Design Principles: Final Compilation & Reflection
WEEK 01 - WEEK 14 (24/08/2021 - 26/11/2021)
Adena Tan Sue Lynn (0345769) / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media
Design Principles
Final Compilation & Reflection
Instructions
Exercise 01: Contrast and Gestalt Theory
Exercise 02: Emphasis and Balance
Exercise 03: Harmony and Word & Image
Project 01: Self-Portrait
Project 02: Sense of Place
Final Project: Visual Analysis
Submission
Exercise 01: Contrast & Gestalt Theory
24/08/2021 - 17/09/2021 / Week 01 - Week 04
Exercise 02: Emphasis & Balance
31/08/2021 - 17/09/2021 (Week 02 - Week 04)
Exercise 03: Harmony and Word & Image
07/09/2021 - 01/10/2021 / Week 03 - Week 06
Project 01: Self-Portrait
28/09/2021 - 15/10/2021 / Week 06 - Week 08
Project 02: Sense of Place
19/10/2021 - 31/10/2021 / Week 09 - Week 10
Final Project: Visual Analysis
02/11/2021 - 26/11/2021 / Week 11 - Week 14
Reflection
Experience
Throughout these 14 weeks, Design Principles has made me learn and connect with the different principles intimately to the point I am more confident when creating work. Previously, I used to only create, and guess what principles I had used, with not much confidence in what I was saying. I am grateful to have been able to take this class. I believe it was extremely helpful to have this class in the first semester alongside my other classes, as I probably wouldn't even have a proper guide for myself to express my ideas or concepts properly.
I am also grateful to have been guided by Dr Charles, as his feedback was not only constructive and supportive, but also forced me to think deeper about the principles, and made me realise a lot of things. For example, something he said comes into my mind whenever I do work now: "Are you creating work with the aim of achieving contrast or contrasting something?". It was aimed for us to understand contrast, but it applies to all the other principles. It made me open my eyes to the possibilities if we let it come naturally, allowing it to flow beautifully.
Observations
Design Principles has definitely made me learn to observe and analyse. I used to just think that works were "beautiful" and "outstanding". However, now, I tend to look at work with a different mindset. I try to think why the designer used certain colours, or why they decided to compose something a certain why. I also tend to do that with my own work now! Just staring at my own work, I tend to think about "What if this was coloured differently? Can it bring a better reflection of the meaning behind this piece?". I used to never think like this, but I am grateful to have changed the way I look at things and my mindset.
I also have started looking for the different principles in designs! For example, the first thing I always tend to look for is the balance chosen by the designer, as I always find it so interesting to see how they decided to make it work.
Findings
This class made me find out even more about Design Principles than never before. I used to think that it was weird to have a class to teach it, as it was somewhat mentioned during Foundation. However, I am grateful to learn so much more and with so much clarification with what each principle brings. I used to never be able to tell the difference between Unity and Harmony, simply grouping them together without any thought. It's deeper than that. Maybe it's not completely obvious, but for me, being able to tell them apart better now is so rewarding. With that, I would never have exchanged my time in this class for anything else, as this is information I'll carry with me for the rest of my life.
