1. What did you learn?

I learned how to make basic animations using Adobe Animate. Prior to this project, I was already familiar with Garage Band as well as Adobe Premiere, so Animate was the program that I was really new to and had to learn more about while creating this project.

2. What was easy?

I create hip-hop beats on Logic Pro X as a hobby, so it was relatively easy for me to create an instrumental for this project. I also have taken a few classes in high school that taught Adobe Premiere, so I did not have much difficulty using that program either.

3. What was challenging?

Using Adobe Animate for the first time was definitely difficult. I was not used to the program, and actually had made an entirely different animation with a different emotion before creating the “Inspired” animation. From there, I wanted to use the inside of the dot on the “i” to transition into the next slide. I had to figure out how to to do this, and decided to go about it by creating a png on photoshop of a black background on with a small transparent hole. From there I added it behind the animation on Premiere and keyframed it to have the hole follow the inside of the dot on the animation.

4. How could your submission be improved?

There were probably some transitions that could have been better utilized, or lack thereof. I didn’t want to use the same transition over and over again for the sake of the project requirements, but had I done so I think the video may have had some more consistency.

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

It may be beneficial to add some further aspects to the assignment such as creating some visual on After Effects, or recording audio on GarageBand.

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

This knowledge is very beneficial for general design in both graphics and videos. I have had to use my video knowledge in various assignments over the years and I don’t expect that to change.

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

To better navigate Adobe Animate, I visited https://sites.google.com/view/kcaddlc/software-tutorials/adobe-suite/adobe-animate/adobe-animate-shortcuts in order to view some of the shortcuts used within the program to streamline workflow. A lot of it was similar to that in Photoshop and Premiere, but there were still several functions that I was not familiar with at the start of this project.

1. What did you learn?

I learned the basics of 3D animation, using both Maya and Blender to create these chess pieces.

2. What was easy?

I thought it was easy to create the design and initially sculpt it (lab 6 as well as the beginning of project 3).

3. What was challenging?

I thought the programs were a little difficult to understand, however it may have just seemed that way because I am working on a laptop rather than a desktop.

4. How could your submission be improved?

I initially started my chess piece on Blender and then switched over to Maya when I was having difficulty continuing with the project on Blender. At that point it was kinda difficult to follow the instructions completely as my chess piece was categorized as an imported object. I also had trouble with the lighting and would like to improve that in the render.

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

In the future, it might be easier to just get rid of lab 6 and incorporate it into project 3.

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

This information may be useful if I have to do something with 3D animation for a project.

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

I visited https://www.autodesk.com/shortcuts/maya in order to gain a better understanding of the controls and shortcuts for Maya. I was having some trouble getting used to the controls on the program, so this article helped me a lot.

1. What did you learn?

I learned about vectors, especially the pros and cons to using it rather than a jpg or other image file.

2. What was easy?

After the logo was made, it was relatively easy to design the business card. For stuff like that, Figma was very straightforward and simple to use.

3. What was challenging?

What was challenging however was creating the logo itself. It required different techniques than what I would do on Photoshop or GIMP for a pixelated picture.

4. How could your submission be improved?

My business card could probably have a bit more design to it. It is currently a very minimalistic card, and I’m sure there can be ways to better utilize the features on Figma while still making the card look good.

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

I didn’t really have any issues with this assignment. I think it’s obviously different because we are taking the class online but hopefully that shouldn’t be the case for the next students to take this course.

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

If I am ever creating my own actual business card for myself or a colleague, I won’t have to rely on whatever templates are given to me, as I can use one of these programs to design something completely from scratch.

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

To gain a better understanding of the difference between vectors and pixelated images, I read an article titled “Raster vs Vector” (https://vector-conversions.com/vectorizing/raster_vs_vector.html). One of the key differences between the two is that rasters are made from pixels and will distort when expanded too much, while vectors are scaleable.

1. What did you learn?

I learned how various new ways to go about aspects to photoshop such as layers, masks, etc. I was already familiar to Photoshop prior to this course, but because I taught myself the program, I didn’t know much about several of the features that were utilized for this project such as artboards and layer masks.

2. What was easy?

I thought that adding effects to the pictures were relatively easy. I liked having the ability to customize these effects as well. For example, the drop shadow effect had different variables that could be changed such as opacity, distance, spread, etc.

3. What was challenging?

It was definitely challenging to use different methods than I was already familiar to get similar results. For example, I used a layer mask to remove the white background from the “20” balloon picture. Before, I would have just rasterized the image and used selection tools to delete the background.

4. How could your submission be improved?

I could change the right portion of the inside of the card to better distribute the negative space. I left a lot of white in between the two texts and not a lot of white at the top or bottom.

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

Although the project seemed pretty straightforward and the requirements were listed at the end of the instructions, a proper rubric would be helpful to reference along the way.

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

This knowledge will definitely be helpful while creating posters for clubs and activities that I am involved in. For example, I am going to be starting a graphic design volunteer position this month, and now I have a better understanding of not only Photoshop, but different things that add or subtract appeal from the final product, such as use of negative space.

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

After reading the article “7 Beginner Mistakes to Avoid When Designing for Print,” I had a few different things to keep in mind while working that I would not have thought to look for otherwise. For example, I made sure to double check for typos and choose readable fonts with appropriate line weights.