?
   • Being able to cut things out in Photoshop and put them into other scenes is a very generally applicable skill. I could see myself doing so in any graphics related task.
7. How did a specific reading or video inspire or help you?
   • The article that had examples of visual metaphors was very helpful. I got a lot of inspiration from those.

Complementary

Split-Complementary

Monochromatic

Analogous

1. What did you learn?
   • I learned a lot about color theory/how to choose a proper color palette. I have a lot of experience with Photoshop, but being able to put things in terms of hue, tone, tint, shade, etc definitely makes me think about color differently. I’m also glad to get experience with different color formats like HSL.
2. What was easy?
   • After being restricted to abstract and simple shapes in the last project, being able to work with the pen tool made things a lot easier. I was more easily able to imagine what the final product would be.
3. What was challenging?
   • It was difficult to choose which color scheme to go with each landscape. I figured out pretty quickly that I wanted to use a monochromatic scheme for the desert environment, but the others were slightly harder.
4. How could your submission be improved?
   • On one hand, I kind of like the sparse feel of the desert landscape, but it might be improved by spending more time coming up with another tasteful addition to the scene. Perhaps a tumbleweed, or some other desert vegetation.
5. How could the professor improve the assignment for the next class?
   • I think the assignment was very well designed. Although I can’t think of any at the moment, maybe having some additional choices for landscape types would be fun.
6. How might you apply your knowledge in future assignments or work scenarios?
   • I would definitely use a color wheel/decide on a color scheme if I were to work on some sort of graphic for class/work. In the past, I’ve just chosen colors by eye, but the methods we’ve learned in class seem much more reliable.
7. How did a specific reading or video inspire or help you?
   • The initial series of 3 articles on color were very helpful. There were tons of examples which helped illustrate the concepts they talked about.

1) Rock-a-by baby

3) When the wind blows, the cradle will rock

5) The cradle will fall

2) On the tree top

4) When the bough breaks

6) And down will come baby, cradle and all

1. What did you learn?
   • The biggest thing I learned was how to put some of these Gestalt principles into words. Before, I was able to instinctively “feel” when something felt off, but I’m now better equipped to describe why.
2. What was easy?
   • I felt as though Figma was really intuitive to use and learn. I already have experience with the maze of windows and toolbars that is Photoshop, so Figma was like a breath of fresh air. I also really enjoyed playing around with components.
3. What was challenging?
   • For me, the hardest part was actually coming up with how to present the story. A lot of my experience is with manipulating pre-existing assets into a cohesive whole (photo/video editing, game dev, etc), so starting from scratch was a fun experience.
4. How could your submission be improved?
   • With a few more passes, I feel as though I could improve a couple of areas. For example, finding a way to better portray motion in frame 5 (the cradle will fall).
5. How could the professor improve the assignment for the next class?
   • The only thing I can really think of is maybe compiling a bigger list of nursery rhymes that fit cleanly into 6 sections. Everything else was great. I especially liked how the professor was able to use the Figma sharing feature to give live critique and demonstrate ideas.
6. How might you apply your knowledge in future assignments or work scenarios?
   • I think knowing these design principles is helpful for any field, as every workplace needs posters and other signage. As a DMA major, having experience with Figma seems like it will be useful for future job opportunities.
7. How did a specific reading or video inspire or help you?
   • “The designer’s guide to Gestalt Theory” was the only real reading up to now, but it definitely had some great visual examples to reference.

This is an image of a cat.