COM565 – Visual Aesthetics – Fall 2013

While design has always been one of my passions, I started to get a little bit jaded while working in the industry. Being the only creative in my office, many of my projects were done on the fly with quick turnarounds. Since I was on such tight deadlines, I found myself getting into a bit of a rut, using the same techniques and pulling out the same design tricks when I needed to get something done in a pinch. This class reenergized my enthusiasm for design and forced me to explore beyond my comfort zone.

It’s easy to sit back reflecting on the semester and point out new programs I learned, like After Effects, or new Illustrator tricks I picked up. But what I value most from this class is becoming more comfortable with the design process from start to finish. I’ve never been what I consider a traditional artist. Freehand sketching is a foreign concept to me and I end up erasing everything I do anyway. Traditional art in the purest form, rather than digital art, doesn’t lend itself well to overanalyzing slightly neurotic designers. I’ve gained confidence in conceptualizing on paper and translating my ideas into rough prototypes. I started to accept that first drafts and storyboards aren’t supposed to be perfect. Imperfections make them adaptable to edits and changes. Looking back at my time at Fleishman there were so many projects that I just jumped on the computer and started designing. No sketching or planning whatsoever. I don’t think I will ever go back to that process and have found a new appreciation for the beginning stages of design projects.

I entered this class knowing that I was not a designer or destined to be one. I’m leaving the course with the same understanding. However, this course was one of the most enjoyable for me – at least for the most part (minus motion-type) – because it gave insight into what visual aesthetics really means. From the study of typefaces, which I really enjoyed, to the understanding of what drives good design.

One thing that we heard as a class on a consistent basis was something along the lines of – I don’t have to like what you design, but one should always have an explanation, something to back it up in order to support your case. There’s more to design than simply making it pleasing to the eye. It’s also about making it functionally sound.

I think this class makes me analyze my work deeper and answer the questions of “Why is it there?” “Why does it look this way? “Do I really need that there?” Does it serve a purpose?”

Those are just a few of the things I will consider going forward in my career.

This visual aesthetics course included a bit of everything:  reading, writing, technical use and application, design principle theory… It could be easily misinterpreted that this was a “design” class, but I like to think of it as making any work we do from this point forward deliberate, at the least. There’s something to be said for having reasons, whether good or bad, in the decisions we make. I don’t know that I’ll necessarily design anything professionally, but I can almost guarantee it will be my job to make things aesthetically pleasing, to a certain extent.

I liked the emphases on presentation, critique, and receiving criticism. They’re skills that can be universally translated to any line of work, and honestly, they are underestimated. We’re all here for our own reasons, of course, but those reasons at least partially include the general ‘bettering ourselves,’ which can’t be done without reflection and evaluation.