Skill and Knowledge
Work from Photography and Graphics & Publication
During my sophomore year of high school I took my first art classes. I took Photography during my first semester and then Graphics and Publication is my second semester. We started on basic projects like:
One of our projects in my photography included taking candid pictures (pictures where model isn't looking at camera, they're doing something natural). We were taught to follow the rule of thirds, how to make the color in photos balanced, and how to edit a model's face to make them look like they have clear, smooth skin in Photoshop.
This project taught me about surrealism photography and how to take a photo that looks like it's not real. I used props, a tripod, and Photoshop to create this piece. I basically took one picture of the background and another with the mode, overlaid the pictures, then erased the parts of the model I didn't want - in this case it was his bottom half of his body. This created the illusion that he was coming out of the frame.
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This was the first project I did that involved graphic design. My class was told to trace this image of a woman using something called the "pen tool." It's a tool that can make solid shapes with a single color. We learned how to use Illustrator, the pen tool, and how to look at a photo and find the shapes in an object.
This was my favorite project to do in Graphics and Publication. We had to recreate a movie poster so I decided to make a poster for a horror movie. I've never actually seen the ring but the fact that there are so many different light elements and pieces to edit I thought it'd be a fun topic. I took a shot of my model, gave her a shadow, added a vignette to the poster, and made the TV have an ominous glow.
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Work from ROP Graphics
These few projects just gave me a jump start into a passion I never knew I had. The next year (my junior year) I decided I wanted to take a two hour after school class just learning about graphics; this class was ROP Graphics. I got to do so many more projects that I absolutely loved to create and had so much fun with the new and interesting assignments I had to do. Here were some of my best pieces:
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This was a project where I got to create my own business cards. I went through the brainstorming period, I got criticism, and I rolled with the thumbnail that got the most praise. I created the designs and typography in Illustrator then I moved into InDesign.
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I was assigned to make the 2018-2019 Mock Trial logo for my school. I met with the president of the group and we communicated back and forth with the Mock Trial wanted and what I created. We came up to this final logo which they ended up sewing onto jackets for their group.
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I created my own magazine for this project. I decided I wanted to have a spring edition of Vogue but make it for kids. I also created an Easter themed ad on the back of the magazine. I planned the outfits, I took the pictures, I added all the graphics of the flowers, and I edited all the pictures. The most difficult part was the cover, I had to make the headlines legible and easy to read.
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This is the cover booklet for the senior awards for my school. It's an assignment with no set guidelines. Every year a student designs a new cover with no theme in mind, they just create whatever they think would look professional and would fit the occasion. I decided to make an abstract geometrical/pattern for the theme. It's a unique theme that no one has done before.
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We had to create two typography posters. The first one is testing my ability to combine two fonts together and the second one sees how you can implement graphics into a typography poster. I chose song lyrics for both quotes and it was one of my favorite projects to do. I used Illustrator for the entire project and I love the result.
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Finding a Mentor
When I was looking for a mentor I was looking for someone who was a graphic designer/artist working in a company I'd want to work for. This could possibly give me an opportunity to work for said company. My first choice to look into was Hot Topic. I love the style and aesthetic the company gives off so I started to make some calls.
I started by calling the local store in the Thousand Oaks mall and explained my situation: I had a senior project, I wanted to be a graphic designer, I was looking for a mentor, and I didn't know where to start. The employee who answered the phone gave me the customer service line for Hot Topic headquarters. I asked them to direct me to the art department so I can ask people to be my mentor. I ended up having my message get passed along to the Head of Graphic Design. They called me back and I got directed to Alec Urtusuastegui, the Art Director for BoxLunch (a subsidiary of Hot Topic).
Alec accepted to be my mentor the first time we made contact. He was very supportive and enthusiastic about my project and he's never experienced something like this. He was ready to help me in any way he could and was very responsive whenever I needed his help. He was there when I needed advice on what to do, how to work around an art block, and how to talk to the client in a professional way.