I got a kick out of this image. Thought it described my life perfectly with this past week!!!

class last week...

I have been so overwhelmed with work this semester in all my classes and felt a week for the portfolio and reflection of self was WAY to short. A week to complete a resume, cover letter, portfolio, business card and whatever else we wanted to include was crazy! However, I do feel it gave me a taste of real world deadlines, situations and expectations from our future "clientele" or bosses. I felt happy with the work I produced, but wish I had more time to complete it. I felt rushed and didn't have time to do everything I really wanted to do. I spent most of my time researching cover letters, resumes and portfolios. In doing that, I got side tracked with all the information from the Internet and fell behind. It was frustrating to not get feedback and guidelines before we left class. If we would have, I wouldn't have spent so much time researching in preparation for putting it all together.

It was a good experience and exercise to do our own research about how we want to present ourselves professionally, but not on such strict time schedule. I also really appreciated Eric being open to criticism on the project and getting feedback from us. I think we all felt a little relieved, after he agreed with most of the problems we said we were having. Plus, it gave us a chance to speak up and say what was on our minds about anything in the class. (250)

Stressed out!

Some inspiration for my research...

So, I am feeling a little inspired at the moment with this project. I was browsing and came across Paul Rand (who I really respect as a professional graphic artist). :)

“Simplicity is not the goal. It is the by-product of a good idea and modest expectations.”
Paul Rand

Paul Rand was truly the genius of logo design – his logos are so simple but so timeless. I get inspiration from the littlest things and enjoy looking at Paul Rand's work as he was an artist and a professional.

an idea for logo and business card

So I have a business card, resume, cover letter and now working hard on my portfolio. My head has been spinning with what approach to take on the portfolio. But I think I have an idea. I am going to get back to work now. :)

Professional Presentation of Self

This professional presentation of self assignment has really engaged me in preparation for real world situations. I am looking forward to the feedback and I am really working hard on it. I actually learned a lot about myself and my art through this assignment. I wanted to post my "Professional Presentation of Self " to give you more of who I am and what my interests are.

(WK8)

My interest in art and design began in my early childhood. As a daughter of a musician and an artist, I have been brought up in an environment where imagination, as a quality of mind and way of being, is highly valued. One of my early mentors once said: “Art is a form of problem solving, but there is never a single solution.” For me, design is a rich and deeply nuanced language. Design is the planning and organizing of elements in art that is accomplished with purpose by following certain principles. Design is a means of visually portraying a particular message, and the message is a composition – a unified and thoughtful piece of work that will capture the interest of the viewer.

As a maturing artist, I focused intensely on painting and drawing while in at the Visual Arts Center at Albert Einstein High School, a magnet program in Montgomery County, Maryland. I am now developing my expertise and appreciation for graphic design at Ringling College of art and design. I am intrigued with all phases and aspects of art, and how everyone can share and interpret it differently. I enjoy texture and working with my hands and as a graphic design major it challenges me to be more simplistic and clean in my approach in problem solving and layouts. My interests include branding and identity, as well as advertising through graphic design and other art-related mediums. I enjoy how typography can make a piece more effective with a simple image to portray a message. Creating compelling visual communication is what I enjoy most and do well.

I’m looking for an opportunity to collaborate with a team of other talented designers. I work well alone, but also work well with others and have grown to value the collaborative environment since my internship at USA Today. There I thrived on the fast-paced dynamic environment and found myself challenged by multiple cascading deadlines. The internship gave me the opportunity to author and contribute to many interesting projects. I’m constantly looking for opportunities to combine my interests and love for textures and apply it to graphic design elements and compositions in a way that helps get the message across.

Graphic Design is a lifelong passion of mine and I would love to turn my passion into a successful career. My favorite aspects of design are typography, photography, image manipulation and advertising. I take pride in my work and enjoy the developmental process from initial idea to finished piece. I am a very creative and visually-oriented person. Graphic design allows me to use my imagination to create stimulating pieces of work which are visually pleasing and communicate a message in a thought-provoking way. I seek to produce well-executed conceptual design with a focus on detail. I am inspired everywhere I look and I try to reflect this in the work I produce. I always look forward to new challenges and am eager to tackle a new and diverse range of projects.(504)

"If you have ideas and imagery, technique will follow."

Unknown