I did not notice that I am very creative in design until I took part in an international design competition named International Federation of Landscape Architects two years ago. I got 7th place of the student team all over the world. At that time, I was inspired and motivated. Therefore, I started to try different kinds of design projects, such as landscape design, architecture design, wall painting, logo design, advertising and brand identity design. After that, I felt that my mind was opened. However, I knew less about design skills and knowledge. I suddenly noticed that I need to develop myself more because I was eager to get a deeper understanding of art design and do more professional design projects. According to the fields that I was interested in, taking a master degree in Graphic Design will allow me to achieve my goal to design better.
I graduated from the School of Art at Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology in Bachelor of Landscape Design, which is one of the most famous architecture design university in China. My overall rank is the 13th among 165 students. I had a great interest in green architectural design and interior decoration design, so I studied Architecture Design at the same time. Besides Landscape Design bachelor degree, I got another bachelor degree in Architecture design. During that time, I paid a lot of attention to various green city planning strategies. For example, I did a research about local plants in Xi’an, and some specific area plans setting, which had a high-quality planting design. After that, I used several patterns(visual effect, public involved rational, analyze of color etc.) to show the changing in four seasons. After this research, I thought I should pay much more attention to the planting design of aesthetic. Now, I have been studying M.A of Art Design at Xi’an University of Architecture since 2014.
I had many related and diverse working experiences like internships and projects. I was used to working for Guangdong Dachau Company as an interior designer when I was in junior. I reviewed the area of housing, structure, decoration situation and landscape. I innovated and sustained technologies with CAD software and generated formal and environmental combinations. From Aug 2010 to May 2013, I was doing a part time in Dongshi Workshop as a wall painting designer. I adjusted the amount of contrast between the colors and the overall brightness if necessary. I tried to use more than one color for the stripes to striped fabrics for ideas about combinations of colors and widths. I felt happy to do something about art and design at that time. I hope that I can do more design projects and make some difference with others.
My previous study and work experience help me a lot while I am studying Graphic Design in the U.S. I have been here for three semesters since last August. The next two semesters are more important for me because I will start my academic study. The program I am involved in now is Graduate Pathway. It has two classes, EAP and PROV. They help me get more engaged in both graduate student life and academic learning. The most significant thing about EAP is that it teaches the method of reading academic articles and writing professional academic thesises in my field. From PROV class, I learn more about how to communicate with professors and peers, and getting more information about mason resource such as events, workshops, activities and clubs on campus. Generally speaking, the pathway program helps me a lot for my study and student life in mason.
I am eager to work in design field in the future, for I have passion in it. Based on what I am interested in and my background in design, I think that M.S. of Graphic Design is very suitable for me. There is some limitation for me that I haven’t had a lot of study experience in graphic design so far. However, I did some projects about graphic design during the internships, which includes logo design and brand visual design. The wall painting experience developed my basic painting ability as well. All the projects I did are showed on my portfolio. In addition, I’m a communicator sometimes. It is good for me while I’m presenting my projects to others. Graphic Design is a communication design. In order to form powerful new messages and express the idea to others, we need strong expression ability. If I could study Graphic Design at George Mason University, I would have opportunities to become a good designer.
According to my education background, my particular design experience and my interest in the design field, I would like to apply for the Master program in Graphic design. Furthermore, I believe that my academic study and my working experience are qualified the requirement of this program.