Freestyle Academy proudly presents
2016 Innovator Project by CameronC

The purpose of the Senior Innovator Project is use your own passion to innovate, create, and develop your own project.

Project Proposal

My project is about decision making and why people make the decisions that they do. This is a passion for me because I am fascinated about how humans function and why they do things that they do, so researching this topic is very interesting for me. My final media form is going to be business cards and other advertisements for my mom’s therapy private practice that she is starting next year.

This is a risk for me because it is a very complex topic and I am going to be making advertisements that I actually want to be used someday, so I have to make sure I put a lot of effort into this project and make it the best I can be. I am also going to use what I learn through my essay research about the way the human mind works to make effective advertisements that are backed up by human psychology.

Project Productions

Read my research paper

Project Reflection

I chose my idea for this project because I knew I wanted to do more with graphic design, so I started with that being my only guideline and went from there. I had known about the innovator project all year, so it had always been something in the back of my mind. Because of this, when my mom told me she was definitely starting her own private practice, I knew I wanted to help. I have always been interested in advertising and marketing. I’m going to UCSB next year for communications, so I thought to myself how smart it would be to use the innovator project to do something that I not only enjoyed, but that gave me experience in my field and would actually be put to use in the real world.

It has always been a goal of mine to make art that matters. I have never been someone who enjoys busywork or work that is just used to waste time. When I put my time and effort into something, I need it to be for a purpose. I got very lucky that my mom was opening her own business at the same time that I wanted to advertise for one. The timing ended up working out perfectly, and when I finished designing her business cards was when she was ready to use them. We are going to start working on the interior design of her office soon, and then we can put to use the launch party invitations I also designed for her.

My research paper mainly benefitted me because of what I learned about color theory. I already had basic knowledge about colors and how they could influence people and their emotions, but researching color theory deepened my overall knowledge. I did not just research color theory, though. The main topic of my research paper was researching the question ‘why do people make decisions?’. By researching this I gained overall knowledge that I had been wanting not just for this project, but overall in life. I have always been interested in why people make the decisions that they do, so I used this information to take it in the direction of finding out what makes a successful advertisement. This brought me to researching color theory, spacing, and other information that helped me to make my final design pieces successful.

I had successful collaboration with others during the innovator project. I communicated not only effectively, but also professionally with my mom during this process. I think this was very beneficial to me because I got to practice interacting with a real client, but one that I could easily work through mistakes with. I see my mom everyday at home, so when I wasn’t working at school and communicating with her through email, we could talk about my designs and the direction she wanted to go in next, what she was happy with, what she wanted to change, etc. I also communicated a lot with Ms. P about my designs because of how much time I was spending in the design room, and this also helped me because getting the opinion of a professional and experienced designer was very valuable to me. I also collaborated with Celine a little bit during this project because we would often be working next to each other in the design room, so we could always bounce ideas off of each other. I liked always having someone I could get a second opinion from, and I think having her there also helped me in my ability to receive criticism well. I would say that all of my collaborations were successful, and I was very happy with how I worked with everyone.

If I could do this project over again, I would probably have used the days I spent painting outside to still paint, but to paint things that I could maybe use in my project. I think that being outside and making art some days was both necessary and healthy for me to do during this innovator project so that I did not become too overwhelmed, but it might have been cool if I could have used some of my paintings for artwork for my mom’s office in some way. I also wish I had purchased my own wacom tablet at the beginning of this project, because I think it would have made designing at home a lot easier to do. I don’t mind doing work outside of school because I really enjoy what I’m doing, but I probably would have worked more and also made better work if I had had the same tools at home that I had access to at Freestyle.

I think that I most improved on the 21st century skills of visual literacy, tech literacy, self direction, and collaboration. I improved in the skill of visual literacy because by researching color theory and marketing in general, I learned how to more effectively communicate using nothing but visuals. I advanced my skills in tech literacy because by working so closely with Adobe products has made me better at them. I also improved on self direction because of the independence of this project. I had to make my own schedule and motivate myself to work on things and finish them by certain deadlines. The skill I improved on the most, though, is collaboration. I have always been good at communicating with people in general, but this project helped me practice communicating with someone else when I am not the boss. I really value this experience, and I think it will definitely help me in the future. I think the skill that I improved on the least is creativity, but that is only because I think I have always been pretty creative, so it would take a lot for me to feel like I really grew in this section.

I think that I innovated my own education this semester by letting myself experiment and gain experience with a project that I really enjoyed and that will be of use to me in the future. I innovated my own education not only during this semester, but probably for the rest of my life. This was a great intro to something I can see myself doing for a very long time.

I can take everything I’ve learned during this innovator project and apply it to the real world. I really value this project because it let me take control of my own education and project, and I got to make something that I know was completely my own doing. I have made things that I can truly be proud of for doing completely on my own. It gave me a preview of how my future could look, helped me learn to take criticism from a real client, and showed me that I am capable of being successful by myself. I think the confidence I gained in my own abilities from this project is the most valuable part of the innovator project.