Memoirs of Asi: Graphics Design

My First Graphics Design

03:33
By Asi
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So, yesterday, I took my flash disk to school, and brought home some stuff I was working on. I came back home and checked them out but everything looked so lame. Here's some consolation for myself though: they haven't yet taught us all the tools from Adobe Illustrator, and at least I managed to do something. Everyone else was just sat there doing nothing. I go through multiple tutorials online and browse through graphic design portfolios like behance.net and dribbble.com. I even sketched down a few nice looking business cards. But when I try doing this stuff, it seems like I'm trying to be "cool" and showing off. My class is pretty short, and I sit at the front, so it's basically impossible to work on my own stuff. So I'm just stuck doing whatever projects we have to work on. I'm really looking forward to my new laptop. And tomorrow's the date of my birth. Blessed y'all's life with my cosmic presence. The other thing is that I keep confusing myself as to whether my birthday is actually 23 or 24th. By the way, I think all people born in March are cool. So if you're a March baby, virtual fist bump.
Also on the topic of yesterday, we had some guests over and my mom made this full blown over feast. So I stayed up waiting for them to leave so I could have an amazing one-to-one with the food. I don't ever eat dinner this late, and I don't usually eat dinner anyway. So I was just pumping myself with food, and today morning I felt so full and weird. I think it's because I slept on a full stomach. Advice: Don't sleep with a full stomach/ Don't eat right before bed.

Moving on...
THE GREAT REVEAL

I'm actually pretty proud of this one. I did the hills and trees part based on a tutorial I saw online at home. Internet access is denied at my school so I just have to get ideas at home, then try them out at school. I usually check out step-by-step tutorials from design.tutsplus.com and I guess I miss out some steps, and I have to use tools my instructor hasn't yet taught us. I don't know if I'm happy or sad to say that's my best one because there are some mistakes with it, like: the hills are not aligned, the text is messed up,etc. Besides, the instructor told me that white is not a true colour, and neither is black. Also, he told me to use "shouting colours" like red and yellow. Hello? Does this guy know what's trending out there? Because it's pastels and lines, and black and white. See what I'm saying? That's why my work is not that cool.
I got to check out some tools this time round, for example (you don't see it, but) I worked with the J of the Jesa, and made it more visually nice looking, shifted it a bit away from the E.
Ugh, you know what? I don't care if it looks ugly. It's just my first try. You'll see my amazing works to come. I'll be making amazing fonts, great textures, mind blowing graphics, and trendy logos. iA.

Now, for the ultimate masterpiece of the century *drum rolls*

You're allowed to laugh. It's so comical. I mean, red cows?! Reminds me of that scene in Percy Jackson of the cows from the Triple G Ranch. The words are actually supposed to be black and white- like REAL cows. But guess who said B&W are not real colours? HE MADE ME MAKE THEM RED GUYS. Exhibit A: Cows from Hell, people.

Speaking of exhibits, my uni was hosting an exhibition where all the kids showcase their work and meet potential employers. I checked some of their stuff, which was actually pretty cool. I got myself some business cards. Next time I'll get myself a stall and wow people with my skills.

I found some really amazing graphic designer on IG, and checked out her website, www.fatimaalmuhtaram.com. I want to be like her, and even better.I'll be trying trying out the 365 day Illustration Challenge, even though March is almost over.

That's it for today, I hope you enjoy my posts. Comment below, it would really make my day :)

Graphics Design

Journey to The Bookstore

10:05
By Asi
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It's a "journey" because it takes a lot to get out of the house and into the sunshine + people anxiety.

Hi
Today I put on my big gurl pants and decided to travel the world (bookstore). I rarely go out, and I really wanna travel the world, but sometimes home is the best place to be. I didn't find the book I wanted to get, which is "Reclaim Your Heart" by Yasmin Mogahed. I absolutely love this woman. She's a true LIONESS and represents a generation of empowered females. The next book on my list was "The Sealed Nectar" which is basically a biography of the prophet (peace be upon him). It's this chunky book but I was too broke for it. Sad, right? It's okay, since I have the e-book. Which reminds me of my e-book.

*blows dust off the top* It currently numbers 500 words and here's a tiny shot of it for you;

It needs a whole lot of work, including a free printable conjugation chart. I remember at the beginning of the year I was so motivated to tick this off my to-do list but I'd exhausted all I had to say with in 500 words. I've decided to just go ahead and post it on here so anyone can have a good idea on how I learnt what Arabic I know right now.

I'm a fan of real books, but the way the world is going, I think e-books are the big deal. Besides, you can just get rip them off the internet (for lack of a better way to say pirate shhhh!!!) I'm not really sorry, because books are hard to come by where I live, and I'm perennially broke.

After this little escapade, I had to go to school, which was really slow. We had to design business cards, which I'm familiar with because I learned this stuff in high school. I was trying to ask the instructor how to save an illustrator file as a normal file so I could upload it on here, but he wasn't answering my real question. It's okay because I didn't take my flash disk so I couldn't bring anything home. Next time I go iA I'll bring back a piece of my work. I'm really dying to get Photoshop and stuff but it's like 700$ Lord who has such money?! I'm just waiting for a new laptop so I can get the programs from school. I hope it comes in time for my 19th!
I've always had this feeling that my 19th year will be my last. Spooky, right? I guess I just removed the spook off it by broadcasting it to the world. I hope. I gotta start being good. Who knows?
I saw something on this design website threadless.com that make me guffaw. It looks suspiciously like a hijabi:

First Day. School

How to Survive First Days

04:58
By Asi
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I had my first day at design school today. I know I said I would post a picture of my first work but really I just learned some basics of Adobe Illustrator. I thought it would be really awkward and everyone would be cool and stuff and I would be the odd man out. Well, it certainly was weird because everyone seemed like an entirely different species (which they weren't) but what can you say? I've been home almost 2 months and it was refreshing to be out of the continuous monotony of home. You can have a shot of how excited I was to start up---> here. It's nice to be learning new things and really just being out of your comfort zone. I mean the comfort zone part isn't all that nice but you know what I mean.

Seeing as I survived my first day with limited collateral damage (none really), I decided to help out anyone who could be going on to a new school or college or workplace. These are my tips to help you survive your first day.

1. Nobody's a monster.

Everyone is just the same as you are. Same species, same anatomy- why should you be nervous? Besides, it's also their first day. Some play it cool, others-not so much. Just be you. Whoever accepts you as you are, they are gonna benefit.

2. Don't jump at making friends.

You don't need to make friends at the first opportunity, as if the friend bag is going to get depleted if you don't draw out yours. Chances are, you might not even stick with your first friends up till the end. And besides, some people's colours shine only after some time. And I mean their bad colours.

3. Don't be nervous of the teachers.

You could be thinking of how you'll ask for help in class yet you don't even have friends yet. There's always teachers. I know this tip is weird but don't think of teachers as the same breed as kids. First off, they're adults. They don't care about the little details we think everyone else must be seeing in us. You don't have to be buddy-buddy with a teacher, they're just here to help you and teach you. Just ask them for help. They don't have the lame prejudices kids have against each other.

4. Use this day to show who you are.

I saw this post on Instagram some time ago and it really resonated within me. First impressions matter a whole lot. So don't allow it if anyone pushes you over, or treats you as less than.

"You teach people how to treat you by what you allow, what you stop, and what you reinforce."

Tony Gaskins

5. Don't hype for days before.

You have every reason to be excited but don't over imagine things before you start worrying over little details and depressing yourself. My course was starting in less than 2 weeks after I settled my admission, so as you can expect there was a lot of time for getting excited and nervous, but I played it cool. I didn't let anxiety get to me. I was just like, "Oh, new school? Cool." You can get anxiety and depression just by thinking too deeply. Remember, creativity is the best use of imagination and worrying is the worst use of it.

6. Don't expect to be cool as heck.

You could be in this position right now. Getting your game/swag on. Imagining cool scenarios. Pimping up your vocab. And yet when you get to school people might actually think you're weird. You just have to be yourself. Besides, people just use everyday, basic, normal words to communicate. You don't have to be over the top. English ain't that hard to speak.

7. Let go of toxic people.

If by any chance you get involved with anyone who treats you in a way that's degrading or hurtful to you, then tell them. Get away from them in these early days else you'll be stuck with them for the rest of your time.

8. There's always someone to help.

Picture this: you're going to school and you don't know the first thing about it. You don't know where your first class is, or where the washrooms are. There are people literally everywhere. Ask them. Chances are you won't even remember those first people you talked to.