I have enjoyed this semester very much, I have especially enjoyed this class. I have found my teacher to be excellent and the class to be laid out in a very conducive atmosphere for learning and design/artistic work. That being said, this semester has been one of my hardest semesters time wise that I have ever had. So when it came to doing the work for this class, if I was not sitting in the classroom, I did not have time to give to the work. I didn’t really understand this until at least half way through the semester. Overall I am proud of the design work I am publishing.
To begin with, I have previous experience in these programs, but it has been five plus years since I have worked in any of them. I realized how much of a big deal this was when I first started working in Photoshop. It took me a little time to get the feel of the program because a lot had changed since I last touched it, I had to catch up with the technology. That was a novel experience, it made me kind of dread getting a lot older. But I was able to overcome this. It was frustrating to have to stop and constantly relearn something that used to come with ease, sometimes I would know there was a shortcut for whatever I was trying to do, but not be able to remember how to do it. Worse was when I would try to hit shortcuts and some new window would open up, taking me completely by surprise.
Of course relearning these programs wasn’t the only obstacle this semester. I had a few difficulties but what I felt was the biggest issue for me this semester was my attendance, I never missed a class because I thought it would be fun, I just had a busy semester. But this class takes time and dedication. These are extremely useful skills, but there is a learning curve. The class time is vital. Most of us don’t have access to the programs found in the classroom, so we cannot practice outside the classroom. Also, our teacher is in the classroom during class time and though she was good at answering emails and really try to assist us, emails don’t replace her physically being there and being able to be hands on.
I also suffered with being too picky about what I was creating. This caused me to more than once do a piece over when I truly needed to move on. Once I came to terms with needing to move on, I would be okay with settling with a sub par
piece, causing me to not be totally happy with my ending portfolio. I really am going to have to work on being picky. It’s getting to unmanageable level.
All in all I think that the projects were awesome! I ended up loving InDesign so much, I wish I had started with that program. I am really proud of my brochure and travel poster. I designed them to be for the German public, because Turkey’s biggest contributors to their tourist industry is Germans. I thought it was fun to learn about Turkey and InDesign is a great program for design work.
It was a challenge to move between the three programs, but I think that was a good thing. It made me think laterally. If I could change anything that I did this semester, I would like to have more difficult Photoshop projects. When you look at my InDesign work next to some of my Photoshop work I feel they are really two different levels of work. When I know I actually spent more time in Photoshop nitpicking those pieces.
I have had a plan for a little while to work in hotels as a liaison for big events like conventions, but this class really made me want to work in the public relations aspect of my degree. Specifically with an emphasis on graphic designs. I also considered taking on a digital media design minor, I don’t know if I will have the time, but I am going to try. In the end I think that even if this class isn’t in your degree plan, take it. You could even just jump in and use these programs. There is a lot of great tutorials out there on the wide wide webs.
Honestly, I hope when you look through my work, whether it is the stuff from now or later on in my life, you can see I put work into it. If there is anything important I took from this class, it is to take pride in my work. I worked hard for every step I took and I’m ending this semester with pride. Is there anything else really needed?