This is the final post I'm making for Graphic Design as of this semester. The images above are from the text project I've done. I was required to make a make by binding a group of pictures created exclusively out of text. The story I chose to portray was "Rime of the Ancient Mariner". I made the cover out of two slabs of words which I carved for the lettering. I made it jagged and rough to manifest how I think the mariner would have made the book if he wrote his story down. After carving it I shaded the arm and scenery with lead and graphite. I then sprayed it with fixative so it would not smear. The picture is of the mariner pointing to the Albatross in the sky. The pictures in the book are printed on rag paper. I used rag paper for it's durability and it's ruffled, uneven edges. I believe it gives the book a little character that way. The subjects are depicted like card board cutouts. I wanted to experiment with implied lines by differentiating the bodies of the subjects by letting the text go through the negative space. This way the figures would not look to vague, but I could still keep the cardboard cutout sort of design that I wanted. The results of this project meet some of my expectations, but I wish I had gone outside of the imaginary boarders I had created for myself when I made the pictures. I was unrelenting at going against the orderliness of the lines that framed my picture and I regret doing that. I also would have kept the gothic looking text that was originally in the pictures, but I could not because the typeface did not register on my version of Adobe Illustrator when I took the files home with me. This journey in Graphic Design has been an interesting learning experience. I definitely become more aware of the importance of typefaces and their applications. If anything, I should say that I'm in debt to the professor for all the insightful critiques I've received from him and I hope to do more classes like this again.

Movie Poster Redesigns and Other Upcoming Projects

     I finally managed to complete the poster redesigns and have finished my presentation for those posters. The objective was simple; Create four poster redesigns, each of a popular movie. I had to change the style of the graphics in order to change the theme of that poster.

     The first one I have posted is a Russian Constructivist  version of Rocky IV. The use of  a simple color scheme was essential to capturing the Constructivist style that is so prevalent in Soviet political propaganda. The radiant bands of color that expand like sun rays is something I saw in many examples that I had studied. The block like lettering was another crucial aspect of the poster that mimics Conscructivism. The colors I used were red, yellow and white. The two subjects of the posters, Rocky and Drago, both have white duplicates of their forms positioned behind their figures as to make them look like poster cut outs.  I extracted them from a screen capture of the movie, but they were cut off at the waist, so I added a cut out of a globe to put under them. I feel that adding the boxing glove gave a nice focal point to the piece as a whole. It draws the eye in and then the eye can be guided to the rest of the poster from the bands of color that extend outward from that focal point.

     The second poster redesign is a minimalist rendition of Clockwork Orange. This required me to be very simple with the design. I gave the bare minimum of detail that is required for you to identify the object in the center as an orange. I differentiated the stem and leaf by making the stem a slightly darker shade of green and made the orange a slightly darker shade of orange then the background. I wanted to differentiate the title in a subtle way that made it a little more interesting without going outside the bounds of what you could consider minimalist. I made the orange in "Clockwork Orange" a shade of orange while keeping clockwork white. I figured that graphically, it would put more emphasis on the subject matter, the orange in the center. The clock hands are black, which contrasts strongly against the orange. First the eye is drawn into the orange and then the orange of the title. My intent was to do these things so that when the eye is drawn to those things it will then take the poster in as a whole.

     The third poster redesign was of the Stephen King's "IT". I wanted to turn the theme of the poster completely on it's head by turning the creature It, portrayed as Pennywise the clown, into a sympathetic character. This would be accomplished by making his face less menacing by drawing him with a smile and with both eyebrows furrowed. Furrowed eyebrows are typically seen when someone is sad or full of anxiety. This smile with the furrowed brow conflicts with one another. The only inference one could seem to make is that he is masking his anxiety by smiling, whoever contrived that may seem to the people to who is handing out balloons. One could even say that this makes him look awkward and bumbling, thereby turned this horror movie into a light comedy. I drew the poster by hand and then scanned it into adobe photoshop. I colored it with a series of overlay effects and then put a mask on it while proceeding to put another color on top of the sky in order to give more uniformity to the background.

     The last poster redesign is of Clockwork Orange, but the design scheme is different this time around. I wanted to do a sort of homage to the kind of independent and indie films that people see on occasion in the theaters. The text looks very handwritten, just like what you see in posters of movies like Juno and Napoleon Dynamite. I also added stripes to the background to give it a design you'd expect a high school student to use when coloring the doodles he makes with marker. I felt this rendering made it seem more obviously Indie in those respects. The central figure in this poster is an orange I carved out with a pumpkin knife. I glued clock hands unto the orange to play along with the title, Clockwork Orange, but in a way that is much more playful then the minimalist rendition. I used sharpie to give it eyes and the carving gives the orange a nice toothy smile. This serves to make a sort of playful character, rather then the psychopath Alex that you see in the original film poster. I gave the orange the same markings that Alex has in the poster to hint that this is the central character even more by comparison to those that are familiar with it.

     I felt that my Constructivist work was the most successful graphically. The presentation went mostly as well as I had planned it and the critiques seemed to confirm that the Rocky IV redesign was the most successful of my works. The next upcoming project will be of  a story that I must create. The story must be a minimum of eight pages, all pictures, but the pictures must be constructed of text only. The text will be derived from excerpts from reading that he will send us. I must then bind the story as a book. I will be brainstorming for the next week about the particulars, though it seems like an interesting project. Updates will be posted when progress is made.
   

Ads Commentary, Adobe Illustrator and Upcoming Projects

This weeks update relates to making commentary about certain types of ads. The point is to

find one example for each heading.The list of requested types of headings are as follows;

1. Shock

2. Disruption

3.Engagement

4.Empathy

5.Humor

6.Surreal/Weird

7. Nostalgia (not an old poster, but one that uses nostalgia to seel a modern product)

  The first example as it relates to shock is an ad for an erotic accessory store. The is predicated on the saying "Make love, not war.", but turns it into a pun. It ties it into their store's product line. The ad is shocking with it's use of sexual imagery. The work done in merging the dildo with the gun is well done, though in my opinion it comes off as crude and overpowering. It's simple enough, yet I feel like this ad could be been approached more subtly without being too ambiguous. 

     For the disruption example I decided to comment on this ad in particular. It is called  
"Ninseikan Karate School: vs Porcupine" and it's an advertisement for a karate school. I like how it catches my eye. It really threw me for a loop for how random it seemed at first. It takes on favored Japanese archetypes of the over sized monster and it gives the impression that the karate student is taking on a formidable opponent, but it can initially appear vague in it's theme. Perhaps they could photoshop a karate band around the porcupine's head to make the theme seem more tied into karate.

 For a good example of an engaging piece I chose this advertisement. It's advertising Celebrate Bandra, which is a cultural festival. I find the use of color to be very intriguing. It's eye grabbing because of the vivid color that is contrasted against a black background. The use of color also ties into the theme of a cultural festival because color implies diversity. Diversity is a big part of cultural festivals.

       The ad I chose as an example of empathy was this ad for the Institute of Mental Heath. It's theme in particular is of anorexia. This ad brings to attention a serious issue by displaying a picture of a severely emaciated young girl. The ad is obviously attending to garner empathy from it's viewers by associating the picture to what we normally think when faced with an existentially nerve racking issue. We can feel the deep visceral emotional pain of the young woman as she struggles to fight her feelings of bitterness towards her self image. As a result we are necessarily moved to pity this girl even if we can't see her face. I emphasize with her condition because I can relate to having a culture judge who you are  because you fail to meet their expectations. The gray scale definitely sets the mood to accentuate the downtroddeness of the girl.

         The next example is an advertisement that uses humor. I chose this ad for noise canceling headphones because it conveys humor in a way that is both witty and relevant to the nature of their product. Mimes are suppose to be silent, thus, you would not hear them. The headphones are suppose to cancel out any and all noise around you so that you will not be disrupted. The mime ties into the effectiveness of the product. The ad is cleverly designed and is eye grabbing. Whose eye wouldn't be caught by a baby painted up like a mime? 

An example of a surreal advertisement is this awesome homage to the surrealist painter Salvador Dali for Volkswagen. This takes advantage of visual elements unique to Dali, including melting objects like the gas gauge hanging on the tree.  Others include deflated objects hung on sticks, repeating patterns of sequenced images that are slowly morphing and disproportionate figures. All of these objects relate to Volkswagen in some way, shape or form. The disproportionate figure is a mechanic and the deflated object is a gasoline tanker. Interestingly enough they attempt to make sense out of a seemingly absurd juxtaposition of real objects  portrayed in a surreal way. Their slogan is that the Polo BlueMotion has "Absurdly low consumption". This implies that the consumption of the car is as absurd as the advertisement. This imitation of Dali is captivating to look at. It strikes me as odd looking, yet strangely beautiful.

     Last, but certainly not least we have an example of a nostalgic advertisement and what other kind of example could we use other then the "This is your brain on drugs ad"? This advertisement among others was part of a string of ads that they showed in the 90's. The point of these ads were to keep young teens from using drugs by the use of an analogy; an egg  and a frying pan. The pan is suppose to symbolize the drug and the egg frying is suppose to be your brain. The effect the drug has on you is not necessarily always compared to frying. The most famous rendition of these types of ads had to do with a commercial they played on television. In that rendition a young woman, uses this symbolism and proceeds to smash the egg under the frying pan. She then starts to smash the dishes and everything around her while telling the audience that this is your life on drugs; your relationship with your friends, your family and irrevocably your relationship with the drug itself.  She then ends her polemic with the phrase "Any questions?". They attempt to press you into realizing that you should stay away from drugs if you don't want that to happen to you. Even though this is the most famous rendition of the campaign, they also used a string of other media outlets including magazine advertisements, and billboards. The picture I have above is a picture used in magazines for this campaign. Much of the same analogy is used along with the phrase "Any questions?" at the end of the ad. The advertisement's analogy comes off clear, concise and to the point. The concept is simple, the design works for the theme and the message is powerful. This is why it got so much attention for it's time and while it's still remembered as a nostalgic advertisement.

Along with this critique I was instructed to work on a tutorial that talks about how to trace in illustrator. I decided to do the tracing of a character drawing that I am making for my other class "Video Game Design". The picture came out looking decent for the most part. The program turned out to be easier to use then what I previously thought. Finally I will wrap this up by summarizing the things that I have to do for next week. I have another tutorial that I must complete, which ties in both adobe photoshop and illustrator. Along with that, I also have a project due in April. The upcoming project is a poster redesign project. I have to make my own poster of a popular movie. I'm suppose to change the theme. I could make a minimalist version of a slasher movie, or perhaps even a German Expressionist version of a popular contemporary film. I have to make four different types of redesigned posters. Updates for how I'm doing for these projects are on the way.

Finished Magazine Project and Upcoming Pieces

     I apologize for the late update. I wanted to make sure I had pictures of the project that I'm posting for the update. The project I have done what was completed this week was a magazine that I designed. I designed a cover page which was mounted on a 11X17 piece of foam core. Along with that I created a table of contents that spanned two pages take up an 11X17 that was mounted separately onto another piece of foam core of approximately the same size. Last I created and article section that spanned two pages that occupied a space of 11X17 that was mounted on yet another piece of foam core. The theme of the magazine was a sort of joke magazine for barbarians. It is no surprise that the name of the magazine is called, "Barbarian". I put on grease paint for the pictures that I took of myself. The profile pic I made for the cover seemed appropriate for the feel I wanted to get. The table of contents background was a background that I created from acrylic paint on masonite board. I wanted to get a sort of layered, crude, cracked blood appearance, with fresh splatters at the front of it. I used a desdemona typeface to go along with the table of contents. I used a bloody text for the cover logo. Finally I created the article page with a photo that I took of myself, with my back against a palm frond. The section was titled "The Vacationing Barbarian". This was my attempt at being ironic in that you would not expect a barbarian go on vacation, much less create a magazine. I boxed in the title with a few gradients and some bars to make it similar to what they would do with table of contents pages in insular manuscripts that were created in the Medieval Ages. On the second page I put the accompanying text with pictures I boxed in white to look like polaroids. When I presented the critic was mainly positive, except that the third section did not quite fit along with the theme in the same way the cover and table of contents did. I was generally satisfied with my work though. For next week I have a presentation I have to do on David Carson and I have been assigned my next big project. The upcoming project is not too bad, but it requires some deliberation on my part. The project simply put is to remake a movie poster in any alternative style that I see fit. For example I could do a minimalist version of a Tron poster. I'm required to do four versions of  a chosen poster. It could be of 4 different movies or 4 different version of the same movie. I can redesign the poster however I chose, as long as it recontextualizes the meaning of the film. See you next week.

Projects update

   
     Two weeks before I had finished a magazine cover I had created in line with the tutorial I was assigned and had followed. I got the picture of a photo I had taken of myself with grease paint. Looking back at the picture it reminded me of how the marines look with camouflage. Though amusing, it gave me an idea for the title of the magazine. I named the title of the magazine Marine to go along with the picture. I used several gradients with a stroke effect in Adobe Indesign to create a backing for the text over it. I was generally pleased with the effect it gave the finished work. It looked very much what you'd expect from a magazine. This week we presented our typefaces mounted on foam board with dimensions of 11X17. I created three typefaces; a contoured, rounded off typeface in copper wire, a block lettered typeface in ripped up paper covered in acrylic paint, and a wire like typeface made of chocolate mixed with whipped cream in coffee. I personally found these mediums both aesthetically appealing and fitting to the design of each typeface. I got the effect I wanted out of all of them except for the copper wire typeface. The design of the typeface came out fine, but I wanted to create a sort of homage to the original arcade version of Donkey Kong by having the letters situated between the platforms  like in the game, from which  copper wire Donkey Kong would be barrels. The next assignment we were given after the presentations involves redesigning a magazine. It requires modifying the design of the cover, the table of contents, along with two pages of the first opening article. When I have done the magazine project, I'll have an update posted along with things we have done that week.

Typography Critique

                                                                 Example #1

                                                                     Example #2

                                                                       Example #3

Example #4

                                                                       Example #5
  The post for the bad and good typography is going up with this weeks post as it took longer to do then anticipated. The examples of bad typography I have posted include the the 5 examples above. Examples 1,2,4 and 5 all suffer from one bad flaw of typography; they are generic. Other then the use of color, the styling of the font is pretty similar and lacks expressiveness. The content of the typography is even more lacking. The title of the nail salon is nail colors, the name for the karate dojo is karate and the name of the dentistry is dentist. They don't give themselves a title which would distinguish themselves from anybody else. It similarly would not get Denny's any publicity if they simply called themselves restaurant and then had a typography they used in that logo that did not come across as unique.  Example 4 merely uses a bubbled text overlapped by another text in red to catch the attention of the passing drivers. The overlap obscures the title in a way that may come across as aesthetically unappealing. The use of rounded edge text seems very over abused in local advertisements almost as much as Helvetica is nationally, almost as if it's a fallback choice for those that can't make their own typeface. Example number three also comes across as unappealing as what looks very much like Times New Romans; another default text. Though I find Times New Roman to be appealing in regards to typeface as it is applied in communications and perhaps even used in articles, I find it unappealing when applied to commercial logos. The color is also neutral and unengaging.

                                                                         Example #1

                                                                         Example #2

                                                                       Example #3

                                                                         Example #4

 Example #5

      The next five are examples of what I believe to be good typographies. Example 1 is very expressive in that it is stylized to fit with the theme, which is fast food orientated toward poultry. The cursive typeface is aesthetically engaging, but it is clear and legible. The C in particular stands out from the rest, stylized like a chicken, but simplistic and minimalistic in its design. Example 2 is also very expressive as the first in that the design of the typography fits with the content of the title, "The Blue Monkey...” The Blue Monkey text is styled like stalks of bamboo, which complements well with the silhouette of the blue monkey. The block like text of example 3 is subdued enough so that the icon in the middle draws the viewer in, yet goes well with the overall presentation. This has been an effective marketing technique for Starbucks, as the icon alone is world renown in its association to the franchise by all who see it. Like McDonalds golden arches, there is no mistaking what this typography represents when you see it. Example 4 also has complimentary aspects of its design, both in its use of typeface and of its use of iconography. The Einstein bros in the middle draws the viewer's eye in at first. The differentiation of the color of the bagels they are holding across from their outstretched arms  arms brings one's attention to those objects and then around the circle of color surrounding them, which forms another bagel like shape. The thickness and color of the black typeface contrasts enough to stand out, but not so much that it is overpowering.One's attention is drawn to the bold typeface and then the thin typeface between Einstein Bros on the top and the word bagels on the bottom. Lastly number 5 seems to me to  represent good typography in it's use of the bell, which goes well with the content of the name of the franchise in a way that is unique to it's marketing alone. The purple typeface with the white outline gives it a design that helps it stand out, especially at night when these displays are glowing. This plays well into their marketing campaign as many of their low prices are offered at midnight. That's it for the bad vs. good examples of typography. A post for this week's general update about what I've done in Graphic Design so far and the projects I've been working on so far will be posted either later today or tomorrow. See you then!

Typeface Project and Other Things

     This week we have been watching videos on typeface and it's social impact, particularly the Helvetica, a sans-serif typeface developed in 1957 by Swiss typeface designer Max Miedinger with Eduard Hoffmann. It's impact is marked by it's significance of being neutral or at least coming off subjectively to the viewer as being neutral. It has in many respects been a default for many commercial typeface and advertisements. It was mostly for educational purposes that we watched this, but secondarily because of the typeface project we were assigned. We are required to create a three types of typeface, each hand made, and each using a different medium. I had decided a week prior to use coffee for one, copper wire for another, and painted paper for the last. The finished photos shall be printed out 11X17 and mounted unto foam board. Along with this project I am required to take photos of five examples of good typography and five examples of bad typography and post them up on my blog. I should have that posted up on my blog by tomorrow.