Web Design

       In our everyday lives we see color and illustrations everywhere. They are a form of art and creativity that is used by designers to get our attention. Whether we realize it or not, design has a huge impact on us. We are constantly surfing the net and visiting many websites. these sites were developed by designers and they made the websites we use such as Facebook, YouTube, Yahoo, etc. The fame of these websites have a lot to do with the good design used in them. This interested me and it is why I chose to major in Graphic designing. I am currently a freshman at City Tech and I want to pursue a career as a web developer. This career will allow me to use my artistic and creativity skills along with learning to use different software. This career is best for me because I like to up-date myself with new technology, I’m a team player and because designers are on demand and get paid well. In this essay, I will talk about what Graphic Design is, why it is the best career for me as well as how City Tech is preparing me to ensure my success as a designer.

The 2014-2-15 college catalog tells us that Graphic designing careers are” Advertising agencies, graphic design firms, corporate communications departments, publishing companies, television studios and other design-related operations offer many challenging and rewarding careers as advertising art directors, graphic designers, computer graphics and website designers, illustrators, comic book artists and packaging designers” (Pg.213). This program will teach me what I will have to be able to do in order to obtain a career as a web designer,” They will be able be able to solve creative problems while applying design and studio skills in a professional environment” (Pg.213). The catalog also includes some recommendations such as, ” A core of advanced design courses will prepare students to meet the challenges of the profession: senior project, portfolio, the design team and an internship”. (Pg. 215). According to Career Directions: Web Designer, ” They are web designers, and they merge creativity and marketing, merchandising, technology. and business” (Pg. 24, techdirection). This explains what a wed designer’s job is. A web designer creates their clients websites and to do this ” This involves developing a graphic design that effectively communicates the ideas being promoted by the site. A web designer may take part in the initial planning of a website, meeting with the client to discuss ideas for the layout and organization of the site, the colors and images to use, and other matters concerning overall graphic design” ( Pg. 24. techdirections). This example explains that being able to tell what layout and colors will work well for the website is something that a designer should be great at  In order to get a job a job,” The ticket to entering the field is to build a website. Countless numbers of web designers have gotten noticed by building websites for nonprofits or community groups, or by creating a personal website” (Pg.25, techdirections).

Transparency Project for Graphic Principles Class.

Now that I’ve given you some background information about my job and career, I’d like to explain why this is right for me. First of all, I will be able to earn good money. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, ” The median annual wage for web developers was $62,500 in May 2012″. Not only is the salary great but, ” employment of web developers is projected to grow 20% from 2012 to 2022. Faster than the average for all occupations demand will be driven by the growing popularity of mobile devices and e-commerce”. This is good because with a pay of $62,500, it is enough to live comfortably. I can be pleased with my salary and have enough to support family. I will also be able to go  on vacations and have a house and a car. These things matter a lot to me. With an increase in a demand for web designers, I will not have to worry about my chances of getting a job. I have to do well in school and show employers that I am the one that should get the job.

As a web developer, it is essential that I know how to use mainly a computer but its also very crucial to know that technological advancement occurs about six moths to a year. I want to be on the leading edge of technological change, because I want to use that knowledge to further my advancement. To exemplify how technological advancements will effect me as a designer, I chose the article “Web Accessibility Guidelines: A lesson from the evolving Web” by Simon Harper & Alex Q. Chen. As stated in the article, ” While the heterogeneity of the web is one of its major strengths in that it is adaptable and flexible, it also one of its major failings in that there is no control of the predicted outcome”. This proves that as the web advances, it is easy to adapt to but with this we cant really be sure of how our work may turn out or how well it will do unless we test it out and bare some losses. Another example is “In these ways, we see that by understanding the way that the web has evolved we can predict the way that the web will evolve”. This shows that we can learn a lot from the evolution of the web. We can learn particularly what it is that’s being changed to interest people and how we can use that when we are designing. By learning the reasons and techniques, we can use them to our advantage to create modern, pleasing and work that trends in society. Knowing what society will dislike or think is cool is very important since it is what determines if our ideas are good enough or not. The whole idea is the use technology to its best and the faster we catch on why it evolves in the way it does, we can predict what we would have to do to please clients so that their websites run. I am always reading what every update is about and trying to learn more about new features so I know that I will always be on top of technological evolutions.

Learned to use Photoshop CS6.

Combining Illustrator and Photoshop to make a collage.

To be a good designer, I need to be a good team player. I know that I will be working with many others at my work place who will have different ideas and will work differently. To support this statement I chose the article, “Sharing designer and user perspectives of website evaluation: a cross – campus collaborative learning experience” by Penny Collings and Jon Pearce. As the author wrote, “Some usability evaluation processes involve heuristic evaluation in which several usability experts evaluate the interface and judge its compliance with usability heuristics; some involve users, who provide feedback by undertaking typical tasks which the system has been designed to support”. This says that different people will have different views than you. It is mostly about how you learn to use others and your views into the work and learn to work together. The article also said, “It was a good idea that we were encouraged to test the site individually and then prepare a combined report at the group level… this allows a greater understanding of the concepts, procedures and usefulness of usability testing.” This proves that even though one may be creative enough to create great work, working in a group will always be better since there are more ideas and thoughts put into the work (Pg. 276, Sharing perspectives of web site evaluation). Another supporting detail from the article is ” Students gained insights into the usability evaluation process, the value of independent usability tests of their web site designs and the process of also providing such feedback to others. They also extended their understanding of how to use computer-mediated communication to engage in collaborative work and learning” ( Pg. 277, Sharing perspectives of web site evaluation). This goes to prove that researchers have tested and found how much more effective a work is when there is feedback and collaboration from others involved.

City Tech is one of the few CUNY’s that have Graphic Designing. So far I have gotten good advisement from Advisors and Professors as to what I should be doing to make sure I am doing well and what is right for me. I reached out to one of my Professor’s who I believe is a very good designer and is very intelligent. I emailed her with three questions about what I can do to prepare myself physically and personality wise.

  1) What qualities do you consider necessary for a good designer? Qualities I consider      necessary for a good designer.1. someone who is a good listener.2. someone who is  interested in understanding the needs of the client and is willing to clarify these with the    client.3. someone who can work by themselves or in a team as needed.4. someone who is   willing to do a good deal of research appropriate to the problem/brand/project being solved.5. someone who knows business practices for the nature of the task you are hired for: i.e. once a business plan is written, can state clearly how many rounds of corrections are to take place and what the cost of additional ones are 6. someone who does not whine, and always has a good professional attitude.7. someone who can present their ideas in a professional manner 8. someone who is always prepared.9. someone who knows how hard creativity must be worked at and likes the process.10. someone who is proud of their work but not vain about it.11. someone who works within deadlines. (Par 1, Rosenblatt)

2) Can you tell me about a time you were under pressure and how you dealt with it? Or any advice on how someone else should deal with pressure? I was designer and art director for an educational publication on Math that was part of a series for 2nd graders. The head of the firm had hired the child who would model in the shoot, (unfortunately she had now worked with the math tools yet. She was too young.) I made the props for the cover shoot, (there were 2 boxes I build with stenciled question marks on them). the day of the shoot, had not slept for 48 hours and still had to work with the kid, the photographer and a rather immature young woman who was supposed to assist me, but instead kept messing up the layout I had brought to guide the sequence of the shoot. I handled it by indicating when I was ready, and worked well with the kid, who liked to do things herself so I had her write big numbers on a white board which we shot in several of the pages. I got through it by staying focused on what had to get done, remembering who I had to work with, and not getting angry at the assistant. It was a great effort, but worth it. There are many more stories, but they all had to do with remaining focused on what had to get done in as professional a manner as possible.(Par 2, Rosenblatt)

3) What are some things I can do to better prepare myself for a job as a designer? The things you can do to better prepare yourself as a designer. I think first: respect what you have to learn in school. Do it with an open heart. Learn the principles you use to command visual strength. Find multiple ways of getting to solutions. Learn to do visual research – a lot of it. Learn typography like your life depended upon it. (It does!) Become accustomed to doing things more than once if asked to. Be mindful of preparation work on any project. Learn the value of constructive and even challenging criticism. Do not flinch from ideas stronger than your own or different from your own. Be  curious about the world and just about everything in it. Learn to look things up if you do not know something (in more reliable and respectable places than Wikipedia) and learn to enjoy these tasks.(Par 3, Rosenblatt)

Designers play a big role in our everyday lives. Web design is a job where you can let all your creativity run. You get to use many different tools, new software and you get to work on something new everyday rather than working on something for weeks like in other jobs. I believe becoming a web designer is the right choice and that its best for me. Once I get a job as a designer, it will be a very big thing and it will make me very happy. I hope to gain as much as I can from City Tech and not only to work for the Degree but also to learn valuable lessons that will help me become successful as a designer. Lastly, I would advice that, do what makes you happy. No matter how uncool of a job it is, if its what you love, all that matters is that you’re happy at the end. You can learn more about web design through YouTube videos, websites, and u can even start by creating your own website! Try out different layouts, learn to use Photoshop or illustrator and I guarantee that you will enjoy it.

 Work Cited

New York City College Of Technology. College Catalog 2014-2015. 14 Nov, 2014. Pdf.

Techdirections. “Career Directions: Web Designer”. January 2013: 24 – 25. Academic Search Complete. Web. 14 Nov, 2014.

United States. Dept. of Labor. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Dept. of Labor. Jan. 2014. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.

Harper, Simon and Chen, Alex. “Web Accessibility Guidelines: A lesson from the evolving Web”. Vol. 15 Issue 1 (2012): p61-88. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Nov, 2014.

Collings, Penny and Pearce, Jon. “Sharing designer and user perspectives of website evaluation: a cross – campus collaborative learning experience”. Vol. 33 Issue 3 (2002): p267. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Nov, 2014.

Rosenblatt, Phyllis. Email to the author. 30 Nov, 2014. Email.

Rahman, Farzana. “Transparency Project for Graphic Principles Class..” Flickr. 5 Dec. 2014. Web. 6 Dec. 2014.

Rahman, Farzana. “Learned to use Photoshop CS6.” Flickr. 5 Dec. 2014. Web. 6 Dec. 2014.

Rahman, Farzana. “Combining Illustrator and Photoshop to make a collage.” Flickr. 5 Dec. 2014. Web. 6 Dec. 2014.

 

Introduction

For the past few weeks, I had the opportunity to reflect on my thoughts and plan on how to direct my thoughts towards my future career. This project allowed me to take a step back and actually see how I think and what my thoughts are focused on. At the end, I realized that my thoughts were very random and not all of my thoughts are relevant to my career. However, my thoughts are focused on big ideas and topics that are important to me which I believe will help me develop my personality as well as enable my future success.

Thinking in Writing

Friday Log :

6:30 ish – should I get up now? it’s too early but I cant sleep.

7:00 – I love cheerios. I should watch a movie or should i just finish all my homework so i don’t leave it for Sunday? ehh..I’ll just watch a movie.

7:30 – Movie!!

8:00 – I have to grade my students paper for the tutoring center! stop the movie!

8:30 – Grading. I think grading keeps my mind working. it’s good for me.

9:00 – it’s so boring grading! but I have to do it!

9:30- finally finished grading. what can I do next?

10:00 – I should finish reading my book. but lets see what’s going on in Facebook..

10:30 – I miss high school. teachers there let you off easy which isn’t good. students struggle in college because its so different from high school teaching.

11:00 – thinking of drawing a new portrait of one of my idols iisuperwomanii

11:30- I honestly really need to gain more confidence and try to find myself. need to know more about who I am and what I really want in life.

12:00 – I don’t know if graphic designing is for me because it’s so competitive. there’s so many creative people out there.

12:30- thinking of changing my major to become a registered nurse. the feeling of knowing you’re saving people’s lives would be great. I would want to know that people in need of help look up to me.

1:00 – I need to find a way to eat healthy. I’m way too small for a 18 year old.

1:30 – My book for English class hasn’t arrived yet. I need it for Monday! I hope I can share with someone for now.

2:00 – I wish I could help all the people in need out there. you don’t really know what this person may have gone through.

2:30 – Got to go tutor the little kids. I like teaching.

3:00 – 6:30 – creating tests for my students is hard work! the upcoming tests are getting harder and harder each year!

7:00 – I need to have a full meal but I feel like having fries and soda..

7:30 – I wonder how people who make funny vines get their ideas. they really go far to show something funny. but it makes people laugh so I’d call it a talent.

8:00 – I’m not sure how to finish my art project. lost the sheet for my measurements!

8:30 – time to catch up on my shows!

9:00 – I sleep too early. I don’t think I’ll be able to stay up when I need to study for finals! this is bad.

9:30 – I wish I could dance.

10:00 – I really need to do good in all my classes. I want to make my parents proud. they’ve worked really hard to raise me. Enough of thinking about life. I should sleep.

Day of Thoughts: Saturday, September 27

9:15 – I was supposed to wake up early today! Damnit! I have to go to the post office now to renew my passport. ugh why do I always leave everything for the last moment!!! I have today and tomorrow for hw. watch me leave it for tomorrow….

10:00 – its interesting to see so many kinds of people on the train. I wonder what their occupations are. there are a lot of unique people out their. unique personalities interest me. uhh why is this creep staring at me?! ok look away.

10:30 – this worker at the post office is really rude :/

11:00 – cant even say anything right now. I did not know they did not take credit cards at the post office and I had no debit card or cash. I have to come back later on this week. my morning has been wasted!

11:30 – thank god I’m noting down my thoughts for today. had a really bad weekend, didn’t think I’d do it. but I have to retype this on openlab!

12:00 – I should do my hw right now no time tomorrow. but my best friend wants to hang out. I’ll do hw later. I’m going to quickly run to her house to watch a movie! yay!

12:30 – loving the movie so far and the food

1:00 – the Bollywood movie we’re watching is so sweet. only if things like that occurred in

1:30 – the movie was great. now time for a second one! should I go home and get started on my hws? its okay I got all day tomorrow.

5:30 – got caught up in the movie! forgot to note down my thoughts :/

6:00 – why am I laying down? get up! get up! I walk to the refrigerator but close it and come back. these vines are so addicting!

6:30 – thinking of opening a new page on fb where I will post some of the little artworks I’ve done. I need a really catchy name though..im not so good at that.. lets see what my friends say.

7:30 – I honestly feel if a guy loves a girl that means he’ll respect her way of life. if she’s a good girl he shouldn’t try to change her to what he wants her to be like. relationships are way too complicated.

8:00 – so I didn’t do any of my hw yet. this break went by really fast.

8:30 – some people need someone to help them take a step back and tell them to breathe and live for once!

9: 00 – I think Facebook is where all the nocturnal humans live lol

9:30 – dinner! no matter how much I eat I never gain. which is an advantage but I’m too tiny!

10:00 – doing this project for English really reminds me of how much I actually think. wow I think about a lot of stuff. What if we were to write what we thought of every minute? wow that’d be crazy

10:30 – so many people texting me.. so many notifications!

11:00 – I play too many games on my phone and this phone’s battery dies too fast

11:30 – I remember from psychology class in high school. our brains combine different kinds of memories in our brain to create a dream. no wonder I have such weird dreams!

12:00 – sleep

Thinking visually

Working on my Raster & Vector Graphics class homework.

The finished piece of my first art project.

My drawing of an eye.

Me watching a YouTube video of a magician helping a homeless veteran.

Thinking Rhetorically and Reflectively

At the age of eight, my family and I migrated to the US in hopes of a better life. I come from a very small, not so wealthy and densely populated country known as Bangladesh. Growing up in an underdeveloped country and then moving to a developed country was life changing. It was like a whole new world. This affected the way I viewed life and the way I carried myself before and now. Many people in Bangladesh struggle but here it’s all about freedom. This advantage always made me want to do something more and something big using my artistic talent. I wanted to be successful and end poverty and make my country a better place. I’ve recently started college at city tech and my first project for English was to reflect on our thoughts for a few days. After examining my thoughts, I argue that my current thoughts are random but they allow me to grow and think freely.

One of the many thoughts that I’ve reflected on was related to what I would want from the classes that I am taking. On my post I wrote,” I don’t know if graphic designing is for me because it’s so competitive. There’s so many creative people out there.”(Rahman,”Working on my Raster & Vector Graphics class homework”). One of the classes was Raster and Vector Graphics where we learn to use Illustrator and Photoshop. It is a very long class and there’s a lot that you have to take in during that one class. While thinking about this class, I began to question weather I really wanted to do graphic designing. I love drawing and everything about it fascinates me but I keep thinking of how much I enjoy it. I realized that if I wanted a career in graphic arts, I’d have to be very serious and I would be only doing things as someone else wanted them to be. I wouldn’t be able to create something out of the random and the joy I get from making something with my bare hands would be lost. I am stuck between pursuing a career in art while being serious or keeping it as one of my special talents and as a hobby so I can enjoy it. Thinking of all of this, a thought came to mind that if I really was sure I wanted to do graphic designing I wouldn’t be questioning myself. I am not a professional yet but I know what I want to do with my talent. My talent describes me and its a part of me and I don’t want to sell that to a job that may or may not make me happy. In the future, I want to be happy and successful.

Another thought I reflected on was “I’m not sure how to finish my art project. Lost the sheet for my measurements!”. (Rahman, “The finished piece of my first art project”).Thinking of how specific my professor was with the project, I think it was hard and it didn’t let everyone show how creative they can be. We were only allowed to use four squares all of the same size to show what the words bold, congested, playful, and etc. means in art. After we were done, the professor was very strict with the grading as well. I believe that when someone puts their best in to their drawing, the drawing is the best they can do and its perfect for them.

Another thought that I had during my graphic principles class was that why does art have to be perfect? I understand the measurements should be exact and the way you do it should express an idea clearly, however, what you make or paint has a different meaning to everyone. People look at it differently than you do and that’s why others should understand how you chose to express yourself with the artwork. When all the students finished the project, everyone had similar work because there were so many restrictions set up. Mostly, everyone had the right idea but the best were chosen from the artworks and others showed no importance. I realized then that, that’s how Graphic designing would be. Any job is stressful but if you are trying to please someone through art, they should have an open mind which may not happen all the time.This may lead to many times where I will feel like giving up and I wont be happy. Learning to express yourself is important but people will always misunderstand you.

While watching a video about a magician helping a homeless man, I thought ” I wish I could help all the people in need out there. You don’t really know what this person might have gone through.” (Rahman, “Me watching a video of a magician helping a homeless veteran”). In the video, the homeless person was a veteran who wants to make people smile. It’s very hard for me to not give them money because I know they may misuse the money for drugs but they need to live. We cant just assume they will use it in a wrong way. We need to do something for them and try to give them a second chance in life. If we don’t do it, who will? We need to stop passing our responsibilities on to the next person. This really got to my head and I thought why poverty exists even now? So many of us can keep people off the streets and maybe try to help others to get back on their feet. However, those kind of people aren’t around anymore. We are so busy in our own lives that we forget many people need a hand and that someday it can even be you. We have many opportunities in America that lets you get up on your feet. There are tons of jobs, even if its something small, that get you started. We need to step up and show others the importance of life. Some people get off track but that’s because we had influential people in our lives to guide us while they didn’t. So we should reach our hands out and try to guide those people to make a change. If I had the power, I would help everyone as much as I could. It’s sad how we let poverty grow and only give importance to people who are higher than us. We get so caught up trying to reach higher that we forget that we also start from the ground just as the others.

Of course homework is not fun and I have complained many times about it but when it has to do with sketching, its not homework. It is a great feeling when you realize you just hand drew an image that was in your head and that you gave life to an idea. I drew an eye and made it in different shades of green and blue to symbolize my love for plants and the earth. This reminded me of why I wanted to go for graphic designing in the first place. Despite the negative sides to it and not being sure if a job in that field will make me happy, I know I’ll be able to draw, develop many ideas and skills that I can cherish for the rest of my life. (Rahman, “My drawing of an eye”).

I am still undecided about my major and I have yet to experience the many things that I am capable of doing. My personality and who I am as a person drives me to success. I am sure I will be very successful in whatever I put my mind to. I believe my strong beliefs, they way I view life, and my background will definitely play a huge role in discovering who I am meant to be in the upcoming future. I may have to change some of my views, take up many challenges and will be disappointed and put down but I know I’ll gain more confidence as I begin to understand more about what I am doing. I am happy about the way I think because it lets me have many options open for me. At last, it’s all about being happy with what you have accomplished by yourself.

Work Cited List

Farzanarahman ( Farzana Rahman). “Re: Project 1: Thinking in Writing.” Open Lab. ENG 1101 D346 English Composition 1, FA 2014, 5 Oct 2014. Web. 6 Oct. 2014.

Rahman,Farzana. “Working on my Raster & Vector Graphics class homework.” Flickr. 5 Oct. 2014.Web. 6 Oct. 2014.

Rahman,Farzana. “The finished piece of my first art project.” Flickr. 5 Oct. 2014.Web. 6 Oct. 2014.

Rahman,Farzana. “My drawing of an eye.” Flickr. 5 Oct. 2014.Web. 6 Oct. 2014.

Rahman,Farzana. “Me watching a YouTube video of a magician helping a homeless veteran.” Flickr. 5 Oct. 2014.Web. 6 Oct. 2014.