1.6: Five Areas of Interest

Distill Down to Five Areas of Interest

At this point, you should have a lot of content from Activity 1.1 through 1.5. After taking some time to process all of the potential topics you have found, select the five areas of interest that have the most potential to meet the viable topic criteria.

Write a short paragraph about each of these five potential topics. In the paragraph, speak concisely about what you are interested in, and how these topics relate to your ideas, design solutions, and worldview. Be specific about the ideas and do not speak in broad or general terms.

Above: Some notes for me thinking of my 5 AOI

1. Art
   Expressing yourself through art (music, dance, painting, drawing, etc.) has been known to relieve stress and encourage creative thinking. It also has been known to help those with dementia and alzheimers. For me, whenever I feel stressed out, playing the piano or drawing helps alleviate my nerves while also clearing my mind. Graphic design itself is an art and although there are stressful project, in some ways design is relaxing as well. For example, in the design process, I always find searching for color palettes and schemes is calming to my mind. There are some draw-backs such as some people not everyone having access to their craft, whether that be at home, school, or access to local clubs.
   
2. Procrastination
   Sometimes I suffer from procrastination. Although it isn’t for everyone, for me it sometimes helps me come up with decisions under a tight deadline—a quality that some design agencies look for. However, it is a problem and even for me, can be quite stressful. Procrastination has been known to generate negative feelings and stress due to the amount of workload that needs to be done in a short amount of time. With graphic design, I think creating ways to stop procrastination can be used alongside technology whether that be an app or software.
   
3. Anxiety
   Like procrastination, I also suffer from anxiety. Fortunately, it isn’t bad enough to get medical intervention, but I try to find “natural” methods to help. Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illnesses in the United States and women are twice as likely to be affected as men. Women tend to have increased anxiety during hormonal changes like puberty, menstrual cycles, and menopause. Perhaps there’s some sort of natural treatment or “kit” for women experiencing anxiety during these changes to help alleviate/prevent symptoms.
   
4. CBD
   There is an increase of CBD shops in my area, San Antonio TX, perhaps because marijuana is illegal and this is the next best thing for medicinal purposes. CBD has been used both topically and orally. Benefits include managing stress/anxiety, reducing pain and inflammation, improving sleep, helping with epilepsy, and much more with no addictive side-effects. I think it’s a positive thing that CBD is growing, but with so many competitors and types of products, it seems CBD is becoming overly saturated (like alcohol). Perhaps there’s a way to organize the different CBD stores/products in my area without overwhelming customers.
   
5. Cruelty-Free Products
   Cruelty-free products are on the rise, especially cosmetics. It was revolutionary that a major makeup company, Covergirl, recently became cruelty-free while other big name brands still test on animals. Many companies, like Neutrogena, claim to be cruelty free, but actually test animals in distributors where it’s legal (like in China). As someone who tries to be cruelty-free, I’ve noticed that skincare products are the hardest to find that are effective, reasonably-priced, and cruelty free. I think there should be more affordable cruelty-free products for skincare and/or some sort of easy to access database for the many cruelty-free products.