Week 4
4.3 Design Challenge: Student Choice
Student Choice: Parallax Effect on Images
Assignment: Base this off of either the non-profit testimonial ads from Effective copywriting or the place branding project you researched during Design Research. Create 3 images using the Parallax effect, and each should tell a small story.
I decided to create a Parallax Effect utilizing the images from my Earthjustice testimonial ads.
Week 4 Mastery Reflection
Connecting, Synthesizing, Transforming
Over the last three weeks of the course, I primarily learned a lot of important information regarding storytelling through motion and design, and motion by itself. I had the ability to utilize the readings that was given to us during the course and apply it to the design challenges. For example, in week 1 of the course the design challenge was to produce a 30-second commercial in Adobe Premiere Pro utilizing the resources Dr. B gave us. Learning the language and concepts of motion and video editing will help me excel my career as a graphic designer. In the challenge, I was able to push beyond the boundaries and got me thinking about design from the perspective of motion.
Throughout the masters program, you will have to do research and that was something I did throughout the course and created a synthesis matrix, which is a table that can be used to organize research and see the main ideas found in the research. The matrix shows where the main ideas overlap between the authors of each article. with the information I gathered from research, it made me gain some insights on motion design and how motion can be used to communicate a message effectively to a specific target audience.
Problem Solving
In the last design challenge for this course, I had to create a parallax effect utilizing the images from my Earthjustice campaign. a Parallax effect is where the background element scrolls slower than the foreground content, so it will add depth to the background image, which makes the image interactive.
It was my first time doing it and I was a bit nervous executing it because the goal is to make the image interactive. So first, I had to work on Photoshop before importing it to After Effects. That part wasn’t a problem at all, but the execution of doing it was the issue.
While looking at a parallax effect tutorial on YouTube it started to get real complicated for me to execute it because the background wasn’t doing anything. I was trying to do it on my own and I was pressed for time–I didn’t remember the correct effects to pull it off. While looking at the tutorial, the person that was giving the tutorial gave us an alternative way to do the effect, which was utilizing the timeline option on Photoshop. But if you wanted to get the full depth and add effects to the parallax, After Effects is the software to use. I gave Photoshop a try and it worked perfectly.
Created the Parallax Effect on Adobe Photoshop 
Created the Parallax Effect on Adobe AfterEffects
Innovative Thinking
I instantly get inspired when designers accomplish different projects. My level of skills may not be better than the designers in the industry, but I am here to learn more about graphic design and to grow as a graphic designer by utilizing the tools the program will give me and apply it to the work force. When it comes to executing the design challenges every week by the deadline, I had to make a lot of sacrifices. Since I have days to complete these assignments specifically the design challenges, I didn’t have to change my design style, but change my perception and procedure of each assignment. By utilizing different software to execute a design challenge, my production starts to speed up. For example, I was on a time crunch when I had to execute the a motion graphic on one of my logos from brand development on AfterEffects, executing it correctly for best results.
Acquiring Competencies
Parallax Effect: background element scrolls slower than the foreground content, so it will add depth to the background image, which makes the image interactive. (Occupational, technical).
Adobe AfterEffects: An animation software used for motion graphics, and visual effects. (Occupational, technical)
Adobe Premiere Pro: Software application for video (Occupational, technical)
Design Employment: Navigating the pros and cons of my profession (graphic design). (Occupational, conceptual).
Storytelling through motion: Motion that needs to tell a story and the message behind it. (occupational, technical, academic).
Synthesis Matrix: Table that could be used to organize research; main ideas overlap from each article. (academic, conceptual).
Human-centered design: David Kelley; enriching the user experience and solve human problems. (conceptual, academic).
Affective Primer: Steering of the emotions of an audience towards an action. (conceptual, academic)
Diegetic: We hear what the characters hear. (conceptual, academic).
Reflection
This month made me open my eyes a bit more and realize that this is my profession–this is what I am going to do in the future. I have never touched After Effects or Premiere Pro. I looked at the program just to see how it is and I automatically X’ed out of the program because it automatically look confusing, so I decided to focus on the three main Adobe programs. (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign). Now while taking this course, I know how to create a 30 second commercial using Premiere Pro by utilizing the resources from the first week.
The second week I was introduced to After Effects and I had to create a motion poster for one of the Movies Dr. B chose for us. Learning After Effects was something that was on my bucket list for the year and I can finally check that off. I gained a better understanding of it and realized how vital motion graphics is for a company. Weeks 3 and 4 was going in depth with After Effects–stepping out of my comfort zone and have the creative freedom to execute something out of the ordinary. Lastly, I learned about design problems and try to figure out a solution to the design problem. Overall, the organizational structures course will be the course I will never forget in the long run and I was able to understand not only my career as a graphic designer, but the program that I have to use in order to be successful in the workforce.
Jerry Medireck's Mastery Journey 