#course reflection

I think I definitely read about games, wrote about games, played games and designed games. The final project connected all the principles of game design and pipeline together. I found myself having to help with many different aspects in order to compensate for the amount of work we had to finish within the month. 

We all knew going into development that we wanted to build something new that we worried might be considered out of our scope. We spent a lot of time discussing the story and using the plot descriptions to pull out mechanics that would tie in with the themes of the story. I appreciated all my teammates for investing so much of their time and effort into this game. I learned the importance of communication when it comes to group projects. The creation process was definitely so smooth because questions were always asked, progress was always shared and issues were always addressed professionally as a team. 

It was very fun to learn how to use Unity as an artist. Actually laying the night levels taught me a lot of how I should format and prepare any art assets I make in the future. It helped me understand how to make the programmer’s lives easier since I was able to see the assets from their perspectives. I’m also glad I had the opportunity to do the level designs with the helpful puzzle ideas of one of my teammates. As an artist I was glad that all the platforms I drew worked perfectly together and I only had to make a few more variations in the end. Thank you for this semester!

  The psychology of one’s gender is personal in both its experience and expression. Throughout this course, you have discussed the psychology of gender, its origins, and its impact on your life both personally and professionally. This course has also provided you with rich readings that are the foundation to further learning.

Based on your experiences of this course, respond to the following:

Exp…

Week 12; How amazing that 12 weeks passed in a blink of an eye already…I kind of feel like I just started my first year of Uni yesterday, haha.

In this last lecture, Andy presented a slideshow with all the memories from our activities this semester. The photos on-screen made me reflect the things that I’ve taken out and learnt from this course. I feel that from the workshops and lectures, my knowledge as a designer has expanded quite positively.

I think the most memorable moments from this course would be the workshops. I really enjoyed experimenting with the materials that Andy and Bronwyn had offered as the activities really allowed me to think out of the box and explore creativity in another perspective. I also liked the fact that we were able to have teamwork in most of the activities as it really helped for the cohort to become closer to each other.

Of course, there’s a daunting side of this course as well…that is the Ask Me Anything task. The assessment really put me out of my comfort zone as I had to interview a creative that inspired me. I’ve never done anything like this before so it was quite an intimidating experience to be the interviewer myself. Of course, I could’ve chosen someone close to me to interview, but I really wanted to take on Andy’s advice and challenge myself to interview someone I really don’t know personally. As a result of the project, I’ve gain confidence in myself, as I was able to reach and contact the creative that I wanted to interview.

At the beginning of the semester, I imagined reading about writing. I expected to read about learning how to write effectively and as it turns out, I was right. I’m not complaining, I enjoyed learning new things about writing and incorporating them into my own writings for the course. 

Some of the main ideas we wrote about were about reading, summarizing, and arguing effectively in order to get your point across and knowing what to read about to get the right kind of information you need to be successful in your writing purpose. As I continue writing, I will most likely be developing my reading, researching, and arguing skills. Throughout my college career, I will be writing a lot of papers for many more classes and will most likely write academic journals and what have you. I will be researching a lot on specific topics and read other academic journals and books in order to attain any information I need to write my own paper.

What have you learned this semester?

Knowledge and Action are often not connected in a academic setting.

How has your view of the world changed or been reinforced?

Cisgender folks do pay trans folks for work but in a complicated and in prescriptive manner. 

How will you continue to increase your knowledge of transgender studies after the course is over?

This is a silly question to ask a trans person that is in conversation with many folks around Chicago and at UIC. I am doing this by considering the ways to find to get folks to be more open and non judgemental , be less punitive and hopefully that will allow some conversation that will allow for long term support for Chicago trans folks both in and out of UIC.

Practically speaking :

I am writing a book about being trans:  

I will challenge my UIC peers to set more realistic goals that support trans folks in the midwest and especially Chicago.

I will practice self care in a more committed and consistent manner.

Read more bell hooks aloud with friends.

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General Refections:

This semester I learned that this classes goals and learning outcomes were copy and pasted into the syllabus. I would like to question this practice of movement building, of liberation. Liberation is a effort that takes resources, time being one of these.

I learned that it is common practice and accessible to talk about topic issues, read single chapters that are complex from several books but I wonder if this class could of contributed to more long term solutions that support and address trans culture at UIC and in Chicago.

Text is such a beautiful form of sharing knowledge. Yet I don’t know if this is how a movement begins and sustains itself especially in Chicago , especially at UIC if this knowledge that is shared is not considered in way that contributes to a long term goal context.

Currently UIC has no long term support group for trans folks at UIC. If there is trans culture it happens with someone on stage or through a text.

Housing is still unstable and expensive , we talk about this in class yet I don’t know who is working on this at UIC. We talked about sexual assault support at UIC but didn’t talk about how this is center for cisgender strait couples.

Being a transgender woman at UIC is isolating and exhausting. Being transgender at UIC is fashioned in such a way that is unsustainable because of the way knowledge and action are disconnected to long term goals.  Being woman , who is transgender , is more of a short term isolated moment, that is simply for copy and pasted goals.  

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Actionable Items

1) Get >$150 k  together through community support and grant writing

                ( Expected work load 4hrs a week w/ 2-4 people for 5 years)

2) Use funds for housing , surgery support, and consultation towards sincere and sustainable trans culture for student and chicago community UIC members.  

                        (Expected work load 4hrs a week w/ 2-4 people for 5 years)

1) How has each course contributed to your personal and professional development as a media designer?

Month 1: Master: Personal Development & Leadership – This course helped me to define my goals and outcomes throughout the entire program. The program was definitely a great stepping stone into the graduate level from being an undergraduate a few months prior to the start of the program.

 Month 2: Defining Client Needs – This course contributed to my connection of design and business. Even though I received a degree in Marketing, being able to apply my knowledge from a designers stand point helped to change my perception on advertising and the importance that each factor contributes. When designing for a client, we need to focus on their needs of their customers and truly connect with them on a specified level.

 Month 3: Brand Development – This course helped me to fully understand what a brand is and the purpose and meaning it provides towards the success of that business. Being a Marketing major during my undergraduate, I didn’t consider the importance of branding and its contribution to success rather than just the company’s stand point within the market.

 Month 4: Effective Copywriting – This course helped establish a connection and the importance between verbal and visual communication. Whether the work I create in the future is personal or professional, continuously establishing this connection within my designs will help with the success of their implementation. 

 Month 5: Design Research – Having already known the importance of research for Marketing, understanding that the same importance goes towards design has helped to strengthen my understanding of what it takes to be a successful media designer. After recently learning the purpose that design is meant to uphold, design research allows for those purposes to be developed and implemented with success.

 Month 6: Organizational Structures – Having to develop a narrative and being able to accurately communicate it through a few different platforms was something I was not use to. Having to maintain consistency and ensure the same message is perceived was in fact a challenge but a challenge that has benefited me both throughout the program and at my own job as well with maintaining consistency.

 Month 7: Design Strategies & Motivations – My strongest take away from this course was answering our client’s questions before they were asked, specifically through the use of a style guide. Before diving into the course, I assumed you only design and answered what is asked of you. However, designing and answering the questions that the client may have when it comes time to present the work shows that as a designer I know what I am doing and it can boost the chance of my success.

 Month 8: Design Integration – Being able to display my work in an organized manner from including campaign assets within the final presentation of the Transmedia Campaign for Launchpad has enhanced my organization and presentation skills. This is something that will be utilized continuously as a media design and within my current position as a Marketing Manager.

 Month 9: Multi-Platform Integrations – As the pace had increased throughout this course, it helped to develop a real world comparison of how we must manage projects as a media designer. At first it was perceived as a bit of a challenge that our time would be cut in half for our brand development, however it definitely helped to adjust my time management and organization skills

 Month 10: Measuring Design Effectiveness – As research is important in the beginning stages of brand development, so is measuring the effectiveness our designs from that research. Doing so has really allowed us to remove our personal instincts and truly listen to the community that our designs are intended to attract.

 Month 11: Thesis: Presentation of Design Strategies – Understanding the importance of visually storytelling and how it influences the audience, especially the key decision makers, is crucial to being a successful media designer. As presenting our work and findings happens continuously in this line of work, being able to present our materials in an engaging manner is key to successfully proposing our ideas.

 Month 12: Professional Practices – This course has definitely helped me to start a firm foundation to continuously share my work with others and potentially land another job closer to my goals. Being able to create a portfolio to display my work throughout the program and as I continue forward. Being someone who is rather private and does not like to share my life or my work to the world, this has definitely helped me to branch out of that bubble. 

2) How well were you able to utilize the concepts and techniques you learned from the program (theories, design process, and the creation of multimedia content) as you designed, developed, and completed your MDMFA Thesis Project?

Throughout the entire development of my MDMFA Thesis Project, a variety of techniques and concepts were utilized. From research and critical thinking to strategic placement and color coding for easy access. The information discussed throughout the campaign book was developed based of the research and analysis of the target market. The flow of the book not only relates to the company in relation to plant growing, it relates to the growth of the company throughout the campaign. Each element within the final project incorporates the company’s core values and was designed to reflect the fun, upbeat lifestyle that Urban Gardens To-Go represents. The campaign book was designed to excite and inform the success of the proposed campaign. The biggest challenge in designing a successful campaign was managing time to complete the project. Thankfully, the resources and tools provided to assist us helped to bring new techniques and ideas to the table throughout the project.  

3) Describe your most outstanding personal triumph in each course.

Month 1: Master: Personal Development & Leadership – Establishing a plan and goals to achieve throughout the program is the most outstanding triumph for this course. Doing so, helped create an ease and pace to program and helped to prepare me for the future courses.

 Month 2: Defining Client Needs – I gained the sense that even when you are planning towards a specific goal, you may not end up with the results you originally hoped for, and that is ok. Grasping the importance of trial and error both on and off the screen, set a good pace for me as a designer to move forward with.

 Month 3: Brand Development – The most outstanding triumph for this course is that everything and anything can be branded, including myself. Through a personal brand brief, we had evaluated ourselves from both a professional and personal level. Considering myself in this manner broaden my understanding of the importance of branding and to ensure that I as a designer, brand myself.

 Month 4: Effective Copywriting – Design is intentional. This is something that I never really considered up until this point. I had always considered art as a hobby, whether it be drawing, illustrating or photography. Something that was done for fun and not with a purpose. I never really made the connection or understood the difference between art and design until this course. This definitely changed my perspective in an extremely helpful way for the remainder of the program. 

 Month 5: Design Research – In this course, we began to dive into the importance of critiquing our peers work. Reading and writing critiques has allowed me to step back from my own designs and look at them from another point of view to ensure that I am sticking to my standards and guidelines as well as what to focus on improving next. 

 Month 6: Organizational Structures – Being a media designer is more than just being able to put together a design that looks nice, it is being also being able to explain why those designs elements fit to your campaign and how they will influence success. Something I definitely was not use to but I as we moved forward with the program I began to speak about my processes and why it works with ease.

 Month 7: Design Strategies & Motivations – This was the first time I had every developed a logo. It was in fact challenging at first considering all the factors that make up a harmonic logo. Going into the logo development I definitely overthought the process and allowed my work to be more complex than it needed to be. However, with a bit of critical thinking and through trial and error, the simplest design displayed the strongest connection to the company narrative.

 Month 8: Design Integration – The strongest accomplishment for myself within this course is the development of the TV Spot. Although the first time I had used After Effects was for the Dynamic Mood Board for Launchpad, developing the TV Spot was much more in-depth and time consuming. Being new to the software, I didn’t realize how every little detail plays a role in the development, and it was extremely rewarding to develop a successful campaign in the end.

Month 9: Multi-Platform Integrations – The pace in which we took for this course really forced us to step back and critically think about every design choice we made. Being that time was of the essences, critiquing wasn’t as readily available to assist ourselves. Knowing that I was able to research and develop our beginning stages of our thesis project strongly helped the further development of the project tremendously.

 Month 10: Measuring Design Effectiveness – Developing a consistent brand can be tricky if it is something you don’t do that often. Through the use of surveying, the effectiveness of my developed brand began to increase as my target audience successfully reacted to the materials presented to them. This was really rewarding to me to see that what I developed actually met the needs of the audience I hoped to attract.

 Month 11: Thesis: Presentation of Design Strategies – Although visual storytelling is a guide to successfully presentation our findings, learning how to attract an emotional connection with the key decision maker has definitely helped enhance my presentation skills as well as my confidence. Throughout my undergraduate I was always extremely nervous presenting my work to others. Throughout this entire program, being able to share my work and feeling confident in what I have created is definitely the most rewarding!

As a media designer, every aspect branding from the research to the presentation requires adequate attention and must always relate back to the brand and the brand’s core meanings to maintain consistency. This course has taught us many things regarding the importance of visual story telling and ensuring that our presentations can reach and relate to the key decision makers. There are three main factors that I have taken away from this course and will carry with myself throughout my career as a media designer. 

1. Design with intention - When designs are created with a purpose a piece of work has a stronger flow and effect on those who view it. Every element is created with a purpose that relates back to the brand and campaign.  2. Draw an emotional connection - Drawing an emotional connection on both a target audience and presentation audience allows for success as a business as well as gaining a new client. Humans find ease and comfort when there is something they can relate to. 3. Use visual story telling as a guide - Story telling is a key factor in drawing an emotional connection with an audience. Through visual story telling, the audience will begin to formulate their own connections and meaning to the story and can focus on the important factors being presented. 

The Urban Gardens To-Go’s Campaign Book consists of many different factors for the company. From start up research to a plan for the future, the Urban Gardens To-Go campaign book displays the effectiveness of the brands image and meaning.

Campaign Book - CLICK TO VIEW

The Urban Gardens To-Go Brand Vision Book was design to excite and influence the viewer of the company and their story. 

I enjoyed this class immensely and I truly believe that it has enlightened me more than I could possibly hope for. Through the readings and my research project I feel like I have learned an invaluable amount of information. I have learned the hardships that many transgender people face from the very beginning of their lives till the end. I have learned that transgender youth are more susceptible to becoming homeless once they express their gender identity to their parents. I have learned that because of this rate of homelessness their is also a higher risk for transgender youth to engage in survival work that can potentially land them in prison. 

I have learned that the system chooses to filter transgender people into the prison industrial complex instead of providing necessary resources for survival to transgender people. Transgender people often suffer from inadequate healthcare and job discrimination due to their gender identity. This research has opened my eyes to the injustices of every day life and I truly believe that it will drive me to help change these injustices. I will actively pursue social media accounts and events on campus that pertain to transgender issues in order to keep my knowledge up to date and to offer my assistance.