If you had to give one piece of advice to a student just getting into the gdes program, what would it be?

So I took another poll today in my first two classes. And i think it's funny when you ask a student to answer this question, they can start writing right away. Then you ask a teacher and they look at you, intrigued with many things gears turning in their minds, and they say, "Hmm. I'll email you." Well, here are a few more answers from the junior class.

Survey says

I wonder if this image is bigger when you click on it. But anyway I took a poll on a random number of student in my classes today and here's what they said.

Some of these I agree with, some I can't relate (like the double major), and some I think need a little more explanation. Even though it is necessary to have a mac for gdes, I know someone who had a pc (but certainly had the adobe programs) for the first 2 semesters who did great work.

As for mind maps; I never thought stuff like that was important. Even in AFO and the last school I transfered from, I thought of my sketch book as a book for sketches. Meaning: that it was just a book to draw pictures and practice your perspective drawings. Your sketchbooks are like the origin of your projects so you should use it to it's potential. Seriously, if you have an idea, no matter how dumb you think it is, just write it down somewhere where you'll see it again later. The way I work with mind maps and other process work is, I have an idea and i write it down and then that idea triggers another idea thats just as good or even better, and then that idea spurs another, and so on and so on til I'm satisfied on my topic for, say, my next project. It'll exercise your creativity and keep a record of your ideas and plans. Also, it makes for a great conversation piece.

And using your hands is something I agree with. Only recently I've gotten back to drawing things by hand. Granted, I scan them into my computer to manipulate them on photoshop and illustrator. But. There is this personal quality when you use your hands to make something, like a drawing, or something handwritten, or sewn, or crafted. It's very enriching to know you've done something physically to progress into your project.

As for thinking about your portfolio. Yea, portfolio reviews are stressful. So, once you finish a project and there are still more things you want to fix to make it better for review, either do it then and there or make a record of what changes you want to make. Just write a note like, "change the color from blue to light blue, move the title to align with text" and store it with the project so when its time for review, you'll know how to manage. With all honesty, I don't do that. But now that I'm writing it, I think I will and I'm glad I came to that conclusion. See, ideas bring you to better ideas.

"Why is EVERYTHING due on the same date?!"

I don't know where to begin. But I will anyway. In the beginning of my gdes experience, I took each assignment on a day to day basis. For example, homework due on Thursday, I would do Wednesday night, and homework due on Monday, I would do Sunday night. Just like in high school, I wouldn't think about the assignment til the night before.

Bad idea.

One time crunch after another, I've realized that I can't simply isolate when it is design time and when it isn't. Design time is all the time. Which doesn't have to be a bad thing, you and I chose graphic design because we love it and we've got to embrace it. And so, time management is essential. Instead of work days, consider work weeks or work months. Example: "This week I have to finish my book so next week I can go out and have it bound." That's a little drastic, but sometimes gdes is drastic especially when you realize that you had procrastinated on two or three projects that are all due on the same due date...which is tomorrow. Managing time and putting in a certain amount of work on a consistent basis is so ideal, but if you do it, your sleeping pattern will thank you.

Getting Started is the Hardest Part

So.

This blog begins as an assignment for my graphic design senior seminar class, but hopefully it will be of use to other designers, especially to the sophomores fresh into gdes program. This assignment given to me is to create a zine relating to a designer we have researched previously in the semester. If you don't know of Armin Vit and his design-supporting online blogs, you should check out underconsideration.com and underconsideration.com/speakup. On a whim, Armin Vit created a blog called Speak Up in 2001 to rant about his dissatisfaction with design on the internet. Within time however, he gained an audience, a online community, and more websites, all in regard to the subject of design. So, that is what I'd like to do; create a writer-based/reader-supported resource regarding graphic design. To be specific, this blog is meant for the underclassmen of the Virginia Commonwealth University Graphic Design Program. To be general, anyone can read it an probably find some insight. But, within this blog I'd like to share some insight, advice, and stories with valuable lessons about our graphic design program.

If you're interested, here's the article I wrote about Armin Vit for my previous assignment:

Armin Vit, Referenced

Brooklyn resident Armin Vit is a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to graphic design. Graduating in 1995 with a bachelor’s degree in graphic design from Universidad Anahuac in Mexico, this designer now seems to have been there and done that. Armin is a not only a designer, but also a writer, teacher, public speaker, blogger, and family man. Through the years, Armin has added more and more to his juggling act. From his book making talents to working on his web-based network dedicated to the progress of graphic design called UnderConsideration.com, Armin does it all.

Beginning in 1999, when he moved from Mexico City to Atlanta, the Internet had just boomed. Armin worked at marchFIRST, an Internet consulting company while he also taught type design at Portfolio Center. In 2001, when the Internet was no longer booming, Armin and his girlfriend (now wife) Bryony moved to Chicago. There, Armin strengthened his design talents under the firm Norman Design. From the UnderConsideration website, Armin says, “The lack of power in numbers forced me to do many things myself and the three years and change that I was there proved to be quite the formative years for me as a real designer. (As opposed to the lax designer I grew accustomed to at marchFIRST).” Shortly in about a year, Armin’s online graphic design community called Speak Up was born.

Speak Up is now just a branch off of a design network tree. This tree is UnderConsideration and its other branched include Quipsologies, a site full of quips or remarks regarding graphic design; Brand New, a site that focuses on corporate and brand identity; Design Encyclopedia, a collaborative resource that explains the how and why through design; and finally, Department of Design, the provider and developer of all the UnderConsideration printed and digital matter. These five branches have provided resources, and a place to speak for the online graphic design community. And that’s not even the half of it.

Armin and Bryony soon grew tired of Chicago and moved to New York simply for the sake of living in New York. Armin took a job in Decker Design but within six months, he took on a job to be partners with Michael Beirut at Pentagram, an internationally networked design agency. Along with working at a major design agency, he recently spoke at the 2007 UCDA (University of College and Designer’s Association) Design Conference as a part of Pentagram. Moreover, Armin is a teacher at the School of Visual Arts in New York, he has just come out with a new book with his wife called “Word It,” and he is soon to come out with two more books entitled “Women of Design” and “Graphic Design, Referenced.” Armin seems to have climbed the ladder of the design world with ease. But what does someone do when he seems to have done it all? He quits.

As of September 27, 2007 Armin has quit Pentagram after working there for two and a half years. For good reasons, Armin is now shifting focus on UnderConsideration and its branches in order to spend more time with Bryony and their six-month-old daughter Maya. Armin and Bryony are now starting their own design firm as they focus on their online design community, their clients they have kept in touched with, their upcoming books, and especially their daughter.