Winter Final Blog Post

My Takeaways

      Throughout my time in e-Comm, I have learned so much that I wouldn't have learned had I not been a part of e-Comm.  In the category of technology, I have learned how to use Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and In Design.  To be honest, I didn't even know that Adobe In Design existed until I came into e-Comm.  With Illustrator, it took a bit of time for me to get accustomed to working in vectors.  The curve tool took awhile to get the hang of, but I am satisfied with my improvement.  With collaboration, I have definitely improved.  When I came into e-Comm, I was extremely shy and unconfident in my ability to work with others.  I am still shy and prefer to work on my own, however, I feel much more comfortable working with others when required.  This also goes for communication.  When I came into e-Comm, I could not communicate my ideas or designs fluently.  Now, though, I am able to pitch an idea much clearer than before.  With project management, I could still improve on this.  When working on a project, I get carried away trying to make my design as intricate as possible.  However, this sometimes makes me miss my deadline.  I need to work on making good-quality projects while also keeping within the time constraints.  Finally, with leadership, I definitely still need work on this aspect.  I am not a leader.  I always wish that I could take charge, but it scares me to do so.  I will continue working on my confidence in leadership in the future.

Strengths and Weaknesses

      I think one of my strengths in e-Comm is being able to create many different design ideas for the same project.  That way, I can choose which design is the best to move forward with.  One of my weaknesses is color.  I am never sure how to choose colors that set the mood that I want and that go together well.

What I Will Do With My Skills

      I do not plan to go into the field of graphic design.  However, that does not mean I will not use the skills I have learned.  I plan to be a scientist, and I think it will be very helpful knowing how to make clean visuals that can help explain my research.  If I need to ask for research grants, I will be able to provide helpful visuals to convince the person I am asking to provide the grant.  However, I also plan to do art commissions as a hobby.  I will be able to use the skills I have learned in graphic design in this aspect of my life as well.

Changes

      If I were to change one thing about my experience in graphic design, it would be that we learned more about the basic aspects of graphic design.  Because they are the basics, it seems like we should know them, but sometimes it feels like we just gloss over them.  For example, we never really covered color theory in class.  And we only briefly covered fonts.  Other than that, I enjoy graphic design. 

Conclusion

      In conclusion, I am very happy that I chose to go into graphic design rather than animation.  It was a close call, but I know I have enjoyed graphic design more than I would have enjoyed animation.  We have learned about line-meanings, patterns, and production of a physical object.  The line projects were boring, but I found them ver valuable.  The pattern product was fun, and I learned so much from it. I also enjoyed client work, as it gave me real world experience.