New introduction!

 Hello! It's been a while since I've done my initial introduction and a great number of things have changed so I'd like to make a new one! Once again, Hello. My name is Aiden Avila and I am still currently attending Los Angeles Trade-Tech College under the "Visual Communications" program. I'm am a young artist/graphic designer who loves to create interesting pieces of art. I try my best to be proffienct at different things even if they are difficult and I never stop/give up learning about things I love. You can expect to read about my thoughts behind the new pieces I make in class and beyond!

Honestly, I think blogging is very interesting. To some, it may seem outdated and Initially, that's how I felt as well but I was introduced to how robust and invested people and companies are in these blogs. I will do my best to make the best use of it.

I've never blogged before creating this specific one but I have been on social media for a while.

 I make gaming youtube videos with my friends on this channel...

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4zJbxCnAFdD3Mi7pKEmncw

I plan to make videos very different from the ones on my other channel on this channel here...

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYz0eB6CST2WfIGgl6uhdzg

I also stream on twitch here...

https://www.twitch.tv/cringe_sama

I also have a twitter account 

https://twitter.com/cringe_sama

And Instagram to blog my art journey specifically 

https://www.instagram.com/cringe_sama_art/

My goals with this class blog other than writing my project critiques is to show people my journey through school and see the hard work I put into my works so it may help me get a job. I also want for people to see my works and give their own critiques as well

Interactive PDF

The goal of this assignment was to create an interactive pdf that would advertise yourself or some company that you are aware of. I decided to do one for myself. An interactive PDF links all important websites that the person wants to be shown to the public kind of like an online business card except this can actually take you to the shown websites.

The most challenging part of doing this assignment was the timing of the pictures coming in and the animation I wanted when things were having the mouse hovering over them. I wanted to add something to happen when one would hover their mouse over the "button" which would take one to the specific link. I kinda had trouble placing it so it would look like it moved and then I placed the movement in the wrong "layer" so I had to fix that. The other issue of the timing of the images coming in after a couple seconds was actually a product of keeping an oversized version of the image file. Without the advice from my teacher, I would have never known that my file was too big and that was the reason why It took way too on for the images to load in. I definitely learned something very valuable and will implement it into every one of my pieces. All I had to do was cut the original image size and everything was fixed. It took a little time but it was super fun.

I feel like I was definitely successful but one thing that was definitely on my mind was the fact that I wished I could have made a more advanced piece. Personally, lately, I've been feeling like my pieces are too simple and I play it too safe when I could be trying something more visually interesting. I'll do my best to improve and try some more interesting techniques.

AD Design

The most important aspects of creating an AD that an AD Designer should keep in mind is two things, audience, and message. You have to know what you want to say and who you are saying it to. if you are missing that then your AD Almost has no purpose and loses all it's "punch".

I did try to keep my audience in mind when making my ad. I tried to keep it simple and interesting while also being as loud and unique as possible. When you have a target audience then things become ever so easier.

I also forgot to apply a grid this time as well. I just used the ruler tools when in hindsight I could have made my poster earlier and more efficiently if I used a grid.

I tried to keep in mind all the elements and principles of design when I was making this piece. the colors I felt were the strongest suit. I definitely saw how I could improve by going over the piece.

Applying Principles of Design

The most challenging part of designing a flyer with no image is that now you must make what the image is usually used for and have the type do it. It was a really interesting process to go through, now that there is no image the hierarchy needs to be eve more surefire and precise. Finding that balance between keeping the importance of the shapes and type different was a challenge but in a good way.

In the end, it was the great and fair points of my teacher and peers that helped me overcoming applying design principles and applying flow and movement throughout the composition. I had come up with a simple design and it wasn't hard for me to think about it and create it. The tips I got helped me to more fully understand what Principles I lacked and which ones needed more work on. My hierarchy was off, my colors were off and even my call of action was not properly placed. I thought about how to fix those problems in-depth and eventually found a way.

Honestly, I forgot to apply a grid to help with my project but I did do my best to use all the ruler type tools I could. In the end, I don't think it made a GIANT difference but I would have certainly made things easier and less time costly.

Elements And Principle Of Design

The elements and principles of design are EXTREMELY important in the field of graphic design and even art. They make up the basics, the building blocks of the professions. Sticking by these fundamentals will essentially always lead you to success. Thankfully I was able to get a good grasp of what they are and can be used for. I of course still have a long way to go in terms of following them but I'm making progress for sure.

Like mentioned before they are the building blocks to graphic design and so if I keep to them I know I can be successful in my pieces. I can use them as guidelines or suggestions. Thankfully they aren't strict rules you have to follow to the T which allows others and myself to try our best to get creative with what we make.

In-Person to Online Instruction Shift

Honestly, I haven't had any trouble with the transitions from the previous In-person to the now currently online instruction format. Personally, I do enjoy being home for everything. If anything I find many positives for in the current situation in general. The only negative thing I can think of is not getting to see my friends face to face and paying for that bus pass that I didn't and probably won't even get to use lol.

Currently, I can actually have an actual good night's sleep which I haven't had in months because I'm at home and I don't have to worry about transportation time and about getting to class on time. I have more time for myself to complete and completely immerse myself into the assignment I have been given and i"m having tons of fun with my work. Also, I've been able to save a lot of money on food since I've been eating what we have at home and I honestly feel physically better due to actually having time to exercise. 

Here is a piece that I'm very proud that I completed during the transition.

AD Design

The goal of this project to create an effective, eye-catching ad for any program, company or organization of our choosing. I chose to do my in-progress clothing line. We had to essentially use everything about design that we were taught into this project. I did my best to use such knowledge.

The Most Challenging thing about the project I would say is finding the right image to try and portray exactly what I was trying to showcase. In my case it was clothing and so I needed people wearing blank clothing but they needed to show some form of joy, something I want my customers to experience when wearing said merchandise.

I personally think I succeeded, I used colors that worked with my brand and image and did my best to display a message I wanted those who find this piece of work to find. While also seeing clearly what I want them to see and go act on.