DSGD 104 Project Case Study
Introduction & Brief
In the Spring of 2019, I took DSGD 104, Introduction to Graphic Design, at San Jose State University. In this course, students are provided a brief and an organization that they must create a full on campaign for. This campaign includes projects such as a 15 x 20 poster, a brochure, and an animation. Every year, students are given a different topic for the campaign. For the Spring 2019 class, we had to create a campaign focused on borders and immigration. Students were able to choose their own focus for the projects while being directed in how to properly apply their ideas to these mediums.
Role
Designer
Time
Spring 2019
January - May
Process & Challenges
The hardest part for me personally, was truly understanding the topic provided. I did not want to portray the topic in an inaccurate light. Most of the first month was spent developing ideas and concept maps in order to find and work in a specific direction. Once this was done, I developed many sketches and ideas based off of my research.
Because of the amount of research that was conducted, I was able to create many different options and directions for the first project, the poster. I had presented all my sketches to my professor who then advise that if I could, try to run two of my strongest ideas and later decide on the better option. At first, I was a concerned whether I could successfully develop two ideas to completion, but I was up for the challenge.
All the prior research I had done had paid off when it was time for the brochure project. Here, I was able to apply all of the facts that I acquired and lay them out in a format that compliments my direction. Again, I was advised to still continue my two ideas because it was not clear which one was the stronger. At this point, the direction of each idea was varying and it became clear to pursue one over the other.
Using one of the ideas, I proceeded with the animation project. Because this was my first time doing any type of time based medium, I had to learn a new program, Adobe After Effects, in order to execute my idea.
Final Outcome & Conclusion
My final deliverable resulted in a cohesive system that effectively got my intended message across. In the end, I chose to pursue the barbed wire/peace sign direction. With this idea, I wanted to take a negative symbol typically associated with borders and somehow turn it into a positive. By turning this negative sign into a sign of peace, I showed that by changing the things that evoke fear into people, it is possible to achieve peace. By this, I mean to say that if laws about borders were to change, it would be a positive shift towards peace.
The other direction I had dropped following the brochure project, is cutting borders with a peace sign as well. By using the peace sign as a pair of scissors, it brings the same idea that with peace borders can be cut and torn down.
Through this course, I was able to design my first system. It was my introduction to designing at a larger scale in terms of thinking of design as a whole. Being able to connect projects through different applications yet using the same assets and visual language helps build my understanding pf cohesion. This is definitely a skill I want to build upon for when I want to pursue a career in branding.
