The first time I realized I
wanted to pursue a career in Digital Design was at a very young age. I was 9 years old and had made myself an
account on Horseland.com – a site in which users had virtual “barns” and would
create layout designs for their homepage. Fascinated by the extraordinary
creativity of the layouts I saw, I felt compelled to join in the competitive
nature of this website. I taught myself basic HTML coding and worked diligently
on my Photoshop skills. When I eventually started getting requests from other users
to purchase my layouts I began thinking to myself, “This is the kind of stuff I
could do for the rest of my life.”
Coming into college I
immediately declared myself as a Digital Arts and Sciences major, thinking that
this program’s description of a crossroad between engineering and fine arts perfectly
outlined my ambitions. Several java coding and discrete math classes later, I
was disappointed to learn that this program had a bigger emphasis on technical
computer science than actual digital design. After talking to my advisor and
learning about this new program – a similar DAS major that focused on all the
aspects I felt were missing from my previous major – I was ecstatic. I
immediately signed up for Pat Pagano’s Digital Media Projection Design class
and Marko Suvajdzic’s Video Games and Startups class.
I am interested in each focus
area of this major, but two stick out to me in particular: Systems Design and
Design and Production. I am well qualified for entrance into the Systems Design
path, having already taken some programming classes and math up to Calculus 3.
However, after being in Pat’s projection class for a few weeks and being
completely enthralled by it, I believe I am leaning more towards the Design and
Production path. In this class I have
been learning the basics of Isadora and have begun work with this program
outside of the classroom, exploring all of its possibilities. I was also
advised by Pat to get ahead of the game by learning Quartz Composer so I read
the entire user manual and have been working on some basic compositions of my
own (some of which you see in my supported material).
A main point that I feel I
must address is that I understand that my work is very basic at this point in
time. Although I have been interested in digital design and graphics for most
of my life, I have only recently acquired the proper materials and instruction
to begin the learning process. However, my goal is to use the rest of this
semester and all of summer to learn as much as I can about the software and
programs that are so integral to success in this major. These software programs
include but are not limited to: Isadora, Pure Data Extended, Quartz Composer,
simple computer coding, and more. I also plan to hopefully join Pat Pagano for
a multiple member digital design project he is completing this summer.
Overall, I feel that I would
be exceptionally prepared to enter this program by this fall. I would be ready to take on new projects and
delve into more advanced topics instead of simply misusing the time of my
professors by needing to learn the basics of several software programs. I can
assure whomever it may concern that I am fully focused and ready to put forth
my absolute best effort to blossom in this major. My passion for this type of work is
unparalleled and I greatly anticipate seeking a career in this field.
I thank you, the review
committee, for your consideration and look forward to hearing from the program
soon.
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