Our monument, The Hansberry Stage
(Final for Integrative Studio 1)
As an artist/designer, I have been primarily focused on 2D Graphic Design, photography, and traditional 2D forms such as drawing and painting. My intro to art was very traditional, but when I was 16 and attended a Graphic Design summer program at SVA, I realized my passion for graphic design and could envision a future in advertising or art direction. Now, I’m pursuing Communication Design at Parsons and am incredibly excited to start doing what I signed up for, which is graphic design and working with digital media. To be honest, Studio and Seminar were not my favorite classes at all because I felt the assignments we were given did not interest me at all and felt dated. I also struggled with the research aspect, because I felt there were too many expectations that didn’t quite fit together, but I know it was valuable nonetheless to push myself to focus on research and intent and communicating that knowledge. I do believe Studio urged me to push through difficult and confusing assignments which I’m proud that I did. In Seminar, it also pushed me to be a more thoughtful and knowledgable writer, although I did feel quite overwhelmed by research by the last paper, especially since I did not feel as though I had a definitive idea of what the paper was supposed to be about throughout the whole process. I did, however, enjoy getting to challenge myself to write longer papers and create more substance and claim to the papers I wrote.
My favorite project by far was the St. Marks zine we were asked to create. Although the assignment wasn’t perfectly interesting to me, I felt as though it was the most relevant to me and I had the most to work with in terms of my own connection to the work. The zine gave me somewhat of an opportunity to express myself design-wise (though I wished it could have been more, but we had a lot of restrictions,) and the paper was a great opportunity to talk about my own experience while comparing it to the readings we did, which I found very interesting. That assignment was frustrating to begin with, because I felt as though we were set up to be disappointed by what we experienced on St. Marks since there’s no way it could have been the same as what we read about, but towards the end, I felt more in tune with the location. Now I go back there voluntarily and actually have started to experience the nightlife and culture that we read about existing there. I was also proud of my zine in the end, although I wish the assignment was more clear of what it was supposed to be because I just had to work with what Christine told us and in the end I didn’t get as much positive feedback as I hoped I would. I did really enjoy the design process though and felt my designs were pretty strong, and connected to the essay as well, which I thought I had written well.
Some of my favorite pages from the St. Marks photo book
I “hear” your frustration Malini, and part of what you need to embrace is process–sometimes there is no “right” answer. The answer arrives from lots of false starts, trial and error. And this is the part you don’t like–but, as a designer (especially in communication)–this is the aspect you will have to find a way to enjoy. Nothing is ever as clear or as straightforward as we would like. Design and research-writing is about finding the thread, the tidbit that compels you, makes you curious. I wish you all the best in future, and to finding the Parsons mentors with whom you will grow as a researcher-writer and designer.