Any last questions?
Wednesday was our last class before the final. Jimmy taught us all the things he could have through out the course. He also talked to us about what we should get out of all the classes that we are taking. On Monday is the day of our final, in which we are going to show the class our video and turn in our 50 apple renditions…I still have a lot of work to do. Hope all you are having an easy time with all this.
This group of artist was not in it for the money, but they manage to make a career of this life style. A lot of the film talks about when they all began showing at a gallery in New York called Alleged Gallery curated and owned by Aaron Rose. This wasn’t a typical gallery by definition of what we have become used to, the Alleged Gallery was more of an informal place where they can show case their art and drink together. This was the beginning of a community of artist that through time grew and made names for them selves. They came together in a show called Beautiful Losers that traveled from city to city. It showcased the same artist that first showed in the Alleged Gallery at this point in their careers you can see how they have grown into these confident artist with their own styles.
While watching this film it brought to my attention what the point of art has always been, to not take your self or the world around you so seriously. I don’t think art would have really become what is it today if people took it seriously. I’m sure that when art was first recognized in the history books it has always had a serious tone. Back when the world was new art was created for embellishment, but today I feel it is about a lot more than that. With artist like Margaret Kilgallen, Mike Mills, and Jo Jackson we see that art has become something that you can do for fun and because you love it.
Monday’s class was difficult, as they usually are. I walked into class hungry and tired, not really knowing what we were going to in class for that day. We saw a documentary called Beautiful Losers, directed by Aaron Rose and Joshua Leonard. The documentary is about a group of artist from the early 1990s that did art because of their love for it. After the film we had a discussion about the artist and their ideas that left a few of confused and probably made the conversation a little dry. Our assignment for the night is to write a three-paragraph review on the documentary.
Finally made it to the last stage of The Design Process by Karl Aspelund, stage seven, in which he discusses production. This is the final step in polishing your idea before you get to present it to the intended audience. Though it may be the last step, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you are done. If all the previous six steps were done effectively than things should go smoothly at the end.
In the production stage Aspelund discusses that the designers need to be a team leader and a team player with the production team. Accepting that you are not always correct is important to work in a team as a team leader. It is also trivial to accept all the members for what they can and cannot do, because at the end of the day they are ones finishing the job. One of the processes that goes into production is prototyping in which you make a 3D visual aid to asses if this is the finish product that you wanted. In the prototype stage you test various aspects of your ideas. There are three types of prototypes; concept prototype, throwaway prototype, and evolutionary prototype. At each prototype valuable feedback is given to benefit the three-dimensional object, which is the main purpose of doing a prototype before a mass production.
Money makes the world go round, and while working on projects the amount of money that you use has to be used in small doses. Taking into consideration all cost and leaving room for errors can be very difficult at times, but with budgeting and scheduling decisions on what to spend money on can be considered wisely. As it is in all experiences in life, learn from your mistakes in each project so that you can become a better graphic designer in the next one.
"So, what’s your major?"
As I’ve discussed before, Monday’s are not always the best day for me in class and this Monday was no exception. My mind always feels very dry on Monday’s, and its not like I went crazy party boy over the weekend it was just long. What happened to my weekends in which I would rest and catch up on my homework? I guess those days are long gone along with my teenage years, but I wouldn’t trade this current fast life style for something more calm. I just wish my days were longer so that I can do all the things I need to start and finish.
Jimmy began talking about something that all of us in class have encountered one time or another, especially when asked,
Stranger: “So, what’s your major?”
Me: “Art/Graphic Design”
Stranger usually makes a face and says, “What can you do with that?”
The stranger usually assumes that being an art major I spend my time working with paint, which I do, but I work with a lot more tools than just paint. Being a graphic designer is a lot more than just working with software. At the end of the day being a graphic designer is about putting all the things you know and have learned, all the skills you have gained together to solve problems. We discussed in class all the jobs we can do as a graphic designer, and we came up with a vast list of all these job opportunities.
Once we discussed the topic and got it out of our systems Jimmy partnered us up and had us make up a story with a few objects that we had in our backpacks. First, we had to sit in a certain order, by first name A-Z. Then the person sitting next to you would become your partner. I got pared up with Daniel, he put in his sunglasses and I put in my car keys. We knew from the beginning that we wanted to try to tell a funny story; we just weren’t sure how to go about it. Were my keys and his pair of sunglasses just objects or did we have to personify them? With-in the ten minutes that Jimmy gave us to come up with a story, Daniel and I came up with something. We began telling our stories, going from the front of the class to the back, where we were. As the other classmates began telling their stories Daniel and I looked at each other and realized that our story probably wasn’t that great. We signaled at each other that when our turn came, we should make something up. I don’t know if it was for the best, but I just began talking, allowing words to come out of my mouth that probably did not make any sense together (I will rewrite the story and post it later). At some point I ran out of things to say and just said the end. I don’t think that was the smartest thing to do, but compared to what we had this impromptu story was better. I could tell Jimmy was not thrilled with any of our stories, I guess this is a skill I need to put more effort on.
Finally it came time for class to end, but before we could go Jimmy gave us a challenge with our next homework assignment. We need to come up with our best ideas to promote Graphic Design/Visual Communications to new students coming to Cal. State L.A. and undeclared students attending Cal. State L.A. To make sure that we worked on the assignment he made us stay in class for 30 minutes with our ideas and a blank paper.
