First Semester of Senior Year

Homecoming 

The seniors were given a task to, in groups, design a poster, ticket and infographic to promote the 

Homecoming dance with the theme of Above and Beyond, and schedule of the week. This was the first project we began and we had the posters hanging up in the halls approximately two weeks before the dance. This was the first big project that we have done in groups so there was a learning curve to adapt to other styles, feedback, and collaboration. I definitely learned more about working with others on a project instead of just receiving critiques. This was also occurring while I was developing the theme for this year's yearbook. That means that my creative brain was fried. I learned to work through this and continue to push myself. We received a lot of feedback from each other, other groups, and our instructor during the process. The senior committee did choose our concept to represent their dance, which we are very grateful for. We then received a lot of positive feedback from other students and staff. We altered the layout infographic nearly at the last minute as it was not very creative and we had a new idea. I am happy with the outcome of the project, especially when consider the circumstance I was under.

Hand Typography Greeting Card

We were instructed to design a greeting card that could be for just about any occasion, but the focus of the card had to be hand-drawn typography. This required a lot of sketching out ideas and refining each one. I decided to create a Christmas card. After looking at all of my sketches, I decided that the most original and fun design I had come up with was for the saying "Have a holly jolly Christmas". I continued to refine the design and finally created an inked version of the design on a large piece of paper to allow a quality scan. I scanned in this design and then had even more touch-ups to finish on the computer. This project taught me a lot about hand typography and how to do it correctly. I am very happy with the outcome of the typography. I learned a lot and feel good about how much effort and time I spent cleaning up all of the letters and elements.

Be Kind Do Good
I was approached by members of Sophomore Committee to design a shirt for them that they would sell and encourage people to wear during our annual Week of Giving. They wanted this shirt to encourage spreading kindness and love around our school and communities. They decided on the saying "Be kind and do good". I sketched and designed a few ideas that I had, and let them choose or alter any they wanted. They chose a two-toned design with a heart in the background. I love seeing students and staff wear these shirts because I know my work is being used for a great cause.





Blood Drive Poster
I am a member of the Olathe Northwest Student Council and we hold the blood drives that occur every year. I was asked by our sponsors and president to design this year's fall blood drive poster in order to promote donations and spread the word. I designed a few differing ideas and asked the sponsors and board members to provide feedback. I was given great feedback and made a few alterations like lining up the text on the right to the bottom of the design on the left. I am very happy with this project. I think that the clean design grabs people attention and emphasizes the good that they could be doing by donating.

Week of Giving Spirit Days Poster
The week before our annual Week of Giving, some sponsors realized that we did not have a poster to hangup that would advertise the spirit days for that upcoming week. I was asked if I could quickly design one so we could get it print the next day. Designing a poster that I would be happy with in one day was not going to be an easy task. I did get a design ready to send in time, however I know that it was not my best work. They wanted the posted to have a fall theme so I focused on that and it looks childish in my opinion, but I got it done in time and the sponsors were very happy with it.

Fall Retreat T-shirt

I am very active in my church's youth group and we have a fall retreat every year where we travel to a nearby camp for a weekend.We have services, play games, and have a great time together as a break during the semester. Every year has a different theme and we are given t-shirts. I was asked by our youth pastor to design this year's shirts. The theme was "Be. Do. Go." and he wanted to play off of a mountain scene like Patagonia. I took to my sketchbook and put a few of my favorites and differing ideas on the computer. I got feedback from other students as to which idea was their favorite and anything they wanted to change. I then went to my youth pastor, gave him some updated designs, told him what other students liked and he picked a final design. I liked working with a client that did not know
 much about graphic design because it taught me how to gently guide them in a positive direction while still respecting their choices as they are the client. For instance, the colors that they originally had picked out were not colors that would together on a t-shirt very well, so I was able to show them examples and helped them choose a better color scheme. I am happy with the outcome of the design, especially compared to years passed. It's nice to hear the other students' positive feedback on the designs as well.









Exotic Espresso Branding
The scope of this project was to create a company and create branding elements for them based off of four items given to us: two letters, an animal, a mineral, and a number. I created Exotic Espresso, a coffee shop company, first opened up in Pier 39 in San Francisco. The animal I picked was lemur, which led me to the word exotic. The number was 39 which led me to Pier 39 in San Fransisco and the direction that I wanted to go for my company. The mineral was granite which sparked the idea of material coming from across the globe. Granite can be found almost anywhere in the world and can be found in many different colors and patterns, but is all the same quality, just like the Exotic Espresso materials. And the letters were D and B which led to the slogan “brew for a different beast.” After creating the company, we took to our sketch books and were to create many many logo ideas. We narrowed it down to our top six choices and did a class critique to better them. I finally chose a circular logo with the company name and slogan running through the middle. We then developed our company any further and created many elements: a letter head, business cards, an envelope, possible interior and exterior mock-ups, some sort of merchandise, uniform, and iPhone app. This project took quite some time as it had lots of different elements but I learned a lot about mock-ups and how to make sure every individual element still feels like they are from the same company. I am very happy with the way this turned out. I lie the clean design and I feel that I made every element flow together well.

Youth Group Basketball Shirts
I was again approached by our youth pastor. This time it was to create a design for our church's basketball team that enters a league every winer. This was to be place on a jersey with each players name and number on the back. I found a lot of inspiration, but did require a lot of feedback for a design that would be a very different task than I had tackled before. I asked him as well as some of the kids that I knew would be playing and got a lot of great feedback in terms of the type and feel of the design. The t-shirts are being printed and the league will start in January. I am happy with the design and am excited to see the jerseys in action.

Magazine Layout - Work in Progress
We have begun a magazine layout that will showcase a local designer. This project has already taught me a lot about interviewing and creating questions. I have done these before through yearbook, but it was a great experience to interview an adult working in the field that I hope to some day. We have been assigned to sketch out a fairly finalized layout over winter break and will finish this when we return.

Internship
I have an internship with B.Creative, a local design company. For them, I create weekly e-mail newsletters through Mail Chimp. These showcase one of B.Creative's client's products and specials. It is nice to have an opportunity to work with real clients and I have learned a lot about through this process.

Time Management
Whether on sketches, designing, mounting a project, or something for my internship, I am constantly on the move in class. I cannot remember a time this semester that I did not have at least one project in progress. However, if there was ever a time that I was not working directly on a project, I would say that I would be researching new ideas or learning new techniques through tutorials. Outside of this class, I have yearbook which is also very beneficial to my creative brain. Whether photography or design, that class advances my mind. At home I am always touching up projects or working on outside work. And if I'm not doing that, it's safe to assume I'm sketching new ideas or scrolling through Behance, Pinterest, etc. to find new ideas.

Strengths/Weaknesses
I would say that some of my greatest strengths are my abilities to manage time well since I have so many works going at once, as well as my curiosity that pushes me to learn how to incorporate new techniques and ideas. One of my big weaknesses has always been my ability to push my creative brain. This semester has allowed me to grow a lot in that aspect through having many projects at once that each require a very different feel and look.

Summary
I have loved this semester. I think that I have grown a lot and I have loved the many opportunities I am given to design for different groups in and out of the school. If I could change anything it would be to take these months slower as I am realizing how close we are to graduating and I want to truly appreciate the opportunities I have been given through this program. I am very happy to see my growth in this semester as well as through the years up to this point. One goal I have for next semester is to continue to design for many different types of clients and continue to push my creative brain even further before entering college.