Hello everyone ^_~
My full name is Gloria Georgina García García… that’s correct! I have twin last names ^O^ Ahahahahah!!!!! I’m a blog newbie, so I felt intimidated to start writing on one, especially since it’s for academics and everyone has access to read what I post. I don’t have this problem when I leave comments on YouTube or Facebook, so what’s the difference with this blog? I get graded ~_Ő Therefore, I’ll write in this blog as if it were a combination of YouTube and Facebook, where some of you may know me, and I may know some of you… but to feel pressure free as I express myself through my words and emoticons ^_Ő/
I’m a full-time, art student, at California State University
Los Angeles (CSULA). I studied Animation
for five quarters, but I changed my major to Graphic Design in November. It was an intense decision. I love watching animated films, anime and
cartoons, but not to be animating. It
took me three quarters to make the final decision, and during that time I kept
saying; “I’ll give it one more try the next quarter.” However, after talking to a few Graphic
Design friends and our Art Advisor, Connie, I had to admit that I was misplaced
in my major. Furthermore, during the
Fall Quarter I had Professor Tony for two classes. One was for Animation and the other for
Graphic Design, and that’s when I compared the difference between the two, and
I ended up feeling much more comfortable in Graphic Design.
I have indeed stepped into a new major, and my blog exists thanks
to the Concept Development class that I’m taking with Professor Jimmy
Moss. His purpose for this class is that
we, his students, can grow and reflect from the topics that he will be covering
as a journey. In just the first week of
school, which meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., we went on
a journey on Tuesday, which was to go outside of the Fine Arts Building (F.A.
Bldg) to explore & critique the area that surrounded us. This journey led us to comprehend some of the
visual communication problems from some of the still objects in their
respective places. For instance, we
learned that there’s a problem with the handicapped placard at the entrance of
the F.A. Bldg, since it’s situated further away from the double doors, and that
it’s placed above eye level for a person in a wheelchair. In addition, the location of the disabled
placard visually communicates that it’s meant for a reserved handicapped
parking, rather than showing accessibility for them concerning the entrance doors. It was interesting and I gained a new
perspective of how to analyze my surroundings.
Once we got to our classroom, Prof. Jimmy gave each student a green
apple. It was a similar exercise, but
now with an apple. We had to look, touch,
smell, at our apples for three minutes, to find out what made our apples
unique. After that, we all passed our
apples to our neighbors on our right side, and repeat the three minute
exercise, but now to notice the differences between the two. Again, it was an interesting activity, and we
learned how each apple differs from one another, for example, the apple that I
had before had a stem, and the second didn’t.
We ended up keeping our neighbor’s apple, and we are to keep this
apple for the entire quarter and render it everyday by using various techniques,
tools, and methods. It’s actually fun to
keep track of our apples, and call it weird, but I feel as though I’ve created
a bond with my apple.
On Thursday, Prof. Jimmy inspired me by the decision that he
made regarding his career. He told us
that he got paid over one hundred thousand dollars per year before he started
teaching, and that he didn’t tell us this to impress us… but I was impressed
that he preferred a less paying job and that he followed his heart for doing
what he believes in. Wow! That was an admirable decision, as there are
many people who are blinded by money. Speaking
of money, Prof. Jimmy told us that he wants us to become good writers, and to
use adjectives because they are gold to a designer, as they are descriptive
words, and description is creative. He
even mentioned that he could be teaching in private art schools, but that he
feels at home by teaching at CSULA… and that he will give us a high level
education as if we were in a private art school. The feelings, oh the feelings that I
felt! I feel privileged, fortunate,
blessed to be in his class, because he made us feel important, and not to feel
inferior for being at a public university.
Therefore, I won’t state one specific topic that we covered in our first
week, because I learned so much that I want to share as much as I can.
During this class, which will be a journey, I want to gain confidence and learn as much as I can about
Graphic Design. Well, what is Graphic
Design? According to Weixel and Morse
in, Graphics and Animation Basics, “Graphics are building blocks for developing
exciting and informative multimedia documents, presentations, and
publications. They are the images you
use to enhance the work you do on your computer, and include drawings,
photographs, cartoons, charts, and maps,” (p. GR 3). What about Design? According to Lauer and Pentak, in Design
Basics, “To design indeed means to plan, to organize,” (p. 4). Based on our class syllabus we will be
posting more than just our thoughts, but also our fotographs/images, sketches, and other materials relating to the topics that will be covered in class. I'm looking forward to this class and new major, as I have stepped into a new journey ✌\^_Ő/✌
Works Cited
Weixel, Suzanne, Cheryl Morse, and Bryan Morse. Graphics and Animation Basics. Thomson Learning Inc. United States, 2004. Print.
Lauer, David A., and Stephen Pentak. Design
Basics. Thomson Learning Inc. United States, 2005. Print.
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