I finished my on-line computer literacy class Wednesday, and I earned an “A” in that fast-paced session. I’m studying graphic design but wanted to learn about various computer applications before delving into my major. Too many software applications were packed in the 5 ½-week class. During the course, we covered Microsoft Office Professional – Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access and Outlook; Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and Acrobat Professional. We learned about the computer – from the hard disk drive to the mother board. And we learned to convert files into PDFs and to compress files.

I left the class knowing a little bit about this application and a little bit about that application. Throughout my studies I will have to use one or more of the applications, so I’ll be honing my skills as I use them in upcoming courses.

Unfortunately, my current class – Fundamentals of Design – began Thursday with a slew of pages to be read in addition to reading the online lecture. Also, five assignments were due the first week. On Friday, I had to post a two-paragraph autobiography and an essay on “What do you believe constitutes a good design? Are there specific principles a design can possess that make a composition stronger or more effective?”

Then on Saturday I posted a design exercise – based on my readings. I had to create a basic structure with eight different color distributions by overlapping two simple shapes within a frame. I used a polygon and a star. However, the class was restricted to using only black and white elements. It took me forever and a day to complete the assignment (at left) while using Adobe Illustrator.

I had used the software only once before. So for this assignment, I just punched one function after another in the application to see what would happen. After an hour or so, I had confused the application and the message “Illustrator Not Responding” repeatedly appeared. Over and over, I’d reboot the computer and began anew. Finally, I began to save every time I applied an element that I liked. After more than three hours, I finished the design.

The assignment was due Sunday but I posted it Saturday so that I could received feedback from the professor and my classmates. I was sure I’d have to redo the assignment. When I logged into the classroom assignments Sunday evening, I was surprised after reading the professor’s message:

“Great start to the class Ella, good technique, and very good version of this exercise. Clean design and well presented. Good work!”

Then it was time to tackle Monday’s assignment. I opened Illustrator and stared at a blank page for several minutes. Then I played several games of online Scrabble before forcing myself to return to the assignment. I drew a circle on the page and stared at it for a few minutes. Then I played online spades for about 45 minutes.

Finally, I decided to adhere to the assignment’s instructions that are as follow: Using only black and white, create a design with equal positive and negative space so that the figure-ground relationship of the design fluctuates. Be creative with the composition of your design.

After staring at the circle for a while, I decided to make it black and put a white star in its center. I was not feeling the design so I decided to frame it. Then the creative juices began to flow. I decided to put a large vertical black line in the center of the design and flank it with smaller black lines. I was on a roll and had finished the project within an hour. Then I became nervous because I weren’t sure I had followed directions. Again, I posted my assignment a day early to get feedback.

I got up early Monday morning to check on the feedback (normally, I don’t “do” early morning hours). I had several critiques from classmates who loved my design. Then I saw the professor’s comments and plastered a big smile on my face that seemed to stretch bigger and bigger as I continued reading his comments. Here’s what he had to say:

 “Good work Ella! Good use of the project to create this well balanced and original design. I like your use of the shapes in a systematic way, with careful placement and good use of negative space. This keeps the viewer involved without overwhelming the senses. You have a very successful and effective version of this project, and well done exploring this assignment to come up with an original and appealing design. You have a good instinct for relating all the parts to the whole, and gaining a unified and well composed design. The central star looks a little off-center, and it seems to want to be in the center, so if you select it and use the arrow keys you can nudge it to the left a little. This is a small point though, and just something you could try and re-post in the next day or so (no stress.) This is a very good design, well done here, and great start to the class!”

By tomorrow I need to submit critiques on four of my classmates’ designs using relevant language based upon the course content and assigned readings. If I really knew what I was doing, I’d be dangerous!

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