Senior Studio Final Review
The semester in review…
Kylie Carroll
This past semester in senior design has been a semester of experimentation and collaboration for me. I am proud of the work that I’ve made and I feel that I utilize my time in order to pursue new ways of making. A lot of my work focused on materiality which is something new to the way that I make and view design. I feel that this year gave me the chance to try more obscure ways of making and push the limitations of “graphic design “.
I’m thankful for the group projects, previous to this semester I would say one of my weaknesses is that I tend to like full control and ownership over projects. Both impact and empathy as well as the designing question projects forced me to work in groups and to trust others creative processes as much as my own. I had such a wonderful experience with both of my groups and I feel like I’m leaving this semester with not only reputable work but new friends.
While working on impact and empathy, we’re on waist, with Davide I feel that I took more of a leadership role. I had a very direct vision of projects I wanted to incorporate into our process, like papermaking and fashion design, and he was not only supportive but integral in the process. I feel that we bounce ideas off each other very well and pushed ourselves to work outside of the digital/computer sphere, which is so easy to get trapped in especially as a graphic designer. While working on direction that I feel that I still took a leadership role but allowed for the group to flow naturally towards a conclusion. In both projects the final product wasn’t clear in the beginning and that was OK. Another lesson I learned is just to embrace the process, because ultimately that is what shapes the product and makes it worth pursuing. This way of making was really highlighted in our designing question exhibition, direct shot’s What is centered around this idea of control versus chance in design.
This mindset of making even followed into my thoughts on thesis book. I’m going to be honest I felt behind more often than not in this project, the crunch of final projects/the wrapup of classes left me and not only a creative block but with a little time or motivation. I knew that I would and could get it done, it felt like a drag at times though. This lack of motivation paired with my poor health really came to ahead on the Wednesday and Thursday nights before everything was due on Friday. I think because I had been working long hours and through the night I jeopardized my immune system and caught a bug. I have been feeling extremely ill, but refused to let that stop me from finishing… I was so close to the end! (Also got tested for covid and it was negative, thankfully.) During the final printing stages I faced setbacks regarding the paper thickness and an inability to be printed on both sides. At this point time was it not on my side and I had to think of quick solutions to a problem. It ended up being that I’d have to use bookmaking tape to attach the backs of paper individually together. This led to a book that is much thicker than I originally intended, but I am also still proud of the work and have fully accepted the process in this situation. This experience only emphasize for me that things always fall into place as long as you put in the work, even if the end result is not what you had originally intended.
I’m so grateful for the lessons I’ve learned and the work I’ve made this semester, I’ve pushed myself and my pre-conception of what design means. I fell in love with materiality and cannot wait to further explore this concept in my thesis next semester.
