I V A N A L O N S O

IA project one: LA Times Redesign

2012-02-20T21:02:00.000-08:00

Experiment 1

2012-02-18T13:16:00.000-08:00

During this first experiment process Many things have come to mind to improve upon and strengthen the connections I aspire to make through out this semester. In the initial field survey I completed last week, I got results that were all over the place. Tightening down the amount of variables ( the amount of typefaces and odor samples) allowed me to move forward for the video presented in this blog post. The short documentary is the manifestation of my inquiry into type | smell association.
For Those who are unaware of the experiment I suppose I should lay down some groundwork. Six smells are administered to an individual. Secondly, the participant describes the smell giving me anything from memories, literal interpretation, to visual & formal qualities. The latter (visual & formal qualities) is what I was concerned with for this experiment. After diving into the qualities of the odor, the participant chooses a typeface that best fits the description of the smell. The typefaces were, for this first experiment, limited to the basic categories of type; Traditional Serif, Modern Serif, Humanistic Serif, Egyptian Slab, Traditional Sans, Geometric Sans, and Humanistic Sans. For this I listed Sabon, Clarendon, Helvetica, Futura, Bodoni, Baskerville, Franklin Gothic, Serifa, and Univers.

EXPERIMENT 1: results and speculation

2012-02-10T12:34:00.000-08:00

I've began by asking, what is the association, if any, between typefaces and the sense of smell. Just as we make visual and conceptual judgements based on the qualities of a typeface, can the qualities of smells be translated into typefaces? If so, what can it inform us about typography and the broader sense of communication. I surveyed six people for today's preliminary experiment. I gathered 5 odors in brown glass bottles labeled 1-5. The smells varied from pleasant to not so much. A better way to describe that is, some more organic and others more industrial.

WATERFALL MATRIX

2012-02-07T13:06:00.000-08:00

PARTICIPATORY CULTURE

2012-02-07T10:44:00.001-08:00

T E S T I N G T H E W A T E R S

2012-02-06T21:25:00.000-08:00

So im opening this up to context and senses relation to communication.

For my first experiment I plan on gathering a series of bottles with different odors, labeling them with a typeface name. Upon smelling each bottle, I like the survey participant to draw connections with typefaces. What does Futura smell like? bodoni? who knows. Let the experiments begin.

WIRE FRAMES & SENARIOS

2012-02-03T07:12:00.000-08:00

If you wish to add notes, save an article for later, or all together rid it of your feed, select the icon that correlates. Nav bar and Square categories on the right are customizable. If john isnt interested in the travel section at all he can quickly remove it from his sections.

On the left side there is a section for user generated streams. The constantly updating panel shows headlines linked to articles based on what your friends are viewing. whats the most popular or what is recommended based on your previous selections of news. On the right, by hovering over a section, a quick viewer of Pictures and headlines are shown.

As we move into the sports section, John thinks the first article is interesting. He has to know more. Just has to, so he clicks on the image

When diving into an article, the reader now has a chance to contribute. John can save the article for later. Organize it in his "board." the board is like a personal archive of news articles and images organized based on how the reader thinks they should be. Friends can see his boards and follow them as well as read his annotations.

John wants to annotate the small paragraph so he can remember some key points. He simply highlights the text and hits the note icon. This allows him to make notes on the article and save it for himself and his friends if they wish to view it. Down in the right hand corner is Sports Now, a section that is a live feed of current sport news. So on game day, dont fret. Youll know without having a TV near by. Check the Sports Now section and view footage, live streaming, stats, scores, and comments.

Proposals and Speculation

2012-02-03T06:29:00.001-08:00

“The purity of words is in its heard form. The markedlanguage is merely a representation.” I open up with this because I aminterested in making typography a more sensory experience. Can spatialrelationships, light, and sound enhance (or hinder) the experience ofcommunicating an idea? The way we interact with words and all language existcan be communicated visually no matter the dialect. By saying this I mean theroot of communication, I feel, exists in a visual form. For instance, bodylanguage helps us communicate when there is a language barrier. Music as wellis in a way universal. No matter the words, the message is just as clearlycommunicated some times by tone. The way it sounds gives us a sense of what thesongs about. Brail and Morris code rely on other stimulants like touch andsound. Since typography can be described loosely as communication, I aminterested in stimulating more than just our eyes, and giving more contextualclues than the written word to communicate a message. I feel that perhaps theseexperiments will give me insight into our raw nature of communicating everyday.

1.Should there be a closer relationship between the spokenand written word? I would be interested in trying to visualize frequencies andpairing that with contextual info. So for instance, can an overlay, digital ornot, of photographic imagery and visualized sound produce interesting results?

2. I had this idea to have a message communicated indifferent ways based on the experience of reading. How do the other sensoryaffect the way we perceive a Message? So just as in a text message, emoticonsare vital when being sarcastic can Colors shift a message ever so slightly? Asmell? If we read, “I loathe you” but frank Sinatra plays and it smells likepancakes, would we feel different about that Sentence?

3. Space. Through a series of mirrors and projectors, howfar can I push the formal qualities of typography while altering the message? By turning the mirrors can the wordsrearrange? Does the written word have more meaning with what is reflected incontext?

INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE READING

2012-01-26T20:13:00.000-08:00

10 NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS FOR DESIGNERS

"This year’s gonna be a goddamned golden age. Last year we trained. This year we fight."
- 10 new years resolutions for designers
^^^^^preach it brother.

This article was quite interesting, inspirational even. It drives home the point that we as designers must be more than just visual people. We must be critical thinkers. Design in every aspect is just as much, if not more, about the worth of the idea as it is about the beauty of the arrangement. No more excuses, just results.

WEB DESIGN IS 95% TYPOGRAPHY (“Webdesign is all about typography. Period”)

"Yet typography is an old school discipline that requires a lot of studying, repetitive concentrated effort and looking at printed materials. Typography in practice is not choosing fonts or making fonts, it’s about shaping text for optimal reading experience."
"Typography is not about choosing fonts."

As much as I love sifting through my type library, He has a point that I cannot argue with.

"Even though we all know that reading is what we mainly do on the web, we thought that online we could snub the rules of typography. Some said that due to different platforms, annoying resolution issues and lack of fonts there was no point to even start to care for typography. What a cheap excuse! What a severe misunderstanding of the medium."

"Explain to them what the medium is about. It’s about information. It’s not about shopping, it’s not about advertisement, it’s not linear. It’s about communication in one of its most competitive forms. Communication and not effects – that is what we should be concerned about as designers."

"Optimizing typography is optimizing readability, accessibility, usability(!), overall graphic balance."

This puts a whole new look at the web for me. Honestly the web is something that I have been avoiding as a designer, but lets get real, theres going to come a time where we cannot avoid it and that time is now.

Motorcycle Club Secondary Research

2012-01-25T14:00:00.000-08:00

D E F I N I N I N G A C R U I S E R

Contemporarymodels are modeled after Harley-davidsons and Indians. Cruisers are designedwith a laid back riding positions. Cruiser rider generally is set into a position with feet forward andhands in a neutral or high position. This makes cruisers a popular choice forcasual riding. Many cruising motorcycles have limitedperformance and turning ability due to a low-slung design.

60percent of motorcycle sales are cruiser models.

__________________________

M C T E R M I N O L O G Y

Colors,or patches, are each individual clubs logo. These can be sewn onto theirleather gear, painted on, or tattooed onto the person.

Cutsare the leather or jean vests that are typically seen on participants ofmotorcycle culture.

TheAMA is the American Motorcyclist Association that organizes many activities andfights for motorcyclist rights. There are over 300,000 members of this club.

TheRICO act was designed to allow Federal Prosecutors to go outside the normalrules of conduct and evidence to gain convictions.

__________________________

T Y P E S O F C L U B S

RegisteredMotorcycle groups, which operate within the law, were described as making up99% of motorcycle riders in 1950 by the AMA. Usually these groups form becausethey share common interests along with their love of motorcycles. Other groupsare so diverse that the only thing common between members is the fact that theyride motorcycles.

OutlawMotorcycle groups also known as 1%ers is biker talk for the 1% of motorcycleriders who operate “outside the law”. Common biker gangs, like the HellsAngels, can use this patch as a symbol of rebellion.

__________________________

K C C L U B S

TheIron Order Motorcycle Club formed in a garage in January 2009. Their websitelists their common values as brotherhood, friendship, community, contribution,and an overarching sense of national patriotism and pride. Membership is described as a privilege andthey are against druggies, pushers, and pimps.

Peopleto contact:

Gunner(president)

CUZnIT(vice)

__________________________

ElForasteros (Spanish for the outsiders)

TheEFMC was founded in 1962 by a proud 1%er named Tiny. Only about a dozen othertrue 1%er clubs still remain today. It was brotherhood founded on a love custommotorcycles soon to be known as choppers.

Peopleto contact:

JohnMonk

__________________________

GallopingGooses

GGMCstarted around a motorcycle racing team out of LA in 1942. This MC is an allyto the El Forasteros and have a charter in KCMO. The Gooses are also well known1%ers.

Sub Culture: The MC World

2012-01-25T08:28:00.000-08:00

User X Reading Response

2012-01-25T05:52:00.000-08:00

This reading brings to the table, the idea of Qualitative research informing design for a more meaningful experience for the user. More importantly a designers involvement in a combination of ethnography methods, Qualitative research, Quantitative research, and anthropology yeilds more true products that resonate. With the study of sub cultures comes more obsticles. The reading talks about the symbols of Punk Jewlery and characteristics of skin heads that define the culture to the culture. In order to truely understand the subculture/counterculture its important to see and engage with the culture in everyday activity. If the research is not done in a Qualitative way, there is too much room for speculation rather than observation. I would like to sum up with what Henry Dreyfuss said. "Field research is crucial to industrial design" same goes for any design!

project 5 self directed objectives

2011-11-21T07:04:00.000-08:00

PROMPT:

how can typography be captured and manipulated with live action film?

as well as but not limited to:

how might the “virtual” or “3d” narrative space be used to reveal new info in a story?
(think transitions and moving through space)

MY STATISTIC:

I haven't decided on a specific statistic just yet but I want to take a gander at fast
food consumption or the effects of. Possibly, land consumption, fat in a bigmac vs
the RDA, the amount of fast food eaten daily, etc.

OBJECTIVES:

I am planning on exploring the movement of the camera in space.
this is where the second question comes to play. my subject matter comes from
picking a statistic but the form is exploring the use of virtual space to transition
from info to info.
Also, i am looking at a few kinetic infographics for inspiration and plan on exploring
more movement in my type and images as singular objects.

HISTORY OF MOTION GRAPHICS

2011-11-21T05:47:00.000-08:00

The history of motion graphics.

The thought of motion graphics starting with early cinema is interesting. the argument that the difference between animation and motion design is the personification of a character is something i can get behind. The video blurrs the line between these two categories though. As technology increases at a rapid pace, design with expand just as fast to keep up. Our characters are simple shapes and letterforms. What i love about motion graphics is that now, what could not be said on paper, can be said on multiple levels all at once. The word bark can look like it barks, sound like it barks and MOVE like something that barks. okay example, but important concept. I never really thought of paul rand and old school movie credits when talking about motion graphics but they totally are. This makes me think of stop motion being a precurser to what we concider motion graphics to be today. Taking that further, photography could be the root of storyboarding. A record of our daily temporal experiences. If our life is a motion peice, photos are just our freeze frames. Getting back to the video, another thought came to mind. A museum for motion graphics? whoa. The digital era is in full fledge. People go to museums to experience something they cannot physically and emotionally feel online, or in a text book. Motion graphics is different in that the same digital file that eh museum holds is the exact same as teh ones readily available online. itll be interesting to see what this new house of art looks like.

I want to do a motion peice on the statistic of fast food consumtion. ( per day, week, month. not sure)
Two things i want to learn and explore are, exploitiong 3d space with z axis and movement with the camera

LOGOBUILD in MOTION

2011-11-18T05:21:00.000-08:00

I chose to work with Taylor's re-branding of the local restaurant, POT PIE. The key descriptive words kept in mind while designing were comfort, rustic, elegant, & nostalgic. The clientele is a person or persons that want to experience the comfort of a down home meal, with class and style. The Initial concept for this build revolved around the motif of a pot pie. Obvious? Arbitrary? I think not in this case. The short amount of time allotted to get the idea of the brand across, I thought that two things should be visually conveyed, Food & Brand. Secondary things would be the feeling of atmosphere. The radial motif created by the pie marks references two things; the circular shape of a pot pie and a kitchen timer. The rest is padding around that idea. I wanted to keep the build simple for a couple reasons. One, its only five seconds. Too much stuff going on could overwhelm the viewer. Two, the idea of elegance to me has a certain sense of selection and reduction to distinguish itself.

Time for learning:
Once again, Motion is so much more multidimensional than I anticipate or conceive of when conceptualizing storyboards. Print based design most of the time functions on a linear time-frame. With moving media, I am able to trigger multiple senses of the viewer. Sound, pace, and image. It is great to be able to capitalize on audible reinforcement with film. If the visual reference isn't enough to say kitchen timer, there is a audible reveal when its complete (the ding). Also what I cannot say in five seconds visually, I am able to hint at through sound. Delivering the message of the atmosphere was reinforced in the audio with casual speak and ambiance of the restaurant. Each project I learn something new about the narration process in time. That makes me more and more excited to dive deeper into aftereffects.

Digital timeline

2011-11-17T15:56:00.000-08:00

Pot Pie Near Final

2011-11-14T05:55:00.000-08:00

Design Intervention: Refined Proposal

2011-11-09T14:30:00.001-08:00

During this phase of the project we chose one direction to move forwards in refining and developing prototypes for. Ivan and I decided to move forwards with the guerrilla way-finding direction, which focuses on being able to locate resources. We realized that helping institutions don't advertise their services in areas that are accessible to the people that need it most, so we are creating a way finding system that guides people in the spaces they interact with the most.

Refined Proposal:

Prototype Sketches:

Large bridge sign

Door greeting sign at the end of the journey

Batman-like projection

List of what type of help is offered

Maps placed near crosswalks

Arrows to guide people

Icons to represent the type of help

Design Intervention: Refined Proposal

2011-11-09T14:30:00.000-08:00

Refined Proposal:

Prototype Sketches:

Large bridge sign

Door greeting sign at the end of the journey

Batman-like projection

List of what type of help is offered

Maps placed near crosswalks

Arrows to guide people

Icons to represent the type of help

Design Intervention: Proposals

2011-11-09T14:27:00.000-08:00

Our final project this semester is design intervention. We are now applying what we learned about communication from our communication models to a real life situation, specifically, the systematic issue of poverty. How can we as designers address a breakdown in communication and propose a solution that will help to make a difference.

However, in order to understand the situation in which we are designing for and to identify a communication breakdown we must research. One way to gather information and experience is through walking in the shoes of the individual through a simulation. So, during class we all attended a poverty simulation sponsored by AIGA and USCAA. During the simulation I played Anne Aber, a mother of three children and wife to a recently unemployed Adam Aber. Taking what we experienced from the poverty simulation our first order of business was to come up with 3 different design interventions.

Proposal 1:

Our first direction focuses on students seeking that are involved in higher education or seeking higher education. During the simulation we saw an example of a student that struggled in providing for his family and how difficult it was to invest both the time and money to locate resources. So we propose a series of educational guides to help students seeking or involved in high education means to decode application processes and to help locate resources.

Proposal 2:

In our second proposal we realized that a lack of communication and organization within the family could be detrimental for their survival and progression. In order to keep the family on the same page we propose a home organization system to manage and prioritize responsibilities within the family. It will allow for good time management across multiple individuals allowing for more things to be taken cared of and act as a centralized hub for family members to communicate/check-in during their busy schedule.

Proposal 3:

During the simulation both of had been adults and so we identified how difficult it was to locate resources and how overwhelming the day to day stress was. Once the first day was over it we didn't have time to rest, we had to figure out a plan of action for the next day. So, for our intervention we propose an environmental or guerrilla graphic series that will alleviate emotional stress spontaneously throughout the day, but also provide information to resources.

ALONSO & MAK Communication Model : final

2011-10-31T14:23:00.000-07:00

Advances in technology has greatly impacted the way in which the people of this day and age communicate. When developing our communication model, Sam and I felt that digital means of communicating in regards to the mass to mass and mass to person relationships were lacking in older models. In order to further explain the complexity of communication and provide in depth examples, we chose to create a key of graphic elements pulled from the actual model to speak more specifically to each topic of communication as well as to provide a quick and slow read.

Communication Model

2011-10-29T14:20:00.000-07:00

Horizontal Version:

Vertical Version:

Package ReDesign

2011-10-24T09:32:00.000-07:00

SheaMoisture is a smaller up and coming brand that has a few lines of hygiene care type products. I chose the "shave" series. I specifically focused on their "African Black Soap Facial wash and scrub—beard lifter—cleanse and lift." This product is a deep cleansing face scrub designed for men. It leaves the existing beard clean, soft, and nourished as well as preparing it for the closest shave if that's what is desired. It can be described as a daily beard wash or pre-shave regimen.
The packaging was previously functioning on a ethos mode of appeal. A lot of the Men care products focus on sexuality, logistics, or convincing statements of being the best. I figured if i could play on some humor while staying sophisticated in design, the product would stand out in content and aesthetics.
How?
The epic, wise beard has been placed on the exterior for an initial eye grabbing experience. The motif with the wording subtly references the shape of an old straight razor from an earlier era. The vintage mixed with refined, tasteful, & contemporary styled typography gave the piece the flavor I was looking for. After setting up the visual system it was time for some witty copy writing. I realize in retrospect that it could have been pushed further but the idea was to let the consumer chuckle while surveying the product. The phrasing of facial hair "looks," "deeply rooted," and "Ironically Sophisticated" are my way of slight humor. Tertiary experience?
I thought about having the viewer that spent extra time or even the consumer that spent their money being rewarded in some way. What better way than with laughter. When the package is opened, the inner flap reads "Do not mistake a goats beard for a fine stallion's tail" Kind of funny, yea?

The labeling on the side was once a notation of a series. It seemed perhaps arbitrary and pointless in some way to have a series of packages for the same product. Cool and Fun but unnecessary. So I reduced the facial hairs into an informational icon that says hey, no matter the look, this face scrub is right for you.
The package is primarily in the black and gray area with accents of burnt orange. I feel as if it yields a more sophisticated look. The pop of color is revealed once the package is opened and the bottle is explored. The color is inspired by the cream itself. The facial wash is a white cream with small exfoliating black beads and burnt orange clay beads that organically heal the skin. Thus my color palette of off white, Black, and Orange was conceived.

Package ReDesign

2011-10-20T15:21:00.000-07:00

Inspiration

2011-10-15T22:25:00.000-07:00

Modes of appeal: find+share

2011-10-03T11:51:00.000-07:00

Logos
These milk cartons have a very minimalistic package design displaying the factual information very clearly and dominantly. The designs are very flat and reduced to only one color per package. This brings the viewer to primarily focus on the package information.

Pathos
Products in the Pathos category often have photos/illustrations that help appeal to the viewers senses. The conversation bubble in this package even helps to speak to the viewer. This rendering is a little more dimensional helping to focus the viewer more on the sensory detail.

Ethos
This package focuses primarily on what the brand offers. Dominate features such as "No Bad Stuff" and "I'm Good, Pick Me Up" seem to guarantee product quality. It plays on the values of the consumer.

Product: find+share

2011-09-28T08:43:00.000-07:00

PATHOS

The baby wipes are playing on emotion. Thus, its mode of appeal is functioning as pathos. The image of the sleeping baby makes the consumer feel like the product caters to parents that want nothing more for their child than to be clean, comfortable, and calm. Its such a "sweet" and "cute" image. I mean most infant products play up the idea of the children being imagery on the package to pull at the strings of parents. They usually involve a baby or baby and parent showing some kind of emotion. The package material itself is a satin finished wrapper that is soft to the touch reinforcing sensitivity. The colors are cool and calming. The different kind of packaging made this product stand out. Also the level of quality in production made it pop on the shelf. A consumer said that the cool colors and "precious" picture stood out in her mind. The package evoked emotions that would persuade her to buy it for her child. When veiwing it, the front of the package is assesed and then put back down. I guess it has all the main info the viewer wants right on the front. The rounded edges make part of the side blend in as the front.

LOGOS

The product is functioning on the mode of appeal, Logos. Its stripped of all emotion and isn't trying to acquire the viewers trust. It is stating the factual information of the paper. Recycled, 20 lb, 92 bright, 500 sheets. As for the imagery I don't think it is functioning as anything other than a reinforcement of ecology but does not move or persuade me, therefore leaving me at the conclusion of logos. I personally picked this out of the crowd because of the clear, bolded information and bright color choice. It was a lot less busy than the other packages making it feel more refined in design. While observing the consumer, the first thing they seemed to look at was the information located at the bottom right corner. (the lb, brightness, & quantity) When interviewing a potential consumer after a short viewing of the product, it was stated that the thing that he remembered most was that it was recycled paper and 20 lb. The thing that jumped out at him were the bold numbers and bright green color. The imagery of the plant faded in memory. The package was handled by reviewing the front and then flipping it to see the bottom short edge where most info is on paper packaging.

ETHOS

Paula Deen Dressing. This is definitely Ethos. Paula Deen, the popular tv show cook, is endorsing her own line of salad dressings. The consumer is either going to love it because of her name or be leery because of her name. Regardless, the fact that she has a cooking show makes the consumer feel a sense of credibility. If you are into Paula Deen, you'll be into this sauce is basically how it communicates to me. In the setting of the store, the product stood out because of the large image of Paula but in color scheme sort of blended in. Once it was notice though, it was hard to look away. The rich colors and clean typography made it appealing. The bottle said a lot too. A glass bottle always feels more substancial than a plastic one. To me it gives connotations of quality, health, and good taste. When interviewing an everyday consumer he said his initial thought was "cheesy." She was the one thing that stuck out in his head when reflecting on the packaging. He could hardly remember what the product was exactly but he knew that because of her it was something to do with cooking. The color green made him vaguely remember that it was olive oil dressing. Obviously this is ethos if the image of the spokesperson is overpowering content. The bottle was handled by rotation. The viewer looked at the front label and then spun to the right.(probably because we westerners read that way) This made the nutrition facts the last thing to be taken in.

Billboard direction

2011-09-26T14:27:00.001-07:00

This is the the iteration that I will be framing my billboard around. Refined iterations coming soon

Folly: Final_Revisions & Billboards

2011-09-26T08:50:00.000-07:00

FINAL POSTER (revisions made)

BILLBOARD 1

BILLBOARD 2

BILLBOARD 3

BILLBOARD 4

BILLBOARD 5

Based on feedback from my professors and the Folly folks, I made a few changes to the poster. The main Criticism was that the imagery was leaning too far to the right. There needed to be some more breathing room on the right side. So I took everything and kicked it to the left and refined some imagery resolution. I tried to give the billboards some variation in composition but still tried to maintain a level of cohesion to create an identity for the show. Same type, different lockups. Same imagery, different placement. Overall the same feel. I didnt know if it was appropriate but in some of the iterations I changed the color of the folly logo to tie in better with the composition.

Poster Process

2011-09-25T09:35:00.000-07:00

Tender Buttons : Final

2011-09-23T10:39:00.000-07:00

The selection of poems is based entirely around the section, objects, from Gertrude Stein's Tender Buttons. The curation of the poems is base on the rhythm of language used in Stein's writing style. It can be explained as a stream of consciousness or thought. A train of thought carries and inherent rhythm. That rhythm is visually represented through the contrast of the form. From a distance the language turns to grey, functioning as pools of rhythm. The thought in functionality is that the viewer not only experiences the poems at once by putting them together but is also drawn in to the small typography, forcing them to bring it closer to understand it. The breaking up of the litterature into rhythmic proportions reinforces her ideas of cubism, fragmentation, and of course Rhythm and sound.

Final Poster: Mark O'Connor

2011-09-23T05:45:00.000-07:00

So this is what I ended up with for the Folly judging on Wednesday. The collage represents not only the instruments that will be played at the show, but is also reminiscent of Mark's multi-talent, and how he pulls from multiple genres to make his own sound. The amalgamation of typography (univers, neutraface, serifa) Hints at the same idea of multiple genres and sounds as well as making the poster relatable to multiple audiences. I felt that the condensed sans serif would appeal to a younger crowd while the serifed type gives the feeling of approachability and age. The color palette is an americana christmas. This is a holiday show. I didnt want to take an obvious color palette and scream christmas. I wanted it to be a subtle hint. The dulled colors relate more towards Mark OConnor and give a mood of his sound.

Coming Soon

2011-09-20T22:28:00.000-07:00

footage shot by patrick drake.
Additional imagery: ivan alonso
Edited by ivan alonso.
Camera: iphone hd.
Software: after effects.
Area ridden out: rockhill neighborhood

Final: Tender Buttons

2011-09-19T05:48:00.000-07:00

The idea behind these videos at the most basic level is to convey a stream of consciousness, or thought. When reading Gertrude Steins work, I realized that initially they make no sense, or very little as a whole. If you were to break down the poems or fragment them into little phrases, there are moments that can be understood with out the context of the poem or experience she is writing about. This allows for the opportunity of creating contrast in my spreads. I've explained it as pools of thought and rhythm contrasted by moments of structure and clarity. Translating this into motion graphics and film, I had room for variation formally that could not be done in print. So the main thing is I am moving static composition into a temporal realm of movement. Now there is contrast and hierarchy set up by time. Time is one thing I wanted to exploit. It allowed me to reference the same ideas and material in a new way. In motion there is an opportunity to guide the viewer more than in a book. In my "book" for type3 the text is fragmented into little pools of rhythm that function on a grey level from the ideal viewing distance. This is how im hitting at the idea of ambiguity and confusion/non clarity. In video I was able to exploit the lens. Specifically the depth of field. By doing this, there is a play, a push and pull between focus and unfocused text. Another way that I forced the idea of non clarity is by speeding up certain parts of the video, making the text hard to navigate and digest. Although the project is finished and moved passed its final crit, I plan on taking this back into after effects and adding the original imagery in the passed videos and playing more with text in space.

Tender Buttons: full mock up #1

2011-09-16T14:53:00.000-07:00

"gut check time." —kidwell
Well we checked my gut. I think its going to be okay but I definitely need to take some time and step back and realize what I am truly trying to say with Gertrude Steins work. I think on some level I know but when explaining it comes out as mush. There are perhaps too many concepts being shown formally all at once. Although they all work with her text, they may not meld together well enough to solidify the concept. Counter-production? maybe . . . who knows. At an atomic level this is supposed to be about clarity and non clarity. How do I reformat this to make sense, drop the excess, and move forward with a solid idea executing it formally in a solid, communicative way? this is what i am asking myself these next few hours

Folly: formal explorations #2

2011-09-14T09:06:00.000-07:00

I moved forward with two directions for critique today. The musical collage, and the musical crossroads. The signs are a play between vector and hand illustration. The formal qualities are rustic yet refined like Mark Oconnors Sound. The vector is the precision and the hand illustration and texture is the approachability and rustic. I havent yet decided if i want to fully embrace the holiday color palette or subtly hint at it, or all together throw it out. I do think it will be important to communicate to the potential audience that this is infact a christmas show. Who wants to show up to a bluegrass hot swing, but get a classical americana christmas. I think it will be of great importance for me to let the viewers know whats going on. After critique I decided that the photographic collaging is the best direction. Not only is it more appropriate in formal rendering, it has a better feel of Mark O'Connor. Right now my typography is all over the place. Thats numero uno in moving forward. I plan on locking it in somewhere. Finding a place to align everything will tie the type to image.

Folly: formal explorations #1

2011-09-12T23:06:00.000-07:00

moving forward with the three concepts pulled from the matrix, I have began iterating the concepts formally.

experiment 2: tender buttons

2011-09-11T06:47:00.000-07:00

STILLS FROM EXPERIMENTS— analogue&digital

There are a few parts that are way longer than i expected. the first part "dirt" last about twice as long as id like it too. And the end needs finessing. I am posting this hoping to get feed back not only formally and conceptually but to also know if i am backing off the line of imagery. Last class I pushed the boundaries of imagery, and hopefully this time, the images function more as background and supporting information rather than overpowering the text.

EXPERIMENTS: Filming Tender Buttons

2011-09-09T21:03:00.000-07:00

When filming my experiments, I wanted to get multiple shots at one time. What better way to compliment a canon t2i than with an iphone. It made filming more efficient and editing easier.

tender buttons: 2

2011-09-09T10:32:00.000-07:00

These are a few pages from my anthology. Well, just process screenshots. While composing these i was trying to thing of the overall composition speaking to the poem as well as having little moments of typographic flavor. Over all the poems are hard to digest but there are these little pieces that make all the sense in the world or for some reason just resonate in mind and soul. I want to call these out. Also, the book is no longer a "book." Focusing on fragmentation, it seemed counter productive to bind these poems. Also there is not a regulated page size. Size varies from poem to poem based on length and weight conceptually.

Tender Buttons 1

2011-09-09T10:21:00.000-07:00

First round attempts at some expressive typography using Gertrude Stein's words from Tender Buttons. Specifically the objects section. My thought process was to emphasize the way I read the poems. Also I wanted to take cues from her ideals of Cubism, fragmentation, and rhythm. As of now the compositions are a bit small and a little timid and conservative. Perhaps they need a little more umph. The reason for a smaller page size (3x5.5) was initially to create an intimate experience, making the reader bring the text closer to get a better understanding. There is a little more work involved as a viewer, than traditionally. In the next iterations I want to focus on the spacial relationships and how there can be visual breaks to create pauses, forcing my reader to read like me.

amsterdam warm up

2011-09-09T10:16:00.000-07:00

we were asked to create some typographic experiments using an excerpt provided to us via Kidwell. The compositions were supposed to capture the essence of the city.

Matrix

2011-09-03T22:54:00.000-07:00

50 ideas using rhetorical tropes. Reflecting back on the ideas I proposed, I think that solidarity was lacking. Although they may have been right, they didn't seem appropriate for the posters. The ones that did were mainly in the hyperbole, personification, and of course metaphor. I'm moving forward with the concepts of violin, crossroads (of multi-genre), collaboration, christmas.

Mood Boards: Mark O'Connor

2011-09-01T22:35:00.000-07:00

mood boards are a great way to get out some ideas. Just another visual representation of the mood, or feeling the artist brings to mind. Mark roots lie in bluegrass and americana. He is a good ol country fiddler. He has been in the industry since 13. At thirteen he won the national string competition where fiddlers of all ages come to compete for the title. You can say he is somewhat of a prodigy. He is trained as a classical musician, and knows tons of theory. He has takes from his jazz, bluegrass, and suzuki training and makes his own unique sound. He is energetic, rustic, refined, and skilled. Colors: warm and muted cools. Brown, red, orange, deep blue, slate gray.

this inspires me

2011-09-01T09:21:00.001-07:00

Vattenkraft from Dennie van Dijk on Vimeo.

FORMSACHE from Mia Hennig on Vimeo.

FIND + SHARE: rhetorical tropes

2011-08-29T10:54:00.000-07:00

Mr. Bradbury Thompson. This to me is an example of metonymy. By replacing the stripes of the flag with the colors of the rainbow he transforms the message. The colors represent the larger idea of beauty, diversity, and freshness.

FIND + SHARE

2011-08-25T20:25:00.000-07:00

Promotional Intro Polylux from Sebastian Lange on Vimeo.

Oil'd from Chris Harmon on Vimeo.

Find + Share

2011-08-22T15:07:00.001-07:00

140 dB

Sophomore Review

2011-05-10T10:50:00.000-07:00

sophomore body of work.

New Media: transfering the magazine to Ipad

2011-05-04T11:22:00.000-07:00

Going vertical with these. The initial concepts were based on the bottom two and after revisiting them a day later, I re-positioned everything vertically to the reference the magazine more than just plopping it into ipad dimensions. I felt it showcased the transfer of information from one media to the next in a more successful way. It showed my capability to handle the information in a new plane with cohesion to the original layouts but with more variety than a horizontal ipad layout. See image 1&2 for the references that follow. So the idea here is that the info graphic becomes interactive. Because of the interaction I was freed up to have the information act temporally rather than having it all fixed the way it is in print. This allowed for more levels of interaction and freed up white space.(always a nice thing) So in this concept, a user taps on an icon taking him/her to a video related to that icon. By tapping on the "enlarge" graphic, the user will be taken to a new a larger video with additional text and navigation. At this point the user can choose to continue watching, change media by tapping a new icon, exit full screen, or continue to the next page. The idea is simple, effective, efficient, informational and playful. Keynote animation to come soon.

magazine layouts: bringing them to a close

2011-05-04T10:33:00.000-07:00

The spreads have come a long way since the beginning stages. Its been a challenge to handle the body copy in a minimal amount of spreads while maintaining a comfortable amount of white space within each spread. I've edited down the copy and introduced additional imagery as well as filtered the previous imagery to fit with the content of the article better. I tried to fill the larger spaces set for imagery with photographs of the umbrella topic of circus and sprinkled images of freaks through out. I embraced the asymmetry to reinforce concept. The article is about circus culture changing American popular culture and entertainment. Up to this time in America things were pretty simple and conservative. If it hadn't been for the circus, people in rural America may have never seen such spectacles. I've set up a fairly rigid 12 column grid and set everything accordingly. I began to break the grid in certain areas such as the large image at the bottom of the spreads that bleeds off the page. There is also a drastic shift in imagery on the page from left to right getting at the idea of influence and change. I've left the body copy fairly conservative and traditional, set in a three column structure subtly hinting at previous culture of rural America. If you are wondering about the three page spread and lonely page, it is the easiest way of displaying the gatefold I used. The info graphic spans the three pages and the "lonely" page with the pull quote on it sits on the back of the third page. From now until Friday it should all be refinement. No new concepts or content. Just tightening up the work.

ipad observations

2011-04-22T09:35:00.000-07:00

1. I noticed that with the ipad the space is very dynamic. The interaction may be more intimate than with a book itself. Yes, a magazine has the tactility and intimacy in that regard but the ipad introduces decision making and physical interaction.

2. There is no longer a limitation to imagery or content. No longer do you have to worry about printing costs of photography and body copy. Like Times magazine mentioned. The photographers in the field can shoot as much as they want and can explore video as well. It is making the experience that much more real.

3. Things as simple as video are now possible. With the ipad we are no longer limited to still objects and static imagery. Now things can rotate, move, expand, contract.

Museum Concept #3- formal explorations

2011-04-22T00:32:00.000-07:00

Mag layouts round 3

2011-04-21T23:24:00.000-07:00

last iterations before moving into the ipad. This round I was focused on making more breathing room in the spreads. The last concepts were very dense and sort of a head ache to look at. There are still little things I need to resolve but I feel like Im headed in good directions. There seems to be more cohesion in this round than the previous. Moving into the ipad I plan on keeping the breathing room in mind. Hopefully ill jump into the ipad with more formal resolution, transfering the information set in print into new media, i.e. interactive ipad apps.

magazine layouts round 2

2011-04-21T23:11:00.000-07:00

Taking the opener page and moving it into a full article spread. Implementing the ideas found in the opener page selected into the other seven pages. Utilizing the gatefold?

magazine layouts round 1

2011-04-21T23:07:00.000-07:00

So we are taking the information graphics and cultural focus from visual communication 2 and making a six page magazine spread. The spreads should conceptually relate to the culture letting form follow the conceptual decisions. My article is about circus culture influencing the pop culture of 1890s-1910s America. I set up a rigid 12 column grid and selected small elements to break the grid getting at the idea of something strange influencing a conservative nation.

Retail & Interaction

2011-04-18T07:38:00.000-07:00

Brainstorming about possible items in the gift shop and interactive exhibits within the museum exhibition.

-Penny Smasher ( 51 cents for a freaky penny!)
-Play swords
-Recreated vintage illustrated posters.
-Bearded Lady Dress up Photo booth
- Fortune teller booth like Zoltair
- Test your strength carny game
- Bed of nails
- Fake coals to walk on. (mildly warm just for fun?)
- Stuff a sword down a fake throat. Don't flinch. The slightest move can sound the buzzer "killing" the sword swallower ( based off of OPERATION)
-Striped contortionist unitards. Strong man leotard?
-Learn how to be a pincushion. (learn where to poke and how, then have at it with a ballistics gel figure)
-Crawl through a huge model of the sinus cavity. The part of the body that human block heads shove nails and screw drivers in. ( crawl space is targeted toward, but not exclusively for children.)
- Download-able App called Freakomatic? Freakstagram? Instafreak? sideshow photography? anyways itd be a simple iphone app that allows individuals to take pictures of individuals and have them converted into a bearded lady, elephant man, boil face, pinhead, etc. (think about the fat app to visualize this)
- the elastic man/ contortionist. Body parts will be casted in elastic type rubber material and mounted to the wall available for twisting, turning, stretching, and molding.

Project 5 Inspiration

2011-04-15T05:44:00.000-07:00

I looking to these for inspiration on how to juxtapose images that have separate meanings together to create a new, powerful message.

Possible concepts for Exhibit

2011-04-12T08:46:00.000-07:00

1. Objective look behind the scenes
title- Conundrums
description- A look at the genetics of born freaks as well as explaining the science behind the fantasy of made freaks. Solving the mysteries of the show.
2. Family, togetherness, and loyalty
title- carny kinfolk
description- An exhibition of the family life in the culture. showing famous couples of the freak show.

3. Looking at freaks' lives after the shows are banned
title- The show must go on
description- Some freaks were able to twist their careers into something acceptable by human right activists while others were just out of a job.

Ipad contextual shots

2011-04-08T08:18:00.000-07:00

Ipad Book Covers

2011-04-08T08:11:00.000-07:00

final neville brody poster

2011-04-06T18:07:00.000-07:00

infographics: meeting objectives

2011-04-06T05:57:00.000-07:00

Info-graphics revolve around information. The core of an interesting information graphic is interesting information. Seems obvious and easy but its actually quite difficult. A lot of research was required before aesthetics could even be considered. I struggled with the research a bit towards the beginning. I searched high and low for good information but the cultural time period is talked about so vaguely and generalized so much that quantitative information often was non apparent. It was suggested that I start looking at qualitative information and trying to visualize that before jumping into numbers that did not exist. Needless to say, after a long journey I finally found the information I needed. As far as visualizing the information goes, I considered a lot of variables. The info graphics shown above have evolved formally and conceptually a great deal since the beginning. It was hard to find the balance between aesthetically pleasing decisions and informatively confusing decisions. The best thing I could do was keep it simple until the information was visualized as clear as possible to me while considering the minds of others. Then I emphasized hierarchy through color and type scale and weight. The aesthetic decisions made in color palette and typefaces were made to reinforce my culture without being overly obvious or cliche. For instance using rosewood, or some crazy intricate decorative typeface would be directly pulled from a sign of the time or from the convention and stereotypical "look" of freak show typography. Rather I wanted to reference the time period and wonky nature of a carnival/ freak show while adding a bit of my contemporary aesthetic. Thats where the combination of a condensed sans serif comes in. The condensed sans serif in combination with the rounded type and the heavy slab keeps the typography visually interesting while conceptually getting at my culture.

Infographics: aesthetics round 1

2011-03-28T13:44:00.000-07:00

Book Cover Sketches

2011-03-28T12:09:00.000-07:00

series 1

series 2

series 3

series 4

series 5

mapping ideas

1st concept, revised

second concept, revised

Flannery O'Conner short stories. The covers will eventually be designed as iPad & e-reader cover pages for the books. They are based on three stories. Good Country People, the Life You Save May Be Your Own, and A Good Man is hard to find. Through out the series of short stories there are underlying themes of religion, deceit, and Hypocrisy. Playing off of those ideas I am focusing my covers on dualities. some are more ironic than others but the concept is based on the ideas of things not always being what they seem. Theres a selfish christian, a loner that rejects redemption, and a scholar that is robbed.

FIND + SHARE

2011-03-28T08:11:00.000-07:00

I find this info graphic interesting on numerous levels. First off the color palette caught my eye. Muted earthy tones have a special spot in my design heart. The typography is working quite well also. The way the header is set pleases my eye. The variation within that set block of type is engaging. This is because of the contrast used in the type. The extreme shifts in scale and weight allow the composition to leave the static realm. The shift in scale with the icons is nice as well. The combination of the illustrated ships and abstracted oil drop is communicating great.

Reading + Find&share

2011-03-28T05:54:00.000-07:00

The reading in Graphic Design the New Basics, Info graphics are described as diagrams. Diagrams are graphic representations of a structure, situation, or process. This relates to our lecture about spacial, temporal, and quantitative information graphics. Visual relationships/Graphic marks take on meaning when paired with numbers, scale, connections. For instance, the splooshy mark on the infograph above doesnt really mean anything. But once it is paired with the numerical information, a title, and scaled according to the data, the splooshy mark makes sense and we can draw the relationship between the elements, realizing that the mark is an oil droplet. This all seems so obvious and rudimentary until information graphics is a task you, the individual, has to take on. I myself struggled while working through ideas. Visualizing data in a way that makes sense to a mass of people and not just in your head is a hard concept to grasp at first. I think its about starting simple. Nothing extraneous. Design and form should derive from concept and data. Tufte refers to all the fluff in a diagram as "chart junk." Whats the old saying . . . without concept (data) design is decoration? something like that. Heibert has 6 steps of graphical integrity that really helped me work through some infographic skeleton frames. Proportional correspondence, data-ink proportionality, clear labeling, contextual relevance, device relevance, and shape relevance.

Progress on Infographics

2011-03-27T12:20:00.000-07:00

screen grabs of the current stages of some info graphics before crit.

2011-03-26T19:50:00.000-07:00

So after critiquing with Tyler Galloway, some things were brought to mind. We discussed the idea of the assignment and where to move forward. The first three images are the latter part of my poster itterations. The Fourth image is a new poster concept stepping in the direction I want to push the Posters. Tyler said, "remember, this is supposed to pay homage to your artist. You do Neville well, but where does Ivan Alonso meet Neville Brody" I am on a search to find that happy medium. For this I am spending more time with his album artwork for inspiration. (images 5&6)

Poster iterations:

2011-03-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

Infographic Skeletons

2011-03-23T12:10:00.000-07:00

Moving forward from the Sketches into skeletons. After re-evaluating my research and data, I have changed up some of the sketches and info graph concepts. I was really stuck on quantitative thought and forgot about qualitative spacial and temporal compositions. The sketches just were not working on monday. I think they are starting to get somewhere conceptually. Next step . . . AESTHETICS!

infographic sketches

2011-03-21T05:53:00.000-07:00

1. sketch one is mapping out where various freak shows originated before they started traveling. The icon used would be the strongman icon.

2. sketch two is showing the most visited cities by freakshows and the different travel patterns in one "show season"

3. sketch three is a timeline of the evolution of the sideshow and how it came to be over time.

4. sketch four shows the rate of survival in Siamese twins

5. sketch five is graphing the ratio of 1 to 100,000.

6. Types of conjoined twins

7. numbers of swords swallowed at one time by a single performer

8. the rate of survival in siamese twins

9. Performance time. performers go on every 20 minutes. two times an hour. 32 times a day. these are averages.

sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ventriloquism

http://www.nfa.dept.shef.ac.uk/history/shows/freaks.html

http://www.sideshowworld.com/13-TGOD/ths-tgod.html

http://www.circusinamerica.org/public/transportation_modes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conjoined_twins

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freak_show

http://books.google.com/books?id=hr-9GRxJfPEC&pg=PA51&lpg=PA51&dq=freak+shows+in+1901&source=bl&ots=N3TGBgX9Yw&sig=sQpsCMqsJhPQNkGmOlpYvMveatk&hl=en&ei=ISaETZmjJYaUtwfbg4jdBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=freak%20shows%20in%201901&f=false

http://www.lastamericanfreakshow.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sideshow

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conjoined_twins

http://www.swordswallow.com/records.php

http://www.swordswallow.com/halloffame.php

http://www.circusinamerica.org/public/structures

Type Explorations Part Two

2011-03-12T19:36:00.000-08:00

more type explorations before moving into the poster phase. These are a few of the excercises that I found successful. The full exploration was 25 different compositions using various alignment axis. Next step is pushing style and adding images of Vanderslice Hall.

Screen Shot Crit

2011-03-11T05:53:00.000-08:00

website to house the 7 deadly sins photos

Type Explorations

2011-03-09T12:28:00.000-08:00

quick typography experimentation.
1. using leading
2. using indentions
3. using weights
4. using scale
5. using direction
6. free for all. using all of the above

Icons Final Post

2011-03-09T05:49:00.000-08:00

During the process of producing these icons there have been big decisions to make that would inform the icons conceptually. There were three things that needed to be kept in mind while making formal decisions. Legibility, Cohesion, and Culture. I constantly asked myself during the process, "what does this formal decision do for me?" "why does this make sense with my culture?" "how does this reflect my culture?" "can a stranger tell what my culture is without context? with context?" "Is there a level of repetition with variation to create cohesion?"

-Legebility-
To achieve legibility I tried to step back from the work as much as possible and ask studio mates and strangers if they could read the image. Some formal decisions that enhanced the readability were things like the figures being in a larger frame. The icons are based on a principle of complex figure ground relationships. By having larger ground or background framing the figures, there was more contrast, which improved the legibility. Often when the figures were not seen from a straight on view, they became too abstract and obscure. I went through many poses for each performer, trying to find an interesting front view that had a subtle hint towards depth or a 3/4 view. Through out the icons the general rule (with one exception) was to have the clothes bleed into the background color and emphasize the exposed body parts and accessories. The exception to this was the ventriloquist. because there were two figures in the frame it was hard to fully commit to the rule. In order to keep the legibility I left the ventriloquists suit white and the dummy's suit knocked out. As obvious as a decision it may seems, it was a hard decision to commit to.

-Culture-
Reinforcing the culture. Where to start. First off I set up a rule of organic form making. There was a very loose rendering method in the analog stage and an even more liberal method in the digital stage. There have been many words used to describe the icons aesthetic. Words such as wavy, wobbly, wonky, and blurry. I like to refer to the aesthetic as one of a "fun house mirror" effect. I tried as hard as possible to stay away from straight harsh lines where they weren't absolutely necessary. The barbell and the table have the harshest straight lines from a distance. The wobbly nature of the icon set has a feeling of oddity and freakshow-ness. The off kilter frames reinforce the idea of oddity as well. The freak show was also a time for showcase, excitement, and suspense. The angle at which the icons are drawn get at the idea of showcase. they are all set in the act of performing. The frame subtly changing each time creates excitement, visual interest, and rhythm throughout the set.

-Cohesion-
Each icon has a unique frame that is based upon the same shape and size. Each figure occupies about the same amount of space physically and visually. Each icon follows the rule of complex figure ground where the certain elements bleed into the background. Each icon breaks the frame at the bottom with either their feet or the feet of the table. Each one is equally rendered with the same amount of looseness.

Icon Evolution

2011-03-09T04:20:00.000-08:00

The full evolution of the Siamese Twin. It started with a drawing from a photograph xeroxed at a high contrast. Then to an appropriation of the image on tracing paper. Then it was scanned in and tweaked digitally in the last five iterations.

Freak Show Icons: color palettes

2011-03-07T05:51:00.000-08:00

7 Deadly Sins: phase 1

2011-03-04T20:53:00.000-08:00

the direction I want to take these is similar to the first photograph. The figures should be in more natrualistic or plausible poses. they feel like they are modeling objects instead of possessing them

Evolution of an icon

2011-03-02T05:56:00.000-08:00

only the major steps are shown in this evolution set. This is the general amount of progress through out my icon set growth. Some icons evolved more and changed completely while others barely changed at all. The two extremes in evolution would be the fortune teller and the strongman. The fortune teller has evolved tons. Iteration after iteration. The strongman has basically stayed the same since the beginning and was infact the key, or template, used to make the other icons. The simese twin was chosen as the example for evolution simply because it was the average amount of progression. Most of the icons took about 5 major steps in form and concept.

Final Icon Set

2011-03-02T05:29:00.000-08:00

The final icon set has a few adjustments from last critique. I swapped out some compositions and did a lot of formal refinement to the set as a whole. To increase continuity and cohesion, the frames were all based off of one shape. Although they are based around the template I set, each has slight variation making each frame unique. All of the icons are now full body shots. They employ the same principles as the previous set. Principles such as breaking the frame at least once (usually with the feet), rounded edges, and the fun-house mirror aesthetic. The combination of these allowed me to capture a feeling of oddity, showcase, and drama. All of the formal decisions were informed conceptually to strengthen the group as a whole. For insight into process, I started out analog with a sharpee and tracing paper. They were then scanned, edited in photoshop (levels, gaussian blurr, and contrast), then traced and tweeked in illustrator with the pen tool.

Framing the Campaign: Final Stages

2011-03-01T23:39:00.000-08:00

Concept:

Graphic design has been a vessel for change in our culture. It has allowed individuals to make statements that stimulate reformation. Design is about making a difference.

Campaign:

The campaign consist of three billboards, three bus-wraps, and one interstitial. In the billboards I set up the rules for the visual campaign. Things like marrying up the KCPT logo and the web address in the shape repeated throughout the campaign. The shape I am referring to was once a band or rectangle. It is now an off kilter polygon that creates tension between the letterforms and the box. The tension created reinforces the idea of change in my concept. The careful juxtaposition of the clean uniform sans serif and the sharp strange shape gets at the idea of change and difference as well. The shape is carried out through all the interfaces in the campaign, giving the campaign the sturdy repetition it needed.

process shots

2011-03-01T05:29:00.000-08:00

Design campaign

2011-02-27T22:47:00.000-08:00

2011-02-27T22:41:00.000-08:00

vintriloquist


strongman


swordswallower


snake lady


simese twins

pincushion

fortune teller

contortionist


bearded lady

This is the second icon set converted to digital. The rule set was to break the frame at least once, preferably twice, complex figure/ground, and an off-kilter frame. The idea behind these was to maintain a feeling of oddity in every formal decision. Examples: the frame isn't a perfect square or rectangle like one would expect. Every corner is rounded and straight jagged lines were avoided. Because each figure is so loose and "wonky" there is a "fun house mirror" look to all of the icons. This formal decision applied across the board has given the icons a feeling of weirdness and freakishness that is different from the first set's feeling of fear and drama. I think that conceptually these icons are working and heading in a good direction. Formally I don't think they are completely resolved. I think there might be some room for changes depending on critique. They are communicating better than before but might still be iffy. I'm not sure if everyone can recognize them because they know my culture or if it is because I have achieved the level of communication necessary. We will see. More to come later.

digital icons. set 1

2011-02-27T22:26:00.000-08:00

bearded lady

contortionist 1

contortionist 2

gypsy

pincushion


conjoined twins

snake lady

strongman

sword swallower

This is the first icon set option. The principles I set for myself were geometric, sharp angles, fragmentation, and a fill. The idea was that the jagged lines would and abstracted body would create a feeling of oddity and creepiness. The poses used were chosen to give the set suspense and drama. There were comments made about the icon set having contemporary connotations that would weaken my concept. After careful examination and consideration, the second set of icons made more sense conceptually and formally. Therefore I decided to move forward with the second set.

Buswrap Revisions

2011-02-19T23:32:00.000-08:00

The buses in last iteration were kind of static and the full band started to flatten the space awkwardly. To enhance visual interest and the idea of change, I broke the full band on one side of the buswraps. Im also playing more with the placement of information. The buses are still too inconsistant.

3 campaign proposals

2011-02-18T23:02:00.000-08:00

As of now each campaign approach consists of three billboards and three bus wraps. In this step we revised our billboards and applied the same information on a new canvas, the bus. What makes a campaign successful is having repetition with variation. Also there must be rules set to add a level of cohesion, which is where the repetition is inherent, but by shifting the media on a new canvas, variation is created. As for my campaigns, they are lacking the level of cohesion that they need to become solid. Sure, there are aspects that run from the billboards to the buses through the aesthetic, type as image choice, and color scheme but they are lacking. I need to find a way to transfer the information onto the buses as a new composition rather than focusing on making the buses look like the billboards.

wright brothers poster

2011-02-18T05:51:00.000-08:00

some big changes were made to my original idea. Entering the assignment I was focused on portraying parts of the wright brothers life that people usually don't know and taking those concepts and communicating them through abstracted symbols and indexes. There were two major issues, 1- the image was too static and 2- didn't communicate "wright brothers." In the new direction I was focused on drama, excitement, motion, cleanliness, and classiness. The warm color palette is supposed to evoke emotions of warmth and hero-ship. The curve of the signature and the wave of the banner is a reference to wind, lift, and movement. The sand is indexical of kitty hawk sand dunes. Capturing the model glider in motion shows speed and motion. The glider is moving through space faster than normal hinting at how after the first successful plane everything in the aeronautics industry boomed. The signature is the signature that all business expenses were signed with. The signature being torn around the edges is a symbol of the struggle after the plane was made. It took them a long time to get their patent and although they were credited by many, they were also discredited and had their models ripped off by a lot of people. They spend most of their lives in and out of lawsuits fighting for their rights to the plane models until Orville retired and sold the company.

billboard proposals

2011-02-17T22:15:00.000-08:00

first round billboards for the campaign concept. Five different approaches. The concept of the campaign is design making a difference in society. I tried to get at the idea of change in each of these explorations. Each billboard uses a type as image composition that conceptually relates to the quotes.

Final Kit of Parts

2011-02-15T23:11:00.000-08:00

ANOMALY

DIRECTION

SPACE

CONCENTRATION

GRADATION

REPETITION

TEXTURE

After critique and revisions, these are the final type as image compositions that will be applied to my campaign.

Analog Typography Process Shots

2011-02-14T15:09:00.000-08:00

Type as Image: Analog Experiments

2011-02-11T23:04:00.000-08:00

concentration

direction

gradation

repetition

space

texture

anomaly

Experimental Typography: Digital Iterations

2011-02-10T13:11:00.000-08:00

TOP to BOTTOM

Anomaly, Concentration, Direction, Gradation, Repetition, Space, Texture

Final Saddle Stitch Book: Welcome to the Freak Show

2011-02-09T05:31:00.000-08:00

Freak Shows, also known as sideshows, lasted from about 1850 to the early 1970’s. These were exhibitions of human oddities and exotic performances. The part of the culture that I am focusing on takes place in the early 1900s to 1940s and consisted of the iconic “Freak Show” acts. The displays usually consisted of ten acts and were referred to as ten-in-ones. Ten shows for the price of one admission. Freak shows are broken into two basic categories; the made freaks and born freaks. Born freaks have human deformities. These are acts such as conjoined twins, giants, midgets, and the bearded lady. Made freaks are physically altered individuals. A subset falls under this and consists of strange performances, usually used as filler entertainment. Made freaks would be heavily tattooed, pierced, or would to acts like sword swallowing, fire breathing, or snake charming. As mini attractions, people like fortunetellers, ventriloquists, or magicians often traveled with the sideshow.

Due to the many changes that took place in popular culture and entertainment in the late 60’s, the way freak shows were viewed took a dive. It became taboo and as a whole, Freaks were transformed into objects of sympathy rather than fear or excitement. No longer did society find it kosher to make a spectacle of deformity, oddity, and genetic mutation.

Snake lady- usually an attractive quirky woman that charmed pythons and boas while dancing.

Contortionist- the “elastic” human. They bend their bodies into odd positions.

Bearded Lady- a spectacle of a female with a beard.

Ventriloquist- an act of dark comedy

Sword swallower- well just that. They swallowed up to ten swords at a time

Strongman- usually lifted odd things like barrel kegs, humans, cannons, or more conventional things like large barbells.

Conjoined twins- a display of human deformity

Human pincushion- a heavily pierced person usually with large needles or nails in odd areas of the body

Fortuneteller- usually a gypsy woman that traveled with the show reading palms or looking into crystal balls to see the future

I carefully chose the artifacts in the layouts to display a wide array of acts that would be seen during the time period but also that are iconic of the culture. I chose the acts that people would recognize and identify with immediately. The idea was to show all three sides of the show. The human deformity, physical alteration, and unconventional entertainment. There are nine spreads exhibiting the bearded lady, contortionist, conjoined twins, ventriloquist, fortuneteller, sword swallower, pincushion, snake lady, and strongman. Formally a few guidelines I set up for my spreads were 1) full bleed images and 2) thirds. Each layout consists of two large images that each take up 1/3 and the last compartment is usually divided into three or four smaller images. I feel like the last third makes for nice asymmetry and adds a sense of oddity to the book. It was also an important concideration to make the book cohesive with a unified color pallet that popped but stayed true to the aged imagery. After doing this, knowing where to refine my cover was made obvious. The greens, blacks, cool greys, tans and warm orange-reds were all taken from the spreads and added to my cover. The final cover was composed of an interplay between analog and digital methods of construction.

Freak Show Booklet Progress: mock up layouts and cover iterations

2011-02-06T22:57:00.000-08:00

I feel like I have made some serious progress from the initial iterations to the "final" mockup. The cover has been through a lot of full color iterations to get to the darker, dulled down, sepia toned cover seen in the post. There was discussion about the theme being broken from cover to layouts because of the color palette. It was decided that continuity needed to be changed either in the layout color palette or the cover color palette. Since the photos are all trying to stay true to the vintage feel of the old sideshows, I made the decision to change the colors of the cover. The process consisted of many sketches and hand done typography in the style of old hand painted signs. There was interplay from analogue to digital and back again. The layouts have two basic rules. 1. splitting the spread into three main compartments. 2. photos must be sepia or black and white and consist of a aged feel. Rule one has been bent in layouts like the snake lady and conjoined twins. The spread stays true to the three sections and just splits one third in half. After analyzing the book as a whole, there were a few things I felt needed to be changed. Originally there was a spread that had an artifact called, pickled punks. After considering concept and theme more and more I figured that both due to continuity and lack of imagery, pickled punks need to be scratched. I went to my tenth artifact, the ventriloquist. I think in the long run I can benefit from the change. Also a few photos have been swapped out because of low resolution. The transfer from screen to paper is always an interesting one.

Making the Invisible Visible

2011-02-06T22:33:00.000-08:00

The article Making the Invisible Visible, is driving home the idea of having an idea. Designing is more than aesthetics. A good designer has a concept in mind while he or she is designing. The reading states that concept comes from a theme; something that is iterated over and over again in a company's mission statement. I thought the way that this particular firm goes about gathering information was smart and effective. Organizing words during a meeting into different divisions of a three ring target makes sense. As far as application toward the current project, keeping a concept and theme in mind all the time is necessary. Considering everything and making sure it relates to the theme and concept is going to be key in making some brilliant work this semester. KCAI is where concept meets form.

Project 1- Quotes

2011-02-03T20:49:00.000-08:00

some photos documenting the process for the type project. More words to come after Critique

Wright Brothers

2011-02-03T18:51:00.000-08:00

P R O J E C T 2 the constructed image

Wilbur Wright was born on April 16, 1867. Orville Wright was born on august 19, 1871. The Wright Brothers are generally credited with inventing and flying the first airplane. Although they were not the first to make a flying machine or glider, they were the first to successfully construct and operate a powered airplane carrying a human body.

The Wright brothers gained their knowledge of mechanics while running the Wright Bicycle Exchange, a bike shop they opened in 1892. The manufacturing of their own brand had begun by 1896. By 1898 the brothers had started research on aeronautical engineering.

1900 marked the first flight of their large scale glider operated by Wilbur.
1901 was a year for revision on the first glider. They dove heavily into aerodynamics, running tests with home-made wind tunnels.
1902 was the transitional year of successful glider runs while improving on the previous models

1903 is the main event. The first powered airplane operated by Orville Wright lifted off in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The flight lasted a short 12 seconds and went a humble 120 ft. The next two flights that day were that of Wilbur. The flights were recorded at 175 ft and 200 ft. The altitude was a shy 10 ft.
Soon after, the brothers were contracted by the US Army and the French Syndicate.

Wilbur died in 1912 at the age 45, leaving the company to Orville Wright. Wright Company Inc. was soon sold in 1915. Orville went on to work with NACA and NASA. It was said Orville retired to a mansion where he passed in 1948 at the age of 76

Pleased to Meet You: image making project 1

2011-02-02T18:54:00.000-08:00

icon

symbol

index