Reading back through my old blog posts was a great recap of the semester. It was fun to see how I developed as a designer and a writer. In the first couple of posts, I can see how I was still figuring out the way I wanted to narrate my process. It was also hard to write that first post because I struggled with the project itself. Maybe I should have discussed that more.
I thought I did a better job in my second post, though the fashion brochure is not my proudest work. I like how it turned out, but I could have done more to create a strong aesthetic. The whole piece still looks a little too generic to me, and I know I would approach it differently if I had the project to do over again.
Things started to turn a corner with our third project--the label design. This is my favorite project from the semester, and the one I am most proud of. From the beginning, I had a clear plan and idea of how to approach the project. It also helped that the project was in Illustrator. Something that I recognized through reading my posts is that when I am more confident with the software, the whole process feels smoother. Illustrator was the first design software that I learned, and I have always felt the most comfortable in it. This project gave me a lot of confidence moving forward.
I rode this confidence into designing the mobile app for the next project. Again, I didn’t have too many struggles with coming up with a vision for what I wanted the app to look like. I had a focus from the beginning, and I am really proud of how it turned out. This project taught me the most in terms of technical skills as I learned a lot about prototyping and other fundamentals of UX design.
Working on the brand activation for the past few weeks has been a great culmination of all I’ve learned this semester. It forced me to take the driver’s seat and pick which software would be the best. I think this project tested my skills the most. It made me think about how to apply what we’ve learned to something experiential, and I learned a lot from it.
Overall, I think I grew a lot as a designer this semester. Not only with my expertise in different softwares but also my confidence as an artist. I created things that I didn’t know I had in me, and this has really encouraged my focus into this career. There’s nothing more satisfying to me then seeing an idea I had in my head coming to existence on screen.