• What did you learn?

How to arrange and use type to add specific feelings and style to my work. Also being more involved in composition in general. Editing the images to fit the style of the stamp or image I had in my mind was also challenging.

• What was easy?

Deciding what ideas I should choose was quite easy. I sort of already had the ideas I wanted to work with, it just came down to the execution of the process in the end.

• What was challenging?

Creating the arrangement/composition and finding the “perfect” type to represent what I want was challenging. This part was definitely the most time consuming process as it took time to figure out how I wanted to bring form to my ideas.

• How could your submission be improved?

Perhaps finding better images or using more techniques involving a collage/more advanced background removal could improve the design of the stamps in general. A better choice of colors could also allow for a better composition.

• How could the professor improve the assignment for the next class?

I found the assignment to be well designed. The idea of creating stamps was quite fun. It didn’t feel like work, but more like a puzzle that took a bit of time to figure out.

• How might you apply your knowledge in future assignments or work scenarios?

I think the ability to sort my ideas into actual designs will be the most helpful skill I developed in this assignment. I can definitely see a future where being able to actually describe and execute designs or creative projects in general would require these skills.

• How did a specific reading or video inspire or help you?

https://www.reliablepsd.com/ultimate-google-font-pairings
This site was helpful in my understanding of how typography can be used to express creativity or fit with a specific scheme. Without it, I would most likely have gotten stuck of the more creative aspects of these designs when it came to choosing fonts.

• What did you learn?

A lot of the process was brainstorming. The ability to be naturally creative is difficult to master. I still don’t think I have the complete list of it. That, alongside the technical skills that I developed while using illustrator, was both challenging and rewarding when the end product was developed.

• What was easy?

Finding a saying to work with was the easiest part. There are so many to choose from it could honestly overwhelm you if you try to do too much. I was able to relatively quickly find a phrase I liked and made the focus of my project.

• What was challenging?

The most challenging aspect of this project was the planning phase. Trying to find some way to represent abstract ideas such as words and actions is difficult to say the least. I finally was able to have a bit of a breakthrough when the idea of working propaganda popped into my head. It is the definition of actions mattering more than words, where the purpose of the propaganda was to turn the identity that had been developed in speech, into action that could produce results.

• How could your submission be improved?

My submission could definitely be improved in its choice of images. For some reason, no matter how many different ways I tried to select the images, they produced a bit fuzzy. The images I chose actually were the ones that turned out the best. Other than that, I could definitely do with a bit more usage of color. Perhaps in the background, but I couldn’t seem to find a way to do so without making the orientation of the project look a bit too loud.

• How could the professor improve the assignment for the next class?

I enjoyed the assignment as it is. I don’t really see a reason to change anything. I found the lectures to be quite informative on the technical aspects of the project and the incorporation of a peer review at the start of the project was helpful as well.

• How might you apply your knowledge in future assignments or work scenarios?

The ability to be more naturally creative will definitely help. Being able to see things in a different light or generate ideas based on abstract images or thoughts is a skill that I hadn’t really utilized until now.

• How did a specific reading or video inspire or help you?

I read a few articles, but two that helped in particular were http://arno.uvt.nl/show.cgi?fid=143641 and https://gallery.lib.umn.edu/exhibits/show/labor-in-the-eyes-of-artists–/world-war-ii-propaganda-poster. The first article helped with my understanding of what I am looking to represent as far as what word association I could play with, or how I should think when it comes to the project overall. The second article was helpful after I had an idea of the direction I wanted to take my project. Once I had the idea in my head, it became a matter of looking for inspiration and referencing material in a way that I could understand it.

What did you learn?

• This helped me learn more advanced techniques involving color in Figma. I wasn’t quite familiar with the process in Figma to create more advanced uses of color.

What was easy?

• I found deciding which colors to use for each slide/theme to be easier than expected. Referencing past works was quite useful in this regard.

What was challenging?

• The most challenging aspect was definitely the creative process for making my own unique take on the assignment. I tried to find new designs that would utilize the requirements and look good as well. This part of the assignment was more difficult than expected.

How could your submission be improved?

• My submissions technical aspects could definitely be improved. Adding a more advanced use of depth/perspective, or adding techniques like reflection or better usage of the way the colors merge are all things that come to mind when thinking about what I could improve.

How could the professor improve the assignment for the next class?

• I think the assignment is in a pretty good spot. Going more in depth on how to blend colors or how to generate effective separation using color would be useful things to emphasize. Often I found myself looking at my project and thinking it looked a bit muddled.

How might you apply your knowledge in future assignments or work scenarios?

• This will definitely help with my understanding of using Figma, but also just developing my skills in color usage in general. Different techniques I either wasn’t aware of or hadn’t used before were great for my personal learning experience.

How did a specific reading or video inspire or help you?

• http://ollymoss.com/firewatch/ This sit in particular was quite intresting to me. I quite enjoyed the game Firewatch, so when I saw this in the inspiration tab, I thought I’d look through it. This took me through the instagram of the creator and really helped me get a hand on my visualization of the assignment.