The singlemost important thing I’ve learned in these 16 short weeks is that, despite what I initially think, success is possible. I can reach it. And we’re all in this together. It’s not a competition. And students make great teachers. When you’re surrounded by 20 different people with 20 different views & opinions, you get varied, comprehensive feedback and a new outlook on a project that you might not have thought about before.

There are things I didn’t know I knew until I came here. I feel like my mind is unlocking and things are becoming more evident. I will forever view life as dot compositions and line studies.

The objectives that spanned project to project in VisCom were:

• create innovative work that conveyed an idea
• display an understanding of the subject matter
• have an increasingly improving process
• produce many iterations of one idea to see what works the best
• communicate an idea with visual tools (it is a Visual Communication class, after all.)
• explore relationship between concept and form
• explore relationships between forms within a project
• determine what makes a good composition
• work with what you have (restrictions and materials) to make something creative
  • find a way to make it work despite restrictions
• work well with a partner
• work well as an individual
• work well as a team (ask classmates for feedback, and provide feedback to classmates)

The things that will really stick with me are things like the realization that I will never escape line studies and dot compositions, no matter how hard I try. They’re everywhere! Sometimes both together!

Other things that will stick with me:

• The importance of process. Making sure that each step in the process is an improvement over the last.
• Keeping composition and legibility in mind. Design is all about problem-solving. The problem is that an idea needs to be conveyed to an audience. My job is to solve that problem by giving the audience a clear and understandable piece of work.
• Visual communication is one of the most important aspects of the world that we take for granted unless we’re designers. “Normal” people never think about “oh, that’s hard to understand because the composition doesn’t make sense.” They just glance at it, shrug, and walk away. But subconsciously, it makes an impact. They know when they see good design, and they remember it. It’s my job to make a nonchalant glance into an appreciative stare.

I entered this semester both afraid and excited about what was expected of me, and I’m very proud of myself for coming out the other side a much stronger artist and designer. And person. I’ve become a better person for learning how to manage my time and handle my stress.

I’m happy with how things have turned out so far, and I’m excited (and a bit nervous) for next semester.