Junior Semester 2 Reflection

What did I do this semester?

Magazine

Behance

What was the project?

This project was a long process that consisted of setting up an interview with a local graphic designer, and then creating a magazine spread to showcase their work and allow the reader to learn about the artist.

How long did it take?

This took me a very long time. It actually started in mid-December but wasn't completed until early March. This is largely due to technology issues.

What were some challenges that I faced?

A little bit into January, my entire project was deleted from our server, which is the only place I ever saved my work. I had already restarted the project once because I disliked my original. It took me another month to actually build up the motivation to finish the project

What did I learn along the way?

I learned to make copies of my work and to not trust the district's servers. I now save my projects on a flash drive as well as the cloud, and I don't even bother with the server anymore.

What was some feedback I was given?

Once I had revamped the entire look of the project, my peers were very impressed. The original was very busy and not very cohesive.

What did I change?

The whole thing was changed. The original was just kind of slapped together with no thought, while the second version was designed to fit with my artist's work

My overall opinion on the design process and final outcome.

I am so proud of this. It honestly isn't my best work, but I'm proud that I even finished it. My original was horrible, and I'm so happy that I redesigned it, even if I had to do it twice because of server issues.

Prom Branding

Behance

What was the project?

This was a small branding project for our schools 2018 prom. It includes posters and tickets.

How long did it take?

This took me about a month. It was started in early February, and finished in early March.

What were some challenges that I faced?

I had some issues with the overall "brand" of our prom. Our Junior Committee, who was organizing Prom, kept changing the name. The theme was supposedly "not Gatsby-themed," though their inspiration all came from Gatsby. 

What did I learn along the way?

I learned to do my best with what clients provide. Clients won't always be cooperative, and this was a great learning experience.

What was some feedback I was given?

My peers really liked my phonograph with the pearls draped over it. It gave it a personal touch, as a lot of my peers' posters were just dark backgrounds with text over it.

What did I change?

I messed around with the orientation (landscape or portrait?). I had trouble figuring out where I wanted the text in relation to the graphic, so that took a little bit of messing around.

My overall opinion on the design process and final outcome.

This wasn't really my best project. It was honestly rushed, and it was difficult to make something original since our client's needs were so vague.

Tarot Branding

Behance

What was the project?

This was a branding project where we picked a service and created a fictional company based on that.

How long did it take?

This was started in late March and finished in late May, so this took about a month.

What were some challenges that I faced?

I had a hard time with my color scheme. It was very limited palette, so it was a fun challenge to figure out what to do with it.

What did I learn along the way?

I learned to have patience. I originally thought this project was going to be much shorter than it was, so I was frustrated when more and more parts kept being added on.

What was some feedback I was given?

People really liked my logo. I didn't really get much specific feedback other than they liked it, but I guess that's not really a terrible problem to have. It was just kind of hard to figure out ways to improve with no negative feedback.

What did I change?

I changed my color scheme of my logo before I actually began the branding package. The original colors didn't really look great together, and they were kind of dull and muddy.

My overall opinion on the design process and final outcome.

I really love the final outcome of this project. When this project was introduced I immediately knew I wanted to make a tarot company. I love tarot, and creating a little company for it was really fun. I also really love all of my branding, because I feel like its cohesive and matches with itself.

KC Metro College Expo

No Behance. So small that it didn't feel necessary

What was the project?

This was a short side-project to create a new logo for a local convention for high school students to explore their college options. 

How long did it take?

This took about a week. I only really did one sketch and kind of slapped it together.

What were some challenges that I faced?

I had problems making the logo recognizable as a graduation cap with a check mark. Once I told people what it was they could see it, but I wanted people to get it right away.

What did I learn along the way?

I learned to balance to projects at once. This project was given when we were working on the branding project, so I had to put that aside for little bits at a time to work on this.

What was some feedback I was given?

Mine was one of five chosen to be sent to the company. I was told that it was visually different from my peers' logos, which helped it stand out and be chosen.

What did I change?

I originally had a whole different font, and there was a tassel on the cap. The font was kind of awkward looking though, so I found a more plain, "safe" font. The tassel kind of awkward, because I couldn't put it at a 45 degree angle or it would blend with the check.

My overall opinion on the design process and final outcome.

This was so lazy, but I actually kind of like this logo. I'm not sure if the company actually chose my logo, but I'm happy it was in the top five. I also like that mine was unique and stood out from others.

How did I use my time in class?

How have I used my time?

I was much more on-task for the majority of the semester. But honestly in the beginning, after my magazine was deleted, I actually spent a lot of time just sitting because my motivation was so low. I was also extremely depressed at this time because of the server issues and thoughts going through my mind that even I can't really explain where they came from or why. Once I actually went to therapy, got a better anti-depressant prescribed, got my motivation back and finished my magazine I was on roll. I was so happy that I finished my magazine that I worked diligently on my last few projects. Admittedly I was really slacking off towards the end because summer was coming, and I had a lot of

down time due to finishing assignments so quickly (I had also been prescribed adderall to help keep me awake and alert, so my energy levels were way up too).

How did I stay productive when I finished early?

I usually worked on assignments for other classes. I usually hate working on schoolwork at home unless it's graphic design, so I would do a lot of math or history here and work on graphic design at home. When I had the KC Metro logo project I would work on that in my free time.

What did I do outside of class to enhance my graphic design work?

I actually bought the Adobe Suite this semester so I could work on stuff at home whenever I wanted. If I thought of something once I got home, instead of hoping I would remember I could apply my thoughts to my work right away, which I feel really helped some of my projects along.

What are my areas of strength as a graphic designer?

I think my work is pretty varied style-wise. There are certain elements that make my work recognizable, such as my work often being line-less and clean, but I don't constantly use the same colors or design elements in my work.

How do I maximize my strengths?

I have a huge range of inspiration from other artists. I really love cute pastel colors as well as creepy macabre aesthetics. This is what helps my work stay so varied.

What do I need to improve on?

I need to learn to deal with obstacles better. The fact that it took me an entire month to actually start my magazine again upsets me. Especially when it only actually took me a week to re-do.

What can I do to improve?

I can't really improve without experience with obstacles such as these. I'll just try to work on graphic design a lot over the summer. I'm not really hoping to encounter problems as major as losing an entire project, but if I do I'll try to make a plan to fix the problem and avoid the problem in the future.

Summary

What did I love most about this semester?

I loved that I overcame my technology and mental issues. I'm so happy that I finished that magazine project, and allowed myself to open up an seek help to make myself happy again.

What would I do differently?

I would probably find more graphic design work to do rather than do work for other classes. I should have just gotten over myself and done my other classwork at home, and used down time to work on personal projects.

Biggest thing I learned?

It's okay to seek help. When my magazine was deleted, I tried to brush it off as nothing and hold in my emotions. Eventually they just built up and got worse to the point where I was crying and failing projects for other classes. When I talked to my teacher about it I was given a deadline to turn the magazine in by the end of the year and take my time. I didn't realize that a solution could be so simple, and that I don't need to worry about everything by myself.

Goal for next semester?

I want to do a whole lot of graphic design work next year. I want to make my portfolio amazing with a variety work from class, clients, and my own personal projects. Next year is my Senior year, so I want to make it really great. 

Final Thoughts?

This semester was a huge learning process. I'm actually so happy that it happened the way it did, because if I didn't seek emotional help and finish my magazine, I don't think I would have had the motivation to work so diligently on my last few projects.

Junior Semester 1 Reflection

What did I do this semester?

Name Typography

Behance

What was the project?

This project was our first project. We had to come up with a bunch of different adjectives and things about us, and then incorporate that into our name using typography.

How long did it take?

I didn't count how long it took, but I think it was about a month. We started with brainstorming our adjectives and sketching. Then we moved on to doing whatever hand-typography we wanted and finding the fonts we wanted to use for ideas that weren't hand-type. When we finished putting them into illustrator we had to set them up for Behance and then print them and mount them on a matte board. There were also a few critiques along the way.

What were some challenges that I faced?

I had a lot of issues with my video game idea. I tried to use a Wii remote and nunchuck for the L and the N. The wire that connects the remote to the nunchuck was going to make the shape of the N, but it ended up being too thin, so I had to find something that would match the weight of the other letters. I ended up using another Nintendo Switch controller for the N, and keeping the original Wii Remote for the L.

What did I learn along the way?

Along the way I learned how to incorporate feeling into type. We never did much typography in sophomore year, so I didn't have much experience. You can't just throw some graphics in there, otherwise if you remove the graphics then the type may not match the emotion you're looking for. Finding the correct font and manipulating it to match the emotion is what you need to do, though graphics can be added later for something extra.

What was some feedback I was given?

People really liked my doodle idea and my indecisive idea. I was told that the doodle one looked a lot like what you would find in the margins of someone's notes, just random ideas added on to a small sketch. My indecisive one felt like I was having trouble choosing a font or a weight, which is exactly what I was looking for.

What did I change?

I changed a lot between sketching and Illustrator. Some of my ideas looked alright in my sketches, such as the video game idea with the wire being the N, but once I put it in illustrator some of the weights changed and ended up not matching with one another. My cat idea originally had a tail and faces on the E's and the N. It ended up looking weird and repetitive, so I scrapped it and put paw-prints on the E's and nothing on the N.

My overall opinion on the design process and final outcome.

I really enjoyed this project. It kind of helped me think about who I am and what I like. So often people will ask questions about me and they know just as much as I do. Coming up with ideas that were about me made this project kind of personal to me, and I'm really proud of how it turned out.

Holiday Card

Behance

What was the project?

This project was meant to introduce us to hand-typography through the making of a holiday card. I love Christmas and the Christmas Song, so I ended up choosing a lyric from that song.

How long did it take?

This project took about a month. I spent a lot of time choosing a holiday and sifting through quotes and song lyrics to find what I wanted my card to be about. After that we had to do a lot of tracing and inking to make our typography perfect. Eventually we scanned our typography in and made them look nice in Illustrator. Then we designed our cards an put them up on Behance.

What were some challenges that I faced?

My biggest challenge was trying to make my hand-typography look perfect without the use of Photoshop or Illustrator. I had to ink, scan, and trace over and over again until I could get it as perfect as possible before I fixed it up a little bit in Photoshop. After that it was on to Illustrator.

What did I learn along the way?

I learned to have a lot of patience with myself. I would often try to ink something too fast and have to start all over since we had to work with pen.

What was some feedback I was given?

My peers really liked the way I made the card look like a fireplace, with the little campfire at the bottom and the mantle with the stockings on the top. I was also told that the contrast between the type and the background would help it be chosen over other cards if I were to sell it at a place like Hallmark.

What did I change?

I originally had another little campfire on the back since I thought it looked empty, but I thought it was repetitive so I ended up keeping the back empty. I may design something else for the back in the future, since it still looks empty to me.

My overall opinion on the design process and final outcome.

It's not my favorite project, but I feel that learning how to do hand-typography was really important. Creating typography by hand just gives the final outcome a much more personal feel, and it's well worth the wait.

Personal Logo

Behance

What was the project?

This was a personal project since I didn't really like my logo from sophomore year. I asked people around me what they thought of when they see me. I asked them to think of a color, an emotion, and animal, and a plant. I ended up getting the pink, anger, owls, and a peony. After that I tried to incorporate all that into a logo.

How long did it take?

I worked on this over the whole semester, since it was a side project and didn't have as much priority as the projects from my teacher did.

What were some challenges that I faced?

I had trouble coming up with something that represents me. At first I tried designing my logo based on what I thought of myself, but it ended up just being something I thought was cute and wasn't really associated with me. It wasn't until I went through several different ideas that I ended up asking others what they thought of me.

What did I learn along the way?

I didn't really learn as many graphic design things as I did personal things. I feel like I learned a lot about myself. I didn't really think of myself as an angry person before this project, but I guess I seem angry to others.

What was some feedback I was given?

Since this wasn't a class project we didn't have critiques as a class. I was told by another user on Behance that my logo felt clean and classy, and that my proportions and spacing were well done.

What did I change?

I had so many vastly different ideas for my logo. One of my original ideas was a bunny holding up a sign with my name on it, another was a regal gryphon made out of circles. So much was changed throughout this project, and I had to restart several times.

My overall opinion on the design process and final outcome.

I am very happy with my new logo. Designing it was a lot of fun, and I liked learning others' honest opinions about me.

Company Branding

Behance

What was the project?

This was a large project that consisted of making a fake company and creating a branding package for it.

How long did it take?

This project took about a month and a half. We had to come up with 30 different sketches that matched our company. Then we had to choose six sketches we liked the most and clean them up in illustrator. After that we chose our one favorite logo and created a color palette that fit our company. After our logo was finished we had to design the branding package which consisted of business cards, envelopes, letterheads, a uniform, a merchandise item, a store inside and outside, and an app for smartphones. Our process for the logo and final outcomes all had to be put on Behance. The printed branding package and logo had to be printed out and mounted on a matte board.

What were some challenges that I faced?

My sketches weren't that great. I had issues with them because I felt like I had no connection to the company and since I knew so little about it I had trouble coming up with fitting logos. I had one idea in my mind that I knew I liked, so I had trouble coming up with ideas that were different. Once I came up with some different sketches I was able to move on with the rest of the project just fine.

What did I learn along the way?

I learned a lot about what a client may expect from us. The amount of sketches I originally had was unacceptable and would make it difficult for a client to know what I was designing for them. A client would want a lot of options, and I learned that I would need to provide that. I also learned the importance of organizing files for print so that I get all the right stuff back. Luckily I managed to get all the right files in and formatted correctly, but others had to re-print some things because the messed up the format or never got them back from the print shop.

What was some feedback I was given?

My peers thought my colors matched well with what my company was selling. I used neutral and comforting colors considering my company was selling pillows.

What did I change?

A lot of the type on my logo was changed. I originally had some hand typography, but I found a font that suited the logo better than my work did, so I used that instead. I didn't have a lot of time to go through the process of inking, tracing, and scanning with this project, so I scrapped the hand-type idea.

My overall opinion on the design process and final outcome.

The design process for this project was long and stressful, but seeing all the pieces of this come together to form a company is really satisfying. I feel like I did a good job of matching my logo to my company's product and the time period it came from.

How did I use my time in class?

How have I used my time?

At the beginning of the year I was very distracted. I had to be told several times to stay on task or to work on something graphic design related. Eventually I realized that my grade was dropping and that I needed to get my act together and work properly. I still get distracted every once in a while, but I know to get back on task.

How did I stay productive when I finished early?

At first whenever I finished early I would kinda act like I was working on outside work but I would mostly be on my phone with something open in Illustrator to make me seem busy. I didn't have a lot of inspiration to work on other things. Eventually I had more ideas for personal projects and I would work on those rather than sit on my phone.

What did I do outside of class to enhance my graphic design work?

I really like to doodle and sketch. I feel like this helped my graphic design work since it helped come up with different ideas for some projects. I'm also in a drawing class at school which I think helped add stuff to my portfolio.

What are my areas of strength as a graphic designer?

I feel like I work with color really well. I know what colors go together and what emotions they convey. This helped a lot with making the All Comfort logo, since I needed comforting colors rather than something bright and in-your-face.

How do I maximize my strengths?

I do a lot of work with different color palettes. I try not to work with similar colors over and over again, otherwise I wouldn't be as good with color as I am now.

What do I need to improve on?

I think I need to improve on my typography. We never really did much work with typography in sophomore year, and I have a hard time deciding how to use different fonts.

What can I do to improve?

I want to try and do something with typography for e-Magine. I might try to find some quotes that I like and make a print or a card with those quotes.

Summary

What did I love most about this semester?

I really loved the freedom we had this semester. In sophomore year I was still new to graphic design and I still needed to be taught how to do certain things. I still need to be taught now, but I know more things and can do stuff on my own better.

What would I do differently?

I really want to go back in time and tell myself to work harder in this class. I also wish I didn't have a job this semester, since that also stressed me out a lot.

Biggest thing I learned?

I learned a lot about using my time correctly. Over time I learned that I need to use my time properly and work on graphic design work to improve my portfolio.

Goal for next semester?

My biggest goal for next semester is to do more out of class work. I want to contact my cousin who owns a flower shop, since he's looking for someone to make a logo for him.

Final Thoughts?

This semester kind of opened my eyes to what graphic design would be like as a career. I need to work more seriously, otherwise clients may not want me to work for them or I may not make it in the work force.

End of the Year Sophomore Reflection for Graphic Design

Over the semester in Graphic Design, we did many things to become stronger with not only our design skills, but our technology, collaboration, communication, project management, and leadership skills. Being in this class helped build those skills by having us do different activities such as, presenting our work to the class, giving criticism to our classmates, creating and updating a Bechance portfolio, having an organized server folder with all our work in it, and helping others to improve by giving constructive criticism. We also spent a lot of time, well, working with graphic design. Here I am going to reflect over the many projects we did this semester.

Nelson Art Museum Poster

Our first project was to create a poster for a fake event at the Nelson Art Museum. The event was supposed to be for a art showcase of a famous artist or movement. I chose constructivism as my movement. This took a while to do, as I had to do research over the constructivism movement before I could begin working in the style. Figuring out how to relate the Nelson Art Museum to constructivism was hard, but I managed. While creating this, I learned that a lot of current art movements are inspired by constructivism, and they utilize a lot of constructivism's main properties. I was told by my teacher and by my peers that it looked almost like a movie poster, and that the layout of the poster was really well done.  I'm really proud of how this project came out in the end. I feel like it follows the constructivism style well, and that it gives the information for the event in a clear and concise way.

Quote Typography

Our next project was centered around typography. We were to look up four quotes that we really enjoy or relate to, and then make a typography artboard for each quote. I had a lot of trouble finding quotes that I liked, so I chose two from a video game that I really like, and two silly ones from some YouTubers that I watch. Along the way I learned about how type should be arranged and that certain color schemes work better with certain pieces of art. Next time I do a project like this I might try to take it a little more seriously and choose some better quotes, but I don't have all day to look up a quote I like. I didn't really like this project. I'm not a huge fan of typography, since there are so many rules that have to be followed, and a lot of precise things like kerning and different fonts.

Company Rebrand Logo 

One of our more recent projects was to rebrand a local company's logo. First we had to come up with a bunch of symbols that we thought fit the company, and then we had to come up with some lettermarks that also fit the company. Once we found the symbols and letter marks that we liked, we had to combine them to make black and white logos. This was a long project that involved researching our company to get to know what they're about and then figuring out how we could a design a logo to fit the company's purpose. I had a hard time brainstorming the first symbols we made, as we had to make a total of 30 symbols. I thought this was a little ridiculous, and it quickly turned into busywork. After we had the six symbols we liked, we had to make 6 different versions of each symbol with different color schemes, resulting in a grand total of 36 different combination logos. Usually by this point we are supposed to narrow down our choices, but instead we just had too much on our hands. However, I feel like I learned to be more patient with this project. I was getting tired of doodling meaningless logos and switching around color schemes, but I managed to make my way through. I really didn't like doing this project, but I'm happy with my final results. I feel like my logos were thought out, original, and they fit the company brand.

Business Card, Letterhead, and Envelope

This project was our final project of the year. It involved taking our favorite combination logo from our previous project, and creating a business card, letterhead, and envelope for the company that we're working on. I enjoyed this project a lot more since we didn't have to create a billion different versions of the same thing. I feel like we had a lot more creative freedom with this project, too. I did have a little bit of a hard time figuring out the information that goes on the business card, however. I was told by my peers that the pattern on the back of the business card was cute, and that the borders on the letterhead helped guide the eyes towards the actual words that may be written on the paper. I'm pleased with both the process and the outcome of this project, as I had fun and I think my designs are well done.

Over the semester in Graphic Design, I had some productivity issues. I got all my stuff turned in, but I was easily distracted by my friends. Finishing early was hit or miss for me; I either worked on extra credit assignments or worked on my own graphic design stuff, or I talked with my friends. I did, however, work outside of class in Illustrator at home if I really wanted to do more work on a certain project.

I feel like I have a strong sense of design. I'm proud of most of my projects, and I try to help others who need help making a design look the way they want.

I just really need to improve attention span. I need to find some way to stop myself from getting distracted.

Overall, Graphic Design was probably my favorite class this year. I loved getting to create art digitally. I would probably change the amount of busy work we're given, though. My biggest take-away is that all art has value, whether you're a professional in the work-force or a sophomore in high school. For next year I'd like to become less distracted so I can get more work done. I'm really excited for next year, since I'll get to learn more about graphic design.

End of the Year Sophomore Reflection for Animation

Sophomore animation was, overall, very stressful. But I had a lot of fun in the class. My teacher was really great and the projects were interesting.

I learned a lot over the entire year. In e-Comm, we have five "guarantees":
Technology, Collaboration, Communication, Project Management, and Leadership.

• From technology, I effectively learned how to use Adobe After Effects and Maya to make 2D and 3D animations. We were taught these programs through various tutorials that taught us the basics of each program. This information is useful because I may need to make animations for various jobs. Learning After Effects was stressful, since there were so many different options for different things in After Effects.
• From Collaboration, I learned to better communicate with others to get group projects done through making a short animated movie with four other people. Learning to work with others is important because it happens a lot in many different careers, and if you can't work with others then you won't get very far in your career. I had a lot of issues working with others since I tend to be more shy towards those I don't know. e-Comm is helping me get over this though,
• I learned kind of the same stuff from Communication that I learned in Collaboration. I learned to better communicate with others over projects, even if they weren't collaborative. Even if you aren't working with others, it's good to get the insight of peers so you can have a better perspective of where you're going. It's hard to reach out to the people you don't know and ask for criticism, since you never know what they're going to say.
• Project Management taught me how to be better at keeping my files organized. Keeping a server folder and having to make sure all my files were in the right place, especially when working with After Effects helped me learn to be more organized. Being unorganized is one of the most stressful things that can happen to a person, so it's important to keep your things straight. I didn't really face many organization issues, since I'm already a rather well organized person.
• Leadership is probably the one I learned the least from. I'm a follower by nature, and it's difficult for me to take hold of a situation for others. I'm having a hard time thinking of any leadership skills that I learned. This is troubling to me since being a leader is a really good skill to have, even if it's hard to achieve.

I've also discovered some strengths and weaknesses while taking this class. I tend to get easily distracted by my friends or other schoolwork. However, I am also a fast learner, and even when I get behind I tend to catch up rather quickly. Since this class was very stressful, I've learned to manage stress more easily and take more breaks. I still need to work on not getting distracted, though.

With everything I learned this year, I'm probably going to try and apply animation to some of my works in Graphic Design next year. Having an animated graphic could add to the interest of it.

I would probably change the order we learn some of our major skills in. We learned special effects after we finished learning Maya, but since special effects is done in After Effects, it would make more sense to learn special effects while learning After Effects.

Overall, I really enjoyed this class. I feel like it taught me to be independent, but at the same time to rely on others for help and criticism when I need it.

Strawberry Hill Rebrand

Our 4th Quarter project for Graphic Design was to re-design a local company's logo. I chose Strawberry Hill Povitca as my company. I tried to make a somewhat refined logo with warm and "sweet" colors, since politic is a sweet treat

Our logo was chose from a series of 6 different combination marks, each with 6 different color schemes for a total of 36 logos that we created by hand. It was a hard choice, but I felt like this one fit the most.

I based the letterhead, business card, and envelope off of the color scheme from the logo, so that the logo wouldn't feel out of place.

The letterhead was made to look interesting on both the front and the back to keep the reader interested and make it feel like they're not just reading another letter in the mail.

The business card is meant to stand out so that the employee can get more clients.

The envelope is also meant to stand out from all the bills that a receiver may get in the mail. If the envelope looked like another bill, then the receiver may not want to open it.

My favorite part of this project was creating the business card. I've always thought business cards were really neat and professional looking, and to get to design one was a lot of fun

Overall this project was a lot of fun. I had a good time looking for a company to rebrand, and then finding the company I liked made me feel happy since I really like povitica and I've had Strawberry Hill's povitica before.

"Criticism Of The Facial Animation In 'Mass Effect: Andromeda' May Have Been Misdirected" Article Review

The article "Criticism Of The Facial Animation In 'Mass Effect: Andromeda' May Have Been Misdirected" by Kevin Murnane discusses how many people have negative opinions on Mass Effect: Andromeda's facial animations. The article first summarizes people's reactions, and then explains why the facial animations are so bad.

Murnane believes that criticisms towards the game should have been directed at Electronic Arts, the game's publishing company, rather than the animators who may have been rushed to get the game ready for release. The author states that "people at either Bioware or Electronic Arts, the game's publisher, that insisted the game be released before it was ready." (Kevin Murnane). Murnane talked with Jonathan Cooper, a lead animator on previous Mass Effect games. Cooper said that "In RPGs like Mass Effect, the player chooses among dialogue options which lead to different paths through a conversation. Rather than a single, scripted dialogue sequence there are any number of possible dialogue paths. Facial animations must be created for all of these paths" (Jonathan Cooper).

The article does a really nice job at defending the animators at Bioware, and informing people of the reasons as to why the game's facial animations are so low quality. However, Murnane compares Mass Effect: Andromeda to several other games, such as Uncharted and The Witcher 3. Mass Effect: Andromeda is a different game made by a different company, and while it's easy to compare, it's unfair since Bioware is a smaller company.

Overall, I agree with Murnane. Bioware's animators were likely not at fault here, and may have been rushed to finish the game so it could be released quickly. Bioware has been known to rush games, and were criticized for reusing assets from Dragon Age: Origins in Dragon Age 2 so it isn't rare to see this kind of criticism direct at Bioware's development team.

"Kagemono: The Shadow Folk" - Review

"Kagemono: The Shadow Folk" is a Disney animated short about a hungry fox looking for a meal. While it is searching , it runs into a fearful foe, and flees. After it runs away, the fox finds what looks like food, but is a trap! The "food" is a shadow creature that eats the fox's own shadow. Eventually, the fox's shadow is all gone and the fox has turned into a ghost. However, the foe from before comes back and eats the shadow creature, which returns the fox's shadow, and makes the fox alive again. It turns out that the "foe" just wanted to be friends. The fox and its new friend walk away into the forest together, no longer having misunderstandings of each other.

The animation is very well done and fluid. They frequently use squash and stretch to make their animations seem more lively.

The story was told through expression and actions rather than words. The animators did this very well, and made sure that everything was very lively.

The creators did a very good job at telling a somewhat dark story through cute characters. However, the world and backgrounds seemed very bleak, and could use more color.

Overall, I feel like the story was very well told, and that their animations were fun to watch. It wasn't boring in any way.

Explosion

This is a fake explosion applied to a video clip made in After Effects.

Scope of the project (goal)

One of our more recent projects was to learn elements of special effects through applying an explosion using various resources given to us to a provided video clip.

Process

To do this we had to learn by watching a video tutorial. If we followed along with the tutorial and did exactly as the instructor said, the final product generally came out looking pretty nice. I had a little bit of trouble figuring out timing on certain things, such as when to have the smoke come in after the explosion, or when the debris should hit the ground.

What did I learn?

While doing thisI learned how to better organize layers in After Effects. For this to work, you really need to have your layers in the right place, and doing that helped with my organization

What would I do differently?

I would probably try to fix some things with the timing, and try to add a camera shake of some kind. I can't really do anything about the people ignoring the explosion, but it would be cool if there was some kind of reaction.

What would I keep the same?

I like how my lighting came out, with the flash of light that reflects on the wall and overhangs of the building, so that's probably what I would keep.

My experiences

After completing this project, I feel like my files could be more organized and also now I know how to apply lighting while editing, rather than having to put some pieces of lighting in during filming.

Thoughts and conclusions

This project was really easy and fun for me. I like having a video to follow when I'm learning something new, since you can go back if you miss something.

How to make a 3D logo in Illustrator and Maya

Having a nice looking logo is pretty cool, but what if it was 3D? If your logo is made in Adobe Illustrator, you can make it happen.

1. Have your logo made in Illustrator

Don't worry about color, yet. Your logo will just show up grey in Maya anyway.

2. Convert your text to outlines

Once your logo is made, if it has any text in it, make sure you convert the type to outlines by selecting the "Type" menu on the bar up top and then selecting "Create Outlines". Otherwise, Maya wont be able to detect that something is there. After you create outlines, the text should look like the image on the right.

3. Saving your Illustrator file

Once you're ready to put your logo in Maya, save your Illustrator file as an "Illustrator 8" file. To do this, just use the menu that pops up after you save your file to whatever folder, and open the drop-down menu and select "Illustrator 8".

5. Importing to Maya

Make sure you have a new project made in Maya. Once you have your new project, go to the "create" menu, and then select "Adobe Illustrator Object", and find your file once the file viewer opens. You'll then see your logo as shown below.

At this point, you can mess with the thickness and bevel and such to your own tastes.
When you want to add color, just change the material of the object by right-clicking and selecting "assign new material". From there you can chose a material you like and then change the color in the attribute editor.

Plausible Impossible

In Disney films, there are many examples of the plausible impossible, where something impossible seems possible in a given situation. Here are some examples of plausible impossible from a version of Alice in Wonderland with Mickey Mouse.

1. Walking through a mirror

In this scene, Mickey walking through a mirror seems plausible because of how the mirror stretches to let him in. If he just walked through the mirror and the mirror didn't react, it would seem like Mickey was a ghost, and he just phased through the mirror.

2. Living objects

Disney makes it seem possible that inanimate objects could be alive by giving them human-like features. The phone has arms, and the mic became its mouth.

3. Mickey being shuffled into a deck of cards

It would be impossible to shuffle an object with form into a deck of cards, but Mickey fits in because of how they show him being shuffled into the cards. They treat him like he's another card, which helps him fit in.

4. Mickey dancing with a card

Mickey can dance with a card because hey had the arms and legs come out of the card. It wouldn't make much sense if Mickey was dancing with a card that had no arms or legs. This is similar to the one with the phone having human-like features.

5. Mickey shooting ink out of a pen

Ink typically can't be shot out of a pen like this, but having Mickey hold the pen like a gun makes this seem possible, and the viewer even expects Mickey to use the pen as a weapon.

Logo Design

Today we learned about different forms of marks and symbols and how they can used together or separately to make the "face" of a brand or company.

What is the difference between a symbol and a logo?

A logo is just words made to represent a brand. Exxon's mark is a good example of this. A symbol is a shape made to represent a brand. Apple is a good example of a symbol.

What's it called when they're used together.

When a logo and a symbol are used together, they make combination mark. Nike is a good example of a combination mark.

Key things to remember

1.  Your logo will represent your entire brand

This is good to remember, because if your logo doesn't match what your brand is about, then it won't be relatable, or well liked. The shapes, colors, and fonts help decide what your logo is trying to convey

2. Simplicity is key

Logos shouldn't depend on many colors or complex forms for visual success. All of the logos above are simple, and think of how successful they are, too. Simplicity is mainly for ease in printing, but can also be visually appealing when there aren't fifty different shapes and colors popping out at you.

3. Negative space

Negative space isn't just nothing. If you use the filled space correctly, you can make memorable images through negative space. The logo shown below is a good example of utilizing negative space to create a good logo.

My favorite thing that I learned

I thought that learning the difference between marks, logos, and symbols. Not all logos are the same thing, so it's good to know the difference.

Conclusion

Logos are very important to representing a company. It's good to know the different types of logos and how they can be used.

Quote Typography

Our latest project in graphic design was choosing four quotes to create typography artboards with them. First we created them in black and white, then we gave them color based off color pallets from color.adobe.com.

About my quotes

I chose most of these quotes because either the quote itself makes me happy, or the people saying the quote makes me happy.

"Hope will never die"

This quote is by Lucina, from Fire Emblem: Awakening. Sometimes I think about this quote when I feel hopeless or like things aren't going right, and it makes me feel a little better.

"I won't stand idle"

This quote is by Takumi from Fire Emblem: Fates. I try to think of this quote when I feel lazy, and it makes me feel more motivated to get my work done.

"At age 6 I was born without a face"

This quote is by Arin Hanson from the Youtube channel Game Grumps. I know this is a silly quote, but the person who said it makes me happy. I watch Game Grumps when I feel sad, and all the dumb stuff they say makes me laugh.

"I think that dogs should be able to vote"

This quote is by Griffin McElroy from Polygon. This is another weird quote, but again it makes me happy. Polygon videos are another thing that I watch when I'm feeling down.

Creating the artboards

When we finally decided on what quotes we wanted to do, our first objective was to make a sketch of what we'd like our final products to look like. After we got our sketch down, we transferred it in black and white into Illustrator. From there, we had to choose color palettes that went well with the quote.

Presentation

After we were done we had to present our work to the class. We had to read our quote aloud, and then state why we chose that quote and why we made our quotes look the way they did.

Conclusion

This was a really fun project to do. At first I didn't really like it because I was having a hard time finding good quotes to use, and I didn't really understand how fonts work. Eventually, though, I got the hang of it and managed to find some fonts that work well for each quote.

Constructivism Poster

Brainstorming

Recently we had to make a mock up poster for fake event at the Nelson Art Museum advertising an art movement of our choice. I chose constructivism as my movement, since it's very bold and easy to see from a distance.

Research

We had to research how to use the concepts from the movement we chose. I found that constructivism utilizes planes, rays, lines, and other bold shapes, along with basic colors such as red, blue, and yellow.

Sketching

Once we decided on our movement and did research, we had to sketch out different ideas for our poster. Looking at famous constructivist pieces help decide what might look good and catch people's eyes.

Creating the poster

Eventually, once I got down what I wanted on my poster from my sketches, I went into Adobe Illustrator and began applying what was in my sketches to my poster.

Conclusion

I really liked this project, and had enough fun making the poster, to the point where I was working on it at home too. I really wish that this was an actual event, because It would be really interesting to see.

Poster Design

The character and function of a poster

A poster's main function is to spread information, and this was very important before the internet and other means of communication. When you make a poster trying to convey information to people, it needs to be bold enough to be seen from a distance, and interesting enough so that when the viewer comes closer, they stay to find out more. What this means is that your poster needs to be seen.

The laws of poster-designing

General demands of poster-designing

Posters should attract attention on the street, and interesting enough for people to react to the message. The poster should be shocking, and make people want to know more. It should be dynamic.

Lettering in poster-designing

The lettering is a part of the picture too, and should not be ignored. Words should be able to be read quickly and give information.

Shapes in poster-designing

Shapes should draw attention. A good presentation of shapes should leave an impression on the viewer. The shapes in a poster should be arranged well, and can even use other elements such as repetition.

Color in poster-designing

Color is one of those things that has the ability to make people feel emotions. Certain colors mean certain things, and which colors you choose can determine the overall feel and atmosphere of your poster.

Key points

Just make your poster something that people will remember. The fact that posters were once a very important way of getting information around sets the idea in your mind that the visibility of your poster is important. It shouldn't be hard to read or confusing. Keep the poster simple, bold, and make sure it leaves an impression.

Graphic Design Reflection 2016

What did I do this semester?

Raccoon

Our first Illustrator project was to follow a tutorial to create a raccoon, and then make the raccoon our own by adding various different decorations and accents. Then, we incorporated our raccoon into a postcard. This took a couple weeks to complete since learning Illustrator takes a while, and designing a post card can take a lot of time and effort. Sometimes when I was using certain pathfinder tools, Illustrator just wouldn't cooperate, and I would have to find some other way around. Along the way I learned how to use a bunch of different Illustrator tools, such as path finder tools and warp effects. My peers told me that they really liked my post card, and that it was really cute. Eventually, though, I had to change the background because when it came back from being printed it was too light and it was hard to see some of the other things on the card. Overall I'm really proud of the work I did on my raccoon, and it's one of my favorite projects

Vector Portait Challenge

After we had completed our self portrait vectors, we were told to choose another person or animal that we liked, and then we had to create a vector portrait of whatever we chose. I chose a shiba inu, because they're one of my favorite dog breeds. This took my a couple days since by then I had figured out how to use Illustrator, and it was also a small project. One of my biggest challenges was getting all of the "polygons" lined up so there weren't any see-through spots on the dog. Along the way I learned how to create "low-poly" pictures in Illustrator. My friends told me that they thought it was super cute, and when I put it on another art website it became pretty popular for a little bit. I had to change some of the "polygons" since they weren't shaped like try polygons if you looked close enough, and that was bothering me. This is probably one of my best works in graphic design this year, and I'm really proud of it.

How did I use my time in class?

In class I really tried to maximize the amount of time I had in class, since there was so much to do with certain projects. I would often stay past the bell just to finish up whatever I was working on. If I finished a project early, we often had options for extra credit, so I would work on those projects. Outside of class I managed to get Illustrator at home and I really like messing around with Illustrator at home.

What are my strengths and weaknesses?

Strengths

I think that overall I'm really good at getting to work on my projects and finishing on time, and if I don't finish it on time, then I work hard to get it done as quickly as possible. I also feel like I learn quickly, and if you give me something new to do then I'll have no trouble picking it up.

Weaknesses

I often have a hard time coming up with inspiration. Almost all of my projects use the same or similar color scheme, and I feel like I could expand my horizons a little bit.

Summary

What did I love most about the semester?

I really loved just getting to use Illustrator more than I did last year. Last year I barely even got to learn how to use Illustrator, but now I know how to use it effectively.

What would I change?

I would probably change the amount of tutorials we had to do. Our teacher didn't really teach us anything, but she had us look at tutorials instead. I feel like if we had more time of our teacher actually teaching us, then our class might have done even better this semester.

Biggest take-away from the semester?

I learned a lot about project management this semester. I usually get really distracted when working on projects in other classes, but recently I've found that I've been able to just sit down and work better.

My goal for next semester.

My biggest goal is to be able to expand my design horizons. As I previously mentioned, most of my projects involve the same color schemes, and I'd like to change that.

Final thoughts.

I just feel like I've been really productive this semester. I'm super proud of everything I've done, and I've learned a lot along the way.

Animation Portfolio Reflection 2016

Worm

One of the first projects we made in animation was using the puppet pin tool in After Effects. What we did was first draw a worm in Photoshop, and then import the image into After Effects. Then we used the puppet pin tool to apply spots where the worm could move, and used key frames to make it look like it was moving. I picked this project because it was the project that really taught me how after effects works with the key frames and such. I feel like I did a really good job on drawing the worm in Photoshop, but I could have done a better job on where I placed the puppet pins, because at some points in the animation the worm does some weird stuff with his body. With what I learned for this projects I'm probably going to try and use the puppet pin tool more, since I don't really use it that often. I really like this project because I like what I made the worm look like.

Walk Cycle

When we made our walk cycles I learned how to time animations and how to set up key frames for a walk cycle. I picked this project because I'm really proud of my characters design and the background. I feel like I did a lot of work on my character's design. I probably could have made her less stiff though, since she doesn't move a lot. I'm going to apply more walk cycles to my animations with what I learned when making this animation. This is probably one of my favorite projects, just because of my characters design and how much work I put into the whole animation.

Hammer

After we were done with After Effects, we started using Maya. The hammer wasn't my first Maya project, but it was probably our first major one. Here we learned how to use the multi cut tool and the extrude tool by making our hammer's head and the part that comes out on the back. I picked this project because even though it was stressful, I was really proud of what I had made in the end. My greatest strength with this project was probably making the nails, since I didn't have any instructions on how to make the nails; I just did it on my own. With what I learned here I'm able to use the extrude and multi cut tools more easily since I know how they work now.

Ice cream

When we made our ice cream, the only really new thing we learned was how to add bump maps to our materials, which adds a sense of depth and texture to your objects. We also learned how to animate in Maya, but that was pretty easy as it uses key frames just like After Effects did. We put the bump maps on the ice cream and the cones. For a while my bump maps would move awkwardly while it spun, so I needed to figure out how to make them spin with the rest of the objects. I feel like I could have done something to make the lighting better, since it's really dark in my scene. 

Pen

Our most recent project, and also part of our final, was to model the pen we were using to take notes in class. Luckily, I had a pretty easy pen to model. When I was making my pen, I didn't really learn anything new, since we were using skills we had already learned, but I may have figured out easier ways to do certain things. I picked this project because it's probably the thing I'm most proud of from this semester. I think I did a really good job on making the pen proportionate to what it looks like in real life, but I feel like I could have done a better job on making the clip part of the cap. Making this pen has really helped me be more independent in Maya, since we didn't have a tutorial or anything on how to make a pen, since we all had different pens.

Artificial Intelligence Generated Animation

A critique of this article by Selina Cheng.

Recently, famed animator Hayao Miyazaki was shown an animation which was generated through artificial intelligence. The animation showed strange movements, some of which had "zombies" crawling across floors in grotesque ways. Miyazaki expressed extreme discomfort and disappointment when he remembered a friend who has a disability, and has problems simply trying to give high-fives. He believes that this form of animation is "an insult to life itself" and that the people who created it have no idea what true pain is.

My thoughts

Cheng believes that Miyazaki's reaction isn't that surprising, as many of his works display characters with a lot of depth to them, abd are based on
"progressive themes like war, environmental issues and feminism".

Cheng's article is short and to the point. The issue- Miyazaki's opinions on AI animation- is clear. The article, however, lacks much of a conclusion other than stating Miyazaki's plans for coming out of retirement. Cheng also didn't seem to take a side on the matter, and only displayed Miyazaki's thoughts. The fact that Cheng doesn't think Miyazaki's reaction is surprising may mean that she agrees with him, and finds his opinions easy to understand.

I feel as though Miyazaki's thoughts should be taken into consideration. He did have a very extreme reaction, but the point he made of his disabled friend is important, and people should be careful when they create AI programs.

Conclusion 

Cheng's article helped shed some light on Miyazaki's thoughts. Though without the inclusion of the video, the article might have not made much sense.

Potion Shop Review

Potion Shop

Potion shop is a thesis film by Temmie Chang. While Chang did the animation, she had the help of many others, including Toby Fox, who composed the original piece playing in the background of the animation. Chang's animation tells the story of a cat who runs a potion shop, but seems to be having issues getting any business until she saves the day by driving off a young dragon. Though all seems well, it is not, and the cat goes to make amends with the dragon, and in the process make new friends. The story is told through great character design and personality, talented animation and an expressive soundtrack.

Thoughts

The first thing that really stands out to me about this short film is the colors. The colors Chang decided to use really fit well with the given situation, and when the plot turns darker, the colors follow suit. On my next project this is something I would like to try and use, as I thought it really brought out parts of the story.

I also noticed that Chang used a multi-plane when showing the town at the beginning of the story to give depth to the animation. This is one of the first things we learned in class, and it really helps to show that different parts of the scenery don't all move together, and are further away from one another.

I feel as though when the crowd was shown running up to the cave, Chang could have improved that bit by animating the crowd a little more than just having them as a mass of color moving towards the cave. This is something I noticed is common in American animation, and it may have been an issue with time since Chang seemed to imply that this took a while to make in the description of the film.

Conclusion

Overall, I thought that this short film was super cute, and really well told. The colors and design were appealing to the eye, the soundtrack was fantastic, and the story was interesting. Chang's other work seems to all be really well made too, and I'm excited to see more from her.

How to create an insect/arachnid walk cycle in After Effects

Creating a walk cycle for a creature with more than two legs may seem difficult, but its as simple as making a human walk cycle, with just a few extra steps.

1, Have a creature with 6 or 8 legs

I will be using my spider from my story animation. I know my spider looks like it has only 5 legs but that's because the other 3 legs are behind the rest of the body, so I decided not to show them. It doesn't really matter if it has 6 or 8 legs, because the middle pair of legs will just be able to move on its own. I have highlighted the legs that will eventually be paired together, since arachnids and insects legs move like human legs, but in pairs.

2, Pairing the legs

The legs can be paired together using the whip tool in After Effects. Drag the whip tool from the middle green leg to the front green leg, and the back pink leg to the middle pink leg. Now when you set up your key frames on the first and second legs, all of the other legs will follow.

3, Key frames

The key frames on a walk cycle make the shape of a "D" on its side when looking at the path. Create a key frame where the first leg is moved to the right a bit, then another with the leg moved up and to the left, then another with the leg moved down on the same plane as the first key frame to the left. Copy and paste the first key frame so that  the leg goes back to where it originally was. You now have a full cycle.

4, Copying and pasting key frames

Once you have your key frames for the first set, all you have to do is copy and paste the frames from the first set to the second set, and then move them so that those frames start in the middle of the first frames, so that your legs don't move at the same time. If you make more copies of the frames you can have a longer walk cycle.

5, Watch your walk cycle

Your walk cycle should look similar to mine. Notice that the legs move opposite of each other. I hope this tutorial helped!