Hello, and welcome to my showcase page! My name is Vikash Kumar and I am a senior design student. Outside of Freestyle, I am an adventurous and avid baker, a car enthusiast, an explorer into the unknown parts of nature, and a powerlifter. As my senior year ends, I have created a portfolio of my proudest creations in Freestyle. These productions in design reflect my tenacity and ability to bounce back from challenges, creativity, curiosity for new experiences, and courageousness to dive into the unknown. These skills I have learned to make part of me wouldn’t be possible without Freestyle and their mission to help students explore parts of their creativity they believed didn’t exist within them.
Being able to step well outside of my comfort zone has developed my skill sets and has shown its effects in other aspects of my life. My creativity flow is more natural, as in I am able to think more like a designer without any outside factor to start my thought process. The three projects I have shown are my best productions throughout my years at Freestyle and I take pride in them as I put my heart and time into creating these. I hope you enjoy these projects as much as I did! Thank you.
Zenith Bookbinding
For my first piece, I decided to showcase my zenith project of bookbinding. learning to create a book from scratch while learning at the same time was an interesting experience and I would love to receive feedback on how I can improve my crafting skills in the overall outcome of the book.
I created this project because I wanted to learn a new skill as a part of my zenith project and create something unique. The art of bookbinding is more complex than I thought which added to the level of difficulty of the project. I loved the outcome and I consistently use it on a daily basis as a mind dump journal.
Product Label
My second piece is a product design created for a fictional winery, “The Valley Wine Company” based in Napa, California. I loved the creative process of attempting to create a logo and design for a high-end brand. I learned a lot about the design process for a company and found it was more complex than I originally thought.
Learning the creative process of creating a logo was more intricate and a much longer process than I thought it was. Having to go through multiple drafts, switching color schemes, or even wiping the whole idea and restarting were parts I thought I would never go through during this project. With a better understanding of the creative process of a logo, I have a better understanding of what goes into creating brand labeling and how I can use that for future use.
Personal Illustration
My third piece is a personal illustration I created in Adobe Illustrator using my skills in color theory and the principles of design, Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, and Proximity. I choose a color that seems appealing to me and let my thoughts take control and create whatever comes into my mind.
Creating personal illustrations such as this helps reflect the skills I have learned in design and my ability to put those skill sets to work in drawings. My understanding of color schemes, such as monochromatic schemes, and my understanding of the principles of design can be put into effect in my works.
Reflection
The past two years at Freestyle have been an amazing experience in learning what it takes to be a digital artist. learning different styles of skill sets in digital media, design, and english has opened multiple opportunities for me to display techniques in future projects. From learning how to create websites to creating books from scratch, I was fortunate enough to be given an opportunity to explore the limitless abilities I had with no restrictions. I learned what true tenacity looks like, being stuck on a project and finding multiple dead ends, only to suddenly make limitless progress in each work was a challenge that developed me into a better worker. Consistently hitting bumps and challenges among every project was the key to building a stronger skill set and having the ability to challenge any task you are anxious about. The teachers and students at Freestyle were the biggest factors in shaping who I am. Being told I can do what my heart desires and only receiving endless support from my peers motivated me to take on projects I would never have encountered in my life. Although I may not pursue this as a career, the skills I have learned from Freestyle will stay by me for the rest of my life as I have picked up new hobbies and interests that are art-focused. I would like to thank the staff and my peers for all of the support and motivation they have given me over the past two years and I would never forget the experiences made here at Freestyle. Thank you!