Day 6

     Who thinks of problems for a whole class to overcome? That's right Jimmy Moss. Todays group problem for the class was to alphabetize ourselves by our first name in a reasonable amount of time. It took us about 10 min to figure it out... I think we did okay given the fact that some people were still signing in as Jimmy prompted the class to solve this problem. 
     Jumping straight into the questions, where we got to see how Elizabeth Gilbert and Paula Scher use their creative method :

1. Have you experienced your own or other people's fear-based reactions to your creative education and career choices? 
- All the time! I still get asked this question on a daily bases. It may sound something like, " What possessed you to do something in art? Why not a doctor or a lawyer? That's where the money is..." 

2. How have you successfully overcome these reactions?
- The first thing I set straight is when they say "art." Yes my major is categorized as art but, my option is graphic design and visual communication. There are many directions one can go by majoring in art. The road I am currently taking is the designing aspect. As I explain to people the connection between the two, they see the passion I overflow with when explaining. It truly is something I feel one with when trying to figure out a problem for a design. 

3. What is your concept of your creative process?
- My concept for a creative process is similar to Paula Scher's process depending on my mood. When I'm in my zone, I come up with a few amazing ideas from the first few sketches, the rest usually come out not as creative, or it just doesn't have the oomph. This happens rarely. The other creative process is doing over 200 little thumbnails, then taking a step back and choosing my top five.  

4. How do you approach creating, making?
-When approaching to create something, it all depends on my mood. Sometimes I work with a group of people doing my work as I listen to music, then ask the people around me what they think ( I have been using this method more often). I also like to go to cafes and work on my designs and ask random people that know nothing about the concept and get their feedback, then backtrack it to the people who do understand the concept. (this method is always enticing because the feedback I get from the random people are always interesting and make me think twice about the choices I have made about my design layout.)

Day 5

I had never actually sat down and thought of who would design the back of a quarter. Let alone someone ask me the question, what do you think should be on the California quarter. A bear? The beach? the possibilities are endless as to what can be on the back of the quarter to represent California the proper way. Even though this topic wasn't part of Jimmy's lesson today, it was very enticing to think about. 

Jimmy had the whole class relax and focus on a made up story. Then draw the ending of it where each one of us opened a door that had our name on it. After looking around and seeing that many people found it creepy,adventurous, sci-fi,  a few including mine was far from the creepy stand point. It is fascinating to see how each and everyone heard the same story but had a different ending, having one little detail set off the whole mood of a story is a big deal. Imagining and coming up with different ideas is the key to having a successful outcome. Like always said "two head are better than one." 

Day 4

       When Stefan Sagmeister's TED talk was presented to our class, it made me think of the limits I can acheive as an individual. Sagmeister's plan to take a year off every 7 years is pure genius. It helps him sit back and recuperate all his ideas throughout the years, while he is taking the year off he generates new ideas and puts them to the limit each time. I kind of started using Sagmeister's mentality to take off time and unwind. I find it relaxing, and when I come back to start on my projects i feel energized and new when I look at the work I need to complete. Take the apple project for example, when I started working on it the first day i wanted to do 10 at once, as i got to the fifth one, i started getting bored. When I went back to it a few days later, I had many fresh ideas and actually wanted to complete the task. This concludes as a rationale at the end of it, I got inspiration throughout the days I  did not work on it, and was able to create. 

Day 3

       Todays introduction to class was extraordinary. I had never really done anything like that in a classroom, although I have done the exercise where everyone orders themselves according to birthdate at a seminar; having a larger group was definitely the challenge we all faced in the beginning. Once the process was figured out we just had to trust our gut. (Of course the class had completed the task perfectly.) By having to do this exercise as soon as class started, was  a form of a group problem solving. Which led to the main topic of todays lecture, "Design is a collaborative profession." It is the type of thing where, a group is needed to achieve great limits of goals. The process is what makes or breaks the solution. Once a consequence is set, the goals are easier to achieve such as money, grade, life, or simply making something better.  
       My favorite part of the discussion we had in class was about the tangent on parking garages. I thought it was ridiculous how a designer can mess something up such as placing an arrow on the floor, to guide one out/in a parking garage. GIven the fact that, it is their profession to know how to problem solve.   >_<

     

Day 2

     Visual Literacy was the focal point of our class today. I got to learn that images speak a million words. Looking at an image for 20 minutes is different than reading about the image for 20 min. When looking at the image itself, people get judgmental rather than focusing on the actual image itself quickly, but then we are able to focus on the nature of the image. The importance of communication is vital in the setting we grow in. When there is a comparison between color and black and white, that is another story within itself. Imagining a colored image to be black and white is interesting to me. In class, there was a bit of a dispute about it being more powerful when it is in color or black n white. It was in image where an American flag is folded around the casket, and is being lifted by the military in uniform, in honor of the deceased. This image is very powerful since it is in color, when i imagined it to be black and white I felt like it lost its power. The colors on the flag and the colors of the hats and belts according to rank was what made the image have that oomph. When it becomes black n white, that detail translates as all gray.  
     With these in mind, comics came to play a huge role in creating visual communication. Where people learn from everyone, follow no one, watch for patterns, and work like hell. It is a place where placing images instead of words, to create a story with emotion. After everyone in class drew there comic version of how they made it to CSULA, it made me think, if someone had written these out, I don't think they would've gotten the same impression from it as they did when they looked at them. Images gave it more of a personal touch. 

And so it begins!

     First day of class (art 220 Concept Development) was interesting and definitely rememberable. Instead of having a professor stand behind a desk and talk to the class, he came down to the same level as his students and talked to each and every student. When everyone was seated in a circular setting, each student was handed an index card where we listed our name, major, and the year we plan on graduating. By having these index cards passed around rather than the professor pick a name each time, it made the ice breaker game a little more personal. We started off with an ice breaker game where each person says 3 things about themselves but 1 of them is a lie and the rest of the class needs to figure out which 1 of the 3 is a lie. Some did great, where others were completely obvious when they lied. I felt caught off guard so mine was pretty lame.  

     This was a fun and creative way to start a quarter. After everyone had the chance to talk, we went over the syllabus. The one thing that stuck with me till now is the word, didactic. Jimmy (professor) used this word to explain to the class  that his teaching style for this class is not didactic; once he said this, all I can think in my mind was, "this class is going to be a challenge, but a fun one," it is one of those classes where I look back and say, "I can't believe I am capable of that." Looking forward to this quarter.