My name is Isabelle Sherman and I am a first year student in the strategic design and management program. I am from New York City, and have been influenced by the city of artists since I was a child. I am interested in BBA program because I want to explore a field of branding or management to help fellow artists create and brand their works to their fullest extent. In the future, I want to hopefully create my own agency, and work with other designers and production firms in collaborations. I want to be able to create sustainability in my works, and so I want to involve a lot of my works digitally to enhance the versatility in technology of design and marketing. It is important that i am able to express my beliefs in my art as well, and I want to be able to help others decipher connections in their works.
My first year experience was a bit overwhelming. Many of my first year works were complex, but they were the type of challenges that I needed to really find my own aesthetic, strengths, and weaknesses. Many themes of my works were quite cohesive. Throughout the year, I found that I enjoyed working with collages, and busier layouts. I found many of my works to reflect my interests in music and movies. In my studio class this semester, I really learned how to utilize the adobe packs, most notably- indesign. Before this year, Indesign was just another app that I had no clue what it was capable of. However, once I got into the rhythm and really studied the program, I ended up using it for all of my classes; whether it be a quick layout for a time map for my intro to design and management class, or for a book final for my time class- this program was my new favorite and most useful on my laptop. I also really learned how to get out of my comfort zone with my artwork. I took more risks in my classes, and rather than saving my work for my desk, I got probably everyone I knew involved in at least one project. I made my friends give me room tours for a video for my time class, or model for my studio class- but it helped me gain confidence in my directing skills and I think it also was a funny bonding experience.
In terms of academic studies, I feel that I had learned a lot in connecting artwork to movements, themes, time periods, or culture. When I did art in high school, many of my works were just symbolic from personal ideas. However, I have learned how to create pieces that represent something more than just an idea. From making and designing an art show deciphering light and dark in terms of women fragility and using works from the 70’s feminist movement, or even studying camp and explaining what it was to my friends at home after looking at MET gala photos, I think that I had a very dynamic range of academics. I did take economics and management this semester, but I think that having artworks in association to my studies grabbed my attention more and helped me connect ends.
I really enjoyed the projects and papers in this seminar and studio pairing. My favorite paper I wrote was How The River Dyed, because I was able to create a fictional piece and decipher my story in whichever way I wanted. It was also very fun creating an editorial to go along with the story, and this was my favorite piece in my magazine.
With more research and time, I think I would have wanted to create a more dynamic pieces. I would have wanted to include better writing skills in many of my works, and proofread everything twice. I would have also wanted to include stronger resources, only resourced from the library archives at school for stronger papers. In addition, with unlimited resources, I would have loved to include more designer or nicer clothing in my studio magazine.
Two main projects that really impacted my learning experiences this first year were my studio class last semester in creating an intervention, and creating my studio second semester magazine. My studio first semester was extremely interesting in that it was completely the opposite of any class I had ever taken. The teacher pairing were strict, but helpful. I remember one project was a group project in which my partners and I had to create an intervention. After countless brainstorming meetings, ending up with lists that took up several pages, there are so many opportunities for intervening as artists. I remember when we had finally ended up with an idea, and it all clicked together. This project was the most in depth intervention- it felt like it was straight out of a spy movie. The intervention would take place at a store, advocating against the slogan, “one size fits all,” branded on all of their apparel. The assignment was loosely explained, but we ended up creating a entire brands out of a mockup of the slogan, “one size fits small.” Simple childrens’ clothes were gathered at a goodwill to imitate the simplistic aesthetic of the apparel, and sewn on was the same stitched logo but with our slogan, “one size fits small.” Then, the smaller clothing was strategically placed in the store. Tags were made to replicate the ones at the store, as well as our own photoshoot to replicate the stores aesthetic. Stickers, an instagram, website, video, and magazine were all created in addition. Although the work was split between four people. It was quite the feat to take upon in just a few weeks. This project still lurks in my mind every once in a while because it had caught attention of so many people.
Another major project that impacted my first year at parsons was my studio class’s magazine. This magazine taught me so much, from time management, to personal skills in design, to directing my aesthetic. It was unbelievable to be able to experience the job of someone in that field. I remember switching into this class last minute after a time conflict, and not expecting to undergo such an extreme, but rewarding assignment. Through the process of creating my magazine, I was able to learn indesign to start. This was uncomfortable at first, since it was an app I had never even opened. The most rewarding skill was learning how to use a camera. I had only ever shot short films and videos, but never actually had a photoshoot- or really used a camera professionally. The first couple of shoots were difficult, I would keep switching the settings until I got just one photo I liked. It wasn’t until I had a shoot with my friend Jackson that I really got the basics of using the camera. After that, I was really able to deliver photographs that I didn’t even know I could take with the camera. However, it was very frustrating that all my first initial shoots were extremely low quality though, but I am so happy i was finally able to grasp the skill. In addition, I was very interested in text, but I just kept changing my design aesthetic too many times that it took a very long time to have a cohesive style. Some days I would work on my magazine and decide I liked the minimalist aesthetic for some photographs, but felt conflicted because of the overall style of the layouts. Once I committed to one style, the rest of the magazine kind of developed in itself.
In conclusion, my future as an artist is unknown, but I am eager and excited to just be able to work on anything that has any relation to the creative field. In some aspects, I would love to explore using more film and perhaps collage in film and editing, but I also would love to really grasp the entirety of magazine design. I never really knew how to make a zine until this semester, but this was a process that amazed me. All of the factors were extremely rewarding, but it was also really fun creating a style and brand as well. From scheduling shoots, to editing, to long nights writing all my works in the process, I actually felt confidence in my piece that it would be 100% mine. In the future, I would love to question the versatility of fashion, film. and branding- and test the limits of all. Each of these projects may generate another project because I would be able to collaborate with other artists to combine the fields, or perhaps create a flow. I would love to build my network and collaborate with more artists, especially in intervention design. Something that interests me is designing to grab attention, especially in marketing and branding. I want to learn how to gain experience in the film fashion field, as well as the magazine design field. I also want to learn how my works are seen in my community, study what works in my aesthetic design, and what does not, and what people truthfully like.
#studio #intervention #networking #versatility #attention #collaborate #truthfully #collage
#film fashion
