Month: January 2023

Last week, SCCA alum and designer Andrew Nedimyer spoke with our class about his journey. Starting from his beginnings as a skate park designer, to enrolling at SCCA, starting his own studio and now working as a product designer, Andrew shared a lot of his wisdom with us that was quite inspiring. He also spoke a bit about the importance of personal projects, and that really resonated with me.

Since joining the program, I have become incredibly interested in the world of computer graphics and 3D, and how I can use those tools to help my designs tell a story. During winter break, I began tinkering around with the program Cinema 4D, which is considered the industry standard in the world of 3D, especially for product visualizations which is something I want to get good at. My progress so far has been a bit stagnant, mostly due to the overwhelming nature of 3D, but Andrew’s talk has inspired me to go for it even more.

The personal project I want to complete is to create a visualization of one of my school projects. To do this, I need to dedicate the time to properly learn and understand the program. As a beginner, it’s not easy to jump in and create the things I want, so I will be stuck in tutorial hell until I am comfortable enough with Cinema 4D to use it in my own way. Luckily, YouTube provides excellent tutorials and content, ranging from beginner to advanced. I am also lucky to be a part of a community of 3D artists through Discord, who share plenty of resources, help and encouragement. The only thing holding me back right now is a lack of discipline. I think the only way to combat this is to dive right in.

While I have some basics under my belt after doing some tutorials over the break, I plan to increase the frequency of learning by doing at least four hours a week of a Cinema 4D course I found. Since this course is laid out in a way that starts you off with the basics, it should be easy to follow through.

After becoming comfortable, I want to create a visualization of the packaging product assigned to us by Jill. (I have not decided on which product to design, but plan to this weekend.) I want to at least work on it for two hours a week, once I am comfortable enough in Cinema 4D. I don’t plan to turn this in along with the project, as that might add a little bit of unnecessary stress upon me this quarter, but I would like to complete it during our spring break.

Other than the time needed, I believe I have all the resources I need to execute this idea. I am currently on the student plan for Cinema 4D, which brings costs down to $20 a year; an absolute steal of a price. It also comes with other tools, and the popular render engine Redshift, so nothing is barring me from creating professional renders.

Last week, we had the producer and director Abdul Kassamali present to our class. He covered his process, the work and detail that goes into producing his work, as well as some stories of how a perfect plan can sometimes go awry. In one of these stories, he spoke about having to deal with flight and baggage issues, as well as one of his featured talents contracting COVID. Abdul had to think quickly in these situations, and while they messed with the schedule and timeline he had planned for completing this project, he was able to pull it off. 

During my time here at SCCA, I have had to work on many group projects, and sometimes step into the (self-assigned) role of project manager. Most projects have gone smoothly, but I still have issues conveying what I mean, as well as keeping myself and others accountable. One of the skills I want to develop more is being assertive, as this is essential for navigating the workplace. In the beginning, I honestly disliked group projects. But as we have progressed, I can see myself moving into a senior role at a company, and managing others. Before, I only thought I’d be comfortable in a mid-level position.

While things usually go according to plan, sometimes we are faced with curveballs. I experienced this in my New Media class, with the instructor Courtney Comfort. We were put into assigned groups, and tasked to create a park finder app in a timeline of 5-6 weeks. My entire group was new to using Figma, and it was definitely a challenge to keep up with. During the last two weeks, one of my classmates informed us that he would be leaving the program. This was a bit disheartening to hear, as he was a talented classmate and I thought we’d see each other grow and push through this program. This also left a bit of a hole in our plans for completing the project, as the workload had to be further divided up. The project was tough to complete, and I had to pull an all-nighter or two to get it all completed. This experience was a clear reminder that even well-planned projects can have issues, and that it is important to approach situations like this calmly, and with an even better plan. 

I feel like this experience definitely helped me with my project management skills, and overall, I am proud of the work my group and I produced considering the circumstances.

It is now winter quarter!

Last week, we had the talented food photographer and 3D artist Steve Hansen present to our class about his work, and the power of 3D. Steve primarily works in Houdini, using the Pixar Renderman engine to render his work. His work is also heavily informed by his knowledge of photography, since working in a 3D space emulates real life. This talk was especially fascinating to me, as I am currently learning the software Cinema 4D, and hope to use 3D in my work. I am especially excited about 3d, because it will offer me a new way to present my concepts and ideas, rather than relying on static mockups. 

For this week’s post, we were asked to create food/food packaging.  I initially planned to use some 3D in this, but I was swamped with other responsibilities and procrastinated a bit. I decided to make a simple soda can, using Illustrator, and a can mockup in Photoshop.