Senior Year; Semester 2

Senior Year Reflection

    Once again this has been a phenomenal year of eComm. I've learned so much that I am honestly just blown away. This year especially I learned how to work with real clients and successfully execute the uses of type on several different projects.
   

I think I've grown a lot thanks to this program. I remember when I first started high school and I would turn bright red anytime I had to do public speaking in front of anyone, even just my class. Over the years that stage fright has faded. I love going to public events for eComm and just talking to random people about my program. The senior show, 8th-grade high school fairs, Digigirlz events all of them I was able to go and talk about eComm to complete strangers and feel like I've made a contribution to this program.

Technology 

    This year the most important technological advancement would be the way I chose fonts and where I found them. I did a lot more focusing on finding unique trendy fonts that really brought out the message of a product. I started buying professional fonts in order to get a step up since I can't really draw my own typography yet. I think next year at KU I'm going to try to teach myself how to draw them because I've noticed through classmates work that it can really make a project shine if you make your own typography that is designed to specifically fit for that project.

Collaboration/ Communication

    One thing I have started to do is really collaborate and talk to multiple people in my class. I've been trying very hard to get over my shyness in this class in order to get better feedback from my classmates and then improve my work. By talking with more of the girls in my class I think I have gotten better feedback and had a lot more fun joking and working with them. I think I still need to work on my people skills but I've definitely gained more confidence by being a part of this program. I have a much stronger public speaking voice when I got to participate in eComm publicity events. I like getting out of my comfort zone when I'm passionate about something and I am ecstatic about this program. I will always come back to eComm as the reason I loved school. 

    Besides my leadership, my teacher's devotion to this class has been stellar. She's supported me throughout the program. She gives me countless hours of outside work that helps build my portfolio. Mrs. Burdolski has helped me with resumes for colleges and jobs; I was able to get into KU with her help and even get several interviews with graphic design jobs over the summer on the KU campus. I was able to even secure a well-paying job directly working with graphic design in the International department over this summer. I can't express how much she's helped me, no other program or teacher has gone nearly this far to ensure my success. I hope this program continues for a long long time because it's so helpful for seniors and juniors who are interested in a creative field.

Project Managment 

    How I learned this would be through a combination of Burdolski's class projects and outside work assigned to me. The one that really helped my typography would be my shampoo rebranding and the redesigning of a menu of a local restaurant. I think the logo work on my Fairytale shampoo was extremely successful because I listened to Burdolski and chose the more simplistic logo which had more focus on the typography rather than the graphics. It was a good choice because then that logo paired with my art highlighted each other and worked together well rather than trying to compete with each other for the viewer's attention.

    With the Menu project, I got a lot of practice with laying out fonts in InDesign. I had to make sure the balance was well focused on the titles and then smaller information was placed so that your eye would be drawn to that next. Overall I loved how the typography looked but if I could go back in I would fix how I placed the drop shadows so they wouldn't be cut off but the main focus of the project was achieved. I definitely want to explore projects like this more.

    I just want to express how thankful I am for this program. Year after year I've had expert advice and help. All of the eComm teachers are so sweet and inspirational; the courage they've given me to pursue a job in graphic design is irreplaceable. I've improved tremendously, outside professionals have told me my work is far past the expectations you would have for a Senior in high school. I have full confidence that this course has prepared me for college and beyond. I am excited about the future but I will miss this program above all else. Thank you so much for having this available and I hope in my future I can contribute back to this program so that the future generations can experience the same joys I have in high school.