Month: January 2023

I like the idea of having personal projects, but the problem I’ve always had is in following through and completing the few projects I manage to start. I have always found it really hard to find or make time for personal projects in the past as I usually feel worn out due to work or other aspects of life and the ever present lack of knowing what exactly I would like to be working on. For as long as I’ve been trying to work as a graphic designer I’ve struggled with my portfolio, I have never known what to make to put in it and no mater how hard I try to think of a drawing, animation, vector image, logo, or whatever I always end up drawing a blank. I’ve used tools like the daily logo challenge to try to spark my imagination, but eventually I run out of steam because of time or energy limitations.

I think the most practical personal project I could start working on is an overhaul of my profile website, but it might be more practical to wait until I am further into my time at the Creative Academy so that I can have some more projects worth showing off. The organization of my current website could use some help. I have once section with a bunch of projects, but it is not clear from the home screen that multiple items can be found by following that link, making my home page look more sparse that it really is.

I would like to revisit the daily logo challenge. The last time I started it I used it as an excuse to get more practice creating motion graphics. I love the process of working with motion design in Adobe After Effects, but the amount of work it takes to create a logo and then find a way to animate it is a lot and I have a hard time imagining being able to find time to work on anything like that around all the projects we have while attending classes for school.

When it comes to projects I’ve had to pivot on during my time at the creative academy, I think of my first assignment for the New Media AR/VR module. We were tasked with using the EyeJack app tool for creating interactive experiences by creating a .gif file that would play on your phone after scanning a QR code and then pointing your camera at an anchor image.

I wanted to give myself a challenge for this project. I had started to teach myself to use After Effects in the process of character rigging. I had wanted to explore this skill for some time having had to pass up a potential job offer where it would be necessary. I had begun to work on a project teaching myself to use the Duik plug-in for Adobe After Effects, but had lost momentum and was looking for an excuse to begin working on it again.

It wasn’t until I was most of the way through the process of character rigging that I realized that I had messed up and either needed to go back and start from the beginning with a completely new character or amend what I had envisioned for my animation. Once I had started trying to animate my character I became aware that the advice I had ignored when creating my character, to make them at three-quarters perspective (my character was head on) had been given for a reason. I expect that there is a way to rig a model head on, but as someone going through the process for the first time and using a tutorial that specifically suggested that I create a character a specific way, did not have the resources required to make that work.

I knew I didn’t have enough time to create a new model or edit the one I had created, so the only thing I could change was the animation itself. What I had hoped to make was a woman rollerskating towards the camera, rocking back and forth from skate to skate. The tone was supposed to be relaxed, simple, and elegant.