Monday, June 8th, 2015

What did I learn?

My third day of training at Faculty Commons, yet again, went very well. Today, I completed (or became close to completing) my Openlab header design. I had already designed multiple headers and was adding more, which I learned, made life more difficult. In addition to the header, I completed my element design. Initially, I was reproducing the Silver Linings Playbook movie poster because my element is Silver (Ag), but I figured that it will take a lot of time to make the poster work and look presentable, like the way I had it in my mind. I took my ideas a step back and decided that I was going to make my own silverware company and design a business card. My company name is called AG Silverware and it evidently sells silverware. I use simple yet strong techniques to design a powerful looking business card. During this process I learned that instead of making many designs at once, I need to focus more on creating one at a time, and stepping away to critique my work.

What were my challenges?

I have to say, today was a bit more challenging than other days, but definitely more exciting. Again, I was designing 2 to 3 templates at once, which made my design process more difficult. But I can say that there’s no better feeling than configuring design problems and solving them. With the help and feedback of my trainers, I was able to select one design that worked.

How did you help each other? 

I collaborated once again with William, and I was able to give him some advise on how to transfer an illustrator file to an indesign file. He was also able to help with organizing my Openlab blog which I learned today, I have been doing them incorrectly. I also recieved feedback from Mady and Raciel on choosing design templates that work for each project. They are always telling me which design works and doesn’t work.

I always tell my friends and family that when i’m designing and I run into problems or challenges, I’m always at my best stage when I’m trying to solve these issues, and I can happily say that I’m experiencing that here, at Faculty Commons.  

Friday, June 5, 2015

My second day of Training went perfectly well. I entered the graphic Design major because I have a passion for designing, and being able to do that for hours is making me thoroughly happy. In the beginning of the day, I chose an element from the periodic table to create a design process, As of now it is still a working progress. I also was finishing off my design for the header of the Faculty Commons, and with only a few more adjustments and critique, I’ll be able to say that I’m finished with the header design. Today, I was accompanied by my good classmate and peer William Luperena, who is also working on the same design process as I am. I always look at my friend’s work for inspiration, and being a great designer that he is, I like to take a sneak peek at his work to see how that can reflect and motivate my work. Today, I got critique from Mandy and Racial, who both work as designers for Faculty Commons, which was extremely helpful. Again, I’m looking forward to fun and exciting challenges.

Thursday, June 4, 2015

Today was my first day training at Faculty Commons. Once I came in and got comfortable, I was told to make a poster replication. The poster was for the iTec program at City Tech. I think I did a pretty good job replicating the poster and making sure all the images were exactly in place. I will admit, though, that despite my “type-nerd” character, it took me some time to find the typeface that was used for the poster. After reproducing the poster, I emailed my client (The iTec Director) my information and available hours so that we can schedule a meeting soon to discuss important information. I also got started on tomorrow’s assignment and started designing a new header for the Faculty Commons Openlab site, which is still a working progress.

Original Poster

Poster Replica

So far, my first day training at Faculty Commons went fairly well, and I’m looking forward to fun work, and more challenges.