Sanjana Pandit

The self- portrait unit was an opportunity for me to explore myself and expose my true identity using elements of design. During this unit, I learned how to use Adobe Dreamweaver to create my first website, Adobe Photoshop to make my first diptych, Adobe Illustrator to produce a unique illustration and Garageband to make a podcast with audio and pictures. My goal was to incorporate simplicity within this website. This unit helped me gain a knowledge of the fundamentals and basics of creating websites and design pieces, which ultimately allowed me to excel throughout the year.

During our second unit of Freestyle, we were given the opportunity to explore the realm of storytelling. Using Adobe Flash, we created short animations in Web Audio based off of our flash fiction story written in English. I illustrated each and every one of my characters, recorded voices, and used special sound effects for this animation. I enjoyed this unit thoroughly because I discovered my passion for storytelling and reaching out to a younger audience.

The documentary unit enabled me to step outside of my box and find a topic that interested me and was relevant in our community. Because art plays a major role in my life, I decided to argue about the budget cuts within the art departments and use Montalvo Center of the Arts as my main topic. In english, we wrote a research paper about our topic and in design, we created our very own book, which was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. Even though this was the most challenging unit for me, I was able to explore issues in our community that I truly care about, which helped me grow as an individual.

The experimental unit was one of my favorite units because it gave me the freedom to explore different aspects of website and design making. I created a website was very different from anything I’ve ever created before, and I was satisfied with the outcome of it. In addition to our website, we created an animated poem and experimental music. In design, I created a piece that helped me stepped out of the box and try something new. In english, we explored our thoughts through poetry and implementing free and wild thinking. Ultimately, the experimental unit allowed me to explore my boundaries.

The profile unit was an opportunity for me to find an intriguing person and expand my horizons as an artist. I profiled Bettina Chen, an entrepreneur who is focused on ruminating the lives of young girls. During this unit, we were assigned to create a website, along with a media feature in WebAudio, a magazine article in design, and a research paper in english. As a combined project, we created a google presentation solely about our person and our growth through this unit. This presentation enabled me to gain confidence and helped me with my stage presence. Overall, this unit was very time consuming, and challenging, but it was all worth it because I was able to expand my boundaries as an interviewer, graphic designer, and web designer.

The Music Video unit was an opportunity for us to explore the different sides of Freestyle. We were paired with two people from film and got to create our own music and own film. I became more familiar with the filmmaking process and how to collaborate with my peers. Overall, I really enjoyed this unit. Go take a look at our final music video!

The Narrative II unit allowed us to explore the storytelling realm further through the use of various mediums. I made up a children's story and used this as the basis for my screenplay, narrative columns, book jacket and animation. We were introduced in php in WebAudio and were able to expand our skills in Dreamweaver, After Effects and InDesign. This unit and the projects that were assigned enabled me to become familiar with publishing works. I grew as a graphic designer, web developer, and a writer! Take a look at the various works of art and writing I created during this unit!

The Exploratins unit was our last unit here at Freestyle! This unit includes all my Blink work, Humor work, and a special Mini Project. During this unit, we were given a lot of freedom within each project to include our own aesthetic and explore the realm of design further. In english, I was able to expland my abilities and perspectives within the Humor and Blink projects. In WebAudio, I created a website and mini project that is something I am very proud of! Feel free to explore this website and the various projects I created! Hope you enjoy!