What was easy?
I had an easier time with the design aesthetics since I was drawing from the branding of an existing store. I was able to reverse engineer a design system rather than agonize over creating one at the start of the project.

What was challenging?
I had to get used to mapping out the interactions and features of each individual page while implementing some rudimentary animation using Figma components. Some features were more difficult than others, I was stumped on how to make a coherent map at first.

How could your submission be improved?
The list menus and features could be more robust if I had more time. I could flesh out the functionality of the menus, item availability, presets, and so on.

How could I improve the assignment for the next class?
The assignment is pretty good. Overall I think some of the PowerPoints could be a bit more wordy and communicative on what needs to be done and methods that could be used to get it done. Other than that, the assignment is fine.

How might you apply your knowledge in future assignments or work scenarios?
I can certainly use the stuff I’m learning here in future projects I make with Figma or any general graphic design/UI design I have to make for a future class.

How did a specific reading or video inspire or help you?
I didn’t really draw from any specific readings or videos, just examples and demos in class.

Link to Prototype:
https://www.figma.com/proto/BwlsxV4Ya6nMVlCqfl4P81/klipfelm_project3?node-id=4%3A14&scaling=min-zoom&page-id=0%3A1&starting-point-node-id=4%3A14&show-proto-sidebar=1

What was easy?
Assembling the webs of links between pages in Figma is satisfying, maybe even fun. I find some strange satisfaction in spawning all my pages from a master frame and linking them all together in a web of interactivity.

What was challenging?
As always, everything else. I fell behind on this project because I was agonizing over every aesthetic choice as I was putting together a design system. Even then, once I had a handful of styles set, I would break their rules if I wanted a font to be bigger or I needed a new color to make the page look presentable. I imagine my process would be faster if I worked on making the site work before making it look pretty.

How could the assignment be improved for next class?
I don’t think there’s much to improve. It’s a decent sort of “learn by doing” kind of project. The instructions of some slides do need to be a bit less vague.

How could your submission be improved?
My design system needs some updating. The site itself also looks a little barebones. The about page has some placeholder text I just left there. The portfolio could also use a second entry. The aesthetics also need some polishing, some sharper, more sleek graphic design and less basic looking fonts.

How might you apply your knowledge in future assignments or work scenarios?
Well, I have a foundation for assembling prototypes. Skillfully? Not quite, but I have a place to build from.

How did a specific reading or video inspire me?
I wasn’t really inspired by anything in particular. I did take reference from some existing portfolio sites to get the basic format of some pages down.

Project 4 Summary

For my fourth and final project for DMA 201, I was tasked with making a short film, no longer than two minutes, trying to encapsulate a specific emotion. The emotion I chose was exhaustion.

On Exhaustion

Over the course of this semester I have spent several late nights staring at blank pages and timelines. When I do get some momentum going, I work at a place too slow for my own comfort. The late nights hurt my sleep schedule, and my dread of this process causes me to put off work sometimes, only ensuring the cycle continues in the end. My own awareness of my situation only makes me more frustrated with myself. I essentially wanted to summarize my current situation with this film.

With the music and the visuals, I wanted to give it a somewhat repetitive pace, while subtly ramping up my on-screen self’s frustration with his own lack of progress. This escalation can be heard in the music, which slowly introduces more layers to the instrumental as frustration grows. As frustration fades, my own will fades as well.

The tension leaves as quickly as it arrives. Instruments disappear from the music as my character’s will to go on fades. Dead silence arrives as the shot leaves the screen and cuts to my bed. All my fictional self wants to do anymore is just crawl under his sheets and pass out. Miles has resigned himself to the idea that he isn’t getting anything done tonight. As Miles goes to his bed, the same melody from earlier returns. Rather than being played on synths, the music is played on an organ, evoking a funeral, loss, failure, giving up.

Editing Process

I had a bit of a tough time getting used to Premiere’s UI. I wanted perfect sync with the rhythm of the cuts and the music, but I had hard time perfecting the timing. The final result is a bit sloppy.

As I continued assembling a timeline, I realized I didn’t quite have enough variety in the shots I had filmed. The second half of the short is more meandering and drawn out with shot lengths, whereas the first half had more rapid cuts. There are probably some errors in continuity and moments where I don’t clearly convey a lengthy passage of time. I was also very clumsy with keeping my timeline neat to begin with, I need to get a proper method going there if I’m going to continue editing over the next two years.

My favorite part of the short by far is the music, or rather that’s the part of the process that felt the most rewarding. I was surprised by how much intuition I had for how to pace the track as a whole, even if I was only using loops and not actually playing any of the digital instruments. I’m more disappointed in my collection of shots, likely the consequence of me filming with my phone in the middle of the night. I imagine creativity with a camera tends to run low in those kinds of circumstances. I just wish I had a greater visual versatility I guess.

Concluding Block

My first short film is rather sloppy, practically held together by tape, as if it was made by the version of me that exists in the short. Well, I have to start somewhere. Any accomplished person in a creative field made their way upward on mountains of garbage and practice, which allowed them to learn what they needed to make things they could actually be proud of. I have no reason to believe I am any different, I have a ways to go.

What did I learn?

I learned a very basic and amateurish understanding of Unity’s UI, and even then I have a lot to learn if I want to make anything worthwhile with the program. My ambitions soared too high at the start of the project, and then once I realized how little I actually know about Unity, I gave up on myself and did exactly as I was instructed with little to no creative flourishes. I need to know when to curb my enthusiasm.

What was easy?

I was able to learn how to use terrain layers to use multiple textures without any assistance. That’s about it. Even learning how to properly move the editor’s camera was difficult.

What was challenging?

Most of the project was challenging. I had a hard time getting a grip on Unity’s toolset. Even the simplest functions were complicated to me. I feel very stupid.


How could your submission be improved?

I need to learn how to handle raising terrain without making a whole mess of the environment, also I need to be able to paint textures gently and carefully. What I have currently is a sloppy mess. I also need to signify to the player what their goal post in the maze is besides the large peak, which was meant to guide the player to it. The goal mountain is likely obstructed in several areas from the player’s POV.


How could your professor improve your assignment?

I don’t know!? It’s not like my professor can just appear behind my shoulder at home and suddenly turn this project into some kind of masterpiece. How am I supposed to know how my professor could help me besides giving me advice on navigating unity and pointing out obvious design flaws?


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

My early struggles and boost of wasted creativity taught me that I should really not get too ambitious with these kinds of projects when I have no real handling of the program I’m using. I don’t have anything close to the technical ability I need to make the kind of thing I want to make, nor do I have the time to make something special right now.


How did a video or something inspire you?

My initial overambitious plans were inspired by Unity creators such as Kitty Horrorshow who make fantastic and atmospheric games that they create for their small niche audiences. Of course that inspiration didn’t really yield anything in my final product here.

What did I learn?
I learned some aspects of site design, at least when it comes to setting up a basic layout and creating a somewhat visually appealing aesthetic.

What was easy?
It was easy putting together the basic layout on figma.

What was challenging?
Everything else. I agonized over every aesthetic choice (font, page color, header/footer color).

How could my submission be improved?
My intuition is telling me there’s something inherently wrong with my result, but my conscious mind can’t put a finger on what exactly that problem is.

How might I apply my knowledge in the future.
I’ll make up my mind on creative decisions faster so I can actually get a result out in a timely fashion.

How did a specific video or reading inspire you?
I had no direct inspiration or influence guiding me on this project.

Figma Link: https://www.figma.com/file/7db3VNaLyR4UNVyXLFaYJR/dma201-project2-starter-(Copy)?node-id=2%3A6

What did I learn?

Well, I suppose I have a somewhat better understanding of photoshop, though I still feel very clumsy when trying to navigate through its UI.

What was easy?

Anything we were guided through during the class meetings was easy enough to catch on to, though I did need some assistance on occasion when trying to figure out layer masks and typing along paths.

What was challenging?

I had a hard time coming up with an ideal composition for the valentines card. It took forever for me to come up with a design I actually liked, likely because of some perfectionism on my part.

How could your submission be improved?

I was very minimalist with the overall composition, I didn’t want it to look garish or overdone so I deliberately went for simplicity. The final design sort of tells a story about a heart shaped balloon getting caught on a tree. I like the result, but I’m not sure if its what the professor wants from the project.

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

I have no clue.

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

I suppose I’ll slowly become more capable of using Photoshop’s tools and be able to make more ambitious projects without clogging my tabs with tutorials.

Images used on the design were posted to Unsplash by Emma Fabbri, Robert Greinacher and Mathias P.R. Reding.

For this project, my objective was to create four postage stamps themed around anything that came to mind. Each stamp shown here pays homage to a work of fiction I enjoy. The aesthetics of each stamp are heavily influenced by the works that inspired them, so I had an easy time with things like font selection.

Though I certainly enjoyed making these, I did have some difficulties. Color theory is my biggest weakness here, which isn’t helped by my mild colorblindness. My color choice was primarily guided by intuition and the color schemes of each inspiration. I likely committed some mortal sin in color theory without even knowing. The color overlay on the image of the ship in the Invader Zim frame looks especially odd and I’m not really sure how to fix it.

I believe that these stamps are in the best form they could be given my skills at the time of writing this, for better or worse. This project also feels like the first time I’ve really had to think on every essential aspect of design I’ve learned in tandem with one another. All I can really say for now is that I hope to keep growing and try to improve on the foundation I have.

– Miles Klipfel