I came into FIT on the last day of Summer Live with a mission: finish my magazine project. I had been working on the piece for the past three weeks, but still had so much to do before I could call it complete. The biggest task by far was to design and write my last feature story, “Special Effects: Secrets to Cooler Film Photos.”
Throughout the last week I had been walking around the FIT campus, snapping away at the subtle beauty of the city. I also played around with the camera at home, and when my roll of film was done, I frantically went to every pharmacy I could think of in a rush to get my photos developed in time for the last day of class (FYI- neither of the two Duane Reade’s near FIT develop photos). On the train I chose the best photos for my story and wrote tips (using knowledge I picked up last summer in the Digital Photography and Photoshop class) to go along with them. I was so relieved to have gotten it done and excited to get to FIT and put it all into Adobe InDesign.
When I arrived in the classroom I got straight to work. I first designed a colorful grid to place my photos on and a headline using typography skills I had learned in class. I started pasting my photos in and spent a big block of time arranging and rearranging them on the page. It got pretty tiresome, but Rome wasn’t built in a day! I kept trying different sizes, positions, and layouts and finally arrived at something I love. After adding in the tips, my story was finally complete. Making a magazine spread that I had photographed, written, and designed was the most rewarding experience. I loved seeing my original work come together in such a professional way.
my finished story
The last thing to do was put a the finishing touches on the rest of my magazine. After a myriad of saves and previews, everything was finally in order. All type was correctly sized, all colors rightly saturated, all design elements perfectly placed; I was finally ready to present to the class.
I was so impressed as Professor Lerner pulled up the magazines on the overhead- and not just with my own work. We had been doing class critiques every week, and I noticed that everyone had come such a long way. We learned new skills, refined our tastes, and created beautiful pieces unique to our own interests. It’s amazing how diverse the final projects were. I’m amazed that while I used the project to finally try film photography, others used it to to express their love of fashion, poetry, music, dance, history, street art, and so much more.
While I was sad to see the last day go, I was happy to look back on my FIT experience with amazing memories and a great appreciation for all the new skills I’ve learned. It’s truly a bittersweet ending.
Until Next Time,
Lindsay
