Category: ENG1101 Project #2

Lenny Cruz is is a design student at New York College of Technology. Lenny has always had a passion for art. He was first introduced to art in High School when he took a graphic design and video production class as a sophmore. Two years later, Lenny chose to major in COMD at City Tech where he saw this as an opportunity to follow his passion for art. Lenny’s interest in design has been growing every year. At City Tech, Lenny has been learning about the power of design. A power that he intends to use to influence and bring awareness to the people in his community. Lenny wants to change the way people see things such as nature, and products in their communities, especially in Brooklyn.

What is your avatar? How does it represent you?

My Avatar is an abstract picture of a tree. I chose a tree as my avatar because trees symbolize growth and transformation. I chose this picture because I like how the leaves have a higher contrast than the rest of the picture and create an illumination that makes it look like the tree is on. When I think of trees, I think of regrowth. If you cut a tree in half it will regrow back to how it was before. I want my avatar to remind me every time that I look at it that it does not matter if I have to start again, I can always get back to how I was or even better.  If I were to use this logo to represent me, It would represent me as an artist that loves to alter images using Photoshop by changing the arrangement of opposite elements, light and dark colors, rough vs. smooth textures.

What are your expectations of being a COMD major in your first year?

In my first year of college being part of a COMD major, I expect to meet as many people as I can that share the same interests as me. I want to have connections and I want to build friendships that will last for longer than college personal connections are always important. As a college freshman being part of a COMD major I also expect to find a class that will help me choose a career in Communication Design such as Graphic Design, Illustrator, advertising design, photography, etc… I also want to learn how to manage my time. I want to be able to study, do homework and spend time with family and friends which is something I need to master. 

Can you see yourself doing anything else?

To be honest, I don’t think I see myself doing anything else other than design. As much as I love playing basketball I am not tall enough to play as a professional. I see myself as a graphic designer in the future but what I do as a designer might change. Right now my plan is to learn as much as I can about principles of designing so that I choose the right career as I designer. I never had any plans on becoming anything else than a graphic designer but after being part of the COMD program I have learned that there are many good careers in the design field. As of now, I am interested in graphic design and advertising and I want to continue developing my design skills.

  What is your dream job in the field of design?

Because of my passion for designing, my dream job in the design field would be graphic designing My goal is to start working for a big company, I prefer to work for a gaming company like Rockstar Games, Activision, Epic Games, EA or Ubisoft. Those are companies that I admire because they have made games that I have played throughout my childhood and teenage year. I love working with programs such as Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. To me, a dream job is a job that lets me use my creativity to do something that I love, which is designing. I want to collaborate with other people that have the same passion for design as me. I started working with Photoshop in high school when I was a sophomore. I took 2 years of graphic designing and video production class which made me realize how powerful art is. In those 2 years, I learned that art is one of the best ways to express ourselves and to help others. That is why my dream job is to become a graphic designer; I want to have the power to heal, influence, bring awareness to my community and to the world.

Who is your role model in the design field?

I have always idolized designers like Virgil Abloh, an artist, architect, engineer, creative director, and designer who is currently the Founder and CEO of Off-White and the Artistic Director of men’s wear at Louis Vuitton. Virgil Abloh is the world’s most influential designer and has had a lot of impact on the way people dress today. Like Virgil Abloh, I want to use the power of design to influence and bring awareness to people around the world, starting with my city, Brooklyn. I have always loved nature and It saddens me when I think about the problems that humans are causing to animals and trees. I would like to use my designing skills to bring awareness about global warming and other issues. Using Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator is a good way to edit pictures and create images that grab people’s attention.

Kyle Djemani is a Surinamese-Indonesian American, who currently studies Communication Design at the New York City College of Technology. Kyle decided on this major because he felt that his main purpose was to design.  He wants to pursue the path of becoming an animator, since discovering this desire from an early age when he first saw the movie Lilo and Stitch. The story and emotion of the film inspired him to go down this creative path he’s on. Sometime later, during Kyle’s high school years, he established his passion for designing when he was given a studio art class. Both his art teacher and family encouraged him to pursue his passion which brought him to City Tech. Kyle has his mind set on becoming an animator, but he keeps an open mind towards the different design fields that are offered so that he could develop his design skills further. 

“Can you see yourself doing anything else?”
To be honest, I can’t see myself doing anything else besides creating and designing. I can imagine myself trying different ways of creating, such as painting or sculpting. I do however see myself also working with kids, either teaching them or looking after them. Other than that, creating is what I can picture myself doing for most of my life. Being able to create just feels right for me, like I’m supposed to use my creativity any way I can.

“What is your dream job in the field of design?”
My dream job would have to be, being an animator either for a big animation studio or an animation studio of my very own. From an early age, I’ve been interested in becoming an animator and how animators could make their ideas come to life. I grew up watching all kinds of animations and was always invested in how the characters were able to come to life. The type of animations that I really enjoy would have to be from the movies Moana and Lilo & Stitch. I enjoyed these films because of the way the animation flowed and how both of them told their respective stories really well. Even though Moana was 3D animation and Lilo & Stitch was 2D animation, I would like to be able to use both types of animation since they allow for a variety of ways to tell a story. I strive to make my own characters and worlds with their own unique story, so that I may share it with others. I also hope to inspire people who were like me growing up so that they can follow their creative path.

Posters of my two favorite movies and animation styles.

“What are you passionate about?” 
I’ve asked myself this question a lot, while I was still deciding on my major for college. Although I got As in all my subjects in high school, what interested me most were my art classes. When I was given an art class for my sophomore year, I was amazed that it introduced me to a whole new way of expressing myself. I believed that being given the chance to create was when I really found my passion. After taking that one art class, the following years I spent trying to figure out how I could continue down this creative path. I had a lot of support from both my family and my high school Art Teacher. He was a very laid back guy that enjoyed what he did, which translated into how he taught the class. He saw that I had a talent for drawing and encouraged me to continue growing upon that talent as well as learn other ways to create. That’s when I came across City Tech’s COMD major and decided this is where I’ll spend the next four years following my passion.

“What are your favorite COMD classes?”
One of my favorite COMD classes as of right now would have to be my Raster & Vector class. The Professor is really kind and encouraging to students on any skill level. It was my first time using programs like Illustrator and Photoshop, but she made it easier to understand how to use the tools that came with the programs. After the first couple weeks of the class, when she taught us the basics of navigating the program she let us go on our own a bit to make something from what we learned. The way she taught makes me feel like going on Illustrator whenever I get that wave of inspiration that comes from time to time. Anytime I feel inspired, I can see the steps I need to take while in the program to create that thought in my mind.

“How does your avatar represent you?”

The Avatar I chose was Patrick Star, however, this Patrick differed from the usual character that many people recognize. This Patrick’s overall design appears softer and squishier, similar to a plush toy you find at a gift shop or carnival game. The image gives off this soft and caring vibe with its design and message on the trophy. I felt that this should be my Avatar because I want to spread good vibes to people by just being friendly and offering a compliment. I chose this image mainly to try and make someone’s day whenever they come across my avatar. Being able to brighten just one person’s day with this Avatar would be enough for me.

Destiny Staton is a creative individual whose love for art runs through her veins and have been past on from two generations before. She now attends City Tech and is in pursuit of her associates degree in communication design.

Question: what is your avatar and how does it represent you?

My avatar is a baby picture of me.  This baby picture is after one of my birthday. I don’t remember which one it was either after my first or after my second.  In this picture I am wearing an old white dress  and an all white hat.  The hat I am wearing is so big that it is covering all of my hair. There is a red background behind me with white polka dots. This picture appears that I’m very happy smiling with only like six teeth in my mouth, four on top and two on the bottom. The way my avatar represents me is that this photo was taken after one of my birthdays and my mom decided to redo my room. When she was painting my wall she said I tried to help her and that’s when she knew I was going to be an artist just like her, and so far it’s true I love following in her footsteps.

Question: who is your role model in design

Answer: My role model in design is no other than Mr. Andy Warhol himself. I fell in love with his work when I was in 6th grade as a way to express myself without using my words. I always loved the way he made pop art and used it to express himself though things you would never imagine like a banana. I also love his sneaker collaboration with converse, which also happens to be my favorite sneaker brand because they allows you to create your own ideas on your sneakers. I believe that Andy will continue to inspire people just like me by allowing us to use unique items to express ourselves.

Question: what catches your eye when looking at other people’s work?

Answer: Something that catches my eye when I am looking at other people’s designs and artwork is the certain colors and shapes they use. In my opinion when it comes to shapes a good artist knows how to make it work for them while a great artist makes you look and the shapes in a different way that you never thought of looking at it before. It’s basically the same thing when it comes to colors. A good artist knows how to use colors that match while a great artist knows how to blend them and make them flow together in one masterpiece

Question: do you prefer working by yourself or in a group environment?

Answer: Honestly it depends on what I’m doing. I do not mind working with people but I usually prefer to work by myself because most times it allows me to do it faster. Unless it’s a really huge project and I know that I will need help with it or the project is required to have us work in groups. But sadly there is a down side to working in groups. For example, you always get one or two people who do not want to do the work but what to get the grade and credit for it but that’s not fair to the other people in the group who worked twice as hard because those people decided they wanted to do nothing.

Question: do you think your background affects your design?

My background does affect my designs. When my grandfather was still alive he was more a sports fan and an artist, so he decided to take pictures of his favorite sports teams when he went to games, and them draw their logos when he got home. While my mother loves to draw as her number one hobby she desired more to take pictures of the most fun and the most important moments of my life, yet design them in a creative way. So now I take inspiration from both of them my drawing my favorite things along with taking pictures of my friends and family.

Question: what are some things you like to design?

Answer: This is a tough question to answer. I actually like to design three things. The first thing I like to draw is characters. For example, a few years ago me and my sister took my nephew to see Marvel live at the Barclays Center so I decided to design us t shirts representing all our favorite characters. My sister had an Iron Man shirt, my nephew had a Thor shirt and I had a Captain America shirt which were all hand made by me. The second thing I like to design is my sneakers. For the past four years I have been drawing my dream sneakers and uploading them to converse.com to make my own sneaker designs. So far I have made five pairs for myself which was really fun. And the final thing is tattoos. So far I have designed two tattoos for my sister and several for other family members. If I do not fulfill my dream as a photographer I would love to become a tattoo artist.

Cui Zhang is an Asian-American who is currently studying at New York College of Technology. She’s majored in Communication Design in becoming a designer. She grew up with a family of 4, both her parents and her older brother who’s now 20. When she was younger she dreamed of becoming many things. She dreamed of becoming a nail technician, teacher, artist, fashion designer and etc. Growing up she does not know what to do in life or what she’s really good at. However, that all changed when she entered Franklin Delano Roosevelt High School. When taking graphic design and photography 1, she realized she’s good at taking pictures as well as designing digitally. Instead of choosing the path of becoming a photographer she chose to design.

Although Cui’s family wanted her to take a different path, such as being a nurse, lawyer, doctor, teacher, radiology technician…etc. Cui is much more confident that design is her right path.”As a kid growing up” she said, “I am often compared to my brother who is much better than me in many ways. His grades are all 90’s above, he received a lot of invitations to attend ceremonies because he’s in honors, he even received many scholarships from high school and college”. As of this day, Cui is still being compared to her brother who’s pursuing his dream of becoming a doctor at Hunter College. Nevertheless, none of these will prevent her from doing what she wants to become a good designer.

“What is your avatar? How does it represent you?”

My avatar is based on one of the comics that I’m currently reading. The comic is called “Popular Deskmate is a Cat”. I chose this avatar for a specific reason. I really love the background color, it’s light purple with some bubbly effects which makes the background dreamy. Also, what really caught my attention was the look on her face. I really like pictures that are sad-looking due to personal reasons. Originally my profile picture the girl she does not have tears coming out of her eyes. I told my friend to draw her with tears coming out of her eyes since she’s already sad. So ever since my friend drew the tears coming out of her face it became my profile picture for almost everything.

“Where do you see yourself in 5? 10? 15? years?”

In 5 years, I imagine myself already graduated from college with a Bachelor’s Degree. When the time comes, I will hopefully have a suitable job, earning money for both me and my parents. This way my dad can finally retire from his job. He worked really hard for my family of 4. In 10 years, I imagine myself purchasing my very first house but definitely not my dream house because it’s going to take more than 10 years to pursue my dream house. Also in 10 years, I’ll probably be working for another company. In 15 years I will probably have a family by then with one or two children. I can imagine myself having a higher rank than I was 15 years ago. No one can ever predict what’s going to happen in the future.

“What other skills do you want to learn in this program?”

I would want to learn how to draw better. I learned from a friend of mine who once said: “No artist will ever say their art is perfect”. I strongly agree with her because as an artist or any job that revolves around doing projects you’re creating new things each time you do a certain project. You will never consider yourself the “best” designer ever because there are better designers out there in the world who’s more experienced than you are. Another skill I want to learn in COMD is how to use any other Adobe software. I got the hang of using photoshop in high school and another Adobe software called Indesign because of my Type & Media class. I hope In the future, I’ll be able to learn how to use all the Adobe software.

“Can you see yourself doing anything else?”

I cannot imagine myself doing something else other than design. My mom told me to be either a doctor, nurse, lawyer, engineer, accountant…etc. However, I am definitely not going to follow what my mom wanted me to become since designing has been something I want to continue on doing and will never stop. One of my friends said that I should be a kindergarten teacher since I love being around with children. However, children can be quite annoying sometimes. Another friend told me to be a photographer. Since I’m really good at taking pictures. Becoming a photographer is something I have thought of becoming one for many years. However, anyone can become a photographer and it’s true. It’s not necessary to go to college just to become a photographer. It takes time to become a good photographer as long as you keep doing it. Photography, on the other hand, is a hobby of mine. It’s not really something I would want to become rather than a designer.

“What are your past graphic design experiences?”

In high school (sophomore year) I was in Graphic Design. We had a project about designing your own logo and your own business card. In the business card, we have to put our real information down to receive full credit. Overall I love how my logo/business card turned out. The logo I did has a feather with my name below it. In my junior year in photography class, I had a project based on advertising. We had to choose a product if what we are advertising and make it an advertisement. In my senior year of high school in economics class, we had to make an advertisement commercial. Whoever wins that advertisement commercial does have to take the final exam.  My friend and I teamed up. We decided to draw the commercial out instead. However, my friend did the most work since she’s a better drawer than I am. All I did was coloring. Her sister turned our work into an animation. In the end, we ended up winning the advertisement commercial which was shocking. But I still took the final exam anyway since I wanted to improve my grade.

The website I made in my High School photography class:
https://cuizhang.wixsite.com/mysite

We’ve made it through Project #2!

Before you submit your work, please review the Project #2 assignment. To submit your work, your Project #2 following these guidelines:

• create a new post (rather than revising an older one)
• Give your project a title. It can start with “Project #2” but then should have some title that’s specific to your work.
• Include the introduction with your thesis statement as well as the 5 questions and answers. One of your questions must be some version of “What is your avatar? How does it represent you”–but it doesn’t need to be the first question. It might be easier to include it later, after you’ve said more about yourself.
• make sure that the introduction and each answer average 150-200 words, making the project overall 750-1200 words.
• you don’t need any special heading for your project because it’s already in the title and the metadata for the post.
• Many of you ended up centering your drafts, rather than left-aligning. Please left-align.
• Use the category ENG1101 Project #2 and the tag Deliver in addition to any other tags you want to add.
• Be sure to post your work by the start of class, 11:30am, on Th 10/10.
• We will write cover letters in class.