I learned how to shape banners and to make them. I also learned how to smart fill objects. These are skills I have never used before. I also learned that being a senior makes it very difficult to find motivation in the last few weeks of class. 

2. What was easy?

I found that it is easier to use Illustrator. I came into this class having very little experience with it, since most of my background knowledge is with figma, but I feel more confident with this program. It is definitely more useful that figma but not as straightforward. I also found the smart fill to be an easy task to grasp. 

3. What was challenging?

Finding a place that I wanted to create the map for was fairly difficult. I needed many different significant points but the process to find it was fun. I also struggled with how to make the map look aesthetically pleasing with the few colors I used. I have never been amazing at that and this project really tested that. 

4. How could your submission be improved?

If I had more motivation to do this project and less burn out it definitely would be improved. I know that more time could improve it more but that is always the case with any project.

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

Making one more part of the project a separate lab would help pace things. For example, drawing all the lines and filling them could be a separate lab but it would also help students pace themselves better. 

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

In general this project gave me more practice with Illustrator. I am a firm believer that the more practice you have the better you can become at a program. Being able to have a fundamental understanding of most of the tools in Illustrator is always useful when looking for a job in the digital world. 

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

This YouTube video gives really good examples of more dynamic icons. Having fun icons can really make or break this project. 

1. What did you learn?

I finally understand how to use the pen tool properly! I know the key shortcuts to help make lines smoother. It took awhile for me to understand this tool but finally having a good grasp of it made this project much more enjoyable.

2. What was easy?

Making a pattern was interesting and uncomplicated. It was a creative way to add color and details. I was able to look at smaller detail and overall design since creating a pattern is much easier than making many unique coffee beans. 

3. What was challenging?

Creating the cup was difficult. I do not often draw using vectors so trying to make something look hand drawn but also professional was difficult since I do not have a lot of experience with it. I drew many different shapes and circles, I looked at hundreds of drawings to finally create the coffee cup that I was proud of. 

4. How could your submission be improved?

I wish I had more inspiration to look at. I often need to look at many examples before I can feel confident in my work. Often looking at how other students performed this project can help form different ideas in my head. After sometime I compost my own idea using the amalgamation of other students’ works. 

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

I found the most difficult part was how quickly Professor Dunkel went through the last lab since that is where we had to remake the label. When teaching us how to retrace labels, take a little more time at each step. I felt like I was behind because of some minor mistake I made which made it difficult to follow. 

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

Being able to successfully use the pen tool is already one of the best things I can do for any future project. It helps with image tracing and more importantly, I can finally recreate all my ideas in my head into illustrator. I have found that I really enjoy making logos and the pen tool makes the process much easier and the final product much more clean. 

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

https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/how-to/use-pen-tool.html

This tutorial by adobe really helped understand the pen tool on a more fundamental level. 

1. What did you learn?

I learned that creating a collage is a form of design that is difficult for my brain to grasp. It is a unique and formless process that I never have had to do in my life. I also learned more about how powerful of a photo editing software Photoshop is and how diverse it can be. 

2. What was easy?

I found the basic editing concepts shown in class fairly easy. Creating shapes, masking objects and creating gradients all came natural to me.

3. What was challenging?

Creating the idea of how to mash up all my pictures was very complicated for my brain. This type of creativity is very novel to me. I used this as an opportunity to fully expand my skills by choosing an unfamiliar theme of the 80’s. This project definity helped me grow as an artist. 

4. How could your submission be improved?

If I had more time to bounce ideas off Ben Dunkle and even my classmates my project could be better. Having more people’s opinions can help me form a better concept art and inturn help me make a more put together project. 

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

It could be useful for a class or group discussion about each person’s individual project where we look at all their pictures and throw some ideas for what they could potentially make. 

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

Having a better understanding of how to make different photos look connected is a priceless skill. In future projects, I will be able to have a better understanding of how to make unique art from already existing concepts. 

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

What really inspired me was just googling images in the theme that I wanted. I became very interested in making an 80’s themed project so I used google to help inspire my ideas. 

Thanks to this project I learned the importance of photo editing and the value of proper lighting. When photos had better lighting it was much easier to edit. Proper lighting not only improves the quality of the image but also creates an opportunity for a greater variety of editing choices.

2. What was easy?

I found that manipulating the image using levels, curves, saturation, etc. was particularly easy. It was a simple yet powerful way to improve the quality of the images

3. What was challenging?

I found that using the stamp tool and the healing tool to fix this photo of Saint Basil in Russia was challenging. I wanted to remove all the construction materials from the photo. It took a very long time because it was very easy to make a mistake and redo the same portion-time and time again. 

4. How could your submission be improved?

Taking the time to learn about other tools in Photoshop would definitely improve my submission. I also believe learning to properly take pictures and frame objects would have helped my submission look more professional.

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

The assignment was fairly straightforward and fun. However, more time to work on it would have been much better especially since school computers can be hard to come by.

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

Every time I submit photo assignments I will make sure to make them look better every time even if that is not the primary goal. The small improvements can really make a piece look complete.

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

I did not really read or watch a video that inspired or helped me.

The Unsplash photo seems to have a higher resolution and less “cloudy” look. The nice picture has much brighter pixels that are very defined. It’s a dynamic photo with some blurriness to make your eye look towards the cat’s head. Each photo I took seemed to be nice but there could have been better lighting. I also feel that the Unsplash picture has been modified to look nicer. The creator may have used Photoshop and Lightroom to tweak different aspects of the photo like color and highlights. Since I had not added any elements of photoshop to my pictures they almost feel incomplete. The photo shows a lot of scuff marks because of its age which the Unsplash photo did not have. The coin itself is missing a lot of details the “better quality” photo did not have. My photo of my cat has less depth and details which the Unsplash cat did have.

Compare your photos with the scans. What are the differences? Why is one “better quality” than the other?

I was not able to scan an object. Ben’s scanner seems to make the image clearer. The photo had a more granular look to it. Scanning also made the pictures look brighter. The scan shows more details and gives it a better representation of the flower. The scan is a much better representation of coins. The scanner has more details. Generally, if you need to have a picture of some object like a photo or a small 3D object, the scan is definitely the way to go. It is a really good way to show details. However, if a 3D object like an animal or nature picture form is way more useful.

What could you do to improve the quality of the images acquired by each method?

I feel that for all the pictures I took I needed better lighting and just a general aesthetic. Using photoshop and lightroom would also be useful to make those photos more defined. Trying to frame the pictures and use natural lighting is the easier way to make them look better. Generally speaking, a nicer camera than my phone camera would make the resolution and the quality of the picture better. Ultimately, all pictures, even the scanned pictures can be made more defined with better details and colors by using photo editing software.