Graphic Design Semester Reflection

Overview of the Semester 

                         

      It has been an interesting semester to say the least. I came in not really knowing anything about graphic design. As the semester has progressed I have learned a lot about graphic design, like, how to make a poster, postcard, and vectored self portrait. I also learned more about the two softwares, PhotoShop and Illustrator. I did a critique for the first time, it was scary at first, but everyone was polite and respectful, so it wasn't that bad. Lastly I got a Behance, its where I upload all of my projects and manage my portfolio. Now lets take a better look at what I did this semester.

PhotoShop Tutorials

In this image I had to remove some
unwanted blemishes from the background

     The very first project of the year was a bunch of PhotoShop tutorials. It taught me how to use important photoShop tools, to edit pictures. I had to edit out unwanted background elements, remove an unwanted tag from a ladies jacket, and many other things. This project took about three weeks to complete and I found that some edits were easier than others, for example in one of them we had to make a collage, but I couldn't figure out how to get rid of a little spot where the old background colors were still showing behind a strand of her hair. Overall this wasn't my favorite project, but it was still nice to get a bit more familiar with the tools in PhotoShop.

Raccoon Project

The second project I did was the raccoon project, this was the first project I did in Illustrator. I had to make a cartoon raccoon following the instructions and put him in a fall background. I also had to
incorporate the raccoon into a postcard. I got to choose the occasion and how the raccoon was going to be included. This project took about two weeks to complete. There were a few problems I ran into while making this project, the first day we started working on them, my file got deleted, so I had to start over. That was kind of upsetting, but I did learn an important lesson about saving my progress more often. i also learned how to scan in handwritten typography. While making this project I got more comfortable with Illustrator and learned how to use toolsI didn't even know existed. overall I liked this project, it let me be a little bit more creative and it was fun making all the little raccoons look like they were wearing little costumes.

Vectored Self-Portrait

The third project I did was also in Illustrator and was a vectored self-portrait. I made it using the pen tool and the eyedropper tool. This project took about three weeks to complete. I ran into a lot of
problems while making this project. I didn't know how to make the self-portrait look semi-realistic, but in the end I figured out how to add in the shadows on my face to make it look more realistic. This project taught me how to use the pen tool and how to use the eyedropper tool, to get the most accurate skin color, hair color, shirt, etc. I was told it needed to look more realistic, so I changed the opacity, to find the shadows of my face. Overall I enjoyed this project, I liked how you could make yourself a cartoon person just by using the pen tool

Infographic

For this project I got to pick my own topic to research and then make a poster about it in Illustrator. I used two women's soccer teams and compared them for their 2016 seasons. This project took a about three and a half weeks to complete. I ran into a lot of problems during this project, I had a hard time coming up with graphics and a hard time designing the background. I learned how to use a grid to
plan out how my infographic was going to be set up. I was told that I might want to shorten up my infographic, so I did and i thought it looked a lot better afterwards. This was easily my favorite project because I was in control of what it was about, how it would look, and what would be on it.

Swiss Design Project

I am currently making a project about Swiss design. I have already written the paper for it and am now designing the slides in Illustrator for it. I learned a lot about my topic, while  I did my research. I can't wait to see what my slides look like when they're done.

Time Management 

I use most of my class time wisely, every once in a while I don't and thats a bad habit I need to work on in the future. When I think I have finished early I ask the people around me if they see anything I could change. Even if they don't see anything I like to look at for awhile and decide if I really like what I made, if I don't, I change it. I do spend a good portion of my time outside of school on graphic design, if I feel I'm behind I will come in after school, and or work on it at home. 

Strengths/Weaknesses

I feel that I am good at staying on track with my projects, if I think or know I'm behind, I will work on it on my own time to get caught up. I do not like o turn in things late and I spend however long is need to get it done on time.But I also need to work on using my class time wisely, so I don't have to spend as much time after school working on it.