A Semester's Rollercoaster Ride Towards Creative Development
This course was a rollercoaster and a half, but I definitely have grown and learned a lot during this semester. This semester I was juggling a lot - with 20 credits on my schedule and preparing for studying abroad I kept myself busy. However, this semester I set a goal for myself to make something new of myself within my E-Portfolio. As I have been putting more and more work within graphic design, I realized that building an online portfolio has to be a goal of mine.
My E-Portfolio last year, 2022
The first encounter of even creating a portfolio was in Digital Storytelling. Within Digital Storytelling I saw my E-Portfolio mainly as a place to store all of the work that I did throughout the semester, and I didn’t really see it as anything else. On my first E-Portfolio I had some of my first digital works posted for the world to see, however, if I am being honest I felt as if my E-Portfolio was something to not showcase at first. So I didn’t really see myself utilizing it further for a while.
It wasn’t until I started exploring the Visual Strategy minor offered here at Furman that I really thought about utilizing an E-Portfolio, especially for graphic design. Not only that, but I have been inspired by others to take creating a blog seriously, to have it be a fun way to document my growth and journey as a human. For example, scrapbooking happens to be a hobby of mine. I soon began to see an E-Portfolio to be my online scrapbook.
What I presented within class just scratches the surface of what I want to see done within my E-Portfolio. As I complete more and more projects I hope that I can create a great Archive for myself on my E-Portfolio, so not only does it serve as testament of my work to others such as potential employers, but also that it serves as a testament for me and how far I have gotten.
My current E-Portfolio, 2023
When creating my E-Portfolio, I wanted something to give my audience a good sense of who I am. That’s why User Experience is something that has stuck out to me within creating an E-Portfolio, so not only you will be able to see the testament of my work, but you will be able to connect to my E-Portfolio and continue exploring for more.
Just by linking the documentary I completed last year to the documentary I completed this semester on my E-Portfolio, I see a vast difference of growth within my ability and skills. Because of this experience, I have become less afraid to showcase work or the past and my failures.
Documentary “Classical Music and the Black Experience” from last year
Documentary “Voices and Movements of Black Artistry in South Carolina” from this semester
Sometimes I can be a bit of a perfectionist, I strive for things to be of great quality and I feel like I don’t create something of the best quality, I tend to feel a bit let down by myself. Because of this, oftentimes I am hesitant about posting my work out on the internet for people to see. I often think about what I don’t like or if I was a little better at using this (x) software I could have made something look better, etc. However, though it has taken some time I have become more open with putting my work out there for me and others to see.
After Effects scared me for a while… I avoided it like the plague. Though I wanted to become more proficient in moton graphics, I thought anything I would make would just be difficult or just not look good. It wasn’t until I began working more with keyframes within Premiere, I started to do some motion work in Premiere. Along with my proficiency in Photoshop and Illustrator, opening up After Effects soon became less scary to me. My experience with using keyframes within projects has also improved as a result.
Now more than ever I feel like I see the growth of what was and what is now. Now, I am more excited when I create and put my work on a platform for me and others to see, because I know that there is always room for improvement and the road of improvement will just continue up from wherever I may be in my artistic journey. Moving forward, I want to maximize User Experience and design on my E-Portfolio, along with telling stories of the journey along the way. Though it may be a roller coaster and half, I will have grown, be grateful, and proud of the work I complete.