My final brand choice was pretty different from what I was planning on originally: instead of using multiple typefaces I used one, instead of a vibrant colour palette I went with black and white. Nonetheless, I believe I made all the right decisions. The b/w colours and minimal type really make the work stand out which is the whole point of this project, anyway. I think in the beginning of this project I wanted to compensate with bright visual element for lack of “good” projects in my portfolio. But, after a little bit of going backwards and refining, I realized that my work was more than good enough and unique on its own. Overall, I would give myself a 9/10 for the project because through this process I gained more confidence as a professional and feel brave enough to get out there and get all the jobs! Thanks Judy 🙂
Logo Concepts
Coming up with my personal logo was a difficult task seeing as how I had to think of myself as a professional designer which I’m not used to doing normally. I realized quite a few new things about myself while sketching, like how much I love to tinker with letterforms and simple shapes, which in turn gave me more definition as to what kind of logo would represent who I am the best. All of my logo concepts are based around one letter (M) and look like a simple and focused mark that people can recognize my work by.
The biggest differences between these logos is the feelings they communicate. The first one is very unstructured and more detailed than the other two, showing that I’m open-minded and caring. Second one is more bold to show that good values and positive outcome of a project are very important to me. Last one was inspired by one of the USSR music record’s logos which hints at my background, thanks to which I feel obliged to always do my very best, and stay focused.
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Open in new tab Personal Branding (process)
While putting together my brand, I realized I didn’t know as much about myself as I thought I did. When trying to think about what makes me different from other people, I realized how “basic” my values are — meaning that I don’t have any crazy aspirations for my career, as long as I’m happy doing what I love and can financially support my family and our adventures together.
I’ve also realized that what I love has changed quite a bit in the last three years. As much as I love creative work, now I see it more as a tool to help me accomplish something bigger, rather than pretty design being the goal of what I do. I would feel the most fulfilled if I could bring balance and innovation to our planet, and, perhaps, more importantly, the people on it.
I believe my mood boards reflect well who I am as an individual and a professional. I’m giving myself a 9/10 because I didn’t include a “green” clients picture in my workplace board.
Comic Glossary
Comic
A juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence intended to convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer.
A sequence of text and images that tells a story.
Cartoon
“A vacuum into which our identity and awareness are pulled an empty shell that we inhabit which enables us to travel in another realm.”
A cartoon is a simplified version of the real thing.
Icon
A pictorial representation of a person, place or thing.
Gutter
Space between two panels that lets the reader make a connection between them.
Closure
“Mentally completing that which is incomplete based on past experience.”
Not everything can be told through visual and verbal representation so sometimes there are blanks in a sequence that the reader has to fill.
Panel-to-Panel Transitions
The transition from one panel to the next. They can be different depending on how much time passes between them or how space changes.
Bleed
When a panel bleeds off the page it’s on.
Motion Lines
“Motion lines represent objects moving through space.”
Lines that show the direction an object moves in.
Synaesthetic
“Synesthesia is a perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway.”
When one sense that is being stimulated, it stimulates another one.
Word Balloon
Also called a speech bubble; is usually used to hold dialogue, but can also hold symbols. It’s used to convey sound from a source. It can also take different shapes to express different emotions.
Digital Reflection
“How does working by hand differ from drawing utilizing the computer or from typing on the computer? Do you think you are using different parts of your brain? Why? Are these different ways of thinking/doing? Which media do you prefer and why? “
I believe that balance is crucial when it comes to anything whether it’s your diet or your drawing/writing habits, especially nowadays because we have so many different options to choose from.
I’ve loved to create for as long as I can remember. When I was growing up we didn’t have the technology that’s available to the kids nowadays. And, honestly, I’m glad we didn’t. Instead of playing Fortnite we played outside in some bushes learning things firsthand – we were simply being kids. I oftentimes think about those times and how lucky I was to have had a wholesome childhood. And I look at how some parents raise their children now. They will go as far as handing a tablet to a 3-year-old with some mind-numbing game or cartoon just to shut them up. Witnessing such things upsets me greatly because this generation of babies is going to miss out on so many exciting REAL LIFE experiences. I’ve also heard that using a lot of technology at a young age affects one’s brain development but I’m no scientist. That’s just something I think about.
There is also, of course, a positive side to having this much technology available to us. For instance, graphic and web design started thriving after computers became accessible to the general public which gave the creatives like me so many more opportunities to express ourselves and our ideas in a cool and unique way. I have the best time executing my illustrations on my computer BUT before I even think about opening my laptop I have to get my sketches done by hand. I do this because it gives me much more freedom to experiment and come up with unique ideas and my mind feels more flexible I guess. It just feels so much natural and easy to let loose and fill up an empty page of my sketchbook rather than click some buttons.
Overall, I think balance is key to reaching your full potential when it comes to technology.
Reflection on Indigenous Music Project
Problem
Although music was, and still is, an essential part of daily life and the backbone of spiritual, cultural and kinship beliefs, we don’t often hear it on our radio stations. Many indigenous musicians have been mistreated in the music industry in the past over cultural-appropriation concerns as well as copyright issues. It is also more difficult for an indigenous musician to get recognized because of the atypical contents of their music.
Strategy
Other than traditional music, we also recognize that there is a new culture of contemporary indigenous music that has a wide appeal to listeners of various music genres. The fusion of traditional indigenous music with modern music styles creates a space in which the artists can express their tradition and history, as well as to reach a wider range of audiences in Canada. We plan on incorporating this new movement in music into our project to attract a younger audience and aid upcoming artists in getting recognition.
Solution
Joyce and I came up with an educational website that lets the user listen to the music of indigenous origin that suits their usual specific taste in music. On each artist’s page which is customizable to artists, we have a “behind the songs” section that will give each artist the opportunity to share the meanings of their songs as well as some autobiographical stories about their heritage and how it’s affected them and their music. We had some difficulty coming up with an engaging hook that would get the youth to use the website but after some brainstorming, we came up with a pretty appealing solution. We were playing around with the word “silent” and realized that it had the same letters in it as the word “listen”. So, we took that to our advantage and created a dramatic intro to the website as well as the foundation of our social media campaign. Joyce and I thought that the best media to reach young people was Instagram which is why we decided to make compelling “stories” (which could also be used as paid ads) and a well-curated Instagram account.
Self-Evaluation
8/10: I had fun learning about the Indigenous culture while doing research for this project. I think I could’ve done a better job executing this project if we had a bit more critiques and work time during class. But doing the blanket exercise was very helpful as well as getting feedback from Bracken.
Decolonization Project Direction
Name five Indigenous musicians. Can’t? Me neither. Although music was, and still is, an essential part of daily life and the backbone of spiritual, cultural and kinship beliefs, we don’t often hear it on our radio stations. Each of the indigenous communities has its own unique musical traditions so the spectrum is very broad. I find it hard to believe that there isn’t a single song that’s better than Billie Eilish’s newest single. So why not broaden your playlists and act a little less white for a change?
This issue is important to address because I believe that music is one of the best ways to connect with someone and truly understand one’s feelings and emotions. Most people don’t seem to fully understand the pain and suffering the Indigenous people felt for decades during the colonization. I think that we as a community would benefit from understanding the Indigenous communities better and therefore get closer to becoming one progressive and respectful society.
Sources
How to Become an Instapoet: Part I
We’ve all seen people get rich famous after going viral on social media: Justin Bieber, Rebecca Black, PewDiePie, Tila Tequila, Psy, the Kardashians, the list goes on. All these celebrities got famous for doing something stupid. But you’re different. You can do better. Instapoetry is a relatively new trend so you’ve still got time to jump on that bandwagon and claim that you did it before it was cool. Here are [numer] easy steps to make bank!
Step 1: Go Viral
Sounds more difficult than it is. First of all, do you have an Instagram account? Good. Now think of something taboo. What is the one thing your mom would never allow you to make jokes about around the house? Got it? Good. Now think of a cool and q u i r k y way to capture it. You can use your phone camera but don’t be too cheap – if you need to invest in props, do it! You’re about to become a millionaire, I think you can afford to buy some fake blood or vomit or whatever… Once you have your picture, post it to your Instagram account but don’t make the caption too long. Make it look mysterious. It should look something like this:
Step 2: Wait for Conflict
If you’ve completed Step 1 successfully, your post should get deleted pretty quickly. When it does, complain. A LOT. Make a huge deal about it. This trauma is what your future poems will be based on, you’re never moving on. Make a few long posts about how unfair Instagram Community Guidelines are until you gain enough recognition from your followers. When you do, Instagram will probably apologize and repost your original taboo post. Great job!
How to Become an Instapoet: Part II
Step 3: Create Content
Now it’s time to get really creative(kinda). What you’re gonna do is have a conversation with someone about the trauma that social media has caused you. Nice deep talk about how unfair what happened to you was. Feel better? I’m sure you do, after all, it was only a college assignment and you’ve already passed that class so you’re okay. Now, get a pen and paper and write down whatever lines you can remember from the conversation. Make them depressing, people love that. Then, pick a trendy font (I recommend Helvetica, Arial, or Futura) and type out those lines on a plain background. Make sure all of your text is lowercase, that’s how the cool kids are doing it these days. If the finished product looks too plain to you, add an illustration in the opposite corner. You don’t have to be good, just claim it as part of your “aesthetic”.
How to Become an Instapoet: Part III
Step 4: Branding
Now that you’ve established yourself as a victim AND a poet, it’s time to widen your audience and make some money off of these fools. Your Instagram profile definitely needs some spice if you’re reading this lame blog. You need to pick a colour scheme and base all of your future posts off of it, it’ll look nicer this way. Hire a photographer, makeup artist, stylist, whatever you need to stock up on amazing photos of yourself while you still look young(er than what you’ll look like in a few years. It’s all downhill from here looks-wise). Follow your preferred colour scheme when editing the photos. Make sure you post a picture of yourself after each poem so that people know how pretty you are. Now you can stay young and beautiful forever.
Step 5: Get Filthy Rich and Famous
If you’ve done all the previous steps successfully, you should have about 1 million followers within a year. Now you can collect all the poems you’ve posted, put them all together in a book, and publish it. Congratulations! You are now very popular and rich.
P.S. This post is a joke.
P.P.S. If you do get rich following my advice, I’d like 49% of your earnings. Thanks.
CREDITS
https://www.nickiswift.com/3418/stars-whose-careers-launched-viral-fame/
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/chiaragiovanni/the-problem-with-rupi-kaurs-poetry#.fybdjvmPk
https://www.instagram.com/rupikaur_/