STA Blog

De'sha Bass-McClellan

De'sha Bass-McClellan

See You Later

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See You Later

Wow! I can’t believe I am leaving such an amazing team!! This semester went by way too fast and I’m going to miss every single one of y’all!!

Even though I am leaving, I don’t want to say goodbye because I feel like our paths might cross again in the future. I’m sad to be leaving but I have grown so much from working for LAITS for the past 2 years and I’m truly blessed to call myself a design STA. When I first started this job, I was filled with ambition and dedication but very little technical skills. But Valerie, Maddy, and Suloni believed in me and saw the potential I had to grow into a level 4 STA. I cherish all the projects I got to work on and all the AMAZING designers I got to meet. Y’all are superstars and I saw that when y’all created those beautiful posters. I couldn’t be prouder and I’m so thankful I got to see it.

Rules for Success

  1. Always be true to yourself! Embrace your unique qualities and never stop shining!
  2. See the potential in yourself! Don’t be afraid to try new things!
  3. Use college as a learning opportunity. Learn about yourself and others.
  4. “Can’t” is your motivation. If you don’t achieve something at the beginning but you are truly passionate about it, keep trying!! See failure as an opportunity to grow.

Letters:

 

Adrian:

You are a powerhouse! From creating a new intake system for Photo IDs to creating so many visually appealing course graphics! You always take a fun and unique approach to your creations that I know all the clients love. I also love how knowledgable you are on so many animal creatures. I know you are going to do amazing things and you are going to lead your fellow STAs well.

 

Thang:

Wow!! I am always so speechless after your present in our weekly check-in meetings. You are sooooooo passionate about learning new things and the way you share that information to your peers is amazing! You are such a great web developer and presenter. I also know you want to start designing as well and I have full confidence you can. By knowing how to develop an easily accessible website, you will be unstoppable when you began adding design elements.

 

Carrie:

Your attention to detail and design is amazing!! When you created the design STA poster I was shocked at how fast you were able to create such a beautiful design that captured our team so well! You also create such amazing website designs that are thought out and really capture what the client wants. Continue being amazing and creating beautiful work!

 

Lorena:

Wow! For the past couple of months your designs have grown so much. I appreciate your attention to details and unique style. You are such as sweet person and I absolutely loved working with you. Continue asking questions and learning new ways to create effective designs.

 

Marissa:

Your illustrations are soooo beautiful! I absolutely loved seeing your voting illustrations! I love how passionate you are for design and I see you doing big things in the future. Don’t be afraid to explore new approaches and gain as much knowledge from your fellow designer and managers.

 

Luisa:

First, you have such an amazing style!! I love your leather coat and boats that you wear!! Absolutely beautiful!! You are so kind and caring to everyone you meet. You are also an amazing designer!! From the postcards to the brochure, I’m blown away with your attention to detail to create such amazing physical designs.

 

Leilani:

Wow!!! You have grown so much from when you first started as an STA! You are such a strong leader and have so many great ideas for art direction. I know you are going to do amazing things for the STA team! You are going to manage the the UTFC project and find new approaches I couldn’t think of. You are so smart and talented!! Also, I hope your online print business is extremely successful! Your artwork is so beautiful and I know everyone will enjoy it.

 

Valerie:

You are such an amazing manager. You create such as welcoming and inviting environment for all the designers. I love how you play lo-fi and engage in fun conversations with everyone. Thank you for having the confidence on me to take on the UTFC project and help the STAs in anyway possible. I know that the Design team will continue to reach new goals because your passion for this team really shines!!! Thank you for being you!! Also, please start making art again!! You are such as talented illustrator and the world deserve to see your work!!

 

Maddy:

First, the mural is going to be sooo beautiful! I think it will truly create a peaceful environment for the designers to create freely. You are such an amazing art director and I love how you encourage the designers to go for new unique approaches to their projects. You inspired me so much with your leadership style and your dedication to the team. Thank you so much for encouraging me to take new risks with my animations and allowing my to take the lead on the STA posters. I’m truly thankful to have had a manager like you in my work career!!

 

Suloni:

Thank you for everything!! You have created such as strong foundation for the design STAs and I’m truly blessed that I was a part of it. Your wisdom and encouragement is so beautiful and the love you have for all the STAs shows. I know the design team will continue to be strong because they had you!! I hope you have a fun, relaxing, and adventurous retirement. You absolutely deserve it. Thank you for sharing a piece of you with your beautiful presentation of your work. I don’t know if I would have believed in myself to take on art direction without you putting me in those roles and believing in my abilities. I honestly can’t thank you enough.

 

New Beginnings

Y’all keep being amazing and creating wonderful designs that will be showcased all throughout UT. I’m so happy that I was a part of this team and always remember, y’all are LOVED <3

 

UTFC Management Document

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UTFC Management Document

Since I will be leaving, I will be passing the UTFC project to the next STA. Currently, I am creating a document about the management process of handling this project.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/15lGx-MDFZWekSOTLenQ-n00kwL_m6_wH0cAu-MeMp10/edit?usp=sharing 

 

GOV312L Animated Intro

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GOV 312L US National Security Intro Draft

This was the first proof of concept with the template for the possible animated intro. Since this course was going to be pre-recorded, the intro needed to only be 10 seconds long. Therefore, I needed to cut out some scenes in the After Effect file and added in the images appropriately.

 

After creating the proof of concept, it was important to make sure the course graphics were all cohesive. Therefore, I created the baseline with the animated intro.

  • Make the images Grayscale
  • Make the words white
  • Alter the glowing light to represent the green and red in the Iraq flag.

 

These were the last revisions on the animated intro. With that, the professor has now informed us that they would no longer want an animated intro for the course. Therefore, I think the was helpful to see how Motion Array templates operate for future projects.

GOV 312L US National Security

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GOV 312L US National Security

project: GOV312L animated Intro
Client /Prof: Jason Brownlee
completion status: Started Nov 8th
staff guidance: Maddy, Suloni
STA team members: N/A
description/plans:

Create an animated intro for this course that is a cohesive design with the other digital assets that are created for the course.

Steps:

Motion Array Template

Animation Proposal

Animate

Edit

To be completed: December 5th

Template:

To simplify the process for creating this project, I took out the time to locate an After Effects template to use for the intro instead of creating one from scratch. I came across the sight “Motion Array” that has a wide arrange of animated templates.

This is the current template we will use for this project:

https://motionarray.com/after-effects-templates/free-adobe-after-effects-templates-932/?listing_position=40&subcategories=free&page=2

 

Everything is broken down into their own compositions. From the individual images used, to the text and the different scenes. This keeps everything organized and easy to navigate.

All the different scenes are put together to create the final composition with the correct timing.

In each scene, it contains all the elements that make the animated intro. Everything is editable so that you can make adjustments if needed.

What is really good about Motion Array is that the template gives you a strong foundation that you can grow upon or keep as is. There are endless possibilities.

Animation Proposal:

Next, I have been working on creating the animation proposal for the different images we will use, the words that should be included, and the color alterations:

ArtBoard Studio

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Artboard Studio

This week I have been testing out a new animation software that can help STAs create complex animations without using After Effects. Artboard studio can be seen as a combination of 3 applications:

  • Illustrator: creating vector shapes, pen tool, shapes, artboards, Layers
  • Figma: Open workspace
  • After Effects: Key frame Animation functionality

This is a free application that is web-based. It can be upgraded for more features.

Templates & Assets

This software also provides stock free assets that can be incorporated in your designs and countless templates that can be used.

 

Imports

In this application, you can also import different personal assets to the site:

  • Videos
  • Youtube videos
  • Graphics (PNGs, JPGs)
  • Images
  • Custom Fonts

Sharing

You can also share your project. This is mainly for someone to view the project or there is an option for it to be cloned.

 

Mockup Examples

Here are some examples of the mockups that can be created using this application. This allows a smart object that you can edit that will be changed on the main graphic.

 

Main Work Station

Artboard studio allows for a huge workspace where you can create different artboards and import different assets that you can organize.

Animation Test

Currently, I am working to see if it is possible to create an After Effects quality animation in this application. This is what I enjoy about the application so far:

  • Can import Youtube videos of the animations on the artboard to reduce tabs.
  • I can create my animation process screenshots and notes on the side of the work space.
  • I can organize the assets I want in the workspace and create smart object for easy edits. You can also import custom fonts for a design.

 

 

Animation Example

Here is a current animation template to showcase the type of animations that can be created.

To start animating, you have to hit the “start animation button” and you can add key frames for different parts of the objects. Such as position, scale, rotation, etc.

 

Downfalls:

  • Since it is a web-based application, the rendering of the videos takes awhile. It is strongly based on your internet connection.
  • The pen tool is nice, but it isn’t as smooth and concise as in illustrator.
  • There aren’t a lot of tutorial out on creating different animation styles in this application.