Thank you from Wasim

I just wanted to thank everyone for posting on this blog for the semester and, for the most part, actively commenting on each others' work. I know it's been a thorn in the side sometimes, and we sometimes got off track, but I hope everyone learned a little bit from doing the assignments and sharing their projects with this peers.

Blogging will be important once you all enter the "real world" out of college. It's a great (and cheap!) self-promotional tool. What we did this semester was just the start; a way to whet your appetite for blogging.

By creating a Google account to use this blog for the class, you've already created 90 percent of what you need to start your own blog, which I hope many of you try. College is a great time to learn the ropes of blogging.

As many of you have probably figured out, I run my own blog using Blogger - something I created after taking the same graphics class (albeit the graduate-level version). You can check it out at http://wasimonline.blogspot.com/. You'll find a link there to my Web site, which was created using the same principles I learned here in the interface design project. And I already showed you all how blogging can drive traffic to your Web site. It's a synergistic relationship between the two.

Try it - you may even find it's fun! All it takes is signing in and clicking on "Dashboard" at the top and then "Create a blog" on the next page.

Thanks everyone for a great semester. You all worked really hard and I saw some great work coming from this class. It's been a pleasure to work with you in my first instructional associate job here in Syracuse.

wrap up

the labs in this class were really helpful in learning the programs.  I think these programs will really help with my advertising career, and I'm glad I learned the basics on how to use them.  I don't really have anything else to say about this class

GRA Wrap Up

Overall, I thought graphics was really useful and informative. I was not very familiar with Adobe Suites until the class and now I feel really comfortable using all of the programs. I also thought that the skills we learned outside of the class were really useful to- like design principles and learning to create drafts- those are skills that we are going to utilize in most fields of communications. I thought it was nice to learn the programs with a purpose of having a project to accomplish, rather than just using them.

My favorite project was the magazine project. I liked the idea of taking an article that we were interested in and making an effective design around it. I thought it was just a really intricate project that utilized a lot of the skills that we learned throughout the semester. All of the projects were really useful, I felt. We did something that was tailored to every major taking the class- for example, magazine majors are going to be putting together magazines, and PR majors are going to be making posters. 

This was just a really good class to take and I would recommend it to anyone in Newhouse, even if it is not a requirement for them. I learned so many skills that are going to be useful in the future. The only complaints I have are that it is extremely time consuming as far as the projects go, and also that we did not learn a lot in the lab until Professor Taylor had a talk with the TAs mid-semester. Other than that, the class is really enjoyable.

GRA Wrap Up

Throughout this semester, I would have to say that Graphics was probably one of my favorite classes. Although I was somewhat familiar with the softwares, it was incredibly beneficial to learn how to use them in a classroom setting. Moreover, I know the experience will help me as a I apply for internships and jobs in the future. 

One of my favorite projects was the Logo Project because I felt as though I had to challenge myself to make something that was both professional and reflective of my personality. In the end, I developed a great design and picked a color pallet that I thought fulfilled not only the requirements for the class, but expectations I had for myself. I definitely want to send my design to a publisher where I can have them professionally printed. Never before had I thought about having a business card at such a young age; yet, as I moved through this project, I realized it is actually a great idea! Additionally, the stationary and envelope designs really helped me form a cohesive thought with this project. Therefore, I will probably have these professionally printed as well. I will most likely use these for internship applications and interviews as I continue throughout school. 

In addition to the logo project, I found the resume project to be incredibly beneficial, as I have used this resume to apply for various internships since. 

I would recommend this class to anyone who was required to take it as well as students who were permitted to take it as an elective. Even though the projects were undeniably time consuming, I think once I finished any given project, I felt a great satisfaction. I look forward to expanding my knowledge of these programs in the future, whether be taking another GRA class or exploring on my own.