laujessiegraphicdesign4

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Final Writing Initiative

I found the most difficult part of my assignment was trying not to deviate too hard from my word based on my own wild interpretations, research was also definitely a key factor within my project and ended up being way more time consuming than I had expected. My crazy 3D puzzle was probably the most challenging project out of all of them simply because of all the hours put into gluing each and every layer, piece, fact, together. It was also a hurdle trying to come up with the puzzle itself as this was my first time making a puzzle, much less a 3D one. From this assignment, I have learned that I can definitely manage my time better than before, but towards the end of the semester when projects started piling up, it went downhill. So that can be improved upon. My presentation skills can also be improved upon a little, especially when I’m tired, none of my thoughts are really coherent (so bless that 11.50am class. seriously). I really enjoyed this chance we got to create self-directed projects with just guidance and advice from professors and peers. It was a very eye-opening experience and I feel like I definitely gained from this class. I would rate my performance a 15/20? Depending on what performance really means. I feel like I’ve definitely pushed myself in all senses, I even managed to gear all projects towards my interests (packaging, branding) and also experiment with acrylic. These are all projects I can proudly say I’ll be putting in my portfolio. Now that I’ve had this opportunity, I would definitely schedule my time better and try to bring at least some progress every week in order to get feedback and bounce ideas off classmates. (I definitely feel like the time I’ve spent in class discussing ideas was a large stepping stone for my project. In my opinion, things always turn out better when you gain multiple perspectives and aren’t only wrapped up in your own world.)

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Prae: The Retrodiction Agency

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Process work – Experimental

My experimental was meant to be a mini branding project. I wanted to create a company that engaged in the act of retrodiction and offered its services to its customers. I was planning to do a whole branding book like what I did for my branding class last semester but realized that the scope of that was too large and unrealistic given the time frame. In the end, I settled on creating a Behance page about my made-up company and created Prae (pra-eh), giving it a name, brand identity, and concept.

When I started, I was dead-set on linking it to a Private Investigator company, but over critique, realized the connotations that came along with the terminology “PI” weren’t the kind I wanted for my brand. In the end, I found the word Prae which means ‘pre-‘ in Latin, for before or the past. Then added a sub name stating that it was ‘The Retrodiction Agency’ which cleared up any possible confusion. I then went through multiple iterations before I landed on the current logo. I wanted to create an animated logo but realized I have yet to learn the skill set for that... Gave the brand a slogan with the help of a few friends I asked since I’ve been working on the project for too long. And finally selected the colour scheme. It was meant to be the pink I used for my reflection book, but thankfully it crossed my mind early on that pink – although not meant to be a gender-specific colour – again had too many connotations. I decided to use a more neutral purple instead to balance it out.

I went online to find mockups for my brand and created multiple images for the store sign and window front. Then designed the office stationary which included letterheads, notebooks, envelopes, stamps, and name cards. I also included a phone app for the company that would allow customers to access their services remotely, or follow up with the project they were working on with the company. I also decided that instead of flashy name cards, employees should just wear a simple nondescript enamel pin. Not only is it discrete, but it also allows for any need of ‘investigation’ and would theoretically carry all their personal identification information. It could also serve as an access card to areas that were restricted or secure areas within the office.

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RETRODICT.

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Process work – Reflection

The reflection book I created is more about the physical comical idea of retrodiction. The overall design of the book was really fun to do, the play on contrast was the most extreme I’ve ever done. The colours of each project were also incorporated into the book to bring the entire semester’s work together as a whole. I would say the part that took the longest was taking the photos and editing them. Deciding on a layout was also tricky. I incorporated a magnifying glass and incredibly small font sizes within my book so that people would have to use the magnifying glass in order to be able to read the contents. I intended it to be a fun and engaging booklet like the rest of all my projects and packaged it in a box together with the magnifying glass to make it look like a set.

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The Lost City of Atlantis

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Process work – 2D

My 2D project was on the lost city of Atlantis. I was inspired by the concept of Cluedo (the British version of the American Clue) and using the powers of deduction and process of elimination in order to find the ‘truth’, in other words – Retrodiction. This was where my idea of creating fact cards spawned from. I then settled on the hexagonal shape as I thought it would be a unique shape for a card. As my idea developed, I realized the shape came in handy as multiple connection points between cards and made it easy to create a ‘hive’ map of information. It would convey not only the cards that were related to each other, but it was also a simple and intuitive overview and allowed for users to see exactly which pieces of information (represented on the cards) were most mentioned. I began researching into Atlantis and chose 3 main categories: possible locations of Atlantis, the People related to Atlantis, and the items/artifacts that are used as proof of the existence of Atlantis. I chose a bright colour scheme that would go well with ‘under the sea’ colours and started designing my cards.

I designed images for each individual information card to give users a better visual and idea on what the information is about. Then created unique icons for Location and Artifact cards so that these can then be drawn onto the People cards – showing who’s theories overlapped or differed from one another. I also made sure to simplify the amount of information shown on the card, keeping it simple and easy to understand. Afterwards, I designed an underwater themed background for the cards. This makes it easier during printing as I wouldn’t have to worry about exact alignment and it also makes a really nice pattern when the cards are together or individually. Blank cards were also added so that users could put in their own knowledge or add things they’ve discovered themselves outside of this info pack. It allows for the expansion of knowledge.

After my first attempt at 2D, I realized that I didn’t really incorporate a title, nor did I explain my word within the information cards. I decided to create a few more cards, a title card (to indicate it is about Atlantis), a company brand card, a card explaining what retrodict meant and a few more blank cards. This made the whole set more cohesive and aligned with my word. I wanted to create packaging for the cards too, but the shape made it surprisingly difficult. The first attempt was too tall and due to the cards being only around an inch when stacked together, making a two-part box was out of the question. My second attempt, the lid’s flaps were too short, resulting in it flipping open on its own all the time and it wasn’t a tight seal. The last attempt was still slightly off but by then I had run out of time. The lid was slightly too large to fit inside the walls of the box as I had forgotten to account for the thickness of the paper when the lid was closed within.

All in all, I thought my 2D was very successful and it was the nicest graphics I’ve illustrated in a while. It was a very fun project to do too as the research and creation of the cards (although tiring and taxing) were really eye-opening and interesting. The cards came out exactly as I wanted them and the backside of the cards was also a happy success, I would say my only issue with this project was the packaging. That can be improved on but would have taken quite a few more prototypes.

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The Great Pyramids

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Process work – 3D

For my 3D project, I wanted to create a 3D puzzle of the pyramids. Initially, I wanted to 3D print the whole thing but realized the cost would be astronomical for a broke student like me. So I analyzed existing 3D puzzles to see how they connected and locked with each other to form the finished product and realized that I needed at least 3 different kinds of interlocking mechanisms in order for the puzzle to be fully functioning and actually usable. Theoretically, the idea sounded very plausible within my head, but I had forgotten how difficult it was to glue small pieces of acrylic, as well as the fact that I had to be able to put each layer of the puzzle together before I even built it. It wasn’t impossible but it was a long and tedious process. After the first round of laser cutting, i found many areas where I could do some improvement, including dividing up the interlocking its less so there are larger pieces of plastic for larger surface area contact and fixing my laser cut file so there wouldn’t be overlapping lines. I also wanted to imitate the 3D crystal puzzles I’ve built before that were a singular colour. My first version was made entirely out of clear acrylic and there were comments saying it made it hard to read the text, or to see the center interlocking puzzle piece. I also found that the acrylic glue was a very visible eyesore. After my second round of laser cutting, I decided to use ox white acrylic (essentially translucent cloudy white acrylic, like frosted glass) and everything went a lot smoother. I was also faster at gluing the 4 layers together and with higher accuracy.

I meant for the facts to be engraved onto each puzzle piece, but was once again limited by the cost. I preferred the clean look of laser cutting, but in the end, I had to make do and print on transparent sticker paper. The first attempt I made didn’t go too well as the size of the stickers were a little off (in the file they are the same as the puzzle pieces) but due to laser cutting shaving off a few mm, it ended up being wonky or stuck out from the puzzle pieces. When the pieces were combined together, the text in some places wasn’t too legible or was folded into the crevice between pieces thus hiding entire letters. In the end, I figured out a technique where you stick an entire strip across a row, then once the position is set, take a cutter and slice down where the puzzle pieces separate. This created the perfect ‘fact sticker sheet’ for each puzzle piece.

I then made a ‘mystery pyramid’ packaging. This is to further strengthen my concept of retrodiction. By having to collect and build each layer and level one by one, it follows the process of retrodiction, through the gathering of information and sifting it to discern its value. The packaging was designed to match the same style as my 2D and 4D with solid slabs of colour and a tri-tonal colour palette. I also wanted to have the sand on each side of the pyramid face look as if it was endlessly and seamlessly flowing from one side to another. That was a tricky one to figure out as it required a lot of maneuvering the shapes. I also had initially decided on a different kind of ’sticker’ to make sure the box was sealed off from prying fingers. I wanted to use individual stickers for each side of the flap but aesthetically it did not work. I settled on a long strip across the two opening flaps.

In the end, everything came together much much better than I had hoped. The only problem was the accuracy and some puzzle pieces weren’t as tight fitting or were too loose. Conceptually, I feel that my idea worked great, but when put into practice with such a high chance of human error, it wasn’t as smooth.

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The Glass Garden