Extremely Sentimental Final Post | Nelson

Ok, this semester flew by, and I will greatly miss graphics class. The first day, I thought it was going to be just like a computer class, learning programs and making things here and there, but this was intense! Every week there was graphics work to be done--if you didn't want your project to suck and lock yourself in the labs last minute. I didn't think this class would turn me into an Adobe and graphics junkie...but I am! I look at text, magazines, websites, pretty much anything I encounter in life differently, which is saying a lot since I feel I had always observed the world in a very visual way being an art person. I had always feared working on actual computer programs since I'm a computer idiot and stick to simple microsoft programs and the internet (though I used the very adventurous Google Chrome). But the labs really spelled out every aspect of its tools and different things I could utilize, and I found Adobe Suite to not be as scary as I had originally expected.

I learned a lot this semester in terms of design (and when it isn't appropriate to use the F word). The color principles and gestalt principles of continuity, equilibrium and similarity are essentially burned into my brain. I learned about the importance of brainstorming and the need for white space. Also, I learned to really look at pieces as a whole and see how it all works together, since the final whole product is what's ultimately important, rather than its separate elements.

I have no complaints really...other than the day I decided to work on my webdesign for how ever many hours straight until it was finished, and I had an awful cough and went in and out of a fever in the lab (I must've been a sore sight too since the kid next to me seemed rather shifty and kept casting me weird little looks). My least favorite project was magazine, which is really bad since I am/was a mag major...oh well. Surprisingly, my favorite one to design was the website and the poster, even though those two seemed to have the most obstacles for me. But in both cases, after hours of brainstorming, I always got a random lightning idea when I wasn't even really thinking on it, and they were hits.

I'll miss my little graphics buddies, and how our little critique group would always sit around nervously for a few minutes before passing around our projects (face down) for opinions. I'll miss Taylor and you, Paul; graphics was my favorite class of the day. I learned a lot in a short period of time (choosing the right texts, using the gestalt principles properly, choosing good/contrasting colors, etc), and it's all information that will help me greatly with future projects.