Category: Uncategorized

Captain’s Log

Star Date: 04.13.2023

Hockey is for Everyone: Coachella Valley Firebirds.

I went for the desert chrome color scheme for the jersey itself. Then used colors of the desert sunset (taken directly from a pic of the Coachella festival) for the Firebird. I also added some sunglasses for the Firebird as wild sunglasses are worn by pretty much every attendee to the festival: practically a ubiquitous symbol of Coachella.

I feel like this would represent the music festival pretty well because of the resplendent color scheme. The only thing that would be better symbols would perhaps be the infamous Coachella ferris wheel and the Firebird high on molly lol jk. Really though, the only thing that I should’ve added, now that I think about it, is maybe some palm tree applet badges on the shoulders. Oops.

Captain’s Log

Star Date: 03.16.2023

It’s been an interesting journey since last September. As the quarter ends, it’s a great time for reflection and now that I’ve some learning under my belt, it’s a great time to understand what I should be looking for after school.

Who are you?

I’m a queer artist, cinephile, dancer, music lover, wanderer, and lover (lol).

What is it that you want to do?

To build community (but is also faced with the twists and turns of capitalism so a career where I can hopefully earn an income from some level of creativity is definitely the most realistic endeavor). I’d also like to be able to travel more and build more connections in other countries.

Why?

As a queer person, community is very important to me. It’s my chosen family and being able to help people that I understand would be the greatest reward.

Where do you want to go?

Geographically, I could stay living in Seattle. I could also live in a bigger city like New York if the work took me there. For travel, it’d be great to do Berlin, London, and Spain… then Southeast Asia and India.

What would you want to say?

“I love you and it was great to spend some time with you.”

Captain’s Log

Star Date: 03.09.2023

Coming up with SCCA’s own version of a CUT video:

For their style, I think it would be kind of interesting if a guest speaker had to guess and rank GPAs (highest to lowest) from a lineup of about 10-15 students from both the graphic design program and the visual media program.

GPAs aren’t really a big deal in the real world (mostly just for grants and scholarships), so might as well make them interesting and see who a person thinks are the most hinged based on looks.

The only other one I could imagine is a “marry, fuck, kill” outloud in front of all the other students… lol jk

Edit: I didn’t hit “post” after finishing last week so it’s late…

Captain’s Log

Star Date: 03.02.2023

The Metaverse. The next frontier. We shall see.

I thought it was an interesting concept. It’s not for me, personally. I don’t play video games. I’m sure gamer culture and the newer generations that are inundated with the internet will pick it up eventually.

I attended a kind of house party. As I don’t play video games, I felt it was disorienting (I was on my laptop). I explored and looked around but lost interest pretty easily. I felt if it was more developed (less 16-bit Nintendo games are higher fidelity) it could be more immersive for me and I’m sure it’ll get there soon enough.

The internet reaches some wild places and I see this platform as another extension of capitalism so far. I definitely don’t have any interest in living in 2 capitalist systems that emulate one another lol. I’m sure marketing and branding always love another opportunity. Wherever people can spend money… especially with cryptocurrency and the blockchain, I’m sure more… interesting… ways people can spend money will always arise…

People are definitely using it for both entertainment (concerts, DJ sets, parties, etc.) and for marketing so either reaching the crippling introverts or people that can’t attend in person, I’m sure it has its uses.

Not for me, but I’m sure it’ll be more popular as all the different types of metaverses develop and evolve (as all technology does).

Captain’s Log

Star Date: 02.23.2023

“The greatest teacher failure is” – Yoda

I’m usually pretty great at problem solving and making things work. Sometimes I just need a mindset shift after some things don’t go to plan and I figure it’s good enough and communicates enough of what the outcome was supposed to be.

This was the case for an installation I did recently for an event. The outcome was not what I was hoping for, but it was fine… it was enough and did the job.

For event installations, the design is usually only up for one night and you only get a certain amount of time to install the night of the event. The installation also needs to be transportable.

This last installation involved 2 pieces (was originally going to be 3, but couldn’t install one because the sound people were taking up the area that I was going to use)… one of the pieces was pretty successful for the most part and did its job and was the most memorable. The second piece was the most time consuming to install and the end result was… fine… but that could just me being hard on myself.

There were a lot of factors that changed during the event (lighting, fixtures shifting from use, etc.) that affected the overall effect of the installation, but while installing, it made me realize how much under-developed my concept was in regards to the physical installation. Also, the take down of the installation made me realize how unsustainable it was (a lot of the elements were thrown away).

What I learned: go into an endeavor with a more simplified concept that will have a greater impact. And try to use more sustainable/reusable materials as much as possible; it’ll cut down on the cost and may help other installations in the future if you’re able to 1. get better with the same materials, and 2. some of the materials are already ready to install.

Captain’s Log

Star Date: 02.09.2023

Hard and soft skills.

Top 3 hard skills:

• Managing people.
• Customer service.
• Experiential design (installations).

Top 3 soft skills:

• Decision-making.
• Communication.
• Adaptability (problem-solving).

I’ve worked a variety of jobs and freelance gigs where the work was done efficiently, on time, morale was maintained, and spaces were kept relatively organized and clean.

My job before the program was a manager at a nonprofit. We packaged thousands of meals (millions since the beginning of the pandemic) on a daily/weekly basis. I had to ensure that the entire operation ran smoothly, the people in need got the food they were supposed to get, and all the dietary restrictions were met. The work itself was rather physical and monotonous for the people I managed. Beyond the paperwork, I ensured that every person employed there felt respected, experienced great communication, and was able to do their job in a safer/harm-reduced space.

Within the same organization I was a supervisor in the youth program. So not only did I have to manage employees, I had to manage the young adults that were in the program in a cafe setting that served the public (customers).

Before the nonprofit, I’ve worked in a variety of food establishments and did retail/merchandising in flagship stores like Banana Republic and Levi’s in San Francisco.

On the side, within my community, I’ve created a good amount of installations for events over the last 8 years or so. Some are murals, large-scale paintings, sculptural elements, lighting, and experiential decor. A lot of which necessitated a good amount of problem-solving as some installations could only be installed a few hours before the event.

I’ve also hosted and promoted a few events of my own in venues and managed all that goes with doing that successfully.

Hard skills to develop:

• Design program proficiency.
• AI-generator proficiently.

Soft skills to develop:

• Ability to present my ideas more clearly.
• Organizational skills.

I want to eventually marry my experiential experience with my design education. This could manifest in a variety of ways, but I’m planning on using the main Adobe programs, Figma, and AI generators after the program.

Wherever I procure a job, I want to ensure that I’m able to give my best and be able to not only keep up with the industry, but be apart of its future, too.

The main goal is to able to support my community in ways I have not been able to before. Like donating my design skills for nonprofits or organizations. So developing these skills would not only make me a better designer, they would make me a better component of my community, as well.

Captain’s Log.

Star Date: 02.05.2023

Here’s my elevator pitch:

“Hi, my name is Shane Warnick. I’m a graphic designer that specializes in experiential design. I’m exploring opportunities in creating connection within communities, especially marginalized communities. So basically, trying to make the world a better place with my skills.”

Captain’s Log

Star Date: 01.26.2023

I’ve a few what-if projects I’d like to achieve at some point in the future: an unconventional sci-fi short story semi-graphic novel, maybe writing/directing a film one day, producing events that marry cinema and DJ sets (which I’ve done before the pandemic), and creating a co-op of artists (or graphic designers) that produce work for nonprofits or similar organizations along with being apart of various communities.

I’d say the personal project that needs to happen before all that is constructing and publishing my personal website.

I want to have it completed by the end of the current quarter so I can have it ready when I start applying for internships for the summer. It’s basically going to be my portfolio. As of right now, I’m considering having maybe 3 different sections: 1. My school projects, 2. My projects I’ve done outside school (mostly for events), and 3. Any professional work I’ll eventually do.

I already bought the domain name. I just need to construct it in Dreamweaver and figure out how to actually put it up on the internet. So far the domain name costs a small yearly fee via Google. I suppose we’ll see what other fees pop up as it’s being constructed… like having a personal email address? We shall see.

Captain’s Log

Star Date: 01.19.2023

“Forethought we may have, undoubtedly, but not foresight.” -Napoleon Bonaparte

I’d say most things never fully go to plan. It either comes down to contingencies or a preemptive mindset re-frame/comfort shift.

This week I was working on structuring a website for our Interactive class. My laptop updated. I had gotten far enough along, but Dreamweaver crashed after moving a folder around. It wasn’t able to recover.

Definitely wasn’t a happy moment. I decided to call it a night and see if I could figure it out in the morning… otherwise frustration would not let me sleep.

In the morning, I couldn’t figure out how to recover it still. I went to class, I ended up being late, and my team didn’t do any of the work (they were presuming I would’ve done all of it lol) so we didn’t have anything to present in the morning for our progress… I started fresh and was able to catch up by the end of class. Everything was fine. Tout va bien. Rock ‘n’ roll.

It’s always fine, at the end of the day. We are still alive. For the most part, I’ll just need to try and build in some extra time for mishaps and misfortunes. I’m sure there will be plenty this quarter.