Hi Everyone!
I am super excited to be starting as the new Graphic Design blogger. As much fun as the Student Spotlight was, this is a new and exciting opportunity and I hope you guys enjoy my posts!
Why Design for Yourself?
While designing for others can be fun and exciting, designing for yourself can be really rewarding and help you find more about yourself. It can help you find the things you like, and the things you enjoy creating. Also, designing for yourself can simply help you learn more about the programs you’re working in. One of the best ways I have learned how to use specific features in programs is by just experimenting.
How Should I Design for Myself?
Over the summer, I challenged myself to create posters to decorate my new dorm room. I find poster design really intriguing. I love scrolling through Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest since my feed is flooded with different designs. Social media is a good way to spark ideas, it also is a good way to learn different things. You would be surprised how many different things I learned about Illustrator, Photoshop, and how to use a camera on Instagram Reels.
One of the posters was sparked by old Porsche ads (I’m not sure if I can show the older ads, due to copyright, but if you’re curious you can search “Vintage Porsche Ads” and you’ll most likely be able to find what I am talking about). They are very simplistic, usually black and white designs with very striking, in-your-face typefaces with catchy phrases. My boyfriend drives a 1989 Toyota, so I knew I wanted to base it on that car. I looked through the photos I had taken of his car and landed on this one.
I took the photo, removed the background, and converted it into black and white. I added my text, and wrote a blurb about the car, like they did in the older ads. Below is the final design.
I had a lot of fun creating this poster! I created this in Canva, which I know is a big controversy in the design world lol… But, I wanted to see how the program was and wanted to make myself familiar with it! For my second poster, I based this on a song that I had been listening to a lot at the time. I also created this one on Canva since I was still experimenting with it. I based the poster on Taylor Swift’s “Invisible Strings”. I really love the lyrics and knew I wanted to create something based on it. This was an easier design, so there is not much to tell you about it. I wanted it to be simple, and I really enjoyed the radial gradient that I chose to pair with it.
Future Projects
One of the things I enjoy doing is writing down all the ideas I have. I write these down in the notes app in my phone. This way, if I am too busy to do it that week, I can come back when I have more time. The notes app goes on and on. But, I think this is a really good thing to do. You can always come back when you’re less busy, and you know you’ll have ideas to work on if you’re feeling uninspired.
For my next project, I am hoping to create more car graphics. I was in New York City this past weekend for a car event (this is what happens when you’re a photographer and your boyfriend loves cars 😅). I really enjoyed how the photos turned out and I plan to make some fun graphics/posters with these pictures.
Thank you for reading! Hopefully, the next time I write I will have some more poster designs for you!