Day of Design Write-up

On March 1, 2014 we had the choice of attending Skype presentations from 2 out of 3 professional designers, and I attended presentations by Aaris Sherin and Jennifer Alrich.

Aaris Sherin is the author of Sustainable Design, which is the subject she mainly presented about. She featured a few people who took simple ideas of sustainability and turned them into successfull businesses. One includes an illustrator from the UK who designed his own characters that were made into stuffed toys, which are part of the fair trade organization in Nepal. Sherin said that fair trade has the most potential because it makes the best out of an imperfect world. I really like her idea of sustainable design, because I believe in going green to protect the earth, and integrating this into my potential career would be very exciting.

The next presenter, Jennifer Aldrich, is a Content Strategist and UX editor at Schoolwires, Inc.She started out with a basic introduction to how she got to this career, then went into the nitty gritty about UX design, which I found to be very interesting. I didn't realize that is is comprised of many different careers, and that it is best to have experience with several different fields of design. For example, a Content Strategist and UX designer edit wireframes to ensure usability of new designs, collaborate with other departments with areas of improvement, conduct remote and in-house usability research with clients, and analyze Google Analytics Data. She also gave other advice such as creating several social media accounts to follow leading industry professionals and start professional networking, don't expect to get your dream job right after college, and don't be afraid to try new things outside of your degree. I have to say it was very interesting to hear what she had to say, and it made me more interested in User Experience design, because it seems to be more of what I would like to do as a career. Of course, I still have time to figure that out, but I will definitely do more research on that field of design to see if it is really what I would like to pursue.

Week 9A- March 24

Today in class, we took turns presenting our logo animations and critiquing others' videos. Some feedback I received was perhaps not using photos, and instead using college-related icons. For the end in which the hat flies into the frame and lands on the "CL"I was told that it provides good visual rest to read the logo.

Outside of Class: Spring Break!

Last week was our spring break, and although I have access to AfterEffects on my own laptop, I am satisfied with the adjustments I made before I left for break. Below you will see my finalized video:

Week 8B- March 12

Today in class, we did a round robin critique of each others' videos. I received alot of feedback for my video, which I applied to my video. I have made the images go slower across the screen, and eliminated a few as well. I even changed the typeface to the one I had in my storyboard and added a small detail at the end with the hat flying in. Below you will see the improved video as well as the round robin comments.

Homework:
-finish logo design for next class, publish to youtube and embed on blog

Week 8A- March 10

Today in class, we were introduced to several different kinds of sound effects websites, then were shown how to use the program, Audacity, which is a sound editing program. I don't think I am going to use an audio file in this video, but its useful to know how to use the program for future projects. Afterwards we were given the rest of the class to work on our project. I completed my video, but I might edit it pending on if I get any suggestions to make it better or come up with ideas of my own. For now, here is what I have:

Homework:
-Continue working on motion design in AE
- Reminder: Project is due when we come back from spring break!! (Mon, March 24)

Week 7: Outside of Class

This week outside of class, I worked on finishing my Illustrator storyboard, and this time I added the photos I plan on using. I also decided on a different typeface, which is called Nord. It is a condensed, taller typeface than what I had before.

I also started on my video, which you will see below. I didn't quite get to the end yet to add "College Living," but I plan on working on it in class. I feel that the photos are moving a bit too fast to be seen real well, but at the same time they need to clear the screen in time for "College Living" to appear. Due to the fact this only should be a 4 second video, I will have to problem solve to make sure the photos are visible enough when seen on the screen.

Week 7B- March 5

Today in class, we critiqued each others' storyboards on Illustrator, and received feedback on them. The classmates that viewed my storyboard seemed to like my idea, and felt that it would look great rendered in video. I even got a suggestion on which typeface I should use for the College Living component that pops up at the end of the video, which would to find one that is more condensed and taller. I will do some research and post my updated storyboard. I will also add the actual photos that I am using in the video.

Homework:
- Finalize storyboard in Illustrator
    - Make sure you have visual continuity in your design
- Begin animation in AfterEffects
- Research animation techniques and test them out