Reflective Poetry: A Visual Poetics Project

After a rather long hiatus, I'm back in the midst of the end of the semester crunch with a unique hybrid of trending DIY projects! The purpose of this piece is to not only serve as my final project for my Visual Poetics course but also as an endeavor into an interactive element of poetry. In order to accomplish this I explored two very popular DIY techniques, chalk board paint and glass etching. These mediums in combination with quotes and prompts allowed me to achieve the interactive element I set out to achieve.

Two quotes and typographic styles that inspired the project.

An Introduction to Logo Design

One of the most important factors that drew me to the graphic design field was my initial exposure to visual communication. I loved the idea of a company's mission, industry, product, and service all shrunk down into a single wordmark or abstract shape. It's this love that leads me to believe that everyone should consider having their own logo. Having a personal logo is a great way to brand yourself to employers and can really make that resume of yours pop. Whether you're itching to create one yourself or are looking to outsource the work, this post should still provide you with some handy tips and tricks!

 Recognize this guy? This logo created for

 me by a friend was the basis for my CV logo.

Blackout: A Beginner's Attempt at Poetry

Today I'd like to discuss yet another class based project of mine, shocker I know.  It's called blackout poetry.  No it does not entail drinking an ungodly amount until you can actually create something worthy of poetry (although that would be quite entertaining) instead it is the process of taking a page full of words and making it your own. Magazines, newspapers, books, posters, anything that has enough text to inspire poetry is a good place to start.  In Austin Kleon's words "treat these pages as if it was a word search", finding unique and inspire words throughout until a poem comes to life. Circle these words and blackout the rest and before you know it, voila, Blackout poetry. To learn more about blackout poetry check out this video detailing Austin Kleon's process.

Austin Kleon - Nine to Five 

(personally I love what he does with horoscopes, but I'm a astrology buff)

First Things First...

The first and most important thing you need to know about me is that I am absolutely obsessed with patterns and color, especially when derived from nature or organic shapes. Lilly, Vera, you name it, I've got it! When I go to work or class I bring my printed laptop case and purse and then, of course, you take into account my floral wallet, checkbook cover, and pens inside the bag. And that's when I realize how truly pathetic I am! A few semesters ago I took a color theory course. The course long project was open to interpretation with the minimal guidelines of combining one of six color schemes with one of 6 words to create a set of cohesive posters.  As soon as this was assigned I knew exactly what I was going to do.  PATTERNS! Now obviously this was the project created especially for me! I had found my chance to finally step into the pattern limelight!