My avatar is a amazing picture of me on January 21, 2019 in my English class in my old High School (Brooklyn Prep). I put this picture as my avatar because I like how I look and this is how I want people on OpenLab to see me. When people see my work I want them to also see my looks and relate them to each other. I want to leave a mark and stand out. When I post on the Learning Community or on the Visual Library, I always post my best work. It is a good thing for other students to get to know me and see my skills. Every image that I post is fulled with insight, and creativity. It is important that people see my Beauty and Brains. I took this picture on a app called Snap Chat. In the picture I showed you a stunning black young lady who wears glasses and has straight hair. This picture is edited with a built in filter and flowers falling from the sky. I did this to not only look nice but because of the effects and because of how my eyes moved across the picture.
Category: ENG1101 Project #2
Project #2
Belen Vazquez
Belen Vazquez is a Mexican-American college student that is currently in “New York City College of Technology”. Belen grew up in a very creative household and she had a big imagination for new ideas . She was always seen to be putting something together and creating pieces of art.
Belen is planning to major in Communication Design and be able to accomplish some of her lifetime goals. As Belen has grown she has been able to see art in many different perspectives and has understood the value and process of getting a specific piece of work done .
MY AVATAR
I took the picture of my avatar over the summer . I enjoy exploring and discovering new places. It was in an exhibit called “superreal” it was located near battery park in the city. It’s a picture of a pathway filled with clear plastic poles hanging down from the ceiling with purple/pink lights reflecting on the poles and I found it fascinating and fun . I chose it as my avatar Because it’s full of color and it was very vibrant . And I’d describe myself as a very fun and outgoing person . Also my favorite color is purple and it just amazed me . Although the picture at first is very confusing it’s because I tilted it so it’s sideways and I find it cool because it kind of looked like water in a way and it’s just beautiful and I love sight seeing . It’s very peaceful for me and I personally like meditating and just thinking .
The picture itself is just amazing but what is used to build up the image is a whole lot of line and color . There are parallel line and intersecting ones as well . Having a black background helps the image itself stand out as well . It would’ve been different if it was a white background the whole image and it’s purpose would’ve been lost. This image inspires me in a way to stay positive and happy . Seeing like line strokes run down horizontally reminds me of “keep on going” and stay balanced .Which is a big motivator and can be useful in any situation
Question #1-within COMD which track would you want to pursue ?
I am actually very interested in a couple of branches . Advertising , packaging design and photography. Over the summer I participated in the One Club x Kick off. It was this 3 day program which focused on ComD students and Advertising. It was a competition and the company was Burger King . the topic was Halloween and we had to make a spooky” advertisement . This 3 day workshop gave me a huge idea of how the industry works and I really enjoyed working with new people and being able to create new ideas. I can really image myself working in this branch of design as well as packaging and theres photography within both careers so I’m for anything .All it takes is passion, dedication ,creativity and ones belief in themselves .
Question 2- What is the class that draws your attention ?
The class that is drawing my attention right now is typography . I never really knew that typography was a subject . I never really knew it had so much information and background . But so far these first couple of weeks it has grabbed my attention although its a late class from 6:00pm to 8:30pm . I actually enjoy going to it . Not only professor Vargas teaches very well but the way he explains certain information makes me want to learn more.It’s a lot of vocabulary right now and I know I shouldn’t stress over it but its about time I should start studying .We are currently working on a project with our name and inDesign and I’m having lots of fun . I am learning how to use indesign and i’m looking forward for the rest of the semester .
Question #4-what is your motivation?
My motivation ? for anything and mostly everything its my family . My parents play a big role , they believe in me so I believe in me . I believe I Can accomplish anything whether I’m a nurse, teacher, designer. They always push me to do better . Im in ComD because I believe I have the creativity to make something out of nothing . other than that my motivation has been myself for a better future and to help others .Within Com D I believe I can help people by informing them about social problems or to inform the uninformed . My motivation personally is music and amazing sunset/sky views . I love it when the sky changes into different colors . Also peaceful and quiet locations where I can just think.
Question 4 -Do you see yourself doing anything else?
Surprisingly I do I have a lot of interest in photography , taking pictures and getting the angles right .I don’t own no fancy camera or anything but I do have a phone. I mostly enjoy taking pictures of like sunsets and the sky . more like anything with an amazing view . I hope later on I get a chance to take photography at City Tech . I know photography sounds easy and all but I believe there is also a lot of information that tags along with the major .
What Belen hopes to accomplish after studying in City Tech is being able to take a little of every class and combing it to make her own Art and projects.She firmly has her goals set and has all the family support, she enjoys typography and photography and hopes to do packaging design some day in the future .
.
Project # 2
What is your motivation in design/to be a design student?
The thing about design that makes me me motivated is the freedom and creativity that I gain to do things that I love. I want to be apart of something bigger than I am. I want to make a difference and a change in this world so that I am remembered. I love using my imagination to bring things to life and I want to expand on it in a million ways such like acting, fashion, and web design. I find it so amazing that I can be who I want to be, when, how, I like.
What catches your eye when looking at other people’s work?
When I look at other people work I focus on detailing. It is very important in this major that u have the skill to show balance, composition, use of light, and shading. Good art is about how the artist makes viewer’s eyes move throughout the piece, it’s about the message, or what the artist is trying to communicate, to convey that make your piece important and stand out from the others. I like to see clearness and varying, these are the two most important ones to me.
Can you see yourself doing anything else?
Other than Communications Design, I can honestly see myself doing a lot of other things at this point in my life. Growing up acting was the biggest thing in my life and it was something that I found happiness in. I also love to do hair and cosmetology, I have experience working with clients and giving them the best treatment available. Lastly, I can see myself traveling the world and doing YouTube and taking the social media business seriously as another side hustle.
What is the schoolwork like in your coursework?
In my coursework, my schoolwork varies. I have 2 Computers classes, 2 Drawing Art classes, and 1 English class (that help with the communication side of things). I am a full time student that has a full time job that find time here and there to either drawing cities or other structures for my foundation drawing class, that need to be presented every Wednesday’s at 8 am. But also still scrape up time to sit at a computer and a compose a piece fulled with other images to create a single piece that needs to be added to a billboard or train station ad on Tuesday’s at 8 am. Each week it is different from the last. Every week I learn a new thing in Type and Media, and also every class in Graphic Design I find a better way to create art that catches the audience’s eyes.
In this major Creativity and Inspiration are the only tools we need to get our homework done every week. There is no wrong or right answer to art, it is just what u make it.
Project 2 Completed Draft
Samson Charles is a creative minded person wanting to expand his knowledge on design by studying design at New York City Technology. He likes putting everything into artistic perspectives, just wants to view the objects in the world as art. We will be talking about his endeavors, aspiration, mindset, and dreams moving on in the future, and how he can use design as a way to communicate to others.
My avatar is actually a piece i created on adobe photoshop. One day I was just strolling through my social media feed and saw three words that really stood out to me and made me think, “Real eyes, Realize, Real lies”. Once i saw those words, an immediate thought was, how can i make those three words look visually appealing. First off I wanted to make the words go through the paper as if it blends in with the background image/color. I believe I have a keen eye to detail, and it shows that in this picture. My avatar describes me because it shows that i’m a very creative minded person, and artistic.
Q: How do you intend to grow as a designer with this program ?
A: I intend to grow by taking as many classes i can to better grasp my knowledge of design. There are so many professors in this program that either worked in this field for so many years, or studied in this field for so many years. So me as a learner i want to take advantage of that as much as i can by showing them my work, getting their professional feedback from it, learn from my mistakes to better myself. And there are so many workshops, clubs, or events that i’ll definitely go to, to gain more knowledge about design, know the in’s and out’s of it. There are so many peers i can talk to, to get their input on a certain design, just to see how other creative minds like myself think.
Q: How do you intend to use the skill set you learn to influence your community ?
A: I intend to do that by being a voice, or a bigger voice for people who don’t have it. To me design are two things, one of which is the obvious, it’s about expressing your creative ideas and/or thoughts for other people to see. And two, design is about being that voice for people when the time calls for it. Being a designer, you have the opportunity to uplift a community and be that voice. There are so many designers who make artwork to help out a group of people, or to represent a social issue. There are so many aspects to designing, me as a designer i want to use my skill set to help other people, to inspire people, or just to create new innovative art as the years go on.
Q: Can you see yourself doing anything else ?
A: To be honest with you, designing is the one and only thing i can see myself doing for years to come. I just view myself as a creative person, I’ve been drawing since i was 13 years old. Being so connected to designing really disconnects me from doing other things, it’s like being in a committed relationship. And i’m in school studying design, to learn as many skills i can to perfect my craft. So to be clear, i don’t see myself doing anything else but designing.
Q: What are your expectations of being a COMD major in your first year ?
A: I have very expectations because i’m dedicated to becoming the best designer i can be. I want to learn everything i can so i can apply it to my craft. I’m taking classes for my major, and so far i’m learning a lot of stuff i never knew before, and i’m very confident that new knowledge like this will help me succeed in the design industry once i’m done with school. So far my first year in the COMD major has been great, i met great professors, new friends, gaining so much new knowledge, and i’m adapting very well to everything.
Project #2 Complete Draft
Cui Zhang's Biography
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 a nurse, lawyer, doctor, teacher, radiology technician…etc. Cui is 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, she 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’ll be 33. 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
Project #2 Draft
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.
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?
I believe that my background does affect my designs. I believe this because 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.
Homework due 10/1: Project #2 complete draft
In class on Thursday, 9/26, we agreed that everyone would post a complete draft of Project #2 by the end of the day on Tuesday. You should each:
- write a post, using the category ENG 1101 Project #2 and the tag complete draft
- include your complete draft in that post! That means it includes
- your introductory paragraph (written in the voice of the interviewer)
- the avatar question and your answer
- the other 4 questions you’ve chosen and your answers
- (it’s up to you how to order the 5 questions and answers)
- images you want to include, in the same kind of way that our sample interview included images
- After the Tuesday end-of-day deadline for posts, start commenting!
- respond to at least 2 classmates
- let them know what is working well, what seems unclear or incomplete, or any other ideas you have for their final revision
- help classmates incorporate any new vocabulary you’ve learned in either ENG 1101 or COMD 1100 (or other COMD courses) if you see a way to fit it in!
- Questions for me? Ask them here as a comment.
I’m really looking forward to reading these drafts! We’re almost done with Project #2!
Project 2-Avatar
My Avatar for OpenLab is the Deadpool insignia. The logo consists of a red circle with 2 black semicircles inside forming a red line down the middle much like a slanted “don’t” sign. In each of the black semicircles lies a small, white, obtuse triangle which serves as the eyes. The negative space (background) is dark gray/black. I chose this picture not so much in relation to who I am as a person but more to my interests and what I like. Deadpool is one of my favorite characters (despite his dry humor). This was also a representation that I like superheroes and science-fiction. I also like to watch anime.
Project #2
My avatar is based on one of the comic I’m currently reading. The comic is called “Popular Deskmate is a Cat”. I chose this avatar for a specific reason. The background color, it’s light purple with a bubbly effect which makes the background dreamy I guess. Also, the look on her face really caught my attention because I just like pictures that are sad-looking due to personal reasons. So originally in my profile picture the girl she does not have tears coming out of her eyes. I basically told my friend to draw her with tears coming out of her eyes since she’s already sad. Ever since my friend included the tears coming out of her face it became my profile picture for almost every social media I have.
Project #2 peer review and assignment clarification
Revising our interviews:
- find a new partner to work with
- ask questions and follow-up questions to get them to include details or explain things you don’t understand from their drafts, and TAKE NOTES
- encourage opportunity-oriented language (eg change “not good at drawing” to “COMD will help me build my drawing skills”
- about the avatar: use the question to express what it is, how it represents you, and how it the logo of your brand, what impact it has.
- If you want to write about your ePortfolio avatar instead, do.
Some ideas: do these interviews rather than fake interviews. Have the interviewer recommend an avatar to the interviewee.
You’ll post your draft with framing intro paragraph draft by Tuesday, end of day. Homework instructions in greater detail will follow.
