IW 8: Reflecting on the semester

Throughout this course, the power of rhetoric image has been emphasized in every project. We learned that there are myriad ways in which images can convey meaning to they audience. Whether it be through collage, image manipulation, using more than one material, composing an image void of words can still have a lasting impact on its viewer. The syllabus lists 5 objectives for the course, as follows: 

1. Demonstrate your understanding of multimedia concepts such as usability, interactivity, hypertext, remediation, visual culture, etc., through discussion and the products you create. 
2. Demonstrate the ability to design and compose a variety of multimedia products (3) for a variety of audiences (3) based on contemporary design practices.
3. Demonstrate basic research abilities and proper documentation procedures by investigating the relationship between multimedia, culture and image.
4. Demonstrate an ability to rhetorically analyze a wide variety of multimedia texts based on concepts such as design, audience, and overall effectiveness through a series of short, non-traditional multimedia products (mini-projects).
5. Demonstrate an ability to create a series of digital works incorporating print, image, hypermedia, and other modes that utilize multimedia theory and concepts.

I believe that in the past few months, through the three unit projects, informal writings, mini projects, and blog posts, that I have a much deeper understanding not only of the importance of imagery, but how to make specific artistic choices in order to convey a specific message. To me, images largely persuade an audience in that they are more entertaining to digest than a large body of text. 

Before this course, I was not really aware how powerful web design and hypertext could be. I had never thought about constructing my own website, let alone how to go about it and what softwares to use in the process. There are so many things to consider in creating a website or a webpage including basic web design, accessibility, layout, content, CSS, HTML, coding, and a ton of other aspects that I still don't quite comprehend. Webpages have a lot more freedom than other tradition forms of media in that they can combine a bunch of different kind of medias and join them together in one space. Through links, downloadable documents, different tiers, and images, you can have the full gamut of medias in just one single page that you can access from any form of technology. My first website, TCU Recycle, explores the full range of struggles that one might have when creating their first website with Dreamweaver, but still manages to get the message across via a combination of images, texts, and hyperlinks. 

Visual arguments are an interesting concept to tackle. On one hand, images can speak for themselves, especially if manipulated to tell a specific story as they did in this project. However, if the argument trying to be achieved is extremely nuanced, it seems rather difficult to convey the complexity of the argument without words. Not being able to use words for this project really made me think about how I was going to compose the image and what it would say to someone that wasn't part of my thought process. My argument, Stop Texting While Driving, almost speaks for itself. In having multiple pictures of car wrecks, it reiterates to the audience that no one wants to end up in the situation I have depicted. Since it is something that is relatable to essentially everyone, being those with a cell phone and a car, it is easier to appeal to the audience's emotions and understand what they may feel when they look at the images. 

When I signed up for this course last semester, I knew it would challenge me. I assumed that this time around my experience with the Adobe Suite would be a lot more intuitive than it was, but I'm glad I was challenged in terms of creativity and patience. As a news and media studies major with a film, television, and digital media minor, been well versed in the Adobe Suite is something that will undoubtedly benefit me in my future career endeavors. Although I somehow managed to avoid sharpened my skills in Photoshop, I am extremely impressed with how I can navigate Dreamweaver after this semester. I know that if I continue to practice making even simplistic, template-based webpages, it is a skill that will become more refined over time. Eventually, I hope to not be as frustrated with Photoshop as I have been in the past, including this semester throughout all of the assignments.