A "Slow" Start

Weeks in and I'm having a slow start. Or, a sorta slow start.

I started my process of creating this social campaign last semester, as I said in the first blog post, so I guess it hasn't been an exactly "slow" start. I started and finished the poster series and began the first spread for the infographic booklet months ago now.

I guess these last couple of months have been slow though.

Here are the next steps that I was planning to get done during the last few months:

1. A first draft of the infographic booklet done

2. First rough drafts of shirts done

3. Merchandise supplies ordered

I haven't successfully finished any of those steps. Last semester, I would have definitely had it all done. I love getting ahead of work and I often don't feel like I've accomplished anything at all if I'm not way ahead. I can't seem to relax. This semester has been stressful for me so far, I will admit. Between my internship, a new job, and senior year of college in general, I'm just now becoming sort of settled in with my new schedule and it's almost March. It's because my internship has been a new experience for me, and, therefore, has caused a lot of anxiety. The days between my internship hours are spent dealing with my new job and getting work done for classes that are due. The weekend is often used as a way to completely empty out my mind and prepare it for a new stressful week all over again, so I never get any work done on those days when last semester I did homework for fun.

Getting a start on this project this semester has been rough. I did manage to put a dent in things when I knew I needed a good amount of work to show in class in order to get sufficient feedback. Luckily, it seemed like a lot of us have been slow to start.

Starting with my infographic booklet, I spent a good amount of time preparing the main layouts for them. This was aggravating, to begin with. Last semester, I created the first spreads on Poverty in Adobe Illustrator because I forgot a lot of the foundations of working on InDesign. I needed this to be on InDesign though so I could refamiliarize myself with the program and have it better prepared to be printed. I tried to convert all of the designs over to InDesign but the blending modes were way off and, after a long time of being frustrated, I decided I would make the designs in Illustrator and place them in my InDesign file afterward. Hopefully, this doesn't become an issue later and it all works out.

When I presented this to my peers, I got feedback saying that it all looked cohesive, but to possibly push the reservations spread more. I now realize that completing the rough drafts for all of these will definitely take some time. I have to come up with a blurb introducing the topic in the first part and then figure out how to show data in the second part.

As for the actual infographics, I created sketches of the data I researched for each topic. Last semester, I created an MMIW infographic that I'm planning on adapting so it fits my Our First People designs. Loss of Culture and Exploitation were topics I thought I'd have issues with, since there's no quantitative data for these, so I asked my peers about it. The first group I met with suggested I keep researching to find numerical data to represent, but the second group suggested I use imagery as that data. I liked this idea more as it's probably more interesting to look at and it will mix things up.

For the shirts, I want to create designs that are more celebratory, since most of the themes of this campaign are pretty heavy. The first idea I thought of was using Pow Wow regalia and dance to show how beautiful the culture and people still are today, despite their struggles. I found images of colorful Pow Wow dancers and meshed them together to create an abstract design, with the title of my project over them. I actually fell in love with this design, and thankfully my peers did too. I placed the texture over the design, as I've done with every part of this project so far, so it will blend into the mineral wash shirt I plan on using. The design still needs to be finalized a little more but I may make this the cover for the infographic booklet.

I want to make at least one more shirt design. I had no ideas for the next one, so I asked my peers once again. The first group had none either, but the second group helped me a lot. I told them I wanted to possibly touch on Native American culture's relationship and appreciation for nature but didn't know where to go from there. Someone said I could use old Indigenous art, like line art, that depicted their relationship with nature. Another actually suggested specific artists that they've been studying in one of their classes that I could use for inspiration: Wohaw, Gotebo, and Louisa Keyser.

(From left to right) Gotebo, Louisa Keyser, and Wohaw artwork.

My next steps will be to actually get a move on with the first draft of the infographics, finalize the first shirt design, and begin the rough draft for the second. Even after all of the helpful feedback, I still feel a bit slow, but hopefully I'll power through and be proud of the work I accomplish.