lunationgd4

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writing initiative no.7

What have you learned about yourself doing this self-directed assignment?

I’ve learned more about my personal workflow and process. I love to talk to people about our process and design, it’s led me to finding some of my best ideas by stepping outside of my bubble. This collaboration and constant conversation is key to improving as it opens the mind to more than what we’re used to. The self-direction of assignments also taught me to improve my organization by setting personal deadlines for things and managing time efficiently.

What did you find to be the most difficult aspect of your chosen assignment? Creativity? Research? Connecting design to research? Craft? Organizational skills? Time management? Something else entirely?

The most challenging aspect of an open-ended assignment was the freedom I had. Throughout my last years in school, projects have always had strict guidelines and frameworks. This was the first instance of complete freedom (to a certain extent because we still had to deliver a 2D, 3D or 4D medium) in a long project. It was a challenge to settle on a direction with my word at the start, but things started to fall into place and find their meaning as the project went along. What I found was that although talking to others and looking for inspiration, simply starting was the solution to it all. Sometimes, postponing the making portion of a project only sets you back more. Overthinking leads to more uncertainty and procrastination, and I found that to be my biggest enemy.

What did you enjoy about this opportunity?

What I enjoyed most about this opportunity was the creative freedom. Although it became a challenge at one point, overcoming led me to great things and discovering more about myself as a designer. Another one of my favourite things from the project was working alongside so many other talented folks and seeing what they would come up with throughout the term and in the final presentation.

How would you rate your performance over the course of the semester?

I’d say I did well in keeping up to date with both personal and faculty-assigned deadlines, as well as with the weekly writing initiatives and meetings. Although I was absent for two of them, I made up by meeting up outside of class time to make sure I kept up with the workflow of things. Overall, I believe I did well and am proud/satisfied with my work over the course of this semester.

Hindsight is 20/20. What would you do differently, now that you've had this opportunity to work this way?

Something I’d definitely consider would be pushing myself outside of my comfort zone even more. It is something which I aim to do every time I work on something new, and it has deeply contributed to my development as a designer. On occasions, it takes other people (like faculty and peers) to push me outside of my usual mediums and techniques. It’s initially scary, but I’ve been very grateful for the pathways it’s led me to. Working very independently and detaching myself from an assigned framework leaves a lot up to me, meaning that if I’m not the one to push myself, no one else will. Therefore, I wish to continue exploring new mediums and learning new things, at the end, it keeps what I do enjoyable, fun, and far from boring.

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Final reflective pieceeeeeee

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I decided to make a new container for my 3D instead of the brown box because it didn’t match the aesthetic/vibe of the other materials.

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Making a box out of vellum for my reflective cards

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Mixed media frames for the 4D video

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writing initiative no.6

Which piece did you present to the class today? How does it relate to the other pieces previously presented?

I presented my 3D piece (photo envelopes), Reflective (card deck), and 4D (my video). All of these, except for the 3D, are still works in progress. Whether it is in a literal or more abstract sense, they keep a connection and branding to the concept of life cycles.

2. Describe 2–3 specific strengths your classmates found in your work and their reasons for identifying them.

The work is well connected by colour and concept. Its materiality is very well crafted, and due to its tiny size, it sparks curiosity and delicacy for the viewer to explore. Organization in the 3D photo slide file cabinet is clever and strengthens the work.

3. Describe 1–2 specific ways your classmates thought you could improve this work going forward.

For the motion picture, consider finding ways to pace the rhythm with text, visuals, etc.

Stepping out of your comfort zone in terms of printing and form. E.g. being pushed to explore a new concept for 3D instead of a book led to a more unique and interesting outcome.

4. Consider the remaining outcome yet to be presented in a couple of weeks; why have you put it off the longest? Describe your reasons for presenting this outcome last.

I’ve put my 4D piece, the motion picture, off to the end due to the implications of the process. Gathering footage requires me to stand outside for long periods, and the weather only allowed for that until recently. I also like to think of my 4D piece as a more abstract extension of my concept, which needed more reasoning and meditation. It also takes fragments of knowledge and reasoning from the other pieces I made. Therefore, I fabricated the concept more fully until I began to reach the end of the term.

5. Finally, you have now had a chance to present each of your projects (2D, 3D, 4D, Reflective) in process to the class. Produce an image of each one and describe how an aspect of your word is manifested in each piece.

2D: A flipbook format which presents each stage of the lunation cycle connected to a rite of passage in Mexican culture. i.e. Connects the lunation cycle to the life cycle.

3D: Brings rites of passage in the life cycle of Mexican culture to life by gathering stories from different individuals and presenting them in photo slides stored inside a file cabinet. The concept derives from the connection between the lunation cycle and the life cycle, delving into a more example-based approach with actual stories and experiences for each “stage”.

Reflective: Encourages insight about the life cycle in a more philosophical view, introducing playing cards with prompts that spark meaningful conversation about life on Earth. The life cycle is again connected to the lunation cycle, this time prompting introspection and deeper analysis.

4D: Tackling the concept more philosophically and abstractly, the motion picture introduces a spoken word piece accompanied by engaging visuals. The piece talks about life cycles from a mindful and philosophical view. It’s an artistic piece which derives from my analysis and work throughout the term.

Overall, I wanted to derive all of my material from the same connection between lunation and life cycles.

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Prototyping a card box for my reflective deck piece

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i’m also thinking of rounding the corners of my reflective cards, looking for a corner rounder cutter.

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Printing out my game cards for my reflective piece. I’m pasting them against a thicker gsm coloured paper to make them more firm and sturdy so people can play around with them. I had initially printed them with a color on the back of each card, but it’s not as vivid as using actual coloured paper. Ultimately, using a card stock material had more benefits in terms of presentation and materiality so I made this slight adjustment!

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Developing another way of categorizing!!! it looks like little file i love it.

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Trying to print out stickers for my envelopes, big fail! The ink smudges and doesn’t dry properly. I might abandon this idea.

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Testing out ways in which I could classify each envelope and differentiate them from each other. I’m also considering making stickers with my symbols to classify them.

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Projecting with the sun!!!!

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Thinking about how I could classify each one of my envelopes. My friend had this ruler and it sparked an idea of creating a similar structure for paper tabs.

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Writing Initiative #5

Which piece did you present to the class today? How does it relate to the other pieces previously presented?

I presented my 3D piece. I only brought in a few of my story envelopes because they're a whole collection and I didn't have a box to store them in. It relates to rites of passage in Latin American culture, and delves deeper into the meaning of each rite by telling a story which belongs to a rite.

Describe 2–3 specific strengths your classmates found in your work and their reasons for identifying them.

The interactive unfolding format in which it is presented provides a good framework for the unboxing pace. Material variation is great and creates more interest than using only paper. The package design is very well built and clean.

Describe 1–2 specific ways your classmates thought you could improve this work going forward.

Finding a way to showcase the story envelopes, and creating a taxonomy or classification system to differentiate each envelope from the others.

Consider the remaining outcome you still need to present in the remaining classes; why have you put this one off to the last?

I've put my 4D (a motion picture) last because I wanted it to talk about all the things I've discovered in this journey. It's an extension of my reflective thoughts while still tackling the ideation from my word and concept. It also requires me going out and capturing footage, which is easier to do now that the weather is improving.

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Test printing and cutting envelopes to hold my photo slides.

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idea???

reflective + 4d

the reflective is my written statement which is brought to life in my 4d video as the soundtrack