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PORTFOLIO 2: PRACTICE

Portfolio 2: Practice: Text

REFLECTIVE ESSAY

This project was a mess from start to finish for me. I have been juggling a lot of projects for the past couple of weeks - trying to rebrand myself and my personal portfolio website, finishing sewn project commissions, keeping up with online courses, as well as trying to find a sublessee for this upcoming semester. Needless to say I have been facing a bit of designer’s block which I think is visible throughout this portfolio. At the start of this project I was thinking of going down a very similar path that I followed for the first portfolio. I think I have consistently been very loyal to the topic of sustainability, fast fashion, and the promotion of DIY culture. For this reason, I think it is hard for me to diverge into new topics. I am so comfortable with this discussion topic, that it just makes sense to keep talking about it. I’d like to point out that I plan to make my final portfolio about something slightly different to give my mind a break from bringing up the same points. As I mentioned before, at the start of my drafting process I was getting a bit stuck, and I decided to stick to prints/advertisements like I did for portfolio one. This idea was shabby and as you’ll see in my composition, it did not survive the class workshop. I completely changed my delivery method into something I don’t do as often, video! 


I struggled a lot with the video editing process. Getting everything uploaded was hellish! It took me a whole day to figure out how to render videos from adobe after effects into a file that was small enough to be uploaded. I ended up having to use only one clip of me making a garment. In the video I am sewing a bucket hat for a client. My idea was to compile footage of all the steps I took to get from raw fabric to a finished product. In my statement of goals and choices, I mentioned I was going to use a “collage style” for my video editing. Due to my problems with rendering, this idea was scrapped. In my composition, there is a gradient progress bar underneath the title that guides the viewer from “raw fabric” to “finished garment”. The original video was supposed to be 10-15 minutes long as that is roughly how long it took me to make the hat. I wanted the viewer to sit through those 10 minutes to really engage with the process of making. I made that garment in the comfort of my own room, while fast fashion workers sit in sweatshops for hours at a time. Sitting through a 10 minute video of someone sewing is nothing compared to the 15+ hours fast fashion workers sew through daily. 


Despite the obstacles I faced during the video editing process, I am actually very proud of how the overall composition turned out. I think I was able to really develop my style as a graphic designer through this experiment. As I mentioned previously, I have been in the process of rebranding myself and my personal portfolio. This means re-coding my website, redesigning / redrawing my resume, and sifting through months and months of design assignments in attempts to make myself employable. I am happy to say that the hectic process of this particular assignment actually led me to a breakthrough in understanding how I design, brand, and work best. The stress I submitted myself to by trying to juggle a bunch of responsibilities at once cured my designers block, I think - And I am excited to jump into the next portfolio with a better understanding of what my style is.

Portfolio 2: Practice: Text

TEXT ARTIFACT:
INFO VIDEO

how would boycotting fast fashion brands affect factory/sweatshop workers?

Portfolio 2: Practice: Text
Portfolio 2: Practice: Video

STATEMENT OF GOALS AND CHOICES

Goals:

I want to encourage the viewer to really think about who makes the clothing we wear and how fair the prices of these stores really are. I also want the viewer to understand the impact of boycotting a fast fashion brand - what will happen to that brand? What will happen to the costs of their products? Would this even help those working at the sweatshops? Are consumers willing to pay a higher price for clothing in exchange for fair treatment of their employers? Who would say no to the previous question? -> low income households for example.

Choices:

At first I wanted to make an advertisement for The Idea Store at urbana. I wanted to promote DIY clothing and their “make art not trash” values. I wanted to use that advertisement in different locations around campus, which is how I would’ve engaged with the spatial mode. After we had the in class workshop, I decided to change my delivery of this message by making a video instead. I think using the aural mode will be a lot more effective as there will be little room for interpretation of the message. I will deliver my message by using a collage style of film editing. I will collect footage of me sewing a garment, while overlaying text information about the fast fashion industry.

Portfolio 2: Practice: Text

IN-PROGRESS WORK

Sketchbook Progress

Like I mentioned in my reflective essay, I think this assignment was a huge step in the right direction for me and my creative work. I chose to showcase my progress in my sketchbook to show how my style has progressed since the start of June. I think my development can also be seen just by comparing my first multimodal composition to this one! I can’t stress enough how excited I am to start the next unit so I can showcase even more advancement in my design skills!

Portfolio 2: Practice: Text
Portfolio 2: Practice: Gallery

REVISED FORUM POST

As my understanding of multimodal compositions has developed throughout the past couple of weeks, I was picking up on the idea that expressing one message across multiple modes of communication is always more effective than just using one. A dynamic composition of text with accompanying imagery or video with complementary audio tends to be more effective than just one of these modes on its own. This week's readings introduced a very important point that multimodality is essential for providing accessibility in media. As someone who believes that watching a movie or show is better with subtitles, as it provides more insight on what is going on and is easier to follow in general, it is important to note that this option would not be available were it not for people advocating for accessibility within visual/audible media. Although the option to watch TV with subtitles was intended to be used as an accessibility tool, it has now become widely accepted amongst “abled” viewers. This made me think about Davis’ “Enforcing Normalcy” as it is a clear example of normalcy changing over time. “Normal TV watching” doesn’t have a one-size-fits-all anymore. As Davis points out “the normal - is a configuration that arises in a particular historical moment” therefore the idea of “normal” is always subject to change over time. Something that really stuck out to me from the second reading, Kerschbaum’s mode section was the design tab as it touched on the subject of accessibility within new media. I am currently majoring in both graphic design and new media so I paid extra close attention to the advice the author provided. For instance she states as one of her concluding statements “Resist the impulse to focus on creating individualized solutions for individual disabilities”. This piece of advice is almost identical to one I received from almost all my professors. Any class that focuses on user centered design claims that designers should focus on the opposite extreme cases for a broad audience, anyone in the middle of that hypothetical spectrum will only benefit from the inclusivity. This is important for everyone to understand because being “able bodied” is not a static state of being. Everyone who reaches old age, will become “disabled” somehow. Therefore disability or being disabled is not a matter of “if” but rather a matter of “when” and making progress towards varied accessibility within media will consequently be beneficial to everyone in the long run. Going back to the advice my professors gave me, of being inclusive of the extremes and the in-betweeners will fend for themselves, I’d like to point out that disabled folk have for ages adapted to the lack of accessibility by either simply avoiding media that was not within their “reach” or creating their own innovative solutions. One of my classmates in her forum post mentioned that she disagrees with the author’s statement “texts and environments are rarely flexible enough to be manipulated by users”. At first I couldn’t see why she disagreed - if someone cannot access a piece of media due to a disability, wouldn’t they just avoid it? But after looking back at the readings and my response I can see why this was wrong. Once again, the obstacles disabled people have had to endure to gain inclusion within media have sparked innovation not retaliation.

underlined = added text

bold = important point that I reread for this revision. I ended up answering my own question, if that makes sense. 

Portfolio 2: Practice: Text
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