Last Journals

Journal 14
Asking what inspired me the most this semester is one of the hardest questions. I could answer this in so many ways its ridiculous. First I will start out by saying that I've definitely been inspired by my classmates, teachers, and designers I've seen online through journal researching. If I had to narrow down to one thing I would above all choose my classmates. This year has been a rollercoaster. I know not everything I created was successful, at times it was even pretty ugly, but that was not the point at all. For me, college is not all about getting the best grades or creating the most beautiful thing that everyone is sure to love, it’s about hitting those bumps in the road and hitting them really hard. That may sound extreme, but every single bump is a learning experience. And I would rather face this now, with the support of my teachers and classmates, then create something like that later on in my career. (Looking back to my first typography project of those 10 posters, which I once thought were not bad at all, I now realize I could do all of that work over in less time and 100% better turn out.) Everyone in class is always working so hard to improve rather then competing. Obviously there is always a little fun competition among many, but the over all goal that I, and most every one I know is to watch each other grow as designers. This last semester has been extremely straining and time consuming but everyone made it through together. We are always pushing each other to the next level and I honestly believe that without each other there would be no push and less accountability. I would also say that the research for journals and projects is extremely inspiring. For example this last motion project we were required to look at motion on Youtube. Watching the videos there, I immediately had a sense of what I wanted to do, and the failures that I would never try. Watching the good videos makes you re-think yours and ask yourself if the audience is going to feel as good about yours as you did about the one you watched on Youtube. You can’t really go wrong when you are researching other designers and watching what they do and seeing their purpose. Basically the answer to the question would be that designers in general are my inspiration; my teachers, my classmates, and even the ones I was required to watch for journals have all helped me to improve.



Journal 13
My favorite part was when he was going on about how we live in a different world from our parents now and it needs to be embraced. His ideas that using an already done image/song/etc to make something new is not stealing but rather being creative. He says it is used to boost our creativity and just who we are and how we think. Larry Lessig said that people take in all of this creativity but it's not always these same people that give it back. For me I believe all art should be shared. I mean, lets get real here, I would not want someone just taking my stuff and adding something small and calling it their own, but I don't mind sparking ideas. When I'm working on a project I look to many sources for information and inspiration before starting.