Welcome back!

Reflections Of Me by Kelly Cruz ☆

    Hello again! If you need a refresher, my name is Kelly Cruz and I am a returning Visual Communications student at LATTC! I consider myself more of an illustrator but I do graphic design as well. Visual communications is my main field of study and I am planning on becoming a comic book artist as well as an art teacher. 

    This past winter I took only one class related to my major which was Art 103, plus a GE class which was English 101. Worst decision of my life but I got through both classes with an A! This Spring semester I am taking Art 101, Art 201, Art 300, Chicano Studies 7, and Viscom 119! My goals aside from writing your project critiques are learning Adobe Indesign more! 

    I have owned a blog before and I've started it since Fall of 2023. And like I've said in my pervious blogs, if Instagramming is considered a form of blogging then yes I have done blogging. And for a while! I believe blogging has been going out of style now a days. People just aren't into reading anymore and are more interested in looking through short form video content. I do believe blogging is beneficial in the business world. As it serves as a reference for employers looking for designers or people who are interested in design.

An art piece I would like to show off is this digital collage piece I made for my Art Appreciation class that I took this past winter! We had to create a collage inspired by the work of Romare Bearden. Though this was initially going to be a traditional project, my professor also let us create our collages digitally. Since I am already experienced in Adobe Illustrator, I took advantage of my skills and created this lovely piece that I honestly adore so much. And it's for sure going in my art portfolio!

Final Blog Post #6

  This was my Final assignment for my Intro to Graphic Design class. To start this assignment, we had to visit the museum that we are making the postcard for and choose an artist that was on display at the museum. We would take a look at our artist of choice and get a feel for their artwork and then come up with 3 draft sketches for the museum's post card that features the artist of our choice. I chose John Valadez because his photographs of ordinary people in his neighborhood of East LA reminded me of the types of neighborhoods I grew up in. I hope to have the same impact on my community how he did when I start putting my illustrations and story together. From there we would then digitize our work in Indesign and work on it while also receiving critique and guidance from our professor. 

  I felt like I was really successful in making the postcard. I am currently using Adobe Indesign for another class so I have picked up some command keys from using it more for the past month. I have learned a lot of tricks as well as learning the principles of design, so I feel ready to take on this major. 

   My biggest challenge with this assignment was not being able to add images or graphics other than the MOCA logo, so I had to improvise using the logo to get unique designs and get creative for where I can put the logo. My biggest issue is trying to balance my designs and my negative and positive space. I started to realize that SOME negative space is okay and not every line of text has to be in one straight line. I have to be creative and this course really taught me how to work with what I have. 

Designing with Type and Hierarchy

  I understand that with hierarchy there are so many ways to manipulate and play around with it. There is never just one or few ways to organize a layout. 

  I feel like designs without images are more easier and harder to do at the same time. On one hand you don't have to worry about the image matching the flat colors of the rest of the design but then it challenges you to create a design that pops more than an image would. I've never really noticed flyers not having images in them. 

  The objective of the design was to design an LATTC flyer with only one font with varying font weights and point sizes depending on the page. I felt like I could've done better as far as adding contrast for 2 of my pages but I am really proud of all of them.

  One of my challenges similar to the last project I made was trying to think of more than one way of organizing my layout. Though there were fewer art boards do make different layouts more, I think I need to start practicing different ways I can organize my layouts creatively and intentionally. 

Monogram

    What I have learned so far in this class is that everything needs to be legible and intentional! I had this information repeated in my head while working on this assignment and though I had some areas that needed work, I feel like I understand the principles well. 

    One of my challenges where creating different letter placements for each art board, especially with using a very stylized font. I couldn't reverse or rotate my letters too much because of how weird I thought it would look like, so the only way I could make my letters different is by changing the size and the colors, as well as adding other elements. While I did use clipping masks in my monograms, I feel like i still need some practice with them. I've worked with clipping masks before on my preferred art application, Medibang Paint, so I get the functions of it. I'm excited to get to know the Adobe Ecosystem though as I get more into this major.

Typography

Today I learned that the art of Typography is a science. As graphic designers that are barely starting our journeys, we have to take into account of everything that goes into a font such as typeface anatomy, how spaced out your letters are (Tracking), the space between certain letters (Kerning), what type of font you're using depending on the occasion, and what kind of fonts go well together. There are so many things to look out for even if you're making a small presentation for your science class. 

I have an eye for making things prim and perfect, using appropriate pre-made slideshow templets for assignments and just making my presentation look so good, that it makes up for most of my grade. I believe everyone should have at least have basic knowledge in typography in order to understand the use of fonts

My favorite font is definitely Montserrat. I tend to use that font whenever I need to do a presentation for class and it's my go-to font because the softness of the font. I consider it a "business casual" font.

Elements and Principles of Design

The Elements of Design include:

• Lines: used to separate or create space in a design and to create a focus point.
• Color: used to create a certain mood as well as combining colors.
• Shape: used to create a sign or symbol in a design and each shape comes with its own characteristic.
• Texture: used to add realistic qualities to a design whether traditionally or digitally.
• Size and Scale: used to balance or contrast a design. Also shows how far, close, big, or small subjects are.
• Direction: used to direct the viewer's attention to a certain spot as well as creating the illusion of movement.

The Principles of Design include:

• Proximity: used to point out different points of interest for the audience to look at.
• Balance: used to stabilize the design whether it's symmetrical or asymmetrical.
• Alignment: similar to balance, used to organize your design and can also be symmetrical or asymmetrical.
• Repetition: used to put an emphasis on a certain subject and is visually appealing while still being organized.
• Contrast: used to make elements stand out with each other and makes a design visually appealing.
• Space: used with the different elements of design to be able to connect together and create a design that can be put together by the viewer. 

    The Elements and Principles of Design are a set of guidelines that artists have to follow when creating their designs. It is important to have and understand these guidelines and references so that artists can create a design that appeals an audience.

    I can start using these elements and principles by looking back at my old art and pointing out where I lack in those guidelines. If I realize a drawing of one of my characters is tilted too much to the right and the color pallet is too strong after I compare the guidelines to my work, I'll be able to revise my design and put it out again. Self-critiquing, getting a second opinion, and then revising my work would help me understand the elements and principles. 

Welcome to my blog ^_^

My name is Kelly Cruz and I am a student at LATTC majoring in Visual Communications. I am interested in pursuing a career in comic book illustration and character design. For now, becoming a K-12 art teacher is one of my goals that I would like to achieve in the next 5 years, so I am very excited where my artistic journey takes me. This is my first time blogging, but I feel comfortable posting in this way. 

Art by Kelly C. (06/13/2023)

       I believe that blogging is useful in the business world when it comes to showing off concept designs, sharing pieces from your art portfolio, or also bringing a community together to discuss and share ideas. I have never owned a blog before unless you count posting on Instagram as blogging but I have seen people I follow own and post on their own blogs before. My goals with this class blog other than completing assignments is to become familiar in posting on here. The platform and its customization interests me and I would like to learn more about it.