Let’s think back to the very first blog I wrote. I’m fairly sure the title was “How do I graphic design?” or something like that. That feels like that was simultaneously yesterday and six years ago.
Alright, enough clichés. I really loved this class, honestly. I entered here with a little graphic design background (mostly in print layout) and left feeling like a half-decent designer. Or at least, I can put things together and not hate how it comes out. That’s a pretty big step for me. I joke that “I don’t hate it” is the highest praise iMedia students give out, but it’s true. We’re all lunatics and perfectionists. Especially when it comes to our own work. Not wanting to close Illustrator without saving is about as good as it gets sometimes. What really changed with me is how I go about thinking of ideas. I’ve struggled coming up with ambitious ideas that I can pull off. Actually being guided through a proper, effective design process was really critical to that.
I’m not going to lie. There were definitely times when I hated everything. Even you, Motley. Only a little. And not maliciously. But this class really brought a lot of things to the table. Yeah, we didn’t really do much that was interactive. But that’s ok. We have that covered in other places. What we learned here was actual design. Things can be interactive for days, but if they look like crap, it’s just going to be an interactive piece of crap. And ain’t nobody want to interact with that.
I’m not entirely sure I want to be a designer. I kinda like it, it’s fun, but I’m not sure it’s something I could see myself doing for hours each day. The one project every two weeks was about all I could handle. But at least I know what I’m doing now. Design is everywhere. If you’re creating content, it had better be pretty. Or else what’s the point? People won’t pay attention to it if it’s ugly. So whether or not I’ve adjusted where I want to be in 10 years because of this class is neither here nor there. It’s more about what I can do now versus what skills I had at the beginning of the semester. And it’s more than “Oh, I can create cool motion graphics now.” I know how to go about learning how to do these things. This class was almost as much self-taught as it was anything else. But, here comes a Motley staple in the real world, you won’t have a teacher to hold your hand. I feel confident in myself going forward as a graphic designer now. And that’s basically what I wanted out of this.
But all that being said, this course’s final grade:
83%