"How To" Reflection

1. I think the strongest component of my poster is the visual sequence because the sequence is very clear and easy to understand. The sequence is also logical. 
2. One thing I would do differently is to find a better picture to make the pile of folded clothes. Compared to the light weights of the other pictures on the poster, the outline of the folded shirts is too bold and stand out too much. Next time, I would probably hand draw the pile of clothes to make the whole poster constant and cohesive. 

Book Cover

The idea for the book cover comes from an important scene in the story. This is the place where the main character learns a valuable theory from her mom. The main focus of the design is the swing because the main character is on the swing when her mom tells her about the theory. I was able to create this using gimp with help from the online images for inspiration and creation of this autumn scenario. The font type of the title reflects how elegant the theory is, and the script font type shows how personal the story is. The cover is an extension of the front cover. Basically, the front and back cover are combined, and together they create one whole image. This cover should attract viewers who can sympathize with this autumn scenario either because they have experiences that are similar to this or this scenario just reminds them of their childhood in general.

Book Cover Designs

I like this cover because of how much this cover fits the title. The smoke from the match goes with the word "pale," and the match represents the fire. Also the smoke gives the book a mysterious feeling that draws out my interest and desire to read the book.

This cover is definitely spooky. The two mirrors look like a pair of eyes when they are put side by side like this. Also it makes me thought of ghost stories that are related to mirrors. Scary. (I am already having goosebumps.)

This cover is really colorful. The colorful words stand out against the white outline of a female in pain on a black background. The bright colors match the idea of "splashes of colour." The only thing I don't like about the design is the bar of color on the top of the cover. Those color looks out of place. 

At first glance, I thought this was a box full of little earrings. Then I realize that it is a book cover. When I look closely at the little objects, they do seem to give off a feeling that they are transparent, but they are really not. The cover brings out my curiosity to find out how the little objects relate to the story. 

A fork that looks like a hand or a claw. Creepy, but at the same time interesting. This makes me wonder what kind of book this is. After reading the title, I can see that the fork relates to the table and bent part of the fork relate to the wolf. However, I am uncertain about the color of the fork. The red either represents blood or something else.

Overall:

The common characteristic of my five chosen book cover is that all the cover designs relate back to the title of each book in some ways. Also most of the designs seem to be a photograph or realistic enough to think of as a photograph.

Book Cover: The Kite Runner

The cover with the two boys and a kite in the sky fits the story because the book is mostly about the lives of two boys in Afghanistan. The theme of the book is father and son, but it is through the semi-tragic lives of the two boys. Even though this cover shows the main characters of the book, the cover with a single boy flying a kite fits the title of the book. This is hard to choose, but overall I like the cover with the one boy because the color is not as bright as the cover with the two boys. The cover with the two boys hurts my eyes when I look at it for too long. 

Competition Design

At first, I was thinking of drawing a section of the school that used the central stairs as the focus, but the design got so complicated. Then I thought of the school as a whole and how there were always students  entering (as freshmen) and leaving (as graduates). The school was never complete because of the entering and leaving, and this reminded me of an incomplete puzzle. So I had the white missing puzzle pieces to show the incompleteness that I associated with the school. The words that were on the design was a requirement (and so I had no choice but to include them). The phoenix came from the new school logo on the school site. I included the people of different kind and doing different actions to show the different people in MHS. The different people were also the ultimate image that you would see after the puzzle is complete, which is never going to happen. There were some alignment and repetition in the design. I created the design using gimp. 

Best of 2013

• The Cloister - I got to go see The Cloisters for the first time ever over the summer. I had actually never heard of The Cloister until my summer professor told the class that we were taking a field trip there. Although I didn't get to explore the whole museum, I did learn a lot about the square garden from making lots of drawings of the garden.
• Fragments (Renzo Piano Building Workshop exhibition) - This was my first time going to see an exhibition full of models of an architect's works throughout his life. Each model was so detailed and neat that it didn't seem to be put together by a human hand. Also each of Piano's design was very unique and different from each other. It was a very interesting exhibit.
• Junior/Senior Officer - I never thought that I would turn out to be a Senior Officer now. A year or two ago, I would have never image myself taking on something that required leadership skill and/or participation in discussions. At the time, I only knew that I wanted to plan my own senior year and so I signed up for the position. Truly, I never thought that I would get the position; and so this whole officer thing still seemed somewhat of a dream to me.
• Going to school two weekends in a row - I never thought that I would have the experience of going to school for 14 straight days. Over summer, I had to go back to school during the weekend to finish my projects as the deadlines were coming up. It was a horrible/great experience. It was horrible because I didn't to relax over the weekend. It was great because I sort of got to know my classmates better during those times.
• Highline - I walked the Highline over summer with my dad and brother, starting from the half way point. It was a nice experience because I hardly ever got to go anywhere with my family. It was a nice family bonding time, discussing about the construction and structure of the Highline. 
• College Interview - It was not as scary as I thought it would probably because my interviewer was nice and friendly. We talked about everything, ranging from school to Hurricane Sandy to personal experience. The whole interview seemed like a chit-chat between friends. Hope that future interviews will also be as comfortable.
• Hadar Foundation 20th Anniversary Celebration - It was the first formal event that I had ever been. I didn't know what to expect, but I tried my best to dress nice. That day was very cold and I was wearing a dress, but it was worth it that I was able to hear professionals doing some wonderful playing, acting, and singing. 
• Submitting my first college application - It was a nerve-wrecking experience. I checked over my application again and again to make sure that everything was where it was supposed to be. At the end, I felt lightening up after the submission because I had one less thing to worry about. 
• Working until the last minute - At the end of my summer class, I had a final group project where my group mates and I worked until the last few seconds of the deadline. That day, I had less than 5 hours of sleep but was still able to do a decent presentation of the project to a group of audience. Guess what? My group was also the first group to go. 
• Chelsea Music Festival - I was supposedly to present a project to the guests that were coming to hear the shows, but that day, I couldn't present the project to anyone because the table was set up outdoor, where there were no outlets. Instead I got to hear the show for free along with the paid guests. The singers were amazing and their voices were all in harmony with each other. 
• Gates of Paradise - This was the last book of series that I loved. I waited one year for this book to come out and I finished the whole book in one day. I was disappointed that the series had ended, but I loved the happy ending. 
• Bus - On my way back from The Cloister, I took the bus and got off at the wrong stop. I got off at the west side of the central park, when I was supposed to get off at the east of central park. Since I didn't know when the next bus was coming, I walked all the way home, which was around 10 avenues and 5 streets from where I got off the bus.  
• Watching movie - My brother and I hardly got to spend quality times hanging out with each other because of all the school works. So I had the greatest time ever, when we got to re-watch a funny movie from our childhood together while eating a late lunch one Saturday. 

Green Team Logo

1. How does your logo design represent the after school club or activity?
My logo design represents the after school club through the symbol, which is an image of a sprout. The color green also reinforces the purpose of the club or what the club is about (which is being green).
2. Which process was most helpful in creating your design?
The concept board and the digital draft on Gimp were the most helpful processes in creating my design.
3. What was the most challenging aspect about the logo design?
The most challenging aspect about the logo design was coming up with different and unique ideas for the logo design. There were too little symbols that represented all aspects of the club. I had to pick one aspect of the club to work with. Using Gimp to create the design was challenging as well.
4. Are you satisfied with your final design? Why is your logo successful? If you are not satisfied with your design, what would you like to change?
I am satisfied with my final design because I have put in a lot of efforts and overcome many problems to create the design. My logo is successful because my logo represents an important aspect of the club, which I think is the urban farm. Also the logo promotes the idea of being green by protecting the plants.

basically sum up my vacation...Can't Wait!!!!

Summary of Green Team

The Green Team (a.k.a the Environmental Club) is a club that promotes the school to go green (by recycling paper, bottles, and lunch trays) with handmade posters that are put up near trash bins. However, the Green Team does not only focus on the school. There are many other fun things that the team also does. During the cold weather season, the team would come up with different projects to work on indoor to promote the school to go green or fund-raise money to help the school or raise awareness of certain environmental issues (happening globally or domestically). During the warmer season, the team would get ready to start farming and planting on the small plot of land that the team had at the Battery Urban Farm; the team members get to grow and harvest their own vegetables.

Finding Typefaces...

Decorative: the typeface is used on a pencil holder

The typeface is not really appropriate for the object because pencil holder and reading don't relate to each other and also the design of the word "cool" has nothing to do with the feeling of being cool. 

Modern: the typeface is used for the title of a chapter in a book

The typeface is appropriate in this case because the typeface give the title a sense of fanciness and elegance which in some way matches the beautiful design above the title.  

Oldstyle: the typeface is used for the text of a book

The typeface is appropriate here because most books, since very long ago, have used oldstyle for the text, and so that means that many people are used to reading book with such typeface. Plus this typeface is easier to read when it comes to books.

Slab Serif: the typeface is used for the men restroom sign in this sign

The typeface is appropriate for its purpose because the typeface allows the restroom sign to stand out in a somewhat fancy way among the signs that mostly use sans serif typefaces.

Sans Serif: the typeface is used for the sign on the subway platform

The typeface is appropriate for its purpose because sans serif seems to be the most commonly-used category of  typefaces for signs in this contemporary world and so using this kind of typeface in a public area allows people to easily be able to read/recognize the words (especially due to the bold-looking letter in the typeface). 

Script: the typeface is used for the name of a beauty salon

The typeface is appropriate for its purpose because people go to a beauty salon to become pretty and script gives people a sense of elegance which is normally associated with beauty.

photo editing

Letter to Symbol Reflection

While using Gimp, what was most frustrating aspect of the program and/or project? 
While using Gimp, the most frustrating aspect of the program was that I had to constantly remember to click on the layer that I wanted to make edits on. Usually, I remembered to click off all the eyes on the other layers except for the layer that I wanted to view, but I kept on forgetting to click on the layer I wanted to work on. I would get so angry and confused, not knowing why I couldn't make the changes. Then I would try out different things . At some point, I just realized that I selected another layer and became mad at myself for being so dumb. This had happened quite a few times, but now I learned my lesson and hopefully would not make the same mistake again as the year went on. 

After completing the project, which Gimp tools do you feel most confident in using? Explain why.
After completing the project, the Gimp tools that I feel the most confident in using are the pencil tool, eraser tool and the path tool. These three tools are the main tools that I have used to create the images in each layer. Throughout the project, I use the pencil tool and eraser tool to draw and change each layer. I actually play with some of the features of the pencil/eraser tool such as the angle and size of the tool to fix up the edges of the lines a bit. After you introduce the path tool, I start using the path tool whenever I have to make a curve. The path tool makes each line more smoother than the result one will get if lines are drawn by hands. After using these tools so much, I become confident in using them.

Which Gimp Tool do you wish you were better at using? Explain why.
 I wish I were better at using the other tools that I haven't use in this project. I don't have a single tool that I wish I were better at using because I have been mostly using the three tools that are mentioned about and so I didn't have a chance to explore the other tools. So I wish I could be able to be familiarized with the other tools first and understand which tool(s) is/are my weakness(es). 

What would you like to create with Gimp next?
I want to create a collage of pictures and photos because I want to learn how to edit pictures on this photo-editing software. I also want to create an animation that tells a story, not a GIF.

V - Letter to Symbol GIF

Halloween Time!

Reflection for Name Design

1. Describe the process when creating your name design project. How was the process helpful or not so helpful for you?
When I was working on the four initial drafts, ideas keep on coming into my mind, but those are not exactly what I had in mind. I wanted a design that integrate both parts of my name, the Qing and Ling parts. The circle design came close to what I wanted with the my name fitting into one circle to show unity. As I worked on the two full page drafts, I tried a different way of expressing my name within the circle, which was writing the Qing part right-side up and the Ling part upside down. This design didn't turn out to be very good because many people had trouble understanding the design. It was around this time that I came up with the design that I used for my final work. I came up with the design during a college seminar. I was bored at the meeting, and so I started doodling on the notebook, playing with different fonts and sizes for the letters of my name. When I enlarged the design onto a full page paper, the design looks simply and plain. I tried many out different types of flower design to fill up the negative space, but those floral design just looked so random. Then Carmen suggested me to put a flower vine around the Q to make it stood out. I thought it was a great idea and added on because flower vine is one of the many things that I like. I also added a simple flower vine border around the final draft to frame my name. I did try out different colors but I chose green at the end because my favorite color was green. The process was helpful for me because it allowed me to visually look at the different ideas that I had for the project and chose the best one that fitted the concept that I wanted to show.

2. How does your name design represent you? What components did you use to visually tell the viewer about yourself? (composition, font style, images symbols, colors, etc.)
The name design shows that I am one whole person even if I have two similar words in my name. I combine the two words together because they are very similar due to the fact that they are different by one letter. By using the different size and font style, I highlight the two letters (Q & L) that differentiate the words of my name. Since both words end in "ing," I only write "ing" one time especially since I have combined the Q & L together. The floral design shows that I like flowers and that my favorite color is green. I actually like garden with archway that has flower vines growing on it, and the flower vine on the Q expresses my fondness for the type of garden with flower-vine archways. (I want to draw roses instead of simple flowers, but the roses that I draw don't look as elegant and pretty as roses should be and so I stick to the simple flower drawing that I know how to draw.)

3. How did you create a focal point or emphasis your design?
I created the focal point of my design by writing the letters Q and L bigger than the other letters of my name. Instead of showing the Q and L as two separate letters, I combined them together to represent me as one person who had a name with two words that ended the same letters ("ing"). I put flower vine on the Q to differentiate the Q from the L. In a way, the initials of my first name was the emphasis of my design.

4. What was the most difficult part of this project for you? Why?
The most difficult part of this project for me was to pick a design that best represented myself because I had different ideas for the name design project and each of design showed a different side of myself. It was hard to choose which side of myself that I wanted others to know about. At the end, I wanted to show how that my name was consisted of two words and that I was not Qing or Ling, but Qing Ling together.

5. Are you satisfied with your project? Explain your answer.
I am satisfied with my project because the design unites both words of my name and integrate them in the way that the two words become one entity. The floral parts make the whole design looks prettier and not so simple. As a whole, the design show my favorite color and the idea I want to express about my name.

6. If you can change anything about your design, what would you change or do differently?
If I can change anything about my design, I would probably want to get rid of the "ing" part and centralize the QL to emphasize my initials more. I also want to make the L stands out more than the Q because that is the only part of my name that is different from my sibling's name.

Sometimes I like to draw different hair styles for fun. The hair styles that I draw look like some of the ones on this picture. Whenever I draw a hair style and show my friends, they will always comment on how the head I draw have no face. I don't like to draw faces (even if I am drawing a certain manga character) because I am not good with drawing faces. Once I add the facial features on the drawing, the drawing becomes weird looking. :(

I, like many others, wander with a purpose of finding my future self. I may seem indecisive about what I want to do, but the truth is...I just want to try out many new things.

Inspiring Quote

First Entry

What is your experience with Graphic Design?
I don't have any experience with graphic design.

Why is graphic design valuable to learn?
Graphic design is valuable to learn because graphic design is another form of media that can be used to express myself or my ideas. The skills I learned in graphic design class may be useful for me in the future, if I decide to go into the architectural field (like editing perspective drawings of the architectures and etc.).

What is your favorite font type? Post an image or an example.
I like many different font type, but I currently like Crafty Girl.

What are your expectations for this course this year?
I expect to learn different skills of graphic design, such as how to use certain editing softwares. I also expect to have many fun times designing different things.