For the past two years, I have developed as a digital artist through my design, digital media, and English classes. Not only have I learned to use various programs and software, I have also improved my ability to think more deeply about the art that I am creating. For my showcase, I am displaying my documentary project and my zenith project.
Documentary
I completed my documentary project at the end of my junior year. In this project, I explored an aspect of my community that I was curious about and thought I could share with others: professional women that choose to become single mothers. This project gave me the opportunity to better my skills in photographing people as opposed to the usual urban and architecture shots I take. I was challenged by this project because I had to determine how to approach people in a manner that was both respectful and sensitive but also enabled me to access the information that I needed.
I used Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop to produce this book, and my skills in those three programs subsequently improved. It was interesting for me to figure out how to illustrate the softness and warmth of the relationship between the mothers and their children while retaining a sense of seriousness so as not to sweep the mothers’ challenges under a rug. My illustrations were made to represent love and growth.
Zenith
My zenith project represents the culmination of my time at Freestyle. For this project, I had to select my own topic, the timeline, the product(s), and the media I would be working with. This project served as a continuation of my junior exploration, in which I created and illustrated a modernist building in 3-point perspective. In comparison to my knowledge of architectural design during explorations, my understanding of the extent of an architectural project is much improved. Consequently, I incorporated aspects of the project process in; this includes site selection and model representation. My use of space and color came from what I learned in my design class. I took a risk by deciding to use a program I had never used before — Google SketchUp.
I learned from Freestyle to consider the needs of others in my designs. I spent some time in the early stages of the project talking to others about what they desired in a house, and also did research on eco-friendly houses. I will most definitely be using these skills in the future when I actually design for a client.