E-Union
14
Current Student Profiles
Ricardo Morales
I got the inspiration to start my blog from the other numerous amounts of study abroad blogs started by my peers. I am not one to write extensively about my experiences for others to read, so I decided to take a different approach. My experience with Photoshop dates back to those archaic MySpace days where profile pictures and HTML-designed profile layouts ran amuck. Wanting to be one of those cool kids on the website, I started messing around with graphic design as a way to make my profile look cool and exciting. As time went on, I departed from using Photoshop as a tool for making my MySpace profile look snazzy and instead started to design independent art work. I cannot paint nor draw to save my life, but I found that graphic design could be tweaked and edited as time went on, something that cannot usually done with the permanent strokes of paint on canvas.
Coming to Germany and traveling around Europe has provided me a whirlwind of experiences and sites that are both overwhelming and inspiring. As I was taking photos of all of these wonderful places, ranging from Berlin to Prague, I felt inspired to design what these sights and sounds of these places meant to me. This was my first time and Europe and the differences between these places and America was stark, making me all the more compelled to design. For this reason I started the blog, because I wanted to document all of the places I visited during my study abroad experience, but to also depict these experiences through a graphic design lens that I hoped others would understand and enjoy.
I did not want to have these experiences scribbled onto a blog that only my parents would attempt to read, but I did want to let those family members at home see all of the places I have been to and hopefully get the gist of what it feels like to be in all of these different cities. I really try to make each of these pieces different and unique, yet all encompassing of my study abroad experience. For each piece I really try to bring out the colors that these cities exude to me while I was there. I usually start off with pictures that I took, edit them, and begin to cut and crop different elements of these photographs that remind me of the city. Overall, the end goal is to design a piece that is representative of my experience in each city, be it just a walk through a city square or a night out on the town. I love designing these pieces because it forces me to reflect on my visit and what it means to me. Putting these up on a blog and for the public to see hopefully enables them to experience these cities and see all the beauty in them that I do. I am excited to continue designing pieces for these European cities, as it is a big departure from those weird MySpace days, and I hope others join in all of the fun.
You can see more of Ricardo’s works on his blog: http://c4rd0.tumblr.com/