Written Reflection
One of aspects I would like to reflect on is my overall performance in the class. I have always been interested in design and concepts related to design. However, this class was an eye opener for me. I enjoyed the readings and the projects, but I never understood fully what was expected. I have always been the type of student to not ask for help, so I can understand why I performed the way I did. Only after meeting with Professor Lavin did I understand the intention of this class. I did not want to end up with a bad grade, or go on into the summer thinking that this class was a waste of time, so I tried to wrap everything up in these last few weeks
My idea of a revision incorporates revisiting a certain aspect or project and somehow improving it, or making changes to the necessary item in order to show that something has changed. I believe that I did not really take time in this class to revise or revisit many projects, until I met with the instructor. With my revisions, I looked at my logo design, photoshop projects, and overall website design. When I started coding my website, I had no idea what I was doing. Through some video tutorials, I somehow managed to get back to my roots and basic coding skills, which I had learned in the past. My website was extremely basic at first, with inefficient CSS layouts. I completely deleted my CSS and revisited by HTML pages to see how I could implement a sleek, simple design, which is what I had intended on doing initially.
In regards to my Photoshop projects, I started with a possible cover art design for my music. I had a couple photographs taken of me holding a synthesizer. Following this, I imported the picture into illustrator and added a cartoon effect over my body. Finally, I made the image look as if I was walking from a certain angle. This aspect created an interesting perspective, making it seem as if I was walking from a tunnel almost. I then added the text, "All I Need" because this was the project name I was going for. My font choice transformed after a few edits, as well as contrast and filter choice. Overall, I was not too happy with the fonts I used, so this is something I plan on revisiting in the future.
My logo idea came out quite nicely. Because I play piano and go by the producer/artist name "MANU," I wanted to incorporate these two aspects in my logo. I start with a normal, basic capital letter "M" to represent the first letter of my name. After doing this, I layered piano keys underneath the letter M. After touching up the borders and sharpness of the image, I truly was proud of this work. It was something minimalistics and featured the layering element: something I had intended on doing which I touched upon in my skills assignment. Now, I use the logo in many visuals for my instrumental work. Videos I have shot include the logo in the end to emphasize that the logo is indeed involved with my artistic efforts.
For my soundscape, I included multiple samples from a LoFi sound pack I had downloaded. Our group's main mood/goal was to evoke a "calm before storm" feeling. In my soundscape, I used the LoFi samples and created the "calm" aspect to it. By using some effects in Audacity such as reverb, delay, and equalization, I came up with a more musical sound than natural. I used some nature loops with birds chirping and rainfall, which in my mind evoked the 'calm' aspect. For the musical aspect, I had found some mellow guitar loops along with a detuned piano. These definitely contributed towards a more calm feel to the soundscape. I did not really revise this project, only because I had felt that it met requirements and sounded like it had been mixed well. There was no distortion within the audio and overall was a balanced soundscape