Introduction:

The Narrative project was the first project I felt really tied all three elements of our elective, English, and Digital Media all together. Beginning from learning to use Adobe Illustrator in Digital Media, to developing a fictional Narrative character in English, and finally creating a creature connecting our characters features to an imaginary creature within a background in Illustrator for Design.

Story:

In English, we were assigned a 3-5 page Narrative project, mostly free of restrictions. The story could be about anyone, and any plot, with the exception of ground requirements including a climax and some literary devices. My inspiration for my character was the new ongoing culture of insta fame, and how it is deteriorating young people to become unhappy, with false portrayals of “perfection.” After curating the story, I recorded myself telling the story on my portable recorder which was then uploaded to ProTools. There, I added ambiance and music to fit the story. Sound effects were also added to emphasize action. I enjoyed having free boundaries on my story and being able to express my creative abilities using technology.

“Life Of An Influencer”

Growing up, I lived the ideal “American Dream.” The groomed golden retriever, the white picket fence guarding my periwinkle two story home, and a charming family of five. I completed all of grade school, followed by high school. They called me “pretty face” back in Colorado, I guess they knew that good looks were all that life had to offer for me. During high school I was quiet and reserved. I didn’t have the typical set of high school best friends, that knew me inside out, because it was always the family I kept close. Being introverted, but known as “pretty face” never blended well. Four years of overhearing “but she’d be SO hot if she could just open her mouth,” had me wanting to leave my humble abode more and more, day by day.  By the end of high school I decided college wasn’t where I saw myself next, so I chose to venture LA. Los Angeles, city of stars, was all my sister, Nora, and I dreamt. I craved when my pale skin would become golden, how my freckles would scatter and vividly surround my green eyes, and my long brown hair would glisten under California sun. The idea of a place so foreign and bursting with opportunity, suggested the sweetest escape. Saying goodbye to my family was the hardest – after all, they were the closest entity I held to my heart, but it wouldn’t be long before I moved my Dad, Nora, and brother Lavi out to LA.

Shortly following graduation, I moved into a tiny one bedroom studio apartment on the outskirts of the city. It was all I could afford from working at Urban Outfitters 30 hours a week back home, but it’d suffice. When I first arrived life seemed so big. The city was so vibrant yet hushed, everyone so interlocked within themselves. I quickly picked up 2 jobs, one at a popular thrift store on Rodeo and another at a popular coffee shop in the art district. I developed a simple routine including work, a meal with a coworker, or simply just crashing at my apartment with my current Netflix obsession streaming in the background.

One Friday evening, about a month after adjusting to my new lifestyle, I was feeling lonely so I called my sister. Nora picked up the phone and scolded me for picking up so fast, and not being out and about. “It’s LA, one of the most known cities IN THE WORLD, and you’ve been there for a month,  probably finished and rewatched every cheesy romance and animation on Netflix, yet HAVEN’T stepped OUT since the second you’ve arrived! Come on, Sahar. All the guys will be drooling once they see you, and you need to get out of your loneliness. It’ll be SO fun” she exclaimed. I usually never listened to her when she bashed me for being so glued to my comfort, but I decided she was right and I should determine what the acclaimed city nights had to offer. I had a fake ID from home which my dad allowed me to have to buy legalized pot to calm my social anxieties, so I used that to get me into a prominent nightclub.

I remember leaving my apartment that night with low expectations for the evening, expecting to return home early and hide under my covers and watch “The Simpsons” on Netflix until my eyes couldn’t hold themselves open. I went to 1Oak in West Hollywood, seated myself at the bar, and ordered myself a drink. As I was waiting, a girl sat beside me and ordered a few drinks for herself and her friends at her table. She looked roughly my age and her hair was dark, cut to a sleek medium length which framed her clear, symmetrical face. Her large brown eyes kindly greeted mine and her perfect plump lips curved upwards to create a smile that displayed her perfect pearly whites and she said, “Hey my name’s Kelsey! are you alone? My friends and I couldn’t help but notice you walk in, by yourself and have been waiting to see if you were going to meet anyone, but it’s been a while so we were wondering if you wanted to come sit with us?” I looked at her wide eyed in awe of her aura. She was so confident and lucid, while I was sitting so solo.  I flashed my crooked smile at her and uttered, “Sure, I’m just waiting on my drink.” She nodded then hastily whistled at the bartender and yelled over the loud music, “Bring hers to our table!” She grabbed my arm and dragged me to her table where I met a few of her friends. I remember how surreal all the girls appeared to me, each with their immaculate looks. Intoxicated and tipsy, we all took the dance floor and danced to songs we all somehow knew the words to, and goofed off like no one was watching. We left due to the amount of pestering men, who were trying to dance along with us, but it seemed to be for the better. After we left, Kelsey and I immediately got conversing and she invited me to spend the night at her penthouse, which she shared with all her friends she brought along. She explained that they had an extra room for me to stay in for the night because one of their friends, Stas, recently moved out. I gladly agreed, and stayed up all night with Kelsey, while the rest of the girls were asleep. It was extraordinarily bizarre, I felt like I had known Kelsey my whole life. She understood my weird obsessions like anime and strange cartoons, frustrations with politics, a strong reliance on family, love for fashion, and so much more. I woke up the next morning, feeling content that Nora forced me to exit my self made safety bubble and explore. 

After thanking Kelsey, whom had awoken hours before me and already completed her daily workout, I went home and sat on Instagram for hours, following everyone I had met the night before. I came to the realization that they were all well known girls in California and some, known internationally . Ranging from influencers, to models, and youtubers. I thought to myself how unbelievable it was that I spent time with these people which I didn’t even come to comprehend were so famous, and how ironic it was that a shy and reserved girl from Colorado, was here, in Los Angeles, randomly surrounding myself with the most successful crowd . The following week, I followed my typical work routine which ended with nights spent binge watching. Then, about two weeks later, Kelsey texted me asking to meet. We met at a relaxed modern italian restaurant, Jon & Vinny’s on North Fairfax, and shared a spicy fusilli with vodka sauce, which later became our signature meal. She expressed how she felt as if we could be the best of friends, and that she wanted me to move in. I quickly panicked because I knew her posh apartment was far too much of an expense, but she promptly latched onto my face of concern and told me not to fret about rent for the first two months. I  complied to what felt to be a proficient idea, and moved in later that month.

Following the move, I instantly became excessively self-aware. I grew attentive of my image at all aspects of my body. My hips were too wide, my stomach untoned, my thighs too small. The girls surrounding me were constantly uploading themselves to every social media platform, along with broadcasting everyone in the apartment.  I gained followers quickly which aggres

sively demanded more activity. Kelsey informed me of all the “do’s and don’ts” of instafame and how to display myself, including my information for agencies and other companies. I started changing my face with makeup, and establishing overly obsessive eating habits. I would dedicate myself to a no carb, no unnatural sugars diet which left me with few options but a small waist. With more recognition, offers began to pile up. Agencies, clothing companies, youtubers, and more were all bombarding my phone with opportunities. It was as if someone had entered my high school daydreams, and transformed them into a reality, a true magic.

Thick makeup abruptly transformed to procedures and selective eating resulted in no eating. My self image exceeded to others but my self value drowned within a sea of self confusion. Questions of regret started stacking in my mind, and like books on a staircase, I would promptly push the thoughts back, with denial. I would replace my negative thoughts with uplifted  thoughts such as, how lucky I was to be living so lavishly, within a fancy apartment surrounded with great friends, how being wanted and noticed was such a step up from the person I was before. This brain block only lasted so long, and my mental health began to diminish. 

Kelsey had pulled away because I was so despondent and began spending more time with Stas, who was becoming a renowned celebrity, so my desolation multiplied. Once Kelsey moved out, I could not deny my detachment and unhappiness. Nora and I bought a place together which I had saved by modeling, and my ties with fame and media trickled down. I came to the realization I was lost without a routine, trying to convince myself the life I had created for myself was the climax, but in reality I was lost, without desire to find genuine joy and peace of mind. I was ready to find balance. 

ILLUSTRATONS:

Geometric Light Cover

My Geometric Light cover consists of playful designs and a bold E that was intended to be striking from a distance. Creating the E stood for the first initial of my name, “Ellie” and was implemented to be recognized at the exhibition, as I believe it is the single design with a letter printed within a cover. Beside the E, there are small hearts which was a cute addition to the initial as I felt it was too plain to be left alone. The other design I created includes small doodles such as stars and small polka dots, which I playfully incorporated to show my simplistic style. Although the stars and dots are minimalistic, they appeal to me because I like a sleek and simple look within a design, so I wanted to incorporate that within my light cover. Clasping the two covers together are a butterfly wing and a leaf, looking back I wish I had made both clasps butterfly wings as it would have been more aesthetically pleasing, and I liked the look of the butterfly better. This project was assigned and due during finals week, and creating the light cover using Adobe Illustrator was relaxing and relieving during the stresses of the long and tiring week. It was interesting to visualize how the pieces would look when they all came together, as I had previously never made anything like this design. When handed to me I was completely lost upon how to formulate and put together each individual side, but as the pieces started to click, the puzzle turned into a routine which perfectly combined. Using Adobe Illustrator, printers, and a laser to create this 3D art, makes me extremely happy and grateful I decided to join Freestyle Academy. Without being apart of this school, I would have never been able to experience these amazing tools and create such creative pieces and works. Moving forward I hope to continue pushing myself and creating new things in Illustrator because there are so many tools I have yet to use. 

Illustration Project

We had the choice to create anything we wanted on Adobe Illustrator and transform it. Some options included a custom shirt, custom patches, custom engraving, or a sticker sheet. I chose to engrave my water-bottle.

For this Illustrator project I designed an engraving for my Hydro Flask water bottle. I collected many small doodles from an inspiration whom I follow on Instagram. She is an Israeli tattoo artist named Sara Kori, who is very successful in Tel Aviv, Israel. Her concept includes never tattooing the same design/ art twice. She creates original artwork, and is very precise. I have always enjoyed looking at her page as it is very visually pleasing, and plan to maybe be tattooed as well in the future. Sara uploads monthly flashes of designs she has created and wants to draw on people, these flashes are filled with small designs and doodles. These include, dainty flowers, cartoon characters, line art, and so much more. While looking at her page and trying to find inspiration for this project I came across a monthly flash post, and saw this shoe which instantly struck my attention. I loved the retro and sassy feel the doodle encaptured, and I envisioned it to look super trendy and chic on my bottle. 

I dragged multiple flash design posts on to Adobe Illustrator application and began to outline her designs, which I ultimately decided to be this shoe. The shoe is rather random and does not have an extreme sentimental meaning but I loved the look, and thought it was super original. I knew that no other water bottle would have this engraving. It will be exciting to explain to others how the engraving was made.  I value this design because Sara is going after her aspirations as a striving artist and is thriving successfully off doing what she loves. It is a massive inspiration to see creative powers still creating an imprint within the world, especially as hers is permanent and very meaningful to people. Much of art has deteriorated due to uprising technology and I appreciate being able to spread her creations, and manufacture my own. 

Design Narrative

In Design, the Narrative Unit required us to think about transforming our short stories into art, and creating a different type of story without words. Along with other minor assignments, our main project was to curate a creature within a background correlating with out short stories we wrote in English. My elective class thus far has taught me to be patient with my success and to work hard for my desired outcome. I would like to thank my teacher Ms. P for being so considerate and helpful throughout the process of learning how to use new software and seeing my ideas to their best potential, and always pushing me to do my best.

Colored Pencil Project

For this assignment, we began with taking notes about the Elements of Design, as they are the core and basis to our elective class as design students. Then we drew them, for a better visual grasp of them to quickly notice them in the future. We used one page, with a horizontal line down the center, for each element drawn in two different ways. Below are my drawn examples.

Narrative Illustration

As my main character, Sahar, evolves in my short story, she falls down numerous times prior to her persona flourishing and growing. Sahar is a naive, hardworking girl awaiting to see what life has to offer. She decides to move from her small hometown in Colorado to the city of stars, Los Angeles. As she builds a routine for herself, she becomes stained into a sense of convenience, rather trying new things and creating new experiences for herself. One evening, while on call with her sister back home, she finds herself glued to her usual comfort once again. Her sister furiously tells Sahar she must go out and explore the city for she has trapped herself within her own loneliness and consolation. She leaves her apartment and ventures out to West Hollywood to find a noisy bar where she meets her, soon to be, best friend, Kelsey. Kelsey is a known social media influencer who seems to have shared interests with Sahar. As the friendship quickly develops, Sahar adapts to the way Kelsey lives her life, leading to media fame which quickly downfalls to self insecurities and discomfort with her identity. 

To create my illustration of Sahar, I used Adobe Illustrator to depict her character. With the body of a giraffe, she is seen as unique, the baby leopard face procuring undeniable beauty but maintaining a sad glance, a whale tail to show strength and durability, frog feet to establish being jumpy and unsure of what she wants to achieve, and lastly, butterfly wings to show she is shy and restrained. The background is a surgery room, which is where the climax of Sahar’s journey takes place. Her insecurities brought up from fame cause her to make unchangeable decisions such as plastic surgery. I used 2 point perspective to show this scene. It was difficult to address lighting and other factors such as shadows and dimension. I am happy with the project I created, but strive to keep learning and growing with the use of Illustrator. Moving forward, I will manage my time more wisely yet still incorporate detail. Overall, I enjoyed learning Illustrator and thought this was the perfect assignment to tie in everything I have learned thus far in Freestyle.