Farewell FIT

No exaggeration, my heart hurts knowing that my summer classes at FIT are over. These were easily the most interesting and independent 3 weeks I’ve ever experienced. In class today, we finished up our magazines and presented our final work to each other. I’m so proud of my magazine, but so many of my classmates did an amazing job too! This class definitely opened my eyes to how unique everybody’s ideas are.

The cherry on top of this experience was getting picked to blog about my class. I love reading blogs, but I never thought I’d actually get to write one! I hope you guys enjoyed reading about my experiences as much as I loved talking about them! I truly encourage you to take a class (or two) at FIT; spending time in New York City will change your perspective for the better, and you’ll learn so much about what you’re capable of.

Enjoy your summer, and thanks for sharing these past 3 weeks with me!

Xo, Marisa

P.S.  I attached a bunch of pictures of my final magazine :)

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Critiques

It’s incredible to think we’re nearing the home stretch of this FIT experience. It feels like not even a few days ago I was walking into orientation, wide eyed and ready to learn. Being at FIT has definitely broadened my horizons and taught me far beyond what I expected. Many of our lessons I’ve already been familiar with (I have a bit of experience in most of the Adobe suite, so all the introductions to the programs and basic lessons I had already knew) but the one thing I’ve been exposed to that I could never been on my own has been the class critiques. And let me tell you, I’m in love.

A critique is just about exactly what it sounds like, you take you work, present it in front of the class, and they tell you what they like/dislike, what you should add/remove, and/or any bit of advice or insight to further improve your work. I know, sounds daunting, but getting the opinions from others is one of the best possible things you can do for your work. Or at least, it’s one of the best I can do for mine.

After looking at the design for so long, I definitely can begin to get a little numb to it. It’s like when you get used to a smell because it’s been there so long, or when a song just becomes background noise since you’ve heard it so many times. Having a fresh set eyes look at it helps me notice some faults I didn’t realize was there, or realize my direction. Think back to the old writing exercise, which is to read your piece backwards in order to make sure it makes sense, since you’ve read it forward so many times and might just skip over the mistakes.

Not only are critiques great for your own artwork, but they’re also a great place to be heard and really show your knowledge. There’s always the fear that if you just go up to someone and tell them all the things you think could be improved you’d come off as rude, pretentious, and/or other negative descriptions. Critiques provide an open environment to let people know what you really feel, and give you the opportunity to talk about what you love. It’s a win win! In the end, critiques break the ice. At the beginning of my class, no one would really say anything regarding other people’s work. However, after participating in our first critique, it’s rare someone doesn’t make a comment as they’re walking about the room. Do critiques sound as daunting as they did in the beginning?

Have you participated in a critique, and if so, what’s your favorite/less favorite part? If you haven’t, what’s one thing you’ve learnt in your class that you couldn’t have learnt anywhere else?

As always,

Izzy

Starting off the Summer

Summer in New York City is never very much fun. The hot July sun beats down on the buildings, which in turn absorb the heat and effectively turns the city into an oven. FIT, located in midtown, is in the epicenter of this oven. Midtown is never a very pleasant place to be, with all the people and garbage and just general disparity, but during the summer it becomes something much more sinister. It becomes an unbearable wasteland of tourists and homeless people who are all baking in the oppressive heat. Thankfully, FIT is on a side street and has managed to cull together enough shade to create a nice sitting area for faculty or students or just passers-by. This July has been a little more bearable than the last, I find that I can enjoy myself more when the temperatures stay below 95 degrees.

This summer I am taking advanced sewing and advanced sketching. These classes entail sewing a denim jacket and a t-shirt and rendering many more fabrics and creating my own mini collection, respectively. And although I’m not really one for conversation I do enjoy listening to the people around me and I have found that many of my classmates have come from outside the city. Most from Long Island or New Jersey, but some traveling from as far away as Los Angeles or Paris. I found this to be true last year as well and it surprised me, the amount of people willing to travel thousands of miles just to take a summer class in a pre-college program. Not that FIT isn’t a great school, and not that there aren’t countless reasons to come, but I’m sure that there are local fashion or art schools in some of these areas. FIT has a certain pull for a lot of people. Maybe it’s the sirens of the city calling their names but for a lot of these kids they feel that FIT is the place for them, and are willing to go to great lengths to be in presence of this school. It is a great compliment to the atmosphere and the curriculum and the faculty.

I myself enjoy very much what I am learning and I enjoy being around my professors. I enjoy being in an atmosphere that promotes this kind of artistry. Even though I get a lot of that at school I like being around people who like all the same things as I do. It’s nice to really fit in somewhere.

Sophia

 

In Case You Missed It: Junior Day 2013

This Saturday, FIT had their first ever Junior Day! Junior Day was an entire day devoted to high school juniors looking to apply to FIT next year. They were given the chance to explore the campus with their friends and families, and were also able to check out some the amazing programs and activities available at FIT– including the Presidential Honors ProgramEOP, and The Style Shop to name a few.The students and their families were also even given the opportunity to attend financial aid sessions and portfolio reviews.

If you missed it, don’t fret! We’ve got you covered.
Virtual Campus Tour
Register for a Tour/ Admission Session
Register for a Summer Live course

Guest Blogger: Kayleigh

Nervous stomachs are natural when beginning a new summer program. New people you have never met before, camp counselors, and disgusting lunches. But FIT’s Precollege Program is nothing like this.

During the hot summer, frigid winter, and beautiful spring, FIT offers many classes to middle school students and high school students in such subjects as merchandising, drawing from inspiration, photography, red carpet design, etc. Everyone in the Summer Program is admirable. All the students have one thing in common: they worship fashion. This past summer, I took photography and Red Carpet design.

Over the past two years at FIT, I have never found a professor I didn’t like. The professors are responsible and enjoyable. Some professors at FIT went to there in college and work there now. The professors teach you a lot over a four day week.

In photography class, our professor gave us an assignment and we had to go outside with our classmates. First we learned how to use reflectors which reflect the light to brighten or add glow to the object we are taking pictures of (which could be objects that meant something to us or pictures of ourselves).

Also in photography we learned how to “paint with light.” We turned all the lights out and we changed the settings on our cameras and we took our flash lights and drew with them in front of the lens.

In Red Carpet Design, we talked about fabrics such as chiffon, silk and etc. The professor gave us models we could trace so it would be easier to draw.  He taught us to draw ruffles with color and we learned to use sparkles. We had to create a dress and add sparkles and ruffles to our masterpiece. Red Carpet Design had variety of ages from 10-14 and we have different types of style. Most girls made ball gowns for the red carpet other drew casual look, which made it easier for the professor so he didn’t have to look at ball gown after ball gown. In class four girls and I had a project runway game and we had different themes like gothic ball gowns and Disney ball gowns and 80’s themed ball gowns. I won the Disney round for my Little Mermaid dress.

Mermaid Dress

FIT’s Precollege Program was enjoyable and helps with drawing as well as photography skills. FIT is not like other Summers Programs; you won’t get nervous because all the students have one thing in common: We all worship fashion.