I am Madison Gattis, I am currently double concentrating in both graphic design and illustration at East Carolina University. The work included in this portfolio is entirely from my junior year in the graphic design concentration. Displayed in this portfolio are the assignments as follows: beer can/advertisement project, personal mark project, mobile app project, and the web prototype project.
While graphic design was not always my first path, I did always have a passion for art topics. I have done illustration work since I was a young teenager and that had always been my dream. My path in graphic design began around the age of 16 when I took a class at Alamance Community College. In that class we were able to design album covers for a fake band we created, along with a mockup website and Instagram story posts. This assignment alone was what spurred on my love for graphic design. Design was so different from the personal work I had always done that I was interested in and drawn to it. When I attended ECU during the year 2020, I quickly made the decision that I would double concentrate. I had always loved illustration, but between my classes at my community college and a few freelance jobs here and there, I couldn’t ignore my desire to explore graphic design further.
When I think about what kind of design I do or like to do a wide variety comes to mind. I honestly see my design work as something that is made for others satisfaction rather than my own. That’s not to say that I am never satisfied with my work, it is simply that my drive to create tends to be for the sake of those that want the product from me. I enjoy being given parameters to work in and achieving them and in the process, I come out of it satisfied not just because I achieved a goal but also because I created something really cool and unique in the process. I enjoy working with all sorts of techniques in design, from soft and muted to bold and bright. However, I am very aware that I still have a lot of learning to do when it comes to my design work. While I am satisfied with what I can create, I feel as though I am still learning about myself as a designer. There is not really an aspect of my design that I would call “my style” but honestly, I think I like it that way. This allows me to be versatile and not get hung up on personal biases, I am able to be flexible and work with almost any task given to me in whichever way seems appropriate to me. However, in recent times I have been drawn to the idea of abstraction in design. Pushing designs and type to where it is just barely readable and showing more expression has been an idea that is intriguing to me and so I would like to explore it further as I move into my senior year at ECU.
