Thesis Process Blog

This is my final post and it's a bitter sweet moment. I finalized my project proposal presentation materials. Fortunately, I got mine approve! It was a tough road, but I'm happy with how the project turned out and I'm eager to get started.

This was the final work week and everything came together for tomorrow's presentation. While getting my files ready, I realized that there's so much more I want to create and achieve with my thesis project. I know one of my keywords was "detailed," and I want to communicated with that in the design, but in small ways that some may not even notice. This maybe with the deliverables or even the brand's message and goals. I plan for the future of this project to grow with society and how CBD edibles plays a role in that in the San Antonio market. I plan to keep relevant by reading current articles and watching videos or even keeping up with my focus group to see how things have changed with their relationship with CBD. I also realized this week that I need more experience with video editing and seeing what little I can do with animation, makes me want to try harder to make more advanced motion graphics—especially since one of my deliverables requires motion graphics...

I had to change up my script and keyframes from last module. I realized that my previous version didn't have cohesion or relation to my topic. I decided to go a more "papel picado" vibe, but with a twist using unusual colors and more mature patterns that relate to my topic. Doing these edits help me have a firm grasp on what I want the future deliverables to look like.

This past week was me fine-tuning some things for my presentation and materials matrix. I decided to take a step back and focus on the San Antonio's culture being part of the "look" of my project rather than sticking to just Mexican culture. Although San Antonio population is predominantly Hispanic, I don't want to isolate other ethnicities since every San Antonio native enjoy local events like "Fiesta." I hope to incorporate both Mexican and Texan culture into the branding in some way since San Antonio is the fusion of both.

                   This week I created some icons for the materials matrix which helped me visualize what look/theme of my system which is inspired by Mexican culture. The keywords "Bold, Transparent, and Detailed" are words that I want the topic to address visually which I plan to incorporate in my presentation. Having a system that's cohesive helps drive the message forward and have a professional looking presentation.

This week I was focused on finalizing deliverables from 8 to 4. I find doing this step in the process to be beneficial and helps me hone-in on what I am looking for in this project, both for my professional career and solving the issue of CBD edibles in San Antonio. Writing down my ideas helped me visualize the deliverables and made me think deeper. I did find it interesting where my first strategy/inside/deliverables "block" took hold. I ended up finding myself exploring different "candy" avenues that appealed to the Mexican culture in my area.

I readjusted my DS Chart to make it more clear what my topic is and the audience I chose for it. I then explored all 8 deliverable possibilities for each insight/strategy. It was interesting going down the list and thinking of ways to make the strategies work in design.  I realized that certain things inter-change with each other. For example, in my keywords, "high-quality" could also be "bold" or have transparency in design. Despite this, I still tried to differentiate each keyword to stand alone. One thing I haven't thought about is my time after AAU and how my thesis would play a role in my future endeavors. The first possible scenario that would happen to me when I leave the Academy is that I will become a graphic design professor for a university. My thesis will help me in the program to graduate, but the project itself would act as a mere catalyst to get into teaching by showing the interviewer the amount of research and creative ideas I can bring...