VC 112: As an Artist

 

Hello, my name is Lorena Recinos, and as an artist, I am entranced by the world of art. I love all forms of art, whether it’s traditional, digital, fashion, carpentry, welding, glass work, etc. I love it all. To describe myself, I am an artist down to the atom; there is nothing else in the world I would rather do more than make art, and I hold myself to a standard. If I don’t like the result, I will start again. Everything I do has an intent behind it, no matter how big or small; I work deliberately in a  timely manner. I always make sure that my work is turned in on time at its highest quality; even if I’m late, my work never is. The project I did above is an album cover and CD I did for my Photoshop class. I had a vision, made a sketch, and made it happen, no matter what. I worked from Monday, 10 am (took a 2-hour break) to 6 am the next morning to get this project done for class. Mainly because the mask was giving me a hard time and took me several days to get right. I did miss most of the Zoom call, but my work was turned in before class; I apologize for missing class. But I am proud of the result, and it truly captures the artist it was made for. As for Desktop Publish, I know absolutely nothing about it but I’m guessing it’s about printing finished work to get it out to a wider audience.

Mailer Card

My design project is a MOCA mailer card to inform patrons about Andreas Gursky; a German photographer who captures human, corporate, creation. I wanted to capture the essence of the artist while also keeping MOCA’s branding intact. Making sure the design looked corporate since Gursky is known for capitalistic photographs and contemporary to match MOCA. I also wanted to have some continuity in the design which is why there are the three black bands in the composition, Andreas Gursky, MOCA’s logo, and the MCACHICAGO.org website. I believe I was successful with my design because nothing screams more corporate than geometric shapes, coupled with the liner direction, and color picked from Gursky’s photographic makes for an eye-catching design. Although, some challenges were choosing the background color, and the tracking of the lettering. I overcame this by limiting the photograph I was referencing to two, choosing a color that would tie the colors together and be inviting. Which is why I chose the color yellow, a warm color, that is both inviting and ties everything together. As for the tracking of the lettering, I knew that I was going to have a hyphen in the paragraph regardless of how I track the lettering. In the beginning I left the hyphen at the top of the paragraph however with the help of Professor Lepe, we decided it was best to have the hyphen be in the middle of the text because it was more visually appealing.

Monogram

Personal Monogram

In my time of making graphic designs, I have learned many things, from knowing how to make an effective yet simple design that captures the viewer's attention for my monogram. Some of the techniques I’ve learned to do this are emphasis, emotion, use of color, movement, contrast, and hierarchy. Emphasis, quickly grab the viewer's eye; emotion, to influence the viewer; color, to make the graphic pop; it can also add emotion to the piece. Movement, to help guide the viewer's eyes to where I’d want them to go; contrast helps separate the individual figures, it also helps with emphasis, and hierarchy to show the viewer which is the most important, and also leads the eyes. My biggest challenge was trying not to have unappealing tension in the piece, especially when the figure hit the edge of the box, leaving a white line or a touching-not-touching sensation. I had to start training my eyes to see every detail of my graphic to make sure there wasn’t unnecessary tension that could distract the viewer. In my personal monogram, I emphasized the L and made the R smaller and flipped it, creating a sense of movement and hierarchy. The kind of font I used creates a sense of prestige, while the yellow color creates contrast that frames the monogram.

Typography

When picking out a font it's important to know the intention of the it, in order to convey a certain emotion to the viewer. For example, if a lawyer has a business card they wouldn't want a font to be bubbly, instead they want it to be straight and rigged. Although, that isn't the only thing a graphic designer should worry about. There are also factors like the weight of the font to show which sentence is more important, that immediately grabs the viewers attention. For me, my favorite font is Courier New because of how around yet elegant it is. Not only that but writing with this font reminds of a, which gives off a professional feel, when I write.

Elements and Principles of Design

Leslie Baskin Designs: Elements and Principles of Design 

The elements and principles of design are fundamental tools that are essential for graphic design. The elements of design include line, color, texture, size, scale, and direction, which are used in all art forms. While the principles of design are proximity, balance, alignment, repetition, contrast, and space, acting as the blueprint in creating an effective composition. Understanding these guidelines are so important in graphic design because they help create harmony in a design that stands out among the rest. By incorporating these principles and elements into my work, I can effectively communicate my ideas while also influencing the viewers’ mood when they view my work. For example, if I want to advertise a limited-time offer, I would use vibrant colors in the background with sharp angles and shapes along with bold lettering to catch the viewer's attention. 

Introduction

 

Lorena Recinos | NAPAFASA: Healing heARTS, Unisex (2025) Acrylic, Color pencil

As an artist I am always looking for new ways to express myself, weather it's though learning a new medium or practicing ones I already know. Currently I am learning graphic design and eventually I want to branch off into animation and possibly fashion design. Blogging for me is something I've ever done before, I am so used to writing essays about other topics that sitting down to write about myself is hard to do. Although maybe participating in classroom discussions could be considered blogging. Either way, this skill is useful in the business world in order to connect with a wider audience and possibly get them to buy a product. By blogging it allows the person to understand the intention behind the product and even connect with it, which is important for business in order to build long term patronage. Even if this is my first time blogging, I will try my best to understand how to use it effectively.