Fall semester has already kicked off for Colorado Mountain College students. Classes began August 29th and many of us are already in over our heads with assignments. I know for second year graphic design students, we’re in for a long and busy semester. Many of us are trying to graduate in May and we have to start working on portfolio pieces. This leads me into my title, applying graphic design to the real world.
Last school year we were mainly working on pieces just for our class assignments. We were trying to learn the software and then apply what we learned in projects. However, this year we are actually completing projects for actual jobs. Which is exciting but stressful at the same time.
Last year, our clients were our teacher and this year we have actual clients we’re trying to please. Our first real world assignment was to create four posters for the four theatre productions at Colorado Mountain College. We were supposed to complete all four in about a week. This was my first assignment where I was really under a short deadline.
Working under pressure is definitely different from working leisurely on something whenever you want. Working within such a short time doesn’t really allow much room for perfection or a huge amount of creativity.
For my individual design process, this assignment really stretched me. I am someone who likes to spend my time and doing my best for an assignment. However, in the real world, you don’t have the luxury of spending hours and hours on a project. Normally, you would think that the more time someone spends on a project the better it will be. Ironically, this isn’t really the case. A person could spend eight hours designing a project and still not be satisfied with it or on the other hand someone else could spend maybe half the time and design something incredible.
It really depends on the designer. For me, I felt like I actually did a better job on my projects because I didn’t have the time to obsess over tiny details. I am perfectionist when it comes to my designs so for me to complete four huge posters in a week was definitely a challenge. So, how did the assignment turn out? I completed three of the four posters on time and now I am working on the fourth. The theatre department will be looking over the designs and then will decide which ones they want to use. So, I’m crossing my fingers that at lease one of my designs will be picked! I will keep you all posted on how it turns out!
Behind the Screen 