Blink Amplified: A Senior Amplified Art Project by Morgan McLain-Smith (2015)

This blink amplified piece was composed using my three blink art pieces, two sentences from my first quickwrite, and two photos I took. The background of the piece is the first zen-tangle, the earth is textured by the mandala, the bird was created using the patterns from the word zen-tangle, and the tree was constructed in Photoshop and textured with a photograph of tree bark.

This piece reflects my interest in using blended text and graphics to communicate, which has been integral to my experience at Freestyle. So much of the design we do at Freestyle is focused on how to merge text and graphics to better convey an idea. Our profile magazine was meant to emphasize our profile star's job and character. Our book jacket was meant to highlight aspects of our narrative. Our web designs are meant to show off and fit with the themes and aspects of the project. We even learned how to create custom Google Presentation slides to make sure the aesthetics of our presentation fit the topic. I believe that the interplay between text and visuals is very important especially in our increasingly technological world, and through Freestyle I have learned tools and techniques to blend them together. Even if I am not using these programs or creating these types of projects, I am confident that the skills I have developed will carry with me regardless of my career path.