McFarland | Wrap-Up Post!

There are so many things that I've learned in Graphics this semester. First, I found out that I absolutely love Professor Taylor and Paul. That said, I feel that they've spread their typoholic nature to me, as one of the unexpected things I've gotten out of the course is paying attention to the typeface for pretty much every restaurant, store and company logo that I see! I never anticipated to learn so much about the different typefaces and their individual personalities. I felt this was portrayed perfectly in the short video that Professor Taylor showed during class. It was amazing to me that by changing the fonts in all of my projects they could take on an entirely different meaning and be perceived in a different way by my viewer. It was really interesting to search endlessly through Suitecase and find so many different typefaces that I loved. I never really thought that I would formulate a strong opinion concerning this subject matter.

Another thing that I was not expecting was to be so intrigued by Indesign, Illustrator and Photoshop. I consider myself fairly old fashioned, as you will walk into my apartment and see a 1922 typewriter, vintage record player and various pairs of large headphones. I have of course engaged in modern forms of technology but have a greater appreciation for simple things like pop-up toasters and bicycles with baskets on the front of them, as strange as it sounds. Having these strong interests gave me a great feeling of trepidation when entering the realm of these new design programs, however I found that the lab was extremely helpful and it wasn't that difficult to pick up on the programs with practice. I learned a great deal about visual gestalt and attempted to apply this in many of my design projects. One of my favorite things about the course was the variety of projects. In some courses, I feel as if I'm writing similar things or working on yet another empty shell of a Powerpoint presentation. In Graphics, however, I felt I was able to follow certain design guidelines, principles and courtesies while still being able to express who I am and the various topics that I am interested in. I loved that I was able to engage in a large amount of design freedom within certain guidelines.

I also appreciated all of the course feedback, such as our project evaluations both to Professor Taylor and to our fellow peers. I watched in awe as Stevie splashed her anchor, Fran's initial popped out from his business card, Lucy showcased a man's bare bottom and Melia gave a whole new meaning to the term robbins-egg blue. Everyone else in the class was fantastic so if I didn't mention the name it's because there isn't enough space on this blog. I learned so much from the professor, the TA and my classmates and will forever be addicted to these programs and to type. I will forever stay away from the widows and orphans of the world, as I am now.