Dakota Chang

Mr. Casey A. Smith

ART308 Graphic Design

28 March 2022

Rubric: Self Evaluation

What did you choose to represent in your headshots?

I chose to represent my values of innovation and passion, my love for technology and animation, and my innate nerdy-ness in my headshots. I photoshopped a pair of my favorite headphones, a pair of glasses with anime eyes, a pixelated heart, a cartoon lightbulb, and a pair of arms onto the image. The headphones and glasses represent the tech-loving, geeky parts of me. The glasses also have animated eyes on them, alluding to my love for animation and displaying a sense of humor. Alongside my glasses is the pixelated heart located on my left chest. I am often described as very passionate in what I do, and this heart represents my love for my work. It also references pixels and fits the retro-tech vibe of the background. On top of my head is a cartoon lightbulb. It represents my playful, innovative spirit and highlights my values of being inventive. I utilized the burn and dodge tool to make the lighting look more realistic with the headshot.

Finally, the two arms. While they serve the functional purpose of having the headshot not cut off weirdly, they hold more meaning than that. Although it is not as apparent thanks to the sweatshirt, I made sure that the arms were wide open and facing the audience, signifying my friendliness and openness to new things. I want the reader to feel as if they are welcomed into the book and my life.

How did your solution for the dust cover complement the headshots?

Since many of my headshot elements allude to my love for retro-tech (headphones are DT770 pro 80 ohm was first released in 1985), I decided to use old technology as a theme. The background is a windows 95 OS, and I displayed the images and summary using an error message, with code on top that is easy to read and tells the reader to follow their passion. The flaps also had respective app icons on them. The apps were carefully chosen to be things relating to my life. Their placement also makes it feel like the reader is using the computer, and opening the book is just a way to access a hidden app folder.

What was successful/challenging about the project?

Challenging parts of this project include finding the right background and placement for everything. I quickly learned that designs feel very different on a computer screen and on paper, so I had to print them out and annotate them many times to know what works and what doesn't. It was also rather hard to grasp how much content is too much. I often have the urge to fill all the white space, despite recognizing the importance of not over-saturating the cover. However, more manageable parts of the project include learning to use photoshop. While I do not use photoshop routinely, I am pretty familiar with adobe illustrator and similar apps. My skills in these applications allowed me to use many functions and not be restricted by the technology. I also memorized many keyboard shortcuts, so the workflow was nice.