“Success is not measured by what you accomplish, but by the opposition you have encountered, and the courage with which you have maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds.” - Orison Swett Marden
I couldn’t help but think of this quote as I sat in Jimmy’s class on Monday, March 28. For some reason, this quote immediately came to mind the minute Jimmy told us that he was going to be a bully. I appreciated his honesty in telling us from the beginning that he was going to be mean at times. I actually think tough love in our critiques can and will be beneficial to us so long as it remains within the realm of constructive criticism. The comments I’ve received during past critiques were not always nice, but they led me to expand my mindset and formulate new ideas by thinking outside of the box. I know I will gain a lot out of this class and I have already started to gain a better understanding of certain concepts like perception. The idea of perception is fairly simple to grasp, but it is only when one practices the art of perception that one truly understands what perception is and how to utilize perceptive skills to one’s advantage. Jimmy had us all actively participate in a perception exercise in class and I thought it was silly at first, but once the exercise was underway, I understood the reason for it. Our exercise was to observe a mandarin for two minutes and take in as much information as we could including smell and overall appearance. After the two minutes, we were asked to describe the mandarin in detail to another classmate. My partner shocked me with his description because he described details I hadn’t even noticed. We were also given an assignment to create 5 renderings a week of the mandarin using a different technique and medium every time.
The rest of the class time was spent going over the syllabus, discussing the blogs, defining critical thinking, talking about how much Jimmy hates for students to arrive late to class, and basically talking about what concept development really is.
We also discussed experiential learning, or learning by experience. Jimmy gave the example of learning how to ride a bike to give us a better understanding of the concept. One doesn’t learn how to ride a bike simply by reading the instructions or by listening to someone’s verbal instructions of how to ride the bike. One will only learn how to ride the bike by actually trying to ride the bike; it’s a process of trial and error where one will fail the first couple of times and then finally ride on with success. It’s the same with us and our projects in this class and in future endeavors. Jimmy made it clear to us that we would fail in this class numerous times, but in doing so, we will be able to learn from our mistakes and apply what we’ve learned to future projects.
We also briefly discussed what our experience/impression of the class was. On this day, I was filled with excitement and anxiety. I was excited to start a new journey, but I also had feelings of anxiety because I didn’t know what to expect. I wanted to find out more about this Concept Development class and about the Professor, Jimmy Moss – his teaching structure/style and his overall approach. Jimmy is an asset to Cal State LA and I feel privileged to have a professor with a wealth of experience and an extensive background in teaching. I believe his guidance will have a positive impact on my classmates and me. I was also surprised to hear Jimmy’s stance on college degrees. Although not every design firm or designer is looking for the same set of criteria in regards to skills, education, or experience, it is refreshing to hear that a degree is not the only deciding factor in landing a good job. The only thing I didn’t like was that it was extremely hot in that class and felt a bit crapped with the work space we were given. In sum, I know that by the time this class is over, I will have gained a lot from it. My passion lies within the arts, graphic design to be specific, and I know that everything I learn from here on out will help me succeed in the future.
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