Weekly Blog Assignments: 12 Weeks to a Better You

Twelve Weekly Blog Assignments:
Each of you should start an online blog site/Tumblr/Website that will allow you to use it as a place to archive your own thoughts about design and becoming a designer. The experience will catalog and inform others in your class (and beyond the classroom) and it is in this sharing of information that each of you will hopefully become inspired by one another. There will be weekly assignments, much like a design journal or a sketchbook, that will allow you to work outside the classroom on projects that make you think about design and art. Each assignment is due by class time each Tuesday. If you get behind, you can catch up at any time but the entire 12-week assignments should be completed by the end of the semester for a final grade that will count 10% of your final semester grade.
If you want to see some of the most amazing blogs from past design students then take a look at these:
http://jonmhart.blogspot.com/  
http://debushhhh.blogspot.com/ 

Week One: Best of the Best
Select 5 pieces of your work from the 3000 courses (GrD3000/GrD3150/GrD3200) that you feel was responsible for your acceptance into the graphic design program.
Entry by: Tuesday September 03

Week Two: Good, Bad and the Ugly
Good and Bad Design. Show your favorite and least favorite Designs. It might be print, film, web, or mixed media. Give credit to the work.
Entry by: Tuesday September 10 


Week Three:Trends in Graphic Design
Find a variety of contemporary trends in graphic design that you have an opinion about.
This might be video, print, gaming, illustration, web, apps, multimedia and all faucets of visual communication that could even include stage design, costuming, exhibition design, costuming, photography.
Entry by: Tuesday September 17

Week Four: Art and Design Inspires
Find any type of artistic work that truly inspires you as an artist. There are no limits here.
Be specific. It might be work you aspire to or work you find confusing and yet appealing.
Entry by: Tuesday September 24

Week Five: Block of Type
“Block of Type” is a project that should encourage further investigation of type in a very limited area.This project in the past has had many names such as “Type Detective” and “Font Hunt.” You are expected to document an area (or a city block) or area thereabouts which is rich with unique and unusual typography. Type that has been forgotten or has become part of the environment or is required for the benefit of society. Nothing is off limits in this exercise. This blog assignment will turn into a project in class.
Entry by: Tuesday October 01

Week Six: Personal Workspace
Personal Workspace. A visual(s) of where you work when you leave the classroom. It might be a particular table in a coffee shop or in your room where you’re organized everything around you in order to be creative. It’s wherever you feel most comfortable designing. You should be able to talk about it in class. What time of day or night is your best time for designing and what is your process for creating innovative and fresh designs for yourself?
Entry by: Tuesday October 08

Week Seven:Inspired by Doing
Books, Periodicals, Printed materials that have you have recently read or investigated. Find one moment in those materials which might have inspired you to create a fresh new design for yourself.
Entry by: Tuesday October 15

Week Eight: Checking In
Complete this sentence:
“Each week I feel as though I must check in at/with…….”
This again relates to what are your habits as a designer. It might be someone, someplace or something that keeps you coming back for encouragement or gives your renewed energy to continue creating. Share those places you feel you must visit every week to stay in touch with art, design, business, etc.
Entry by: Tuesday October 22

Week Nine: Archived Images
Archiving Images on Flickr or Instagram or another photo library app or online property.
Start a Flickr or Instagram account (which is free) and start archiving images and work on this site suitable for future use in searching for a job or internship. Build weekly on this site and add additional photography and work each week. At the end of the semester we will examine the work together.
Entry by: Tuesday October 29

Week Ten: Best T-shirt Designs
Best in T-Shirt Design:
Put up some of your favorite T-Shirt designs from your own collection or those you find on the web or in print that you would consider works of art. (your definition of that.)
You might even want to create some designs for yourself with a specific.
Entry by: Tuesday November 05

Week Eleven: Paul Rand
The Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA) is staging a new exhibition entitled " Paul Rand: Defining Design" that opens on October 27, 2013. It is an important exhibition that each of you should go see and study. I would like for each of you to write a response to this exhibition in some form. It can be as a diary/journal entry or it can be created into a print piece or video piece. Again, you're the designer. Experience the exhibition in person and then respond to it purely through the eyes of a designer. Strengths, Likes, Dislikes, Observations. www.Paul-Rand.com.
Entry by: Tuesday November 12

Week Twelve: The Art of Collections
This is what I collect. Demonstrate items that you might collect.
It might be artwork (paintings/drawings) or other items that give you pleasure as a visual artist. Collecting work and living around that work is important to creating a “creative nest” where you can draw inspiration. 
Entry by: Tuesday November 19

Week Thirteen: Video Day in the Life
A Day in the Life
Armed with still camera or video camera or even a tape recorder, I want each of you to document a day in your life that is centered around being creative (every day should be, right?) You can document your personal experiences during that day as it relates to whom you are and what you aspire to be. Length and content is up to you. Presentation to class.
Entry by: Tuesday December 03 

Assignment #1: The Self-Portrait Assignment

Self Portrait Assignment by Jonathan Hart

Timeline Assignment by Jonathan Hart

Above Designs courtesy of Jonathan Hart. 
Below is his description on his blog about his concepts from his blog:"Above are my concepts for a "self portrait." They are both a look at what lead me into studying graphic design. The Recycle Bin focuses on my life from quitting college in 2001 to today. The Guitar String delves more into what influenced me, especially early on, and lead me into design. While designing these, I took a difficult look at my past. I tried to remain upbeat and hopeful, but each are not without regrets. I want them to be a representation of honest mistakes and, ultimately, redemption." 

The Infamous Self-Portrait Assignment:

“Who am I anyway? Am I my resume, which is a picture of a person I don’t know.”
-A Chorus Line

When was the last time you looked long and hard at yourself in the mirror?
When was the last time you wrote in your diary or journal?
When you meet someone new, how do you tell them quickly about yourself?
Sometimes it seems so obvious but the reality is that we are very complex and unique.

If you don't take time to know who you are then how will others know who you are?
Sometimes we like to think that the "work speaks for itself" and perhaps in some instances it does, but a designer must also learn to speak on behalf of the work that we do for clients. We have strategies and concepts that sometimes go unnoticed by the public and the client. With our voices we can speak to the reasons and come to the defense of our work. Learn to speak up with confidence.

This project should help you identify yourself at this moment in time. August 2011.
Let this be a snapshot of who you are and how you want to present yourself to others.

This project will be hung in the display cabinets so that other students, designers and faculty can get a chance to know who you are and what you think is important to yourself as a new designer...and as a person.

Throughout your career as an artist/designer, there will be occasions when you will asked to submit an "image" (usually a photo) of yourself for a variety of professional reasons. This personal image of yourself might be used in tandem with an article you might have written, winner of a competition, a speaking engagement, a blog, a newspaper article, a gallery exhibition or even an interview in a periodical. This project will serve to demonstrate how you want to project yourself as a designer/artist at this point in your life. This project will make you take a good long look at yourself and where you are currently in your life. Perhaps you create an image of yourself that will possibly follow you throughout your academic career here at GSU.

Background Info:
Self-portraits are not just a reflection of what they look like but also of how the artist interprets themselves and the world around them. It is perhaps the most personal story that the artist can tell and makes the self-portrait one of art's most important subjects. These types of self-portraits by artists/designers have quite a history. Since the fifteenth century and the advent of the mirror artists have modeled for themselves in their own works of art. Whether it is an in-depth exploration of the artist’s own psyche or simply as a model, the artist is clearly the cheapest and most available. Whatever the reason, most every artist, in every medium from painters to sculptors have attempted this exploration of self-image that is self-revealing.

Since the Renaissance, artists have used self-portraits to explore a basic question: 
Who am I?

While a mirror or a photograph can tell a person what he or she looks like, that physical image does not reflect the whole self, the whole persona. Self-portraiture insists the artist embark on a journey of self-exploration in order to make decisions about how to represent him/herself authentically. For each self-portrait, the artist must ask: What expression, posture, clothing, background, colors, texture, and style best express the real me? Might those answers be different at any given time or on any given day? Self-portraits may also represent an artist’s quest for immortality, as a way to leave behind an image that will outlive the artist. Sometimes self-portraits are celebrated for their pure vanity (see Warhol images.)

Production:
Be creative. Think outside the norm. Be Bold. Be Brave. Be Insightful. Be True.
How you wish to create this is up to each of you. It might be a really creative formal head shot or a series of images of you in various color palettes (again Warhol images), it might be a painting, a paper collage, a drawing, mixed media, film or video, print (Polaroid transfers/cell phone photos), high contrast b/w decal or spray transfer, image from video, etc. You might wish to present only a portion of your body (cropped images that are stitched together via thread) or a full-length image. Depending on your concept of who you are, it might be a classical pose (Rembrandt) or a contemporary depiction (see Lucas Samaras); it might also be an altered image of another famous self-portrait (cut-paste); and lastly, it might be an image of yourself on black velvet (ala Elvis.)

Experiment. Be Bold. Be Brave.
You can be daring or bold, but most importantly be honest and creative. You have permission to make this self-portrait however you wish (paint-by-number, arts and craft glued beans and macaroni, etc.) It might be a video that runs over and over on a TV set-flickering and edited.

*NOTE: All of these images will be displayed for others to “see” who you are and hopefully create a sense of conversation and spark enlightenment as to your new status as a Graphic Design major at GSU.

Questions to be answered in your design and you can interpret these questions by answering them however you wish and designing them as such in your double-page landscape spread.
Latin Name:
Description:
Creative Voice:
Distinctive Markings:
Habitat:
Contact:


I am posting a previous self portrait piece by one of our MFA Grad students,Mark Peterson who is a terrific illustrator/designer.His illustrative self-portrait not only exhibits his sense of humor and satire about the political scene a few years ago, but it also demonstrates his keen sense of attention to editorial illustration.

The Self-Portrait project Specs:
DUE: TBA

It should be considered a double-page spread size (Horitzontal/Landscape): 12 x 18
Any type of paper stock (weight,color, texture)
The format might be horizontal.
I suggest you put your visual imagery on the left side and the text info on the right.
You should also have 3-5 pieces of previous work that you designed incorporated into the self-portrait piece.
Be original.
The finished piece should be printed and 2D although you could have die cuts or moving paper pieces attached.

You should have the following text on the spread in some format.

Your Name should appear someplace on the self portrait then:

LATIN NAME: an alter ego type of name/tongue n'cheek/ example: Overworkus Supersoncius

DESCRIPTION: Brief description about yourself, your designs and you you became interested in graphic design and what inspires you (minimum 100 words)

PERSONAL VOICE: How you see yourself in the design world. You might quote yourself or interview yourself here about how your own "voice" as a designer might influence others.

DISTINCTIVE MARKINGS: Brief description in your own words about what you think identifies your own work from others thus far. Color, type choices, compositions, or other factors which signals that you own your work.

HABITAT:Where you work as a designer (at home, coffee shop,car, pup tent, etc.) or anywhere you feel you do your best work. Can identify time and place and days of the week as well.

CONTACT: your website or blogsite or your address. Wherever you might be reached.

Welcome Class of 2015

Welcome and Congratulations Michael, Annakate, George, Andrea, Mirely, Andrew, Dakota, Courtnie, Arnel, Andy, Danteng, Tyler, Mariana, Nicholas, Michelle, Michael, Rebecca, Matthew, VyVy

Congrats and Welcome to each of you on being selected into the class of 2015 graduating Graphic Design Majors at Georgia State University. 

You should be proud of your accomplishments thus far and now the real work begins...but it should be fun work. If it's not then you're probably in the wrong major. I encourage each of you to try to live the life of a designer and artist. It should not be something your turn on and off, nor is it something you leave at school at the end of each academic day....it should integrate itself into your entire life.
That's when design and art becomes great instead of good.

Remember that the work you will be doing this first year as a major just might be the work that lands you that desired summer internship and even your very first job ... so make it creative and competitive.Everything you create, everything you say, everything you write, every moment you are in class and every moment in this program is a reflection of you and your passion to be the best. Don't follow the group. Cut your own path. Being unique is embraced in my classes. Speak from your design voice and don't apologize for anything when it comes to how you feel about art or design. The passage of time creating design will be the litmus test about whether or not your ideas now will withstand the test of time.
Change will happen so embrace it.
Change is change and nothing more. Expect it. Encourage it.


Whenever I'm asked "what do you think great design is" my answer is always this:

Great design is fresh design. 
Designing something that looks and feels fresh to you. If you think its something you've seen before then stay away from it..or at least sample it and make it into something that 
captures your own artistic voice and spirit.

Finding your artistic voice should be your goal.
That's what everyone will be wanting once you graduate. 
They won't hire you because you design like someone else. They will hire you because you are unique and speaking from your own creative voice.  
Search for it. Find it. Embrace it and use it wisely.

Experimenting with design and pushing new boundaries and discovering new ways to do things should be your goal as well.
You need to embrace the "old school" of how others designed in the past while incorporating contemporary thinking and processes of designing. You can't possibly know where you're going if you don't have a sense of history of where your discipline has been.

The designers who came before you blazed the way for you to be here. Each decade, each year designers seek out new ways to use technology and pay homage to past ways of creating design work. Agism does not exist in art and design. What's old is always new again. The sooner you figure that out the easier it will be for you to use anything from the past to bring into your current work. Recycle ideas with a fresh take from your own voice.

It is never too soon to start thinking about where you might want to intern in the spring and summer of next year....so go ahead and start your search.  Remember that everyone has a totally different academic experience from other classes and other students, so listen to your own creative voice and try to investigate what characteristics about your own design style and design voice that will make you different and unique.

You will have various instructors throughout your time in the program. Each were hired because of their own talents and views about design. The Instructors are very different from one another but with one common denominator that is respect and passion for what they are doing. Don't expect our views about your work to be the same.  Don't expect how we feel about design to be the same. Uniqueness is a strong attribute in the Instructors attitude towards design and art and your own work. One Instructor might critisize your work while another might praise your work. You are the one who has to gather that feedback and make your own decisions.

So much about being and becoming a great designer is not what you do in the classroom.
Life-lessons along your journey inside and outside the classroom is what is important most.
Finding your own voice and feeling secure in that voice is the key to becoming a great designer (and a great person.) It doesn't happen overnight. It's a process, just like designing. Find yourself and you will find great design. 

I will never compare you to another designer in class. I might compare work you do with others from time to time but I will never compare your own sense of artistic self with another designer. 

I will refer to you as designers and not students because it builds the sound into your own sense of self and thereby you accept and acknowledge your role more quickly.

I will be your greatest advocate and your greatest critic. 
The relationship you build with your professors now will follow you throughout the next few years. This is important. Try to be honest, open and listen as much as you speak.
There is strength is all aspects of listening and speaking.

You earn your respect (for yourself and from others) every day. It never stops.
You are certainly building a "brand" for yourself as you move through each class.

Learn to "lead, follow or get out of the way." 
Be respectful of others ideas. Each of you have the chance to mentor one another as well.
Your entire class needs to embrace and support one another. You should also build
a great and fearless working relationship with one another during your next two years.
Remember that "you are only as strong as your weakest link." 

Great design classes stick together and support one another. 

Good luck this semester.
I'm very happy to have been a part of the graphic design committee who choose you as the next great generation of graphic design majors.

The Design Committee did not make any mistakes t regarding who we chose this year.
I know some of your friends probably did not make it into the major this year. I hope you will encourage them to apply once again. There is no shame in applying again.  In fact, quiet the opposite. It shows great determination and perserverance.

The selection process was taken very seriously and the entire process always proves to be very interesting and we can discuss it in detail if you wish.  We agreed, we argued, we compromised, we bartered, but we came to a solid decision on each of you. 
No mistakes.

It doesn't matter if you were the first person chosen during the selection or the last person chosen. You are all starting at the same place now so make it count. The playing field is even and everyone has the same opportunity for success or failure. It's you own path from here on out so make wise choices. 

I'm here always if you need me.
You can reach out to me during the week or weekends.

My responsibility is to make sure when you leave that you are armed with everything you need to get a great job as a designer. I also want to make sure that you understand the responsibility you also carry as graduates of our design program. 
You are ambassadors to our program, the department and the University.
This starts now.
 

Here are the newest member of the Graphic Design Class of 2015! Congratulations Again!

1. Andrea Book

2. Nicholas Harrison

3. Danteng Li

4. Vyvy Vu

5. Mariana Moreno Montero

6. Rebecca McLean

7. AnnaKate Auten

8. Tyler Merritt

9. Arnel Hasanovic

10. Michael Adams

11. Andy Hu

12. Courtnie Fore

13. Michelle Parkos

14. Mirely Cabral

15. George F. Baker III

16. Dakota Dahl

17. Matthew Simmonds

18. Rebecca Price

19. Michael Pearce

20. Andrew Chen