Visual Arts Computing Compu ting Cooper Belle
Snippets Overall, I enjoyed my snippet project. I never thought about putting everyday phrases into art even though these snippets have had a huge impact on my own ethical beliefs and emotions. My first sketch was the blurred bible. One morning in church, I overheard a conversation between two men which discussed controversial religious opinions that I will not go into detail about, but it was one I deeply related to. One of the men concluded the conversation with the phrase “the bible is pretty clear about that,” which made me think, the bible isn’t very clear about anything. I decided to blur the bible to show my confusion with the text, but a halo remained because it is supposed to be the word of God. My second sketch used the snippet “I see my reflection in your eyes” which is a song lyric from one of my favorite artists. I interpret the quote to represent the common and truthful saying that everyone is a reflection of yourself, so I made a mirror like design with the same picture of myself repeating, almost like a reflection. Finally, my last snippet was heard in an art museum, where I overheard someone ask if one of the exhibits was art. I was a little bit offended because of the disrespect toward the artist, but I realized that the point of the gallery was to see the exhibits and let them have an effect. Her effect, clearly, was negative, so I represented that by using bold red letters over an unfinished drawing as a commentary on how others view art.
My snippet project was a nice intro to this class. I was able to begin using the software that would be utilized for later projects, which definitely helped my art logistically throughout the semester.
Behind
Michael Bierut. Michael Bierut’s Q&A on being a graphic designer made me realize that drawing pretty pictures or throwing shapes together in Photoshop is not all the job entails. Graphic design requires the ability to communicate with clients who do not necessarily understand how design, or more simply art, can convey an emotion, move your eye, or describe something visually rather than with words. Beirut mentioned more than once that design is similar to writing. He explained on page 21 that :
“Designers tend to expect the rest of the world to be as visually sophisticated as they are, and they’re disappointed when they aren’t.” That quote made me have the epiphany that normally, our own bias/perspective can be misunderstood by those who do not have a matching perspective. Designers need to be able to connect with their clients through conversation without being an “enthusiastic salesman” as Beirut described. Writing and design go hand in hand, connecting those with artistic background to those without.
Stefan Sagmeister
Mr. Sagmeister takes year long breaks every seven years in order to “fight routine and boredom,” which made me wonder how often he pursues new projects. Is it every 7 years? If he only works on one project for those seven years, its no wonder he needs a year long break. I would prefer to have a month long break every year rather than a year long break every seven.
Sagmeister’s studio runs very smoothly. Each job, he said, is,
“Owned by an individual” and the other designers just “chip in.” Sagmeister trusts the designers he has hired to create an idea and then allow all other creative minds to make revisions or add suggestions. Any effort to perfect a project and broaden creativity is welcomed by Sagmeister. Stefan Sagmeister is both carefree and meticulous; He constantly pursues new and outlandish ideas but executes them with high attention to detail. His work includes branding, graphics, and packaging for clients as diverse as the Rolling Stones, HBO, the Guggenheim Museum and Time Warner.
Great Ideas: The Process Creating this poster has been one of my favorite digital projects I have ever made. I was inspired by Stephen Rhodes, who does 70’s style ads, book covers, gameboard covers, etc. and puts them on merchandise like t shirts. Included in this post, is not created by Rhodes, but is a screenshot of a book cover (which, to my knowledge, is not an actual book) that I took my main inspiration from. I drew a skull similar to the one used on the book cover in order to fit the Plutarch quote:
“The mind is not a vessel that needs filling, but wood that needs igniting — no more — and then it motivates one towards originality and instills the desire for truth.”
I positioned the match in the center of the poster to look as if it were falling/about to fall onto the logs, therefore “igniting” the mind. A lot of the project involved rearranging the elements of the poster around until they felt balanced. I had a lot of fun researching Rhodes’s work in order to capture the 70’s look I was going for.
In most cases, we don’t even question what the logo means independently of the party it represents. Why is the most popular computer company in the world represented by either a window or an apple? Or why do a check marks and a few stripes represent the most popular sports brands worldwide? Marks and logos influence our opinions and emotions every day without being noticed. Draplin showed the process of designing logos from beginning to end.
Logos and Marks
I have never considered how a logo/mark can be used to not only represent a company, but also a group of people or an idea. It is interesting to acknowledge that logos change depending on what they represent. Mark Fox discussed bad logos and what they represent. Who knew swastikas could go from a good luck charm to one of the most evil marks ever created, simply because of who it represented. Something as simple as a smiley face could be adopted by anyone, who’s reputation would change the way we feel about the logo even if the mark itself does not change.
The Logo Project This project was the most challenging assignment we have completed so far. I played with a ton of designs and ideas for both logos, but the logo for Juno from Beetlejuice was the most difficult to perfect.
From the very first draft, the “J” I sketched for Juno’s logo was one element I consistently wanted to keep from beginning to end. While I tweaked the lettering for both Juno and Mrs Trunchbull many times, the ending Juno logo looks very similar to the first sketch I designed for the project. Some of Juno’s key features are the slit in her throat, smoke, and cigarettes, so that drove my inspiration for most of the project.
Ms. Trunchbull’s logo was more difficult in the beginning, but it smoothed out nicely as it progressed. It took a while to determine how to signify her ominous, large figure through a mark. Eventually, I decided to make the logo represent Mrs Trunchbull in the most literal sense, using an outline of her stocky figure. Once I knew that I wanted to make a blocky version of Ms. Trunchbull’s silhouette, I experimented with gestalt concepts and tweaked it multiple times, both on paper and in Illustrator. It was necessary to make the logo and typeography as harsh and crisp as possible to exemplify her strict, aggressive demeanor.
SYNTAX AND SEMANTICS The syntax project was the least detailed project above all others, making it the easiest. Choosing to use automobiles as my focus was an obvious choice not only because I love cars, but also because of the wide variety of cars to choose from and the symbolism they carry along.