Journal 14

To be fairly honest, this class was a bit of a slap to the face, in a good and bad way. I think there was a lot things that I learned about that I agreed with and already thought of in my time of being a graphic designer, but far more stuff that I have not thought about or didn't even consider regarding art as a whole, not just graphic design art work by itself. I'll try to go over a few of the ones that stand out to me personally in the course of this class.

One thing that has definitely changed in response to taking this class is how I presive art works, especially classic art works. I definitely think it helps that I was forced to study art pieces from the Renaissance period corresponded with us talking about Berger's 'Wayd of Seeing'. It really pushed the ideas that he presented in the documentary with other pieces I've seen. It also really put in perspective the idea, like the mans gaze for one, were and still are yo an extent, deeply integrated in art itself.

Another thing within this classes that I really didn't think about is the idea or deeper meaning behind certain symbols. More so, how some of the least noticeable, or what I would assume to be, or least important aspects of the map like the color of certain icons and how the route looks are still consciously or subconsciously being tinkered with to persuade the reader.

The last think i wanted to mentioned that really struck me hard, and one that I feel kind of incompasses the entire semester in this class is how I personally analyze and see media. Coming in to this class, I'll be frank, I thought I had a pretty decent mindset regarding how I perceived media and art, almost as if I knew pretty much what this class would offer. However, throughout my time here, I found that THAT statement was grossly overstated, to an extent. I felt that as week talked about new subjects and presented new projects, I was constantly being challenged with not only what ideas and opinions I formed, but also how I should express them. I'll definitely be the first to admit, public speaking is not my strong suit at all, but it was definitely easier here since it was mostly over things I found interesting and easy to talk about. However, I found that the question I was asking (specifically with the analysis project) was too unclear or indecisive or that I wasn't able to get my thoughts and ideas out clearly (specifically for the Introduction Presentation)

Overall, this class has taught me a lot, in more ways then the 3 I just mentioned, and I believe I still have a lot of which to work on. Its was a challenge, but definitely one that I dont regret taking. Im sure that quite a bit of what I learned will be used in the future and for personal projects of mine.