Here's a long story that's meant to be a short one.
I had to take a class about public speaking. If you know me personally, you know I cheered and I did competitive speech in high school, so most of you are probably thinking, "Molls, that shouldn't be a problem for you!" Well, surprise, it is. Anyway, public speaking has become one of my lesser-liked activities--without any really good reason why.
For my final project in my public speaking class I had to film a two-minute video of myself talking about myself as a student designer, my goals, what I'm drawn to, and so on. You can check it out here.
If you don't watch it, my feelings definitely won't be hurt. I'll hit one of my favorite points (which is where all this ties together)...
Simplistic design. I. AM. O B S E S S E D. I can't get enough of simple design. What isn't to like? It's clean, simple, and to the point (most of the time)...it's my favorite. Don't get me wrong, there are some designs that are full of different art elements that are dynamic and beautifully designed and arranged-- definitely a thing of beauty, and I praise the designer(s) for their hard work. I am truly impressed.
-BUT- simplistic design--I was once told a few years ago, "simple is hard." It's hard to master simplicity, and so I felt a pang of challenge, and since then, it's been a goal of mine to master the art of 'simple' in the art of design.
How this ties in? I LOVE vectors. Adobe Illustrator--if I could give you a high-five I totally would...scratch that, I'd give you a high-ten, and probably give you one of my favorite cookies. Illustrator is one of my favorite Adobe Creative Cloud programs to use. It was one of the first programs I learned and one that I continually go back to. I haven't mastered it yet, but I'm working on it. (Side note/Q: Do we ever truly master anything, though!?) Anyway...
I love a good vector image.
I am drawn to their simplicity.
I like how flat they can be, all while giving their own depth.
One of my favorite projects was making a travel poster for a city landmark using a minimal color palette. I chose Chicago because The Bean is a big deal and it's truly a sight of beauty. This is still one of my favorite projects.