Lauren Cummins

      The calligram project was one that definitely challenged me a bit. I created it with Adobe Illustrator, using the text tool and vectorizing the font to shape it however I needed. I used a selfie of myself and outlined specific shapes like different sections of my face or hair, and then formed the text to fit that shape. I filled the sections with words and phrases from a letter I wrote to my future self as well as other things that I feel represent me. I also used the dropper tool to extract the exact color from the original picture and apply it to said text.  It took me about six hours split up over the course of two or three days. I had never done anything like this so it was definitely a challenge for me, but it was really cool to see the finished product! 

  I think that the poster project was one of my favorite projects we did in this class! We had to take a photo of ourselves and turn it into a poster that conveys a certain message. I created this using Adobe Illustrator as well as Adobe Color for the color palette. The color palette I chose was a monochromatic blue palette. I used this picture of myself that was taken at the beach which is somewhere I always feel at peace and most relaxed. I also remember that at the time when we were assigned this project, I was very stressed out and had so much going on in my life. This inspired my message of remembering to breathe and that everything will be okay! This message is something that I always like to remind myself so I loved turning it into a visual poster.   

  Dear future me,  Hi! How are you? I hope you are really, truly happy. As of right now, I am a sophomore in college at the University of Tampa. I live in an apartment with our friend Alex and her puppy Winnie. Winnie is only seven months old right now and she is the cutest thing ever. How old is Winnie when you are reading this? Do you still live with her and Alex? Right now I am struggling a  bit. I am confused about what I want to do with the rest of my life school is stressful and I wonder if it will be worth it sometimes. Was it worth it? I am also struggling with the people I am surrounding myself with while living here in Tampa. I don’t have many good friends right now and it feels like I keep getting screwed over by the people I get close to. Have you made real, genuine friends that support you finally? It’s hard to live so far away from family and friends at home and struggle with feeling alone because it makes it feel so much worse. Writing this letter to my fut...