Why I Want To Be A Designer

Ever since I was a little girl I loved art like drawing and painting. I was an only child growing up and art was a way for me to express myself. When I was in high school I tried to take every art class I could. My junior year of high school I was taking a graphic design class, and I really enjoyed it. When I started Northern Kentucky University I started to realize that I wanted to major in visual communications.

Last semester I was attending University of Tennessee Chattanooga. I took a graphic design class while I was there. The last project we had in that class made me realize what kind of designer I wanted to be. For are assignment we had to create an image that we thought addressed an important issue in today's society. We were only allowed to use three colors for are artwork. Then we had to make stencils of are artwork, and spray paint are designs on illustration board. I wanted my artwork to talk about women’s rights. I decided to create an image in illustrator of the statue of liberty with a black bar across her face, and her holding a sign. During a critique everyone understood the message I was trying to convey. I realized then what kind of designer I want to be. I hope my artwork will question important issuing going on in the world, and help inspire people to make a change. 

Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol was a famous pop artist that created paintings, sculptures, and photography. Warhol is most recognized for his paintings focusing on commercial goods. For example, his painting of the Campbell’s soup can is one of my favorites. He also painted iconic celebrities like Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, and more. His paintings were very bright and colorful. Eventually Andy Warhol opened up his own art studio called “The Factory” were he created some of his most famous work. I have been inspired by Warhol’s paintings. As a graphic designer I have incorporated some of his techniques into my own artwork. When I was a student at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga I was given an assignment for one of my graphic design class. I was given two words dance and narcissism. My assignment was to create one image that combined both words. I wanted my artwork to be bright and colorful like Andy Warhol’s paintings. My idea for the piece was to have Donald Trump represent narcissism and to have dancers and celebrities to be “Trumped Up”. In my artwork I have Marilyn Monroe, and Aubrey Hepburn on the left. In the middle of my artwork is an outline of Donald Trump, and on the right are two ballerinas. All of the figures are black and white except for the faces. Donald Trump is known for is orange fake tans so I put orange dots on top of their faces. I also placed cut out images of Donald Trumps eyes, mouth, and hands as my way of trumping up my image. I had a difficult time coming up with an idea for my project, but what helped me was the inspiration I got from looking at Andy Warhol’s designs.