Blog6: My Process

When we were watching all the diffrent videos on the topic of Stefan Sagmeister's design process, I could not help but notice some similarities between my process and his. Like Stefan, I strongly believe in the idea of getting away from your current assignment when you find yourself getting frusturated over its details. When I find myself in a situation where I feel like my mind is just numb towards a project, I tend to do one of two things. I eather go off and do some sort of hobby that has nothing to do with the field of graphic design, or I usually go take a quick nap in which time I am subconciously thinking the problem through. If I am lucky, most often I find a creative solution towards my problem after I have rested for just a hour or so.
Although recently many people would disagree with me, I am a big fan of doing thumbnail sketches, and always in marker. I don't even really like doing thumbnails for the most part, I just have found that by doing thumbnails before any other design work, It is the ultimate way to maximize productivity without having to think about using software tools.


         My Design Process in a Nutshell

• Reading the rubric/ brief multiple times through
• Thinking up some very brief ideas/thoughts about the project
• Taking a needed break from the assignment
• Come back to it and start doing more specific research and brainstorming
• Do many thumbnail sketches specifically with my select five markers I always use
• Scan the thumbnails into the computer when appropriate
• Start bringing my ideas to life digitally
• Clean up and revize for a lengthy amount of time
• Finish up the design and make sure everything is appearing "pixel perfect"
• Go to my favorite family run printing place in Georgetown and finish the design process

Blog5: Reflections on Heidi's RGD Visit

When Heidi came to our theory class today to talk about RGD Ontario I found it really interesting how the organization worked. They are a great resource for anyone from design students, all they way up to graphic designers with decades of experience. I ended up filling out the form to be part of RGD because of the great amount of resources that it includes and all the different connections which are affiliated with the organization. When next year comes around, I will definently look through the job listings on their website as well as all the different connections I have made to find a future job in my specific field of graphic design. I hope to get involved with some of the events going on around Toronto which are hosted by RGD such as the Head Start event which is being held next month.

One of my biggest concerns and pet peeves is the whole area of the graphic design field where technically anyone can pick up a copy of adobe's products and start working as a "graphic designer". It was interesting how the RGD is trying to work with this exact same problem which I find makes up a large part of the graphic design community. The idea of doing "spec work" for people, although it may seem harmless, really can hurt the field of graphic designers who have actually been educated in the subject. I can definently admit that I have already done some spec work in the past with some organization's and company brochures etc. but now that I am more clear about the problem people have with that form of work, I'll make sure to only accept pro bono or free lance jobs as a graphic designer.