Today I put my full focus into getting as much done as I could to prepare for the voting PSAs. I finished storyboarding for all 3 versions; register, early voting, and election day. I was able to finish all of the assets that I included within the storyboards. Since I’m starting this project very early, these assets and storyboards are not finalized and are subject to change.

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I don’t have much else to write today. I will be working on the animatic next so I can start planning what kind of animations and effects I want to add.

For my past few shifts, I worked on finishing up all of my training requirements. I’m happy to say that I’ve completed all tiers of training. I learned a lot of valuable skills using several Adobe programs. I look forward to learning more skills and becoming more efficient in those programs.

The tier 3 training module required me to make a short intro animation for a class. I wanted to practice some simple transitions and focus on making them as smooth and aesthetically pleasing as possible. I went for a “start-up” style when the screen starts out black and reveals the graphics seconds later. In this storyboard, I planned to end the animation with a black screen, however after receiving feedback it was decided that it would be best not to.

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I’m pleased with the results of the final. I enjoyed adding small details, such as a brief and subtle blur when the text is revealed, much like a camera focusing in on a subject.

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Here are some other smaller projects I worked on. I changed the backgrounds, colors, text, and some minor imagery.

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Now that I’ve completed the required training, it’s time for me to work on a bigger project. I’ve been tasked with creating the 2026 Fall Voting PSA animations that will advertise and inform early voting, registering to vote, and election day to students and faculty. We’re in the early phase of this project, so there isn’t much to do except make some rough storyboards and assets. I’ll show some progress of what I’ve done so far in my next blog. Thanks for reading.

I continued working on my training assignments today and was able to do most of our Tier 2 Course Graphics training. I mostly used Illustrator since it’s what I’m most comfortable with, however I did dabble a little bit into Photoshop and After Effects. I was required to make custom graphics for a class that can be used in studio, class and Canvas. This includes backgrounds for video recordings, powerpoint slides, and interactive Canvas assets. Images used in this project were found on Pexels, a website where people can share their images royalty free.

I started off with brainstorming ideas of what and how I wanted my assets to look. Because I chose the class “Earth’s Dynamic Environment II”, I wanted to portray Earth in some way. I wanted to focus on using images of Earth material and animals while adding Earthy overlays to bring them all together. I only spent about 5 minutes on each mood board to avoid over working them.

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After sending the mood boards for approval, I decided on using close up images for a minimalist/artistic style and adding a green overlay to unify everything together. At first, I wanted to go with a very muted green to give the assets a serious feel, however after receiving feedback from my trainer I increased the saturation, which I ended up being very happy with. This increase in saturation would also help the color look more rich on video.

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Overall, I’m happy with the progress I made. There were a few times where I misunderstood the instructions and had to redo a few assets, however I’m glad to continue to learn new skills and techniques.

Today I focused on finishing up Tier 1 Course Graphics training where I used Illustrator and PowerPoint to make standard and custom assets for courses. At first things were slow to start as I figured out techniques and tools, but as I progressed through the training I started to catch on to a smooth work flow. I learned several new skills in Illustrator and PowerPoint such as creating art-boards and accessing the master slides menu. I will be using these skills in future projects as an STA and for personal use.

Overall, I’m most satisfied with my efficiency in completing this project. However after receiving feedback from my trainer, I feel that I sacrificed creativity. I chose to use my favorite class, Principles of Animation with Lucas Dimick. For the image options, I decided to take the safe route and went with a simple image of the Austin city buildings. I believe their placements look great, however it does not fit with the topic of the course. I believe I could’ve chosen images that relate more to the course, such as old animations like Mickey Mouse, or the storyboard of a bouncing ball.

I will take my mistakes as a lesson learned and use new learned knowledge on my next project. I’m still happy with the result of these assets and I’m excited to start working on the Tier II Course Graphics training.

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Power Point Templates

Hello, my name is Kodi, I’m a junior studying Arts and Entertainment Technologies, and I will be starting my second year at UT starting this fall 2026. I’m an artist specializing in paleo art, creature concepts, and 3D texture design. I have several years of experience in digital art and media, as well as some experience in game modding using Unreal Engine. In my free time I enjoy playing video games such as Path of Titans, Stardew, Dave the Diver, and any silly co-op game my friends and I come across. I’m currently building my 3D modeling and animating skills to become a 3D creature artist.

For the 3 days that I’ve been here so far, I can confidently say that this has been the most fun orientation I have ever had. Getting to use Adobe programs to create artworks about myself has been enjoyable and a great learning experience. My first projects were a bio poster and a caricature, which I had done in Illustrator and Procreate respectively. I took the opportunity to share my special interests in every way possible, so on my bio sheet I shared two recent drawings I did and drew myself as my favorite dinosaur, spinosaurus. I wanted to keep my poster and caricature simple and minimalistic compared to my usual style so I could focus on figuring out my work flow.

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I also worked on one other project, my banner, which can be seen at the top of this blog. In conclusion, I have had an extremely enjoyable experience working as an STA so far. I look forward to working on future projects and assignments.