will i get this done?
a journey in art 130 by emma getka
introduction to design art 130 spring 2022 st. norbert college
introduction this class, introduction to design, was my first college art class that i had to take in order to pursue my graphic design minor. prior to starting this class i was very unsure of what types of projects we would have and how this would, in any way, help me on my journey in graphic design. the class description was not much help. the spring semester (of my freshman year) started with two weeks of virtual learning, in itself a challenge, adding onto that an art class? how am i going to do art online? as we got back to in person learning, i found myself deeply enjoying the class. every day i had new challenges within a new project. this process book is a highlight of my work from within the semester long class. a showcase of not only the ‘finished product’ but all of my sketches and rough drafts as well. “we’re all works of art in progress” - carmen dell’orefice
this book is dedicated to my pup, daisy g. i love you with all of my heart.
crash course for our first project within this course, we were all on zoom with no prior knowledge of any of our other classmates. we were randomly assigned to a partner to get to know them and investigate the problems that they faced on the college campus. we used the information that we received to create a prototype of a solution to their problem or problems. my partner, emily, described her biggest problem to be getting to the parking lots (from her dorm building, greis) to get her car while it is very cold outside. my first idea to solve this problem was an underground tunnel system. after brainstorming longer, i came up with the idea of a bubble around the campus to keep it warm in the colder months.
crash course
the final prototype reflection engaging with a real person, rather than a made up scenario influenced me to think of various creative solutions. i was able to speak with my partner and narrow down the ideas i had to one that she would like the best. based on her lifestyle and her personal needs, i was able to create a prototype that best fit her own situation. doing this exercise online heavily influenced my work and the relationship i had with my partner. i had just met my partner, emily that day and i had to dive into deep and personal questions in order to get to know her better. we worked very well together but it was awkward at first. it was nerve racking to show my unfinished work to someone else and i felt the need to preface before i showed her what i had made. this project helped me go out of my comfort zone and made me realize that not always having the best resources, enough time, and that unfinished work is OK.
dot line for our second project, we were presented with another challenge: to only use the colors black, white, and grey, and only dots and lines to showcase three words. the words i picked were energetic, freedom, and choatic.
sketches
dot line
choatic
energetic
freedom
reflection all three of my pieces were perceived differently by each person within the class; ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder.’ it was very encouraging to hear some of my classmates’ interpretations of my work even if it was not my original idea. it takes me a lot of time to create a ‘well-crafted’ piece and i did not feel like i had enough time to truly perfect my work on this project. i had never been used to working in a fast paced environment, especially when it came to design. after this project, i noticed myself working much faster due to deadlines that had to be met; ultimately preparing me for real world design deadlines. working with only black, white, and grey for this project made me value the impact that shading can have on a piece of art. being used to adding color to any drawing, painting, or work in the past made it very difficult for me to only use these three, but i quickly overcame this challenge. since i could not use recreate more literal illustrations (for example, a sun for energetic), i faced another challenge. how do i get the point across without being too literal? this project truly forced me to think outside of the traditional box that i was trapped within.
who designs deborah sussman, often referred to as the “pioneer” of environmental graphic design, was born may 26, 1931, in brooklyn, new york. she grew up attending art classes and visiting many of the museums and art galleries within manhattan. the summer after graduating high school, sussman was enrolled in classes at black mountain college and moved on to study full-time at bard college.
deborah was provided with an internship by charles and ray eames, famous designers. during the internship, she determined that she would become a designer. she was provided a scholarship in 1958 to go to hochschule fur gestaltung in ulm, germany, and traveled to milan as well as paris and worked with designers there. she met and married her husband, paul prejza, and they opened their own design firm, sussman/prejza & co.
deborah was known for vivid color in her work. she incorporated color into typography as well as environmental landscapes. one of her most famous works was her design for the 1984 olympics, hosted in los angeles, pictured below. she has done design work for disney, palms casino resort, grand park la, moad (museum of the african diaspora), ucla, van nuys fly away, a+d museum los angeles, directional philadelphia, deborah sussman loves la!, and many more. she received many awards and honors, including the golden arrow award from segd in 2006, and is a design legacy medalist, awarded by the american institute of graphic arts in 2004. “for deborah, she herself was a design experience.” - a friend of 42 years, leslie gallery dilworth
letterforms the next project was to create four prints of a singular word using ink and linoleum. the requirements were that each of the four prints needed to be different styles as well as the word had to be three to five letters. it was important to keep negative space, kerning, letter placement, and extra design in mind in order to get a certain message accross to the audience.
brainstorming
mind map
my favorite drafts from the whole class
letterforms
final pieces
final piece reflection printing is much harder than it appears to be. with some prior experience in printing, i believed that this was going to be one of the easier projects for this class and it proved to be almost the opposite. utilizing new tools like a photocopy machine helped my final pieces truly shine. in my first and second compositions where it was a requirement to print and i could not edit or move the letters around, it was very hard to keep the letters straight and i created countless drafts. while i love the third and fourth compositions, with more time and critique i may have been able to fix a couple of issues with the first and second pieces.
iterative illustrations the iterative illustrations project included many different styles, techniques, and tools. we were instructed to pick an animal, in my case, a ladybug, and build our animals using collage, single line drawing, two different artist style recreations, etc.
final photos before editing
the final poster after editing
reflection i was able to research an insect in depth that i did not know much about prior to this assignment. i found myself trying to learn as much as possible about ladybugs because i believed it would help me capture them better in my pieces. after trying collaging for the first time, i found out i was not very fond of it due to the end result. i tried my best to embrace the chaos of collage but the abstract energy that became of them was not my favorite.
psa poster our last project was psa posters. we were given a randomly selected partner who acted as our client, making it feel like a real graphic design job. the client gave us a very list of what they wished to be on the poster we were creating for them and we had to use everything we were given. the restrictions for this project were no designs, only text, and no color within said text. colored paper was allowed.
brainstorming
Did you know that a typical college freshman should sleep 7-9 hours a night?
A R E YO U GET T ING ENO U G H S LE E P ?
sleep is a beautiful thingmake getting a full night of sleep a priority According to Thomas Broderick of Affordable Colleges, studies show that a full night of sleep provides numerous benefits, like improved grades, better memory, and a stronger immune system. Your body and mind need to rest too! Take charge of your sleeping habits and wake up feeling rested and ready to tackle the day!
To learn more about sleep for college students go to https://tinyurl.com/yckz6cwe
draft before critique
first draft
psa poster are you getting enough sleep? sleep is a beautiful thing-
make getting a full night of sleep a priority did you know that a typical college freshman should sleep 7-9 hours a night? According to Thomas Broderick of Affordable Colleges, studies show that a full night of sleep provides numerous benefits, like improved grades, better memory, and a stronger immune system. Your body and mind need to rest too! Take charge of your sleeping habits and wake up feeling rested and ready to tackle the day!
final poster printed on pale blue paper
to learn more about sleep for college students go to
https://tinyurl.com/yckz6cwe
reflection the psa poster was by far my favorite project that i completed within art 130. with graphic design as my minor, i was able to really let my passion for this type of creating take over. there was still difficulty in not being able to use color in anything other than the paper. as well as not being able to use any illustrations or design. nevertheless, i persisted.
vocational questions what is something you’ve made in the past two years that you are proud of? i was enrolled in a graphic design class during my senior year of high school. one of my favorite projects was a collage. the piece has a deep meaning behind it of being on a journey to find yourself. i was in a situation while i was creating it where i was on that journey. since it has a deep meaning to me, i value the piece even more. i put my heart and soul into perfecting it.
if you were guaranteed that it would support you financially, what would you want to design or make for a living? if i knew i could be financially supported from it, i would paint and sell my paintings. i have always been passionate about painting and in my opinion, they turn out well, but it takes me about a year or longer to fully finish a ‘good’ painting. logically, i would not be making much profit off of my paintings if i sell one per year. i would not be supported financially but nevertheless, it is a dream for me.
this book was made as a part of intoduction to design at st. norbert college in the spring of 2022. the fonts used include telugu mn, iowan old style bold, and iowan old style roman. it was digitally printed and saddle stapled at the college’s print center.