Hello guys! I hope everyone is having a great holiday break. My name is Cecelia Otis, and I am taking over as the new Graphic Design blogger from blogger Emma Kim. I am excited to get started talking about my work and classes, but I thought it would be a good idea to reflect on my progress during the fall semester and share some of my favorite projects.

I am in my third year as a graphic design student, so this semester, I wanted to try to push myself more as a designer and really try to focus on the little things. One of my classes was Advanced Typography with Prof. Christine Medley. Although I did not have her for my first typography class, I really enjoyed how she conducted the material and helped me see things in my work that I might have overlooked. My favorite project from this semester was designing my own typeface based upon the history of Scranton. I took inspiration from the Ritz Theater in Downtown Scranton, as well as the old “Scranton Welcomes You” sign seen in The Office. This was a very big project in the class, but after it was done, I was extremely proud of my work. Here is the Typeface Specimen poster I made for my typeface, as well as some other projects from Advanced Typography.

Another one of my classes this semester was Basic Photography with Prof. Peter Nardone. I have previously taken a Color Photography class with Prof. Sue Jenkins a few semesters ago, but this course requirement slipped through the cracks and I had to catch up a bit this semester. That being said, I did have some previous photography knowledge going into the class. However, I learned so much from Peter about lighting, composition, and photography in general. His insight and advice throughout class was very helpful and made me a better photographer. Here are some of my favorite photos that I took for this class.

In my semester planning, I also had another class that I needed to catch up with, which was Two-Dimensional Design with Prof. Georisell Vazquez. Being a graphic design student, I don’t really get the chance to exercise my physical drawing and painting skills in an academic setting. However, this class allowed me to use those skills and create some really awesome pieces. During the class, there was such a great sense of community and comfort, and I had a great time coming up with concepts for my projects. Here are some of the projects I created for Two-Dimensional Design.

Reflecting on my time at Marywood so far, I can definitely say that I have improved as an artist and graphic designer. I am so happy that I chose this school and community to pursue my career and push myself out of my comfort zone. Just for fun, here are some of my favorite projects from previous semesters that I am very proud of.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my first blog post! I had a great time writing it and reflecting on my projects and progress over the last few semesters. I hope everyone is having an amazing winter break, and we’ll see each other back on campus in January! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

– Cecelia