Running head: SELF ASSESSMENT: ARTIFACT 1

Self-Assessment: Artifact 1
Andrea Binnington
University of Ontario Institute of Technology
AEDT2130: Graphic Design, Digital Technologies and Learning
Self-Assessment 1
October 18, 2014


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Self Assessment 1 Andrea Binnington
Artifact 1
I have chosen a self-assessment format for my first assignment as I feel it will allow me
to better reflect on the steps I took to determine what my artifact would look like, what materials
I would use to create it, what elements and design principles I would use and what platform it
should be present on. (http://andreabaedt.weebly.com/aedt-2130---graphic-design-blog)
I have always loved colour and colouring in books or just creating abstract outlines that I
could spend time colouring in with any type of medium, from markers to chalk to coloured
pencils and crayons.
I decided that I would like to take an already existing image of an outline that was
meaningful to me and add the elements of colour and texture to it. I was looking for something
online that contained some of the design principles and found a single page of text created in an
outlined format ready to be filled in. The text read LIFE is AbouT USING The Whole BOX of
CRAYONS which is something I strongly believe in. I love each and every colour in every
colouring box and felt this would allow me to be freer in my colour selections. The creator of the
initial page, Samantha Snyder (n.d.) offered full use of any images for schooling purposes
providing there were no monetary gains from it.
The main design principle I feel is in my artifact is that of balance. I do see some of the
pattern principle as well in the small dots and shading details offered on many of the letters but
the balance of each line, the spacing between each letter and the next row is what really stood out
to me.
I attempted to enhance or display this balance by taking a photograph on my iphone as
each of the lines was completed with colour and texture. While the colour aspect is obvious, I
felt the texture really came alive when the crayon is compared to the marker and how different
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Self Assessment 1 Andrea Binnington
the final presentation is on paper for each medium. This allowed me to create a secondary
artifact, a mini artifact I suppose, as an animated gif which ran through each of the individual
photographs and created a mini slide show that presented the entire artifact creation from start to
finish. (http://i.picasion.com/pic78/e4e3ba5ad5d112553ed8400e2a0a219b.gif)
I also decided on two different mediums for this project, one being markers which are my
comfort choice and the one Im most familiar with and the second being crayons from my sons
colouring box. I decided to have a little bit of literal fun with this artifact and colour in the word
CRAYON with the crayons. I did discover during this process that I enjoy colouring with
crayons much less as an adult than I did as a child. I was unable to reach all of the edges and
make clean lines with these wax monsters of colour, which I was able to do with the assortment
and variety of markers that I had available to me. The markers ranged from 0.03mm in tip size to
2mm and I used each and every colour available in the box, regardless of whether it created a
sense of harmony or balance from a colour perspective. I do understand the concept of similar
shading of colours as based on Sir Isaac Netwons colour wheel (Basic Colour, 2014) and did
focus a small attempt to align the bold colours with similar hues in the shaded areas, especially
around the word USING.
In summary, I feel that I have gained quite a lot of perspective and understanding of the
design principles and elements. For my future artifacts, I am going to try to incorporate more of
each of the principles and elements into them as well as focus on new delivery platforms and
mediums to further enhance my knowledge and provide a greater challenge to myself to learn
and grow.


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Self Assessment 1 Andrea Binnington


Resources
Basic Color Theory. (2014, October 18). Basic Color Theory. Retrieved from
http://www.colormatters.com/color-and-design/basic-color-theory

Snyder, S. (n.d.). Word Coloring Pages. Word Coloring Pages. Retrieved from
http://www.doodle-art-alley.com/word-coloring-pages.html