So before I get on with the specifics of what happened in class I'm compelled to answer the question of:
"Why should I learn graphic design?"
Two years into my career as a developer, I've begun to notice that I've become more and more interested in the user experience and all things that the user directly interacts with. It has become more intriguing than gaining knowledge about databases, servers, networks, etc. I mean those things are fun but the front-end stuff is way more fun.
Graphic Design is a way to learn the fundamentals of Web Design. Throughout this quarter, I will not even be using a computer to do designs. The instructor really embraces the notion that using a pen and paper to design really slows you down.
So without further ado, let's get into it.
I have a love and hate relationship with classes that start with the "What is..."
A part of me thinks it's really cheesy and often grandiose to the point of being useless.
However it can also be really helpful to illustrate what it isn't.
Design serves a clear purpose to whatever client you are designing for. Most importantly, design is about communication.
Design is also a process. The longer you spend on a design, the better it gets.
It's not like all of a sudden one day you think about the most incredible design in the world. It's a process and there are fundamentals to abide by.
After establishing those overarching ideas, it was syllabus time!
The instructor made it clear that we are focusing on 2-D design.
Design is such a broad subject that it's important to define the limits to which we are going to be focusing our time on.
The part that really excites me the most about the class is how hands on it's going to be. We worked hands on for the majority of the class.
Activity #1: Give meaning to a red dot by giving it context
This red dot here really doesn't have much meaning. Our first task was to give meaning to the dot in ways that we learned in class.
Here are a couple of my rough drafts.
See if you can figure out what the dots were intended to be in each picture!
Afterwards every put their "final draft" up for everyone to see.
Activity #2: Use 4 square blocks to symbolize a word
We were given a frame, 4 black squares, and words to try and convey a particular word.
Here are my practices and rough drafts.
Note: A lot of them don't make sense because as I was going through this activity I was quickly drawing the first thing that came to mind to warm up my brain.
Then afterwards, I moved onto my "final drafts".
I present to you... "shy"
Up next I present... "flight".
The classmate next to me and my new friend did a pretty awesome job herself.
I'm sure she wouldn't be too upset that I'm posting her stuff up :P
This one is... "impact".
And last but not least... "tumble".
Aside from the things we did in class, we also have homework assignments.
The two main things are to observe designs all around me as well as keep on designing!
There is no substitute for hands of designing so we are encouraged to design as much as we can.
As you can tell, I'm really excited for the weeks ahead as I've already learned a lot of tangible stuff. Woot woot!
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