DMA 214: Reflecting on Project 1

This is a part of a series, consisting of reflections and analysis of work created in the Digital Media Arts 214: Digital Design Principles at Canisius College in Buffalo, NY.

The first project of DMA 214: Digital Design Concepts focuses on Gestalt principles and nursery rhymes. Not the easiest combination in the world to foresee, but one that highlights the importance of understanding these principles and how they apply in the digital design realm. Below, you’ll see 2 sets of 6 principles. The first set is abstract, while the second is representative, both with “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” as the story. Additionally, the 6 principles are: repetition, closure, continuation, proximity, similarity, and figure ground. This was my first encounter learning these principles, though now understanding them more fully I realize that I had unconsciously been using a couple of them already. I found certain principles, like repetition to be much easier than others, like figure ground. Some principles were difficult to discern how they would impact non-academia work, but I think their worth is measured in fundamental understanding, and not absolute real-world use. I found telling a cohesive story through the 6 principles to be challenging, but not overly so. I think to improve future submissions, it would be to take from different sources of inspiration. The start of the NFL season impacted this work, though that ultimately may be hard to see in the final product.