Week 4 has been pretty chill compared to last week on the study tour. We had class 3 times this week and worked on our jazz festival identity and had some professionals come in and talk to us or do a workshop with us. So far it seems like Europe’s education is more laid back and more responsibility on the student to get everything out of their learning. From my design classes, I am very used to a structured timeline and having checkpoints and check-in to make sure we are making good progress.
The teacher often gives feedback and we are expected to follow their suggestions because they know more than we do, and ultimately they are grading our project so to get a good grade we follow the creative path they have strongly suggested for us. I am used to working with my teacher as if they are the client and that the client approves and guides everything. At DIS, I have gotten little guidance with my visual identity, which makes me feel lost sometimes of what directions I should explore next.
But by not having someone tell me what to do next gives me the space to build my confidence and find my way. It allows me to trust my instincts and knowledge more. I make a design decision because I think it is the best, not because someone told me it was. Granted I won’t know if I made the right decision until I show it to lots of people and see their reactions. The design world is so subjective which makes it more challenging sometimes.
This week we had a woman come on Monday to do a drawing and music workshop. We had to use different drawing tools while listening to jazz music and draw what we thought the sounds would look like visually. First, we started with our eyes closed, then moved to open them.
This was an interesting approach to thinking outside of the box and not being afraid of making something that didn’t “look pretty.” I plan to add this activity to my toolbox and use it when I need a different approach. On Wednesday we had a guy who had worked at BUCK for about 5 years in animation. He showed us some cool projects he worked on and the process (check out his stuff here: https://rasmusbak.com). And then on Friday, we had someone tell us about the history of poster design. All were super interesting to hear about, but it is up to us the students to take what we’ve listened to and apply it or learn from it.
I did talk to my teacher individually once this week and he helped guide me to explore a certain direction. I was a little stuck with my logo because I like the concept and certain aspects but I didn’t love it. I knew it wasn’t quite right. That’s when he suggested using a brush and ink to draw the logo multiple times to see if anything looked better.
He also encouraged me to experiment with a pattern I had created for a possible poster design. He suggested trying to complicate the pattern more but also have simple patterns.
But now it’s up to me to decide what works and what doesn’t. Or if I need to explore more or go a different direction. We’ll have to see where this identity ends up…