Graphic Design Is My Passion: Essay

Personal Mission Statement

I have always longed to be an artist who can inspire others through my own voice and vision. My passion for graphic design started to develop spontaneously since I learned how to read and write. I started making booklets of my own stories—mini graphic novels illustrated by my paintings. My friends enjoyed reading my novels, and I got fulfillment from having an audience in childhood. I began writing poems when I was twelve, and that was the conduit I chose to express my deep feelings. I learned how to play guitar as another medium for my creativity, and very soon, music became an important part of my life. I started composing my own songs and writing lyrics for them; I believe that music and art have the power to change the world as it has changed my world. The first music video that I made was about a girl who changed her world by her drawings on the walls of the prison where she was trapped. She gradually found a way out by imagining a big window open to freedom. This is how I believe in art and the way it can touch hearts. Now that I am getting my bachelor’s degree in fine art in design, still believing that art and design are two wings of the same bird, which give me the ability to inspire people, challenge taboos, make positive changes in people’s experience of life, and to sell your ideas and products in more effective ways.

Working as an interior designer back in Iran, helped me gain useful skills and improve my creativity. During my professional career, I realized that I have the ability to be an effective communicator with my clients, understand their specific needs, visualize their ideas, and use the full potential of budgets. I developed skills in set building and stage designing; later, this helped me to build a small functional studio where I record the vocals for my music. After I immigrated to the United States, I had the opportunity to take a variety of courses that expanded my educational horizons at Los Angeles Pierce College and later on at the University of Southern California. It was during this period that I learned to manage and balance a busy schedule while achieving academic success. Studying at Pierce College gave me the vision to make the right decision about my future. I earned degrees in Graphic Design, Social and Behavioral Science, and Arts and Humanities. After taking all these classes, I came to understand that I really appreciate art and design. My eyes were open to a new world of opportunities to improve my social and personal skills in that field.

Growing up in Iran, art, and poetry was integral part of my life and personality. I believe that my understanding of art is deep enough to use it as a powerful way of expression and meaning-making. Especially, in societies like Iran where most of the time directness can cause serious problems, art has a crucial function. Although women are not allowed to sing publicly in Iran, I was fortunate enough to produce music videos for my songs after immigration, and they were aired on several Persian satellite channels. My work in my music videos is not limited to acting and producing; it involves creating ideas and storyboarding, and other production processes such as set designing and video editing. One of my latest music videos has been officially selected in more than five international festivals and was the winner in two categories. This song/video is about an artist/activist who is in imaginary incarceration because of the message of her art. The goal of this video is to visualize for the audience, through a poetic vision, how simple things that we take for granted are heavily controlled and can lead to penal punishments in a country like Iran. My true music audience is people who still care about humanity and freedom of speech and believe in changing the world around us by fighting against injustice and oppression.

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At USC, I received a broad education in graphic design, and I found myself especially interested in courses and projects focusing on experience and 3D design, and material studies, besides creating video and time-based media. Also, because of my interest in motion graphics, I started to get a minor in 3D animation. At the same time, I began working as a graphic design intern at the communication and marketing office of the Annenberg School of Journalism and in the second year at the Marketing office of Viterbi School of Engineering in an attempt to use the concepts I learned in the classroom and develop practical experience in design. I am eager to improve my design skills specially in the field of intermedia, motion graphics and, experience design.

Many people in related fields believe that an artist is an expressionist who doesn't have to pitch their work or to sell themselves. Such individuals believe that artists don’t have to align client business goals with their work while desiners are skilled individual contracted to visualize the solution to a problem. I believe that both designers and artists are creative individuals who create their own visual interpretations and compositions with the skills and knowledge set they have, however, their reasons and motivations for engaging in those artistic areas might be totally opposite. This is true that most graphic artists are getting hired for specific projects and they have to deal with their clients’ certain needs and expectations, but it doesn’t mean that they couldn’t have their own certain style. It doesn’t mean that they are only computer applications operators and getting orders to recreate the stuff that already is out there in the market. Everybody can learn applications but the way you use them and what you create with them and how you engage people with the piece you’ve made, rather than its function as an advertisement or a self-reflective illustration, totally depends on your artistic vision and creativity.

There have always been debates on the commodification of art since all works of art are somehow for sale too. Artists have never been free from feudal ties before mid 19th century and that’s why most of the mainstream paintings should have been about monarchies or religious topics. I just want to admit that an artist can also consider his/her piece for sale, or even create it for a customer and it doesn’t mean that you can’t consider that piece as a work of art. A graphic designer that has his/her own style could be an illustrator who creates pieces that look almost as if they are fine art. It is right that they might often commissioned to create visuals for a specific project but it doesn’t refuse a graphic designer role as an artist who puts the project together, using the piece of art, along with type and perhaps other art to create a marketing solution or to convey an overall message.

I believe that my training and experience will add to my contribution to creative fields. I will learn from others, and the creative environments will give me the opportunity to grow into a more capable and creative artist in my own right. Working as a graphic artist is far beyond working with applications for me as I believe that words alone won't suffice, and art alone isn't enough, so a graphic designer puts the two together in a pleasing way that catches attention and delivers a message. That’s why I believe that I have to continuously broaden my artistic vision and improve my social and personal skills in visual communication while improving my design skills, and soaking up the inspiration from the other great artists around me. My eyes are open to a new world of opportunities as I have set my goal on pursuing a career as a media designer. At the same time, I hope to be able to make people more aware so they can in turn help others. The function of art is to raise awareness for society, and it is a tool to make people care about different things, such as the environment, children, poverty, politics and etc. I think as humans besides our careers, all of us are responsible for everything that happens around us. If we cannot change it, at least we can do the least to solve it in time.