Hirelis Rodriguez Torres
PORTFOLIO
Art 102 | Freshman | 2023
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Table of Content Statement of Intent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Meet the Artist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-7 Project 1: Snippets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-12 Snippet 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Snippet 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Snippet 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Project 2: Poster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-15 Project 3: Logo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16-19 Project 4: Syntax and Semantics . . . . . . 20-21 Project 5: Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22-25 Final Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Colophon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
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Statement of Intent I’m considering a Graphic Design Major because I want to see where it could take me. I am a freshman and I’m currently part of Darla Moore as a pre-business, considering International Business with a Marketing Major. I am still unsure where my passion lies and would like to have as many opportunities as I can to understand what my future may look like. Art has always been a great passion of mine, something I have always done
to discover both myself and the world around me. It is my third language and one that help me communicate when words aren’t enough. The future is unknown, therefore I want to explore my possibilities and see if art is where I should be. Graphic Design is still a semi-new form of art to me, therefore I am open to learning more about it and seeing where it could lead me.
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Meet the Artist My name is Hirelis Rodriguez Torres, I’m a freshman at the University of South Carolina. Currently I am a business major, undecided, aiming for a double major in International Business and Marketing. I decided to take Art 102 because I aim to have a Studio Art minor focus on Graphic Design and Drawing. I wanted to be able to keep my craft alive while in college, even if it wasn’t my major. Art 102 was a really fun experience for me, as I got to explore in a different medium than usual. At the same time, I found myself struggling to find my artistic voice. However, once I allowed myself to relax and have fun, I rediscover how fun art can be. Overall, for my first art class at the University of South Carolina, it was very enjoyable and just the right amount of challenging.
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Project 1 | Snippets HRT
2020
Project Overview Snippets refers to capturing a moment in time. It can be anything from an interesting conversation you overheard or had to a song lyrics that inspire you. It is anything that can be intriguing or so bizarre that it leaves you wanting for more. The challenge in creating a snippet is to find something, no matter
how random, and make it into an interesting art piece that considers both it’s overall image/ composition and words to create a cohesive artwork. We had to create a total of three snippets and each piece needed to be able to stand on their own as an art pieces.
What do you do with a snippet when you hear one? Write it down. Visualize it. Sketch it out. Write it down in your sketchbook so you dont forget it. Then close your eyes and try to visualize the snippet to see if it would be an interesting art piece. Finally, sketch it in your sketckbook and see how you like it.
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Snippet 1 My first snippet was inspire by a conversation I overheard about the “best way to die”. What strike me as interesting was how casual they spoke about this topic. This inspired the overall tone/mood of my snippet. It’s calm, soft, and has an atmosphere of wonder and exploration. The mood is complemented by the cool tones of purple and blue with a hint of pink. This overall “pretty” mood/visuals allowed the reality of what was happening in the piece, the peaceful death of our character, to be hidden
away. This is where the quote/ text comes into play, “To die while sleeping is the best way to go!”, a hidden message meant to shook the viewer. As, hopefully, it is something they were not expecting, just like how I felt when I overhear the original conversation. As for the technique used, I wanted to explore with the different overlays one can do in Photoshop. I liked the idea of having the character have some sort of reflection and a surreal feeling to them. I wanted the snippet to feel both like an
experience as well as a dream, a beautiful but deadly dream. While finishing this snippet, I asked myself ‘what kind of dream would I like to have as my final one?’ and from this question I was able to add the finishing touches to my piece. Being the flowers, which are reminiscent to funeral flowers, a pink atmosphere, an innocent feeling contrasting the non existing future, and an endless galaxy, contrasting the end of ones existence while reaching a limitless state. Overall, I like the complexity of this piece.
“To die while sleeping is the only way to go!”
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Snippet 2 This snippet was the one I had the most fun creating, as it has a personal connection to me. I decided to personified an emotion that I seem to describe me best while getting used to UofSC. I often found myself feeling ‘alienated’. To began, this feeling came from realizing how diverse UofSC can be, as no matter where I was I would constantly hear other languages, such as Spanish, Chinese, Korean, German, and others that I did not recognized. a digital piece, as it would give me control with all the detail in an environment that I was familiar with. I found that the environment the character is in, is just as important as its design. Therefore most of my time was spent figuring out a color scheme and layout that would best fit this new character. I was inspire by retro colors and overall asthetic, as for the background I wanted it to have
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This inspired my character, which is an alien to her own mind. It’s the reason why she has a human body, but a planet with alien antennas for a head, as well as full body that’s connected by clouds. They all help describe the feeling of being an ‘alien to ones own world’. This piece was entirely drawn by me. At the beginning I found myself drawing this character on every paper I came across, almost as if it haunted me to not give up on this idea. I decided to draw this on my Ipad as a very sketchy feel to it. The best word that I can describe it as being is “edgy”, I wanted an edgy background that screamed anxiety. Which is why the word “alienated” is written over and over again in the background. It’s has a similar tone to my first snippet, where it is a ‘pretty’ piece at first glance, but has a darker meaning when it is explored. This was a common theme in all my snippets.
Snippet 3 My final snippet was inspire by a phrase I grew up hearing all of my life. It more or less states, “women should be like flowers: easy to the eye, gentle to the touch, and pleasant to be around”. For this piece, I wanted to showcase how silly this quote is, but with a serious tone. Therefore, I chose the most uninterested-gentle-looking girl I could find, and with this I was half way done. The most challenging part of this snippet was word placement and even now I still
don’t feel good about it. This piece represents my distaste in gender expectations/roles. Where women are always painted as delicate beings meant to be decorated. This is the reason the character is in black and white while everything else is a different shade of red. It is meant contrast between passion and lack of passion. In a way, it is the alienation of ones ambitions in contrast to what it is expected on them. A bounding reality many must face.
Final Thoughts Overall each of snippets all were connected in a similar theme, the beautiful pieces and their hidden dark meanings. I really enjoyed this project, as it allowed me to explore my artistic voice as well as get me in the right mood to do art. Without saying, ‘Alienated’ was my favorite piece to create as it was the one I worked the hardest to create, but each snippet holds a special place in my heart.
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HRT 2020
Women Must Be
HRT 2020
Women Must Be Like Flowers:
Gentle To The Touch,
Like Flowers:
Gentle To The Touch,
and HRT 2020
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and HRT 2020
Project 2 | Poster Project Overview This project was inspire by the Container Corporation of America who ran an advertising series, which promoted their product with very unique and creative posters. Where well-known designers visually interpret a famous thinker or artist’s words. This series was known as the “Great Ideas” series or the “institutional” ad.
To be yourself in a world that is constan trying to make you somethin the Greatest Accomplis
For this project, our challenge was to choose a quote, from the ones given to us, and “revive” the notion of the Great Ideas series. The main focus was to understand the power dynamic between text and image. Creating a memorable poster that promotes/fits the chosen quote.
My Quote I choose the quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson, a famous transcendentalist from the mid19th century. His quote reads, “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment”. The moment i read this quote, I felt that it was perfect for me. As I am someone that firmly believes in individualism and not letting others act as limitations.
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My experience At first I found myself struggling with this project. Due to the fact, that I was trying to create a really complex piece that was beyond my capabilities. This was frustrating, to say the least. My solution was to stop taking myself so serious and have more fun with my idea. This resulted in the creation of my final piece. The style was very reminiscent of my first snippet, as I created a similar overlay with the character, The most
important thing to this piece, was the getting the background right. I wanted it to be ‘trippy’ and alienate its character. It is to say, that society can be overwhelming and does not let one’s self shine true, however it does not mean you can’t standout. Throughout the piece, I made sure that the eye could move around by gently guiding it with some of the buildings. I change the building to be a bright color, white the man was
Sketches
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in black and white, this helped establish a focal point. Overall, I really enjoyed how this piece turned out, I love its color and it’s overall composition. The only thing I did not enjoy my first experience with InDesign. All we had to do was write our quotes in InDesign, allowing the maximization of pixel/sharpness of the text. However to me, this new program was hard to use and felt very stiff compare to Photoshop.
Initial idea
To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the Greatest Accomplishment. Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Project 3 | Logo Project Overview
Project 3 challenge was to create a logo from two randomly select
words, given to us at the beginning of the assignment. From these two words, we choose our potential client and decided what type of style/ design our logo would need to best fit our potential target audience. Therefore, our design needed to be simple, easy to understand, limited to three colors, and had to have elements of our two words. Important guidelines were, we couldn’t trace from an existing logo, reference photos of the actual animal and the logo had to include the text of the animal.
Gestalt Principle
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Throughout this project, we were to keep in mind the Gestalt Principle while designing our logos. Although there are many parts to this principle, we were recommended to showcase at least one of the parts. Mine was figure and ground.
The Process At first, I wanted to create a delicate logo that fit with my words, Kraken & Devil. For my animal I focus on squids and octopi, since a Kraken is just bigger and meaner version of these two. My initial sketches were not bad and really fit my style, they were simple, but complex. However, once I tried to transfer them from paper to Illustrator, I found myself stuck and unable to continue
with my logos. They turned out to be too impractical for the project and I had to restart my entire logo design. This time around I was inspire by Japanese culture, more specifically their famous octopus sausages, which became the basis of my design. After finally figuring out my design, everything else was very smooth. My new client was a small restaurant owner, instead of a t-shirt company. Thanks to the fact that I was inspire
“Kraken, Devil” by Japanese culture, my logo develop a ‘cute’ personality. Meaning it was a more lively design and it could stand by itself without words, which is always fantastic. Throughout this journey, I learned that I tend to be really stiff as an artist and that sometimes it can take me a bit to feel satisfied with my work. After I solved my problems, I was able to have fun and really explore my skills.
Final Thoughts Overall, I feel most satisfied with my final piece. As i feel it did an amazing job at portraying my two words, Kraken and Devil. The fun design, is both more true to me as well as the intended audience. Which is fantastic! It took me a long time to arrive where i needed too, but I am glad that I was able to grow as an artist even when I don’t expect it.
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Work in Process Here are some of the ways my project changed throughout my journey.
Kra
n Devil ke
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Food
R K KeN Devil
Food
R KKR KKeeNN R K KeN Devil
Devil
Food
Food
Devil
Food
KR KeN KR KeN Devil
Devil
Food
Food
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Project 4 | Syntax & Semantics Project Overview Syntax includes aspects of form such as shape, color, texture, and composition. It is about the visual relationship you see rather than “what somethings is”. Semantic, on the other hand, is the meaning something carries. With this we were to analyze two comparable “things” as well as some additional factors. We could choose anything, from clothing, to toys, to life animals. The two “things” just had to be in the same category.
Why a Tiger and Cat? I choose felines to compare because I wanted to be unique. Knowing that most people would choose an object, I decided to choose one of my favorite animals, the tiger, and its super distant cousin, the house cat.
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The Process This was an easy project, to say the least. There wasn’t many spots where you could show your creativity, as it was more to test your ‘artistic eye’ and analyzing skills. I did try to put my own touch to my project, however. From the fact that I chose animals to how specific some of the answers get, I wanted to at the very least enjoy myself while finishing this project.
SYNTAX (visual elements & relationships)
Predominately orange-yellow-Brownish with black stripes, and white (on the face, paws, and belly). Great for camouflaging along tall grass and forest environments. Rather large in proportion. Cover in semi-soft fur and has nails that blend with the pattern, as well a light pink nose, that differ from the usual tones. There are long white whiskers and eyes with similar coloring as fur. Pattern heavy, with stripes seen almost everywhere, while also, as a whole, being very symmetrical.
SEMANTICS: DENOTATION (specifics)
Animal> mammal > Feline > tiger > Panthera Tigris
SEMANTICS: CONNOTATION (associations) Predator, powerful, dangerous
SEMANTICS: EXPRESSION (feelings) Energetic, powerful
PRESENCE (contextual)
Little: in a zoo or tall grass Big: in a city, like New York or a backyard
SYNTAX (visual elements & relationships)
Overwhelmingly orange tones, lighted shade is an orange-yellow-white tone, similar to pale skin. Very fluffy and soft texture. Stripes form from the different change in tones, has long white whiskers and a pink nose. Eye color blend with fur color. Size is small, but looks bigger because of its fur.
SEMANTICS: DENOTATION (specifics) Animal > Mammal > Feline > House Cat > Norwegian Forest Cat
SEMANTICS: CONNOTATION (associations) Evil, Soft, Pet, Fur, Claws
SEMANTICS: EXPRESSION (feelings) Cute, Fun
PRESENCE (contextual)
Little: An adoption facility Big: A house, assuming there are no other similar cats
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Project 5 | Journal
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Project Overview The challenge is to design a process book that takes the viewer/reader through the author’s semester. This is the final project of art 102 and it is meant to look back and reflect on our work throughout the semester. As well as combine all of our new knowledge to create a book that reflects our learning.
The Experience The hardest part about creating this book was trying to find the right balance between white space and images. I wanted for page to have its own personality, I wanted to bothe tell a story with words as well as the layout of each page. Thank to this, I made a lot of work for myself, from having to draw special pieces to having to create a different layout for each page, every detail matter to me. I will say, I don’t regret my decision, as I like for my artwork to always
standout from the rest. I like finding unique ways that will both be have an interesting impact on my art, as well as be reflect my artistic voice. I feel I have accomplish these goals with my book. From the overall feel to the individual pages, I can see that everything has its own personality yet at the same time it works well together. Which was important to me, since, in order to make sense, a boo needs to be cohesive.
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Just like my sketches to the left, I wanted my book to be full of live and colors. Which I accomplish, by having a color scheme that allowed for lively and calm moments.
A few of my favorite layouts/ compositions, were that pages for Project 3. I drew the testicles on my Ipad and was able to add more of a personal touch to each of my pages. I also really like Project 2’s layout, since I thought it was cool how I was basically creating the final piece, but in a smaller scale.
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The Process The creation of my book was a rather long one. It was a challenge I was not prepared for. However, I wanted to make it the very best it could be and my main goal was to give it as much personality as it could fit. Truthfully, the hardest part in all of this, was getting used to InDesign on my laptop. As it confused my ability to understand the scale of many things. This affected my initial compositions and font sizes. It took me a long time to accept that size 12 was the correct font
size for body paragraphs. Since it looked so small in my screen. From then, it was a challenge to make my vision for the book into a reality, this was mostly because I tend to make my ideas more complex than they need to be. Therefore, it can take me a while to modify my vision into a more realistic and doable project. This is why, I really appreciated all the critiques that happen throughout the process of this book. As they help me realize, where I was falling short and what ideas were working.
Final Thoughts I am extremely happy with the final result of my book. It may not be perfect, but it accomplish my main goal of having its personality shine through the pages. This was a lot of work, so I’m so glad that it paid off to lose some sleep over it. Overall, i enjoyed working on every page and making them as close to perfect as I could, I specially feel in love with the purple color scheme that I used throughout the book. Finally, I’m happy I am able to finish this with a smile.
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A Final Word From the Artist Overall, this semester was an interesting experience for me. I got to explore my artistic voice in a different medium. I grew as an artist in my understanding of how graphic design differs from 2D drawing or painting. I learn that it is hard for me to think in simple terms when it comes to my pieces, since I’m used to drawing semi-complex drawings full of symbolism. Which can be hard to do in something like a logo. My favorite medium so
far was Photoshop, it was the easiest to use, and the one I was, and still am, most familiar with. InDesign and Illustrator were equally hard and I found it quite difficult to get used to the format. I feel they were rather limiting while also having too many possibilities. However, toward the end of finishing my process book, I begand to feel more confirtable using InDesign. Without a doubt, I thought the pieces I did in
Photoshop or were drawn, were much stronger than the other ones. This is mostly because I didn’t have to learn a new digital medium, however I still did enjoy working and overcoming my struggles in the other projects. To end this semester, I want to thank Profesor Chi for always being helpful and open during quaratine. It really helped me a lot transiting to my new “normal”.
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Colophon Header: Cormorant Garamod 24, 20 Sub-header: Lora 24, 20, 18 Body: Cormorant Garamond 12 Caption: Lora 16
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