Game day Part 2 2/9/12

As soon as class began Professor Moss asked all of us to present our nine games we were assigned to do. I brought only six, but the types of games I chose to do were for young children. Such as, alphabet games, indoor soccer games, and food games. My assignment was incomplete, so I didn't get to present my ideas, but other class mates had some great ideas. For example, one student came up with a four player chest game and how you could built and alliance, or not, but the first one to king the other wins. Another game that grabbed my attention was a sling shot game that was presented by another class mate. The objective was to grab a card and it would tell you what object to hit and the team with more points wins. All games that were presented were great ideas. Professor Moss went over each one he could get to and gave his feed back. Even though he can seem kind of harsh with his remarks one can really benefit from what he says. I learned from him that a bad critic remark is not a negative, but a positive because not only do you know that its a bad idea, but you can fix it before you have a final presentation on your idea for a game. Moss is only trying to prepare us for what lies ahead, if we can't take what he says in class one can only imagine what is going to be said in the "real world." This day wasn't for me as productive as others, but that is my fault since my assignment was incomplete and I couldn't get much feed back on mine. I was able to present one idea and that was my ABC game. He asked me what difference does it have from a vocabulary technique a teacher uses and my response was it had the same concept, but it had to do more with the interaction between the players. He didn't say if that was a good idea or bad, so I was left blank, but by him doing so it helped me asked myself how can I make it better than just an exercise done in class, but really make it a game that is enjoyable for all children to play.

Adjectives:

1) Harsh- something that is rough,blunt, or mean

2) Outstanding- something good, great, successful 

3) Monochromatic- using only one color, it describes the technique used

Game day 2/7/12

Game day in class was quite interesting. We were instructed to bring one game each. It could of been a board game, a math game, building game, etc... The game I brought was Twister, but surprisingly it didn't get played with. I think it was the fact the its a very interacting game and people are shy, but thats just my opinion. We all went around class and picked out one game to play. Professor Moss would leave the class room and allows us to interact with one another by playing these games. When he came back he would ask questions, such as, "what was the game about?," "how did it make you feel,""did it teach you a lesson?" All these questions don't really seem to pop in my head when I'm playing, but when he asked I started to ask myself what that was. I didn't understand much how a simple game can have so much affect on a persons emotions and one can actually learn from them. For example, Monopoly it helps you understand how the economy is ran and how its all about owning property and by having money you yourself can run the show. Another example would be a dice game we played. It teaches you about taking chances and how sometimes by getting greedy you can "crap out" in other words lose it all. One never really stops to think how much of a thought process it takes to come up with a game. In order for a game to be successful it must grab the attention of the player, affect their emotion, have an outcome, and be able  to make it a fun and interesting experience for the player. Professor Moss assigned this to us as an assignment for home. When it came down to doing so, it is much more complicated than it looks. Questions I had to ask myself were, "how can I be original?," or "do I want a maze game, card game, board game, etc..?" The outcome I got from this whole experience was that a game isn't just about winning or loosing, but the lesson you get from it. Either it made you learn something in life, or something basic as taking chances. If the game did any of these then it was successful. 

Adjectives:

1) Kind- warming or a good hearted person.

2) Sarcastic- someone or something blown up out of proportion.

3) Mellow- something smooth, or calm, opposite of harsh.

Movie Day Feb/2/12

Todays class session was not as pleasing as others. We started off by showing our H.W. assignment, which was to communicate visually on "how to get an A in Art22?" We went over our drawings as a class, but one stood out the most. A student in our class drew a Pie Chart instead of a Process Map. Professor Moss told us to come up with a tittle for it. We had a class discussion and threw ideas. Three stood out the most. First one was Grading Chart, second was Grade Breakdown, last was Grading Pie Chart. The class was suppose to choose one and it turned into a debate. Towards the end we chose as a class Grade Breakdown. Through out the whole process some students weren't participating and the choice came out to be by majority rule. I didn't like this very much and responded to it out loud of class. Im not sure if I offended someone, but it did capture Professors Moss attention. One thing I remember him telling me and agreeing with him was that sometimes when everyone tries to be a leader it makes those who are not, not be able to get a chance to share what they got. I took it as a self reflection comment and was optimistic about it. I learned that its ok to sometimes let others lead, to be quiet sometimes is helpful. That way those who have great ideas get the chance to speak out and who knows maybe their idea is a great one and by you putting in input after they express it, one can make it better. Class went on after that and Professor Moss presented us a movie called Sir Ken Robinson "Hammer Lectures." I learned quite a fews things from this film. For example, being good at something doesn't always mean stick to it, sometimes your even greater at doing something you love. The film gave an example of a pianist, and how she played the piano for years, but didn't love it, and now she is a writer and loves doing it. Leading to what I learned as well. People always do great doing something they love. I believe that is very true. I think people always apply themselves more to their work when they love it because they don't see it as a nine to five job, but as a passion that is a privilege to be able to do so. For example, myself, Im good at drawing, but my passion wasn't painting or sketching, it was computers. So, I took something I was good at, applied it to my passion with computers, and chose my career as a graphic designer. Honestly I couldn't have chose a better career for myself that I know I will succeed.

Adjectives:
1)Joyful- a sort of feeling, as well as an expression.
2)Glamorous- something beautiful, shimmery, capturing.
3)Gruesome- something that is horrifying, unpleasing to look at.

Map Process 1/31/12

Have you ever tried to write down steps one should take in order to succeed their goal? Well in class thats exactly what we did. Professor Moss explained to us what a Process Map is and how it works. The question we had to figure out as a class was "How to get an A in Art 220?" We covered the steps on what should be done to create a process map. The steps were; research(analysis), concept(creative), prototyping(analytical), design production(creative), assessment(analytical). Each single student was assigned to do their own map. Once we did, each student came up with their own explanation on what it is that should be done to get an A in his class. I didn't realize how helpful this was till I actually did the assignment. When you research and jot down your ideas, then arrange them in an orderly process, from what should be done first to what is last and the outcome, I guarantee one will have a great out come with their grade. Having a map as a guide not only keeps you organized, but is a great reference to look back to if you get lost along the way on what should be done for an A in the class. As we did that Moss also assigned the class to communicate it visually. First question that went through my head was "how can I draw something without words to show what I'm trying to say?," and to be honest this was actually not as bad as I thought. For example, if I wanted to show our assignments I drew a computer and the home page on Facebook. In fact, if I wanted to show participation I drew a man raising his hand. Just common actions one does in class can be helpful to communicate in a drawing. At first I didn't really understand what he was trying to teach in this lesson, but the outcome I got from it was rewarding. I think I've come to understand more on what it is to communicate visually. We don't always need words to tell the audience something, simple drawings with basic actions, or images of a drawn up syllabus tells the audience a lot. Not saying we can use words, but we can limit them to a basic verb, or phrase and tell exactly what we are trying to say. Towards the ending of the class in a brief discussion he mention why is it important to only show three main ideas when presenting a project. This question really never popped in my head, but once he said it, it got me thinking "really, why is that?," and the answer to this was because it creates balance. To me this meant, ok one is a bad idea, the other is an ok idea, and the last was the great idea. Professor Moss said "No! You never present an ok idea or a bad idea, you only want to present great ideas."  That got me thinking to myself and figured "thats so true." One should always present great ideas. The reason to present three great ideas also is, so the person who hired you or your showing can make a choice without having trouble. The number three not only does it work as a balance method, but it also deal psychologically. Which that is another topic for another class. This was my outcome for Art 220 class this week.

Adjectives:

1)Stunning- something really impressive 

2)Sweet- something pleasing to my eye site

3)Weak- something lacking skills, creativity, plain boring

Class Question/Another day in Class

A couple of questions came up in class today. One was have I ever experienced fear based on my creative career choice. My answer to that is yes I have experienced fear. When I chose to be a Graphic Designer my biggest fear was do I have the creative ability to present a visual image and persuade others to buy or just pay attention to what my project is all about. I feared that my choice of career was going to have a lot of competition and wouldn't stand out from others. These were some of my fears but I over came these thoughts. The way I overcame this wasn't over night. Many events happened till I actually felt good about my choice in career. I first over came the shyness of showing people my work and instead of taking criticism in a negative way I processed the information and made it a positive. I became more optimistic towards my work. I told myself "my way of thinking is like no other, no one sees life the way I do but myself" and thats true. One may see a picture and think its just a house, but then I see not a house, but I see the architecture involved and how beautiful it is. So the main thing for me overcoming this fear was just basically learning from others points of views, gathering all the information, and processing it for a better outcome on my designs. As class went on we had an exercise were we took one of our images and changed the whole meaning about it. If an image would be of a person with no hands we would say something like "don't touch," even though the image was about a homeless man. We did this as a group which was great because this will help us when we have to work with others and gather up all thoughts and ideas. Ive never really had to do this type of exercise, but overall I thought it was a great way to learn how to gather not just one persons ideas but everyones and making them better. The biggest outcome I got from this is that a great idea will come to you when you least expect it. Don't over think a certain thing because that would only drive one crazy. Its best just to write down as many ideas as possible and have fun with it. There is no such thing as a bad idea, their are many just data pick the best one out of the many that their is.

Adjectives:
1)Suspenseful- a feeling one gets, such as, excited or anxious
2)Extraordinary- something that is unusual, not an everyday type of thing
3)Horrific- something horrible, unpleasing

Class day 1/24/12

A very important topic came up in class today. The topic was "As a designer we must be able to write proposals." A proposal is an important tool a designer uses in order to persuade the customer. Our professor Jimmy Moss showed the class a short clip of a famous writer who's name was Elizabeth Gayle. We were instructed to pay attention to what she does and the types of techniques she uses to keep that audiences attention. I thought her proposal speech was really well thought out. She started off by telling us who she was and what it was she did. As she talked she not only spoke to the audience, but made them and myself feel as if she was relating to us. She gave examples of what people would say to her and the types of fears she had. By her doing so I felt like "ok maybe I'm not that crazy there are others who feel the way I do." This technique she used captured my attention very well. She also used a lot of similar examples and stories of others to help us understand her work and what she has gone through. As a designer we must be able to present our projects properly and with excitement that way we can keep the audience gauged. This short filmed helped me in the aspect of talking about my own work with excitement and gave me good pointers on the way I should address  others. I don't have to be what people call "by the book," but I can laugh at myself, show others that ok I'm not superman I do have fears as well as others do, and be able to just related to the audience and show them how passionate I am about my work. The only difference I would have that I won't take from the film is the speed she was going. I believe a good presentation is best when the speech is slow and everybody can catch what I say. Overall though I thought Mr.Moss short film presentation was a good example to show for us to learn on how to present a proposal to others and how to stand up in front of an audience. 

Adjectives:

1) Alluring- something that captures my attention, leads me looking to the same thing over and over again.  

2) Amazing- something that is above normal, something surprising.

3) Distinguished- something that stands out, a part in the image that we can all tell what it is, successful. 

Visual Day in Class

Thursdays class was one of my favorites so far. We discussed the visual side and symbolic meanings on images we see around us. An image we went over in class was the HOPE poster of Obama by Shepard Fairey. We discussed how this image has a circle with a flag inside referring to it as a rising sun and only supporting the fact that by electing Obama we can see a better hope for our nation. Also another aspect of this image we went over was the choice of colors. The two main colors chosen for this image was red and blue. The class and I discussed how red is for passion, love, etc... and blue is for calm and warmth. This is going to help me in the long run because now when I look at certain images I will be able to catch the hidden messages behind them. In fact not only the hidden, but the implied messages one can't see unless they pay attention to the whole composition. As the class went on we also applied what we talked about in class to our own images that we were assigned. We talked about the visual side of the story as well as the creative and the legibility in them, further helping us practice what we have learned in the begging of class.

Adjectives:

1) artistic- when one is creative in their work.

2) beautiful- when something is eye catching to me, when i can look at it for hours

3) symbolic- something that was a symbol with implied meanings to it.