Without my professor Patricia Cue and the approval from the San Ysidro Business Association, I would not have been able to complete an electric box down San Ysidro Blvd (about 1-2 miles from U.S.-Mexico border) today. I had a wonderful opportunity to contribute to the community in which I thought it was best to spread the message that I developed through my case study on positive immigration reform.

Many Sewn Into One originally stemmed from a case study regarding U.S. immigration. The concept derived from the idea of our nation as a “political fabric,” which is a metaphor for people connected as one. This transforms sewn thread as a graphic motif. In this case, the design specically promotes unity and diversity through hands and forearms connected in an almost seamless, continuous border. The most expressive and representative images are the hands that seemingly embrace the electricity box all around. Overall, the iconic imagery creates a pattern that covers the entire box to guide the viewer around every side. The thread works it way through the pattern to emphasize the concept as well as direct the viewer to the message in both English and Spanish. The final solution communicates a positive outlook on our borders and the people in bright, warm colors that makes this box unique and stand out in its location in San Ysidro.

Here is a culmination of the first bi-annual magazine issue for the AIGA SDSU student group, which illustrates us breaking out of the graphic design scene.

Catalyst is about art history inspiring design through pattern, typography and layout in a contemporary retrospect. In this book, I’ve selected two artists for each two art movements, Color Field (Abstract Expressionism) and Minimalism as the basis for this exploration. One intense hue is meant to emphasize each distinct movement. Graphic elements are extracted by dissecting forms of real artwork to carry throughout each artist’s section. The arrows serve as a motif of moving back and forth or affecting and reacting to illustrate the idea of inspiration in the form of a catalyst. These arrows frame the exterior layer of this multi-faceted book.

I hope to find two more related pairs of art movements to complete the Catalyst series. We’ll see how far I can extend this because I’m currently moved by abstract forms, but there’s an endless array of art styles. I’m seeing Bauhaus or Pop Art. I’ll stick to art movements that I honestly enjoy.

Inspired by songs, fictional characters, stories, moods, images, patterns, textures, people, everything, I create collages by experimenting in Photoshop through images, countless layers and effects.  This is a collage of digital pieces that were created through Photoshop ranging from 400 to 1000 pixels in width. I grew into this passion during the last decade when I realized I wanted to design websites. Looking at these thumbnails from bottom to top shows my development over time. It was always about telling a story, or expressing a feeling or song.  By the end of high school, I realized my interest in composition, layout, type, and color meant that I should pursue graphic design.

For an end-of-semester open house for the graphic design department, I aimed to emphasize the event as an exhibition while reflecting the diverse body of design students. The poster translates the event as an opportunity to peer into our creative thinking. The empty window frames incite curiosity from its ambiguity thus drawing in viewers. The frames range from simple to ornate to reflect the vast mixture of styles and personalities in our students.

The execution is both iconic and pattern-like, while the display type is also integrated into the composition to work as part of the pattern. The bright hue works with the underlying lined texture to create an energy that illustrates our active community. The larger frame connects our work in design to our roots in creative thinking, where the frame supports the design as an artwork on a canvas. The poster both promotes the creativity and carries the design innovation to attract peers and local creative professionals to our all-encompassing event.

The final concept became an iconic addition equation where the message reduced to its most basic form. The visual is simple, almost glaringly obvious, but mostly fosters curiosity. These random elements ask you how they become the heart. The elements relate to the event in terms of clothing donation and the concert featuring DJs or the utensils representing local restaurants. However, the heart is symbolic of the idea of bringing people together. The heart emboldens the importance of helping the homeless community. These posters are unique because it is iconic and a contemporary approach that actively engages and intrigues college students to support the event. This two-poster series was executed with peer designers Christian Schaefer and Bryant Wieczorck.

Project Overview
The case study on immigration will concern the slow and uncertain pace for change in its reform. Efforts by the United States government are slow and solutions for immigration reform are uncertain thus necessitating the urge for changing policy by both educating the end user and inciting action on their part. The past, present, and future of immigration will be explored in this project.

Key Information
The general audience for this project are U.S. citizens who have the right to action, especially Americans in regions that are most affected by the problems of immigration policy, such as the U.S.-Mexico border states (i.e. California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas). The targeted market would be both male and female adults between the ages of 18-35, who are allowed to vote in the United States. The message is the promotion of fair, positive solutions for immigration reform that supports the human rights of any individual. The tone will be serious to educate and to inform, but a sense of unity and family will be evoked for a positive message.
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The inspiration of this originally hand-rendered design stemmed mainly from one of the story’s themes that a pansy is stained with love’s wound. This notion transformed into a visual representation of the magic love potion leaking into a pool of chaos and obsession from the eyelids of the one struck by love.

I captured the intensity and the intricacy of the story that combines love, chaos, and transformation into a visually engaging poster that encapsulates the psychedelic theme of the play in a contemporary way. Highly saturated contrasting colors were used to amplify the dynamic pattern flowing in and out of the bottom of the design.

This minimal typographic-based poster was developed from exploring a variety of posters in association with music and the symphony. The concept was to reflect the grace and classicality of European history while integrating contemporary abstract elements for a dynamically moving composition. Based on hand drawn calligraphic strokes, this dominating visual element imitates the progression of a crescendo. The loops and the curves create a lively poster that flows and moves with dramatically dark colors in the elegance and intensity of a symphony. The overall design challenges previous designs in emphasizing abstraction and typography, while illustrating the image of the symphony orchestra in a modern and sophisticated way.