* Good design is innovative
* Good design makes a product useful
* Good design is aesthetic
* Good design helps us to understand a product
* Good design is unobtrusive
* Good design is honest
* Good design is durable
* Good design is consequent to the last detail
* Good design is concerned with the environment
* Good design is as little design as possible
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
Welcome Back Blog!
My problem for Type class is the insecurity between Mexican citizens and their authorities due to the massive corruption problem.
After researching I found this website with some funny comics about these issues...
Mexican Comics
After researching I found this website with some funny comics about these issues...
Mexican Comics
Monday, April 27, 2009
Journal Entry: Larry Lessig
I always wondered if it was really legal or illegal to create something with someone else's resources. At times I would think it would be legal because you are RE-creating something but on the other hand you are using someone's art without their permission. Big debate that is still going on.
I really enjoyed Larry Lessig's talk about how the government is straining the design world by limiting our creativity. It made me reflect more on this prominent question and actually gave me more information from both sides of the spectrum. I believe his final statements summarize the entire talk well. His solution to this debate is that, "Artists and creaters choose that their work is available more freely." I agree with his suggestion because it helps get rid of the debate by having the artists choose if they want to make their work available to other artists/designers or to make them private for their use only. Similar to photos that are uploaded onto Flickr. You can choose to make them private or open for the world to see.
I really enjoyed Larry Lessig's talk about how the government is straining the design world by limiting our creativity. It made me reflect more on this prominent question and actually gave me more information from both sides of the spectrum. I believe his final statements summarize the entire talk well. His solution to this debate is that, "Artists and creaters choose that their work is available more freely." I agree with his suggestion because it helps get rid of the debate by having the artists choose if they want to make their work available to other artists/designers or to make them private for their use only. Similar to photos that are uploaded onto Flickr. You can choose to make them private or open for the world to see.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Droog Design
Why Droog?
I became interested in Droog Design because of the simplicity of the designs. I found that all of the designs are extreme explorations of normal everyday items. All of the shapes used are basic shapes taken to their extremes. For example the milk bottle lamp I chose for my object. It's an ordinary milk bottle however grouped together and added with a bulb you get an abstract lamp made out of normal everyday objects. Or the birdhouse: it's a normal rectangle bent in half with basic circle plate on the bottom. Normal shapes used to their full potential. These same things are what made me interested in not just the designers but the work in general.
Droog Design is also important because it marked a different outlook on design. Instead of the aesthetically appealing designs the world was creating, Droog Design took the work in another direction and introduced the world to work that wasn't so focused on the aesthetics but instead the social and communicative facets of the work. "Form doesn't interest me." Droog design was and is a major turning point for Dutch design.
History
Droog Design was established by Renny Rameakers and Gijs Bakker in 1993. The idea of the foundation was to promote contemporary designs, to be exact Dutch designs in Milan at the time. After some succees they decided to initiate new projects and experiments. From this idea came, Dry Tech I and II. These new designs were made with new air and space technology provided by Delft's University of Techinical Engineering. These new designs were a series of experiments that emphasized the treatment of materials, color, decorations and practical use. "The participating designers' conceptual appriach has resulted in a collection comprising a mix of unique aesthetics, simple series products and prototypes which are no more than an interim stage in the whole though and design process. This is the collections' strength rather than a weakness." (Droog Design 1991-1996: Ida van Zijl)
"Pointers to the future direction of design"
"Social & people friendly approach"
Droog Design relied more on instinct rather than rationality Droog = dry (in dutch) "Strong and clear like a good Martini" Most of the designs are dry like the name, simple and clean.
(Droog Design Spirit of the Nineties)
In 1991 Renny Ramakers noticed interesting new products by young Dutch designers and she felt it as a sign of the time and decided to bring some products of these designers together and to present it as a common mentality. She organized small exhibitions in The Netherlands and Belgium. Beginning 1993 she met Gijs Bakker, her present partner in droog. He was preparing a presentation of the same kind of products in Milan for the International Furniture Fair. So they decided to cooperate and droog was born. The presentation in Milan was immediately a big success. Reason for them to continue and set up a foundation. In the first years they did the work for droog in their private studios; after all it was restricted to the yearly presentation in Milan. From ’99 they started to work in a small office together with a secretary. By the time, the workload had increased enormously. In 1996 they started initiate experimental projects, beginning with Dry Tech which mean experimenting with high tech fibres. In 1997 Droog received the first commission of a company, i.e. the German porcelain manyfacturer Rosenthal. In 2000 droog became involved in the IM master course at the design Academy in Eindhoven. Since 2003 droog is leading this course. In 2003, the droog bv started, a separate company producing and distributing a number of the products in the droog collection. And in 2002 droog started a small gallery in Amsterdam. In 2004, droog moved to a bigger location – in a beautiful historical building – which gives space for an office, shop, exhibition space, reading room, and a kitchen in which design dinners can be prepared.
(www.droog.com)
Images
Text
Since 1993, when it was co-founded in Amsterdam by the product designer Gijs Bakker and design historian Renny Ramakers, DROOG has championed the careers of such designers as Hella Jongerius and Marcel Wanders, while defining a new approach to design by mixing materials and interacting with the user.
When Renny Ramakers showed a few pieces of furniture assembled by young Dutch designers from cheap industrial materials or found objects, like old dresser drawers and driftwood, at exhibitions in the Netherlands and Belgium in early 1992, she sold so little that she barely covered her costs.
Even so, the pieces - a bookcase made from strips of paper and triplex by the Jan Konings and Jurgen Bey; a driftwood cupboard designed by Piet Hein Eek and a chest of drawers constructed by Tejo Remy by tying half-a-dozen wooden drawers into a bundle with thick cord - attracted so much attention that Ramakers, then editor-in-chief of the design magazine Industrial Ontwerpen was convinced that she had discovered “a clear break from the past”, in other words, a genuinely new approach to design.
Hearing that Gijs Bakker, the product designer and professor at the Design Academy in Eindhoven, was planning to exhibit the work of his present and past students at the 1993 Milan Furniture Fair, she suggested that they collaborate on a joint show. “Before we started out Gijs and I agreed,” recalled Ramakers. “If we’ve made a mistake and they think it’s worth nothing we’ll shut up shop. If it catches on, we’ll keep going.”
The fourteen objects they showed in Milan ranged from Konings and Bey’s paper bookcase and Remy’s bundle of found wooden drawers, to Marcel Wanders’ Set Up Shades stack of ready-made lamps, Hella Jongerius’ bubbly polyurethane bath mat and a chandelier of light bulbs devised by Rody Graumans. They called the collection Droog Design after the Dutch word ‘droog’, which translates into English as ‘dry’ as in the dry wit, or wry, subtle sense of humour that characterized all the pieces they exhibited.
Droog Design did catch on. It was the hit of the 1993 Milan Furniture Fair. The French newspaper Libération suggested that the “unknowns” responsible for Droog should be given a medal for spiritual savoir vivre”. Many of the pieces unveiled in that first Droog exhibition - like Graumans’ 85 Bulbs Chandelier - are now regarded as iconic objects of the early 1990s. And many of the young designers featured in that show, such as Hella Jongerius and Marcel Wanders, have since emerged as pivotal figures in contemporary design.
Looking back it is easy to see why Droog made such a splash. By the early 1990s contemporary design had rebelled against the self-parodic cacophony of candy colored plastics and kitsch motifs of the mid-1980s Memphis movement by adopting a restrained, sometimes overly retentive minimalist aesthetic. As Renny Ramakers put it: “Design became much more sober.”
Droog was different. It shared the simplicity of minimalism and its careful choice of materials, but deployed humour – albeit a dry or ‘droog’ humour - to strike an emotional bond with the user. Rudy Graumans’ 85-bulb chandelier is an inspired example of lateral thinking in design, but it is impossible not to smile at the verve with which the designer transformed an everyday object like a standard light bulb into a spectacular chandelier. The stack of standard lampshades that Marcel Wanders turned into his Set Up Shades lamp and Tejo Remy’s bundle of battered old dresser drawers elicited the same response. “It is a comment on many things: on plenitude, over-consumption, the pretensions that beset the profession,” said Ramakers of Remy’s piece.
Cheered by the response to their Milan exhibition, Bakker and Ramakers established the Droog Design Foundation in the following January and struck an agreement with the Voorburg-based company DMD (alias Development Manufacturing and Distribution) to make and market its products, mostly as limited editions. Those products, according to Droog’s statutes, would be those which “in terms of quality and content fit with the image and way of thinking communicated by Droog Design: original ideas (and) clear concepts which have been shaped in a wry, no-nonsense manner”.
Droog staged a second show at the 1994 Milan Furniture Fair and began discussions with the Central Museum in Utrecht, which would eventually acquire and exhibit the entire collection until 1999. Bakker and Ramakers realized that the designers championed by Droog would have more impact if their work were shown collectively, than they would by exhibiting individually. “All those designs would never have become as well known if we had not shown them together,” observed Gijs Bakker.
Rather than simply select a collection of designs for the 1995 Milan Furniture Fair, the Droog duo decided to initiate new work by liaising with the Delft University to experiment with new materials on the Dry Tech I and II projects and later the Dry Bathing collection of bathroom products in collaboration with DMD. Droog then began work on its first collaborative project with a private sector partner in 1997 by developing a collection of ceramics with Rosenthal, the German porcelain manufacturer. One of these pieces was the white porcelain Sponge Vase modeled by Marcel Wanders on a natural sponge.
Bakker and Ramakers have since developed the Droog concept not by repeating and refining the original formula but by experimenting with new products, new designers and new industrial partners while adhering to the same principles. From creating visionary concepts for a New York Times millennium competition and designing a flagship store on rue Saint-Honoré in Paris for Mandarina Duck, the Italian luggage company, to devising the Dry Kitchen made from different variations on the same modular white ceramic tile, Droog has continued to reinvent its core principles on different scales and in different disciplines in industrial projects, books and exhibitions.
For the 2001 Milan Furniture Fair, it commissioned a group of young designers to dream up visionary ways of preconceiving the wooden cigar boxes made by Picus, a traditional Dutch box maker. The following year Droog commandeered a flophouse hotel in central Milan where another group of designers was each allocated a room and invited to create an intervention.
The core of Droog’s work is its collection of more than 120 products, which were either created by one of its group projects or commissioned from their designers by Bakker and Ramakers. “The criteria are flexible and shaped by developments in product culture and the designers’ own initiatives,” states Droog. “The only constant is that the concept has validity today; that it is worked out along clear-cut, compelling lines; and that product usability is a must. Within this framework literally anything goes.”
In 1991 Renny Ramakers noticed interesting new products by young Dutch designers and she felt it as a sign of the time and decided to bring some products of these designers together and to present it as a common mentality. She organized small exhibitions in The Netherlands and Belgium. Beginning 1993 she met Gijs Bakker, her present partner in droog. He was preparing a presentation of the same kind of products in Milan for the International Furniture Fair. So they decided to cooperate and droog was born. The presentation in Milan was immediately a big success. Reason for them to continue and set up a foundation. In the first years they did the work for droog in their private studios; after all it was restricted to the yearly presentation in Milan. From ’99 they started to work in a small office together with a secretary. By the time, the workload had increased enormously. In 1996 they started initiate experimental projects, beginning with Dry Tech which mean experimenting with high tech fibers. In 1997 Droog received the first commission of a company, i.e. the German porcelain manufacturer Rosenthal. In 2000 droog became involved in the IM master course at the design Academy in Eindhoven. Since 2003 droog is leading this course. In 2003, the droog bv started, a separate company producing and distributing a number of the products in the droog collection. And in 2002 droog started a small gallery in Amsterdam. In 2004, droog moved to a bigger location – in a beautiful historical building – which gives space for an office, shop, exhibition space, reading room, and a kitchen in which design dinners can be prepared.
The droog mentality could be summarized as ‘dry’ ‘Dry’ as in dry wit, unadorned informality, and ascetic irony. ‘Dry’ as that essentially Dutch inclination to ‘do normal’ and at the same time critically investigate what you are doing and the way you do it.
“Form does not interest me”
“Strong and clear like a good martini”
Droog Design has helped launch the careers of designers such as Marcel Wanders, Hella Jongerius, Tejo Remy, Richard Hutten and Jurgen Bey.
I became interested in Droog Design because of the simplicity of the designs. I found that all of the designs are extreme explorations of normal everyday items. All of the shapes used are basic shapes taken to their extremes. For example the milk bottle lamp I chose for my object. It's an ordinary milk bottle however grouped together and added with a bulb you get an abstract lamp made out of normal everyday objects. Or the birdhouse: it's a normal rectangle bent in half with basic circle plate on the bottom. Normal shapes used to their full potential. These same things are what made me interested in not just the designers but the work in general.
Droog Design is also important because it marked a different outlook on design. Instead of the aesthetically appealing designs the world was creating, Droog Design took the work in another direction and introduced the world to work that wasn't so focused on the aesthetics but instead the social and communicative facets of the work. "Form doesn't interest me." Droog design was and is a major turning point for Dutch design.
History
Droog Design was established by Renny Rameakers and Gijs Bakker in 1993. The idea of the foundation was to promote contemporary designs, to be exact Dutch designs in Milan at the time. After some succees they decided to initiate new projects and experiments. From this idea came, Dry Tech I and II. These new designs were made with new air and space technology provided by Delft's University of Techinical Engineering. These new designs were a series of experiments that emphasized the treatment of materials, color, decorations and practical use. "The participating designers' conceptual appriach has resulted in a collection comprising a mix of unique aesthetics, simple series products and prototypes which are no more than an interim stage in the whole though and design process. This is the collections' strength rather than a weakness." (Droog Design 1991-1996: Ida van Zijl)
"Pointers to the future direction of design"
"Social & people friendly approach"
Droog Design relied more on instinct rather than rationality Droog = dry (in dutch) "Strong and clear like a good Martini" Most of the designs are dry like the name, simple and clean.
(Droog Design Spirit of the Nineties)
In 1991 Renny Ramakers noticed interesting new products by young Dutch designers and she felt it as a sign of the time and decided to bring some products of these designers together and to present it as a common mentality. She organized small exhibitions in The Netherlands and Belgium. Beginning 1993 she met Gijs Bakker, her present partner in droog. He was preparing a presentation of the same kind of products in Milan for the International Furniture Fair. So they decided to cooperate and droog was born. The presentation in Milan was immediately a big success. Reason for them to continue and set up a foundation. In the first years they did the work for droog in their private studios; after all it was restricted to the yearly presentation in Milan. From ’99 they started to work in a small office together with a secretary. By the time, the workload had increased enormously. In 1996 they started initiate experimental projects, beginning with Dry Tech which mean experimenting with high tech fibres. In 1997 Droog received the first commission of a company, i.e. the German porcelain manyfacturer Rosenthal. In 2000 droog became involved in the IM master course at the design Academy in Eindhoven. Since 2003 droog is leading this course. In 2003, the droog bv started, a separate company producing and distributing a number of the products in the droog collection. And in 2002 droog started a small gallery in Amsterdam. In 2004, droog moved to a bigger location – in a beautiful historical building – which gives space for an office, shop, exhibition space, reading room, and a kitchen in which design dinners can be prepared.
(www.droog.com)
Images
Text
Since 1993, when it was co-founded in Amsterdam by the product designer Gijs Bakker and design historian Renny Ramakers, DROOG has championed the careers of such designers as Hella Jongerius and Marcel Wanders, while defining a new approach to design by mixing materials and interacting with the user.
When Renny Ramakers showed a few pieces of furniture assembled by young Dutch designers from cheap industrial materials or found objects, like old dresser drawers and driftwood, at exhibitions in the Netherlands and Belgium in early 1992, she sold so little that she barely covered her costs.
Even so, the pieces - a bookcase made from strips of paper and triplex by the Jan Konings and Jurgen Bey; a driftwood cupboard designed by Piet Hein Eek and a chest of drawers constructed by Tejo Remy by tying half-a-dozen wooden drawers into a bundle with thick cord - attracted so much attention that Ramakers, then editor-in-chief of the design magazine Industrial Ontwerpen was convinced that she had discovered “a clear break from the past”, in other words, a genuinely new approach to design.
Hearing that Gijs Bakker, the product designer and professor at the Design Academy in Eindhoven, was planning to exhibit the work of his present and past students at the 1993 Milan Furniture Fair, she suggested that they collaborate on a joint show. “Before we started out Gijs and I agreed,” recalled Ramakers. “If we’ve made a mistake and they think it’s worth nothing we’ll shut up shop. If it catches on, we’ll keep going.”
The fourteen objects they showed in Milan ranged from Konings and Bey’s paper bookcase and Remy’s bundle of found wooden drawers, to Marcel Wanders’ Set Up Shades stack of ready-made lamps, Hella Jongerius’ bubbly polyurethane bath mat and a chandelier of light bulbs devised by Rody Graumans. They called the collection Droog Design after the Dutch word ‘droog’, which translates into English as ‘dry’ as in the dry wit, or wry, subtle sense of humour that characterized all the pieces they exhibited.
Droog Design did catch on. It was the hit of the 1993 Milan Furniture Fair. The French newspaper Libération suggested that the “unknowns” responsible for Droog should be given a medal for spiritual savoir vivre”. Many of the pieces unveiled in that first Droog exhibition - like Graumans’ 85 Bulbs Chandelier - are now regarded as iconic objects of the early 1990s. And many of the young designers featured in that show, such as Hella Jongerius and Marcel Wanders, have since emerged as pivotal figures in contemporary design.
Looking back it is easy to see why Droog made such a splash. By the early 1990s contemporary design had rebelled against the self-parodic cacophony of candy colored plastics and kitsch motifs of the mid-1980s Memphis movement by adopting a restrained, sometimes overly retentive minimalist aesthetic. As Renny Ramakers put it: “Design became much more sober.”
Droog was different. It shared the simplicity of minimalism and its careful choice of materials, but deployed humour – albeit a dry or ‘droog’ humour - to strike an emotional bond with the user. Rudy Graumans’ 85-bulb chandelier is an inspired example of lateral thinking in design, but it is impossible not to smile at the verve with which the designer transformed an everyday object like a standard light bulb into a spectacular chandelier. The stack of standard lampshades that Marcel Wanders turned into his Set Up Shades lamp and Tejo Remy’s bundle of battered old dresser drawers elicited the same response. “It is a comment on many things: on plenitude, over-consumption, the pretensions that beset the profession,” said Ramakers of Remy’s piece.
Cheered by the response to their Milan exhibition, Bakker and Ramakers established the Droog Design Foundation in the following January and struck an agreement with the Voorburg-based company DMD (alias Development Manufacturing and Distribution) to make and market its products, mostly as limited editions. Those products, according to Droog’s statutes, would be those which “in terms of quality and content fit with the image and way of thinking communicated by Droog Design: original ideas (and) clear concepts which have been shaped in a wry, no-nonsense manner”.
Droog staged a second show at the 1994 Milan Furniture Fair and began discussions with the Central Museum in Utrecht, which would eventually acquire and exhibit the entire collection until 1999. Bakker and Ramakers realized that the designers championed by Droog would have more impact if their work were shown collectively, than they would by exhibiting individually. “All those designs would never have become as well known if we had not shown them together,” observed Gijs Bakker.
Rather than simply select a collection of designs for the 1995 Milan Furniture Fair, the Droog duo decided to initiate new work by liaising with the Delft University to experiment with new materials on the Dry Tech I and II projects and later the Dry Bathing collection of bathroom products in collaboration with DMD. Droog then began work on its first collaborative project with a private sector partner in 1997 by developing a collection of ceramics with Rosenthal, the German porcelain manufacturer. One of these pieces was the white porcelain Sponge Vase modeled by Marcel Wanders on a natural sponge.
Bakker and Ramakers have since developed the Droog concept not by repeating and refining the original formula but by experimenting with new products, new designers and new industrial partners while adhering to the same principles. From creating visionary concepts for a New York Times millennium competition and designing a flagship store on rue Saint-Honoré in Paris for Mandarina Duck, the Italian luggage company, to devising the Dry Kitchen made from different variations on the same modular white ceramic tile, Droog has continued to reinvent its core principles on different scales and in different disciplines in industrial projects, books and exhibitions.
For the 2001 Milan Furniture Fair, it commissioned a group of young designers to dream up visionary ways of preconceiving the wooden cigar boxes made by Picus, a traditional Dutch box maker. The following year Droog commandeered a flophouse hotel in central Milan where another group of designers was each allocated a room and invited to create an intervention.
The core of Droog’s work is its collection of more than 120 products, which were either created by one of its group projects or commissioned from their designers by Bakker and Ramakers. “The criteria are flexible and shaped by developments in product culture and the designers’ own initiatives,” states Droog. “The only constant is that the concept has validity today; that it is worked out along clear-cut, compelling lines; and that product usability is a must. Within this framework literally anything goes.”
In 1991 Renny Ramakers noticed interesting new products by young Dutch designers and she felt it as a sign of the time and decided to bring some products of these designers together and to present it as a common mentality. She organized small exhibitions in The Netherlands and Belgium. Beginning 1993 she met Gijs Bakker, her present partner in droog. He was preparing a presentation of the same kind of products in Milan for the International Furniture Fair. So they decided to cooperate and droog was born. The presentation in Milan was immediately a big success. Reason for them to continue and set up a foundation. In the first years they did the work for droog in their private studios; after all it was restricted to the yearly presentation in Milan. From ’99 they started to work in a small office together with a secretary. By the time, the workload had increased enormously. In 1996 they started initiate experimental projects, beginning with Dry Tech which mean experimenting with high tech fibers. In 1997 Droog received the first commission of a company, i.e. the German porcelain manufacturer Rosenthal. In 2000 droog became involved in the IM master course at the design Academy in Eindhoven. Since 2003 droog is leading this course. In 2003, the droog bv started, a separate company producing and distributing a number of the products in the droog collection. And in 2002 droog started a small gallery in Amsterdam. In 2004, droog moved to a bigger location – in a beautiful historical building – which gives space for an office, shop, exhibition space, reading room, and a kitchen in which design dinners can be prepared.
The droog mentality could be summarized as ‘dry’ ‘Dry’ as in dry wit, unadorned informality, and ascetic irony. ‘Dry’ as that essentially Dutch inclination to ‘do normal’ and at the same time critically investigate what you are doing and the way you do it.
“Form does not interest me”
“Strong and clear like a good martini”
Droog Design has helped launch the careers of designers such as Marcel Wanders, Hella Jongerius, Tejo Remy, Richard Hutten and Jurgen Bey.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Journal Entry: Debbie Millman
Debbie Millman is a designer who has devoted most of her life to design. She has worked with Sterling Brands and designed many things that probable have been purchased in everyday purchases. In addition to this, she is a writer and has enjoyed working with Print magazine to write some articles. She is also in the process of writing and publishing two books: How to Think Like a Great Graphic Designer and Principles of Graphic Design. She teaches at the School of Visual Arts and Fashion Institute of Technology, gives lectures around the US as a board member of AIGA and also hosts an internet talk show: Design Matters.
Design Matters is an internet talk radio show that talks about issues about graphic design. It is very opinionated and provocative and is listened by over 150,000 people.
Interviews are scratchy...gross...
Debbie Millman seems really bold. The interview with Trollback was similar to the TED lecture I listened to at the beginning of the semester. Because they went over the same things he mentioned during his lecture, he was self-taught, a dj, he begain designing by getting books from designers and imitating their work. Debbie seemed really impressed by him and how he was self-taught. I mean I would be impressed too if I saw anyone who was succeessful at something being only self-taught.
Design Matters is an internet talk radio show that talks about issues about graphic design. It is very opinionated and provocative and is listened by over 150,000 people.
Interviews are scratchy...gross...
Debbie Millman seems really bold. The interview with Trollback was similar to the TED lecture I listened to at the beginning of the semester. Because they went over the same things he mentioned during his lecture, he was self-taught, a dj, he begain designing by getting books from designers and imitating their work. Debbie seemed really impressed by him and how he was self-taught. I mean I would be impressed too if I saw anyone who was succeessful at something being only self-taught.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Journal #7: DesignObserver
Type Means Never Having to Say You’re Sorry
As much as history is the past it is the present just as much. I mean we learn from our history and evolve from that. And not only in the history of the United States we learned all through school but in everything ranging from our own history of mistakes to the history of typography. Each new typeface that evolves is influenced by the one before it. Just as Jessica stated in the article, history of design and type is very much needed to learned as you grow into a designer. Just as we learned the history of our country throughout our academics, the foundation of design needs to be instilled into our heads as designers. I think it helps us grow into a stronger designer and helps us think of new ways of designing because we are able to look into the past to see mistakes and influences that will make our new design even better than the next. As far as the researching portion towards the beginning of the article, I would also be embarrassed if someone were to ask me especially during a portfolio review why I chose a certain type or color or book without even having a strong research to back it up. I agree with certain things like picking something because “I liked it.” There are times were I just feel like picking this certain font or style because I feel a connection between the expression in the letters and in the content of what I’m designing but not knowing the content of what I’m designing is something I will never want to do. Take for example the bookcover project. I picked a book that I loved and knew about to redesign but I also read about and started reading the two other books of the series I chose. I knew I wouldn’t be able to have a strong design idea without reading a little into the book I was redesigning because I wouldn’t know the tone of the book or the feelings behind them.
Other fonts to use instead of Futura? --> there is the oh so popular Helvetica :) It keeps futura's emphasis on geometric shapes, not as extreme but still keeps the same idea. Plud I do really like that font anyways. Some other ones we could use: Gothica which is also geometric but with a twist I think, and Interstate although i'm not a huge fan of that type, maybe because I see it when im driving...
The Four Lessons of Lou Dorfsman
Lou Dorfsman 4 lessons are so right! Next to Bruce Mau’s commandments these are 4 other things to put on my list of things I NEED to keep in mind as a designer. But not only me but others as well! After reading this article I got pumped to just go and start designing…this plus studio tours definitely pumped me up!
Mind the clients business:
I know I may get jobs that I really don’t find as interesting as others but that doesn’t mean those aren’t as important. Any job as a designer is important because it is an example of what you are, how you work, your process, everything. If you don’t put effort into a project just because you don’t like it as much or don’t see it as important it will only make you look like a lazy designer, someone who doesn’t find a joy in everything they design. Someone who does things just to get it done not someone who explores and risks things. Just like Lou was put in charge of the CBS radio dept not the television dept (the more exciting area) he still treated the radio station just as much as anything else and came out with great results which therefore made him move into the television dept later in life.
Learn to identify opportunities
Don’t just sit around and wait for opportunities to come to you, GO OUT & LOOK! Opportunities are everywhere around us and most of us just sit around and do nothing as other designers take advantage of those chances in life. Lou always looked for opportunities to make new projects and therefore became more successful with his designs. If you see something and think to yourself, “Man, that’s bad design.” Instead of just saying it and going on with life DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. Re-design it.
Assume responsibility
As a designer you will have to stand up for many things you may feel strongly about throughout your life. Take responsibility and take action when you see something that needs to be done. Just like what I wrote above about doing something about it, take responsibility and do it! Especially for things you are associated with.
Define the company’s character
Instead of just working for your company or even just in class, do more. Don’t merely do what’s asked from you to get by do much more than that. EXPLORE! Put your personality in your projects. Do things to make the project more than what it is. Make it memorable, define what your company/project is about and work to make it more cohesive within itself but different from any other company/project from the pack. Do the extra to make things stand out. Think outside the box.
Ten Things that Need to be Redesigned
Hahaha, some of these things are funny but true.
Lottery Tickets are disturbingly gross…with too much color and text plus the cheesy factor.
The Hearse creeps me out and it is true, why can’t you ride in a pimped out car just because you’re dead. I mean true I wouldn’t want to ride in a pimped out car either but how about a classy and modern car?
Monopoly Money is unrealistic yes but to me its also just boring…nothing that grabs my attention. Plus I think last time I looked money was double sided…
Remote controls, definitely agree with Jessica. TOO MANY BUTTONS for everything! I know last time I was home I didn’t know what button to press to change the setting back to where it was when I accidentally changed it. Definitely not a good example of good design, Next thing I know well have buttons that that thing to control the microwave or even our cars.
Political Lawn Signs, same same and SAME
IRS forms, oh man those are confusing plus everything looks the same and doesn’t seem to be organized well, or put in a hierarchy
Those were just my favorite out of the bunch, but let’s take Lou’s 4 lessons into action and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! ☺
As much as history is the past it is the present just as much. I mean we learn from our history and evolve from that. And not only in the history of the United States we learned all through school but in everything ranging from our own history of mistakes to the history of typography. Each new typeface that evolves is influenced by the one before it. Just as Jessica stated in the article, history of design and type is very much needed to learned as you grow into a designer. Just as we learned the history of our country throughout our academics, the foundation of design needs to be instilled into our heads as designers. I think it helps us grow into a stronger designer and helps us think of new ways of designing because we are able to look into the past to see mistakes and influences that will make our new design even better than the next. As far as the researching portion towards the beginning of the article, I would also be embarrassed if someone were to ask me especially during a portfolio review why I chose a certain type or color or book without even having a strong research to back it up. I agree with certain things like picking something because “I liked it.” There are times were I just feel like picking this certain font or style because I feel a connection between the expression in the letters and in the content of what I’m designing but not knowing the content of what I’m designing is something I will never want to do. Take for example the bookcover project. I picked a book that I loved and knew about to redesign but I also read about and started reading the two other books of the series I chose. I knew I wouldn’t be able to have a strong design idea without reading a little into the book I was redesigning because I wouldn’t know the tone of the book or the feelings behind them.
Other fonts to use instead of Futura? --> there is the oh so popular Helvetica :) It keeps futura's emphasis on geometric shapes, not as extreme but still keeps the same idea. Plud I do really like that font anyways. Some other ones we could use: Gothica which is also geometric but with a twist I think, and Interstate although i'm not a huge fan of that type, maybe because I see it when im driving...
The Four Lessons of Lou Dorfsman
Lou Dorfsman 4 lessons are so right! Next to Bruce Mau’s commandments these are 4 other things to put on my list of things I NEED to keep in mind as a designer. But not only me but others as well! After reading this article I got pumped to just go and start designing…this plus studio tours definitely pumped me up!
Mind the clients business:
I know I may get jobs that I really don’t find as interesting as others but that doesn’t mean those aren’t as important. Any job as a designer is important because it is an example of what you are, how you work, your process, everything. If you don’t put effort into a project just because you don’t like it as much or don’t see it as important it will only make you look like a lazy designer, someone who doesn’t find a joy in everything they design. Someone who does things just to get it done not someone who explores and risks things. Just like Lou was put in charge of the CBS radio dept not the television dept (the more exciting area) he still treated the radio station just as much as anything else and came out with great results which therefore made him move into the television dept later in life.
Learn to identify opportunities
Don’t just sit around and wait for opportunities to come to you, GO OUT & LOOK! Opportunities are everywhere around us and most of us just sit around and do nothing as other designers take advantage of those chances in life. Lou always looked for opportunities to make new projects and therefore became more successful with his designs. If you see something and think to yourself, “Man, that’s bad design.” Instead of just saying it and going on with life DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. Re-design it.
Assume responsibility
As a designer you will have to stand up for many things you may feel strongly about throughout your life. Take responsibility and take action when you see something that needs to be done. Just like what I wrote above about doing something about it, take responsibility and do it! Especially for things you are associated with.
Define the company’s character
Instead of just working for your company or even just in class, do more. Don’t merely do what’s asked from you to get by do much more than that. EXPLORE! Put your personality in your projects. Do things to make the project more than what it is. Make it memorable, define what your company/project is about and work to make it more cohesive within itself but different from any other company/project from the pack. Do the extra to make things stand out. Think outside the box.
Ten Things that Need to be Redesigned
Hahaha, some of these things are funny but true.
Lottery Tickets are disturbingly gross…with too much color and text plus the cheesy factor.
The Hearse creeps me out and it is true, why can’t you ride in a pimped out car just because you’re dead. I mean true I wouldn’t want to ride in a pimped out car either but how about a classy and modern car?
Monopoly Money is unrealistic yes but to me its also just boring…nothing that grabs my attention. Plus I think last time I looked money was double sided…
Remote controls, definitely agree with Jessica. TOO MANY BUTTONS for everything! I know last time I was home I didn’t know what button to press to change the setting back to where it was when I accidentally changed it. Definitely not a good example of good design, Next thing I know well have buttons that that thing to control the microwave or even our cars.
Political Lawn Signs, same same and SAME
IRS forms, oh man those are confusing plus everything looks the same and doesn’t seem to be organized well, or put in a hierarchy
Those were just my favorite out of the bunch, but let’s take Lou’s 4 lessons into action and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! ☺
Sunday, March 22, 2009
I Spy With My Little Eye: Found Type!
So I must say this has been my favorite journal assignment by far. :) I did a little of both obvious type and type in nature.
I also added something on the main type blog that I found interesting during my spring break...
Natural Type
A and X
V and W
A and X
L and A and H
C and A or M
Y and I
More obvious type I found on my walk to Dillons and south of the border.
I also added something on the main type blog that I found interesting during my spring break...
Natural Type
A and X
V and W
A and X
L and A and H
C and A or M
Y and I
More obvious type I found on my walk to Dillons and south of the border.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Final Flash + Found Postage
School of Design
I'm a sucker for type interlocked within each other. I know it may be overused sometimes but I still enjoy it. The arrangement of the text in the background also help express a feeling of excitement, loud, shining, burst of energy. These are all words that can also relate to James Brown. Good poster design for me :)
The colors grabbed my attention at first but after I looked at it closer I thought this designer did a great job at showing depth. The type can be a little hard to read but overall its well organized which is something posters should be in order to inform viewers.
So, I'm a sucker for type formed around each other, but I didn't mention I'm another sucker for images that mess with my mind. Like those which use Closer within it's images. Here in this Hope for Peace poster the viewer can either see a dove or two children holding hands. They both are representations for peace which is what the poster is about. The poster is also very simple and straight forward. It may not explain what Hope for Peace is but it gets the overall meaning of Peace out to the public.
I'm a sucker for type interlocked within each other. I know it may be overused sometimes but I still enjoy it. The arrangement of the text in the background also help express a feeling of excitement, loud, shining, burst of energy. These are all words that can also relate to James Brown. Good poster design for me :)
The colors grabbed my attention at first but after I looked at it closer I thought this designer did a great job at showing depth. The type can be a little hard to read but overall its well organized which is something posters should be in order to inform viewers.
So, I'm a sucker for type formed around each other, but I didn't mention I'm another sucker for images that mess with my mind. Like those which use Closer within it's images. Here in this Hope for Peace poster the viewer can either see a dove or two children holding hands. They both are representations for peace which is what the poster is about. The poster is also very simple and straight forward. It may not explain what Hope for Peace is but it gets the overall meaning of Peace out to the public.
Process...
I tried other ways that aren't related too much to my last posters. I'm still not happy with them...more to come soon.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Journal #5 Good.com
Good.com is a fairly interesting site! They have so many different things you can look at, mess with, and learn about! They do a great job at navigating the viewers throughout the site and have a lot of nice additions to the website. Most of the stuff deals with being Green so it's a nice website to come to if you want to learn about anything that deals with this topic. I think it's a great way for them to spread the word about our climate change and a way to inform the society on what they can do to help stop global warming. The first video I watched with all of the number stats from 2008 was well put together. The timing between the slides was great and the transitions flew well together. Overall it was well put together. There's so much stuff on here that I can't really spend just one day looking at it all but it's a nice reference to have! Here are a few links I found interesting...
Bomberman
I actually now know how far away I have to travel if a bomb hits Lawrence or even an asteroid. crazy...
Smoking Hot
I'm not a great big fan of smoking myself but I found this interesting as well...You can mouse over which ever state in the US you want and find out what they ban, how much a pack of cigarettes costs, and about how many people in the state smoke. How exactly do they find these stats though??
Bomberman
I actually now know how far away I have to travel if a bomb hits Lawrence or even an asteroid. crazy...
Smoking Hot
I'm not a great big fan of smoking myself but I found this interesting as well...You can mouse over which ever state in the US you want and find out what they ban, how much a pack of cigarettes costs, and about how many people in the state smoke. How exactly do they find these stats though??
Final 3 Bookcovers
The Final 3 Bookcovers
Room after Room
Everything is Illuminated
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Room after Room
Everything is Illuminated
Extremely Loud & Incredibly CloseThe Whisper of Aids- Mary Fisher
“The Whisper of Aids”
9 August 1992
Who is speaking
Mary Fisher
Why is the speech important to society?
The speech is important to society because it was an eye opener for those people who had their specific views on the disease as well as an influential speech that gave courage and strength to those suffering from it. It was a positive speech that informed people while at the same time gave people the hope for a cure, the light at the end of the tunnel, and end to suffering.
Why do you feel it is important or interesting?
This speech is important because at the time the AIDS epidemic was beginning to e more prominent in the public view. Many people had their own stereotypes that came along with the virus and seeing plus hearing a white, young, woman talk about her experience with the virus and how it can affect anyone and everyone was a great eye opener for the public. It was a great way for people to both realize that it can affect anyone not just the certain stereotypical people and for people to also feel empowered to take on the challenge of fighting the epidemic.
What is the emotion, mood, tone, personality, feeling of the speech?
The speech is: strong, bold, moving, influential, important, informative, controversial, different, courageous.
What is intonation, emphasis, what is loud, stressed or soft? Where are there pauses?
She tends to have a sweet voice that isn’t too overpowering, it’s sympathetic. Overall the speech is soft. However, she does put an emphasis on the numbers of people of being affected, the people being affected, and what people are doing to help the cause. She pauses after each example she gives. And she tends to raise her voice as she gets more into the speech and gets more backing from the public.
What do you feel should be loud or soft, long paused or ruhed?
I feel that the specific information about AIDS, the number of people infected, the way the virus can spread, the ways we can help control it, and the way that it can affect anyone, are the things that I believe should be stressed. Especially the word ‘anyone.’ Pauses should be in between the bullets of information to let the people reflect as they listen to each fact.
Is there a call to action? When listening to it what are key/emphasized words?
Yes there is a call to action. The speech lets the public know that AIDS is prominent in the world. It is something we must inform ourselves about and it is something we must begin to fight and control. The words that are being emphasized are the facts she states (number of people infected, the rate of being infected) and who is being infected.
How do you imagine the audience felt?
I feel the audience felt empowered when listening to Mary Fisher. With the AIDS epidemic starting to come out more in the public light, people were lost and confused with what they were facing. Listening to Mary, an HIV positive woman, talk about her views on the situation, talk about how AIDS is affecting everyone, and portray the image of a strong woman who is not afraid of the big hurdle that lies ahead of her, gives strength to those listening to her.
Could there be another interpretation of the speech?
No, because the speech is pretty self-explanatory. It is a speech about AIDS, an informative speech that calls the public to action, that asks the public for help, that opens the public to the truth behind the virus.
Short bio of Mary Fisher (www.unaids.org)
Mary Davis Fisher is an artist, author and speaker who travels the world advocating for those who share her HIV-positive status. As UNAIDS Special Representative, Ms. Fisher will raise awareness on HIV prevention, treatment, care and support with an emphasis on women and children. Ms. Fisher will support the UNAIDS mission of empowering people to protect themselves and live full, productive lives. UNAIDS Special Representative Mary Fisher is a strong advocate in raising awareness and engaging people living with HIV. Mary Fisher, herself living openly and positively with HIV, has received numerous awards for her AIDS work. Recently she was honored by the Worldwide Orphans Foundation. Since 2006, Mary Fisher has undertaken several fact-finding missions with UNAIDS to Zambia, highlighting the socio-economic impact of HIV on women and girls. Mary Fisher also played an important advocacy role at the United Nations High Level Meeting on AIDS in June 2006 delivering powerful speeches and strong messages on AIDS awareness.
Excerpt from “The Whisper of Aids”
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/maryfisher1992rnc.html
I would never have asked to be HIV positive, but I believe that in all things there is a purpose; and I stand before you and before the nation gladly. The reality of AIDS is brutally clear. Two hundred thousand Americans are dead or dying. A million more are infected. Worldwide, forty million, sixty million, or a hundred million infections will be counted in the coming few years. But despite science and research, White House meetings, and congressional hearings, despite good intentions and bold initiatives, campaign slogans, and hopeful promises, it is -- despite it all -- the epidemic, which is winning tonight.
In the context of an election year, I ask you, here in this great hall, or listening in the quiet of your home, to recognize that AIDS virus is not a political creature. It does not care whether you are Democrat or Republican; it does not ask whether you are black or white, male or female, gay or straight, young or old.
Tonight, I represent an AIDS community whose members have been reluctantly drafted from every segment of American society. Though I am white and a mother, I am one with a black infant struggling with tubes in a Philadelphia hospital. Though I am female and contracted this disease in marriage and enjoy the warm support of my family, I am one with the lonely gay man sheltering a flickering candle from the cold wind of his family’s rejection.
9 August 1992
Who is speaking
Mary Fisher
Why is the speech important to society?
The speech is important to society because it was an eye opener for those people who had their specific views on the disease as well as an influential speech that gave courage and strength to those suffering from it. It was a positive speech that informed people while at the same time gave people the hope for a cure, the light at the end of the tunnel, and end to suffering.
Why do you feel it is important or interesting?
This speech is important because at the time the AIDS epidemic was beginning to e more prominent in the public view. Many people had their own stereotypes that came along with the virus and seeing plus hearing a white, young, woman talk about her experience with the virus and how it can affect anyone and everyone was a great eye opener for the public. It was a great way for people to both realize that it can affect anyone not just the certain stereotypical people and for people to also feel empowered to take on the challenge of fighting the epidemic.
What is the emotion, mood, tone, personality, feeling of the speech?
The speech is: strong, bold, moving, influential, important, informative, controversial, different, courageous.
What is intonation, emphasis, what is loud, stressed or soft? Where are there pauses?
She tends to have a sweet voice that isn’t too overpowering, it’s sympathetic. Overall the speech is soft. However, she does put an emphasis on the numbers of people of being affected, the people being affected, and what people are doing to help the cause. She pauses after each example she gives. And she tends to raise her voice as she gets more into the speech and gets more backing from the public.
What do you feel should be loud or soft, long paused or ruhed?
I feel that the specific information about AIDS, the number of people infected, the way the virus can spread, the ways we can help control it, and the way that it can affect anyone, are the things that I believe should be stressed. Especially the word ‘anyone.’ Pauses should be in between the bullets of information to let the people reflect as they listen to each fact.
Is there a call to action? When listening to it what are key/emphasized words?
Yes there is a call to action. The speech lets the public know that AIDS is prominent in the world. It is something we must inform ourselves about and it is something we must begin to fight and control. The words that are being emphasized are the facts she states (number of people infected, the rate of being infected) and who is being infected.
How do you imagine the audience felt?
I feel the audience felt empowered when listening to Mary Fisher. With the AIDS epidemic starting to come out more in the public light, people were lost and confused with what they were facing. Listening to Mary, an HIV positive woman, talk about her views on the situation, talk about how AIDS is affecting everyone, and portray the image of a strong woman who is not afraid of the big hurdle that lies ahead of her, gives strength to those listening to her.
Could there be another interpretation of the speech?
No, because the speech is pretty self-explanatory. It is a speech about AIDS, an informative speech that calls the public to action, that asks the public for help, that opens the public to the truth behind the virus.
Short bio of Mary Fisher (www.unaids.org)
Mary Davis Fisher is an artist, author and speaker who travels the world advocating for those who share her HIV-positive status. As UNAIDS Special Representative, Ms. Fisher will raise awareness on HIV prevention, treatment, care and support with an emphasis on women and children. Ms. Fisher will support the UNAIDS mission of empowering people to protect themselves and live full, productive lives. UNAIDS Special Representative Mary Fisher is a strong advocate in raising awareness and engaging people living with HIV. Mary Fisher, herself living openly and positively with HIV, has received numerous awards for her AIDS work. Recently she was honored by the Worldwide Orphans Foundation. Since 2006, Mary Fisher has undertaken several fact-finding missions with UNAIDS to Zambia, highlighting the socio-economic impact of HIV on women and girls. Mary Fisher also played an important advocacy role at the United Nations High Level Meeting on AIDS in June 2006 delivering powerful speeches and strong messages on AIDS awareness.
Excerpt from “The Whisper of Aids”
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/maryfisher1992rnc.html
I would never have asked to be HIV positive, but I believe that in all things there is a purpose; and I stand before you and before the nation gladly. The reality of AIDS is brutally clear. Two hundred thousand Americans are dead or dying. A million more are infected. Worldwide, forty million, sixty million, or a hundred million infections will be counted in the coming few years. But despite science and research, White House meetings, and congressional hearings, despite good intentions and bold initiatives, campaign slogans, and hopeful promises, it is -- despite it all -- the epidemic, which is winning tonight.
In the context of an election year, I ask you, here in this great hall, or listening in the quiet of your home, to recognize that AIDS virus is not a political creature. It does not care whether you are Democrat or Republican; it does not ask whether you are black or white, male or female, gay or straight, young or old.
Tonight, I represent an AIDS community whose members have been reluctantly drafted from every segment of American society. Though I am white and a mother, I am one with a black infant struggling with tubes in a Philadelphia hospital. Though I am female and contracted this disease in marriage and enjoy the warm support of my family, I am one with the lonely gay man sheltering a flickering candle from the cold wind of his family’s rejection.
Journal #4: Animated Typography
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. It is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in a number of ways.
Typography is the study and process of typefaces; how to select, size, arrange, and use them in general. In modern terms. typography includes computer display and output. Traditionally, typography was the use of metal types with raised letterforms that were inked and then pressed onto paper.
Animated Typography is the mix of both things. Therefore, choosing specific type sizes, arrangements, etc to create an illusion of movement. In simple words, having text simply move on the screen to emit a specific emotion/feeling.
The experience changed with sound because when you first take a look at the video you form your own feelings toward the dialogue based on the typography. You paint the picture in your head and imagine how the text is being read. However once you put the sound on you eliminate the individual imagination and just follow how the speaker is emphasizing and phrasing his/her words. You just listen along rather than jump deeper into the speech to try to figure out your own mood towards the piece.
Most of the videos on animated typography that I viewed on youtube have the same simple transitions. They zoom out and in, flip the word, change the color, etc. I mean I wouldn’t say they are completely boring, because I too found myself amused by watching all of them but after a while of clicking through the videos I began to have a harder time finding different ones that don’t give me the same exact feeling/mood. This similarity between the projects weaken the projects (in my opinion) because they limit how unique the project is and restrict it from being memorable. After watching so many videos that ultimately do the same thing, I forgot which ones I had seen and honestly just blended them all together. The projects lack their individualism, they lack their originality that always makes projects stand out from the rest. With the same transitions happening in each video, the viewer becomes bored with the videos just by simply watching a few. The similarity also limits how you can express the dialogue. I found it odd that a video that had a “suspenseful” scene had the basic transitions that a “funny” scene had. I mean they both emit very different emotions when listened to however…they have the same transitions?? I don’t get it. The videos are lacking the specific emotions that they emit overall.
Mostly all of the animated typography found on youtube was the same. Zooming in and out, changing color and size, etc. However when I looked at the Adobe website and watched the mini tutorials on how to create for example movie titles, credits, effects, etc. They were actually different from those on youtube. I liked them because they were focusing more on the variations you can do in after effects, anyone can do simple type appear larger and smaller or change color but not many can change the font to follow a certain path, have a reflection, or mold into the 3D objects on the compositions screen. Another difference between these videos and the clips on youtube were that these Adobe ones moved more with the camera and changed the scenes. The youtube ones were just a blank color in the background and stayed at about the same camera angle. Instead of moving around the screen as if you had a video camera and were recording it at different angles. The effects were also much different and much more interesting than the simple techniques used at the beginning.
It was hard to find videos that I found were unique. I liked some but they were like all of the other ones. Here are the ones that I liked and at the same time were different than the normal.
• 14sec Haiku Animation in Typography: this one used more camera angles, rather than the ordinary look straight at the screen with a simple background color. It also incorporated images into it.
• Type in motion SiKth test: Not one of my big favorites but I do enjoy the shape the text makes and the camera angles.
• Alex Gopher - motion typography: This one is one of my favorites! I love how the type makes up the entire city and how the type moves in-between each other. I found myself following more of a story rather than type that just spelled itself on the screen. Two thumbs up for me ☺ I think the imagination was the strongest in this video out of the three.
These videos differ in the subject matter, the way they executed the project and how they decided to use imagery. The first video actually used images while the second and last used type to create the scene and the images. The emotions were each different as well. The first one was a poem and the second one followed a rock song so simple with knowing that, we know they differ in mood. One is much more heavier and strong while the other is calmer. The last one you as the viewer connected with the storyline, you kept watching to see what would happen next and usage of type to create the big picture was amazing to me ☺
The last one by Alex Gopher is my favorite. I know it’s not a dialogue that I follow, more of a story line inside my head and the song but I still believe it is a great example of what you can do with after effects or any program of that sort. I liked this one because it wasn’t short neither extra long, perfect length. It was unique, and it was creative. In this video by Alex Gopher, the color is used to distinguish things from each other. For example the woman from the man with pink and blue text. The sound was used to help build the storyline and keep it going. And the images used were used by bringing type int5o to make the buildings and people.
30 memorable movie titles...
Sweeney Todd: I liked the mix of photography/video with illustrations, sometimes I can’t tell what it is. I also enjoy how the viewer follows something thought the scenes, in this example it would be the blood. Or maybe it’s the whole Johnny Depp thing that makes it memorable for me? ;)
Seven: Creepy, simple, and dark. This clip used the sounds to go along with its creepiness that helped me remember it. It stood out to me for some reason.
Eurotrip: I enjoyed the simple illustrations that go in line with the movie. Making them animated to appeal to a teenage generation made them amusing to watch and thus memorable for me.
Typography is the study and process of typefaces; how to select, size, arrange, and use them in general. In modern terms. typography includes computer display and output. Traditionally, typography was the use of metal types with raised letterforms that were inked and then pressed onto paper.
Animated Typography is the mix of both things. Therefore, choosing specific type sizes, arrangements, etc to create an illusion of movement. In simple words, having text simply move on the screen to emit a specific emotion/feeling.
The experience changed with sound because when you first take a look at the video you form your own feelings toward the dialogue based on the typography. You paint the picture in your head and imagine how the text is being read. However once you put the sound on you eliminate the individual imagination and just follow how the speaker is emphasizing and phrasing his/her words. You just listen along rather than jump deeper into the speech to try to figure out your own mood towards the piece.
Most of the videos on animated typography that I viewed on youtube have the same simple transitions. They zoom out and in, flip the word, change the color, etc. I mean I wouldn’t say they are completely boring, because I too found myself amused by watching all of them but after a while of clicking through the videos I began to have a harder time finding different ones that don’t give me the same exact feeling/mood. This similarity between the projects weaken the projects (in my opinion) because they limit how unique the project is and restrict it from being memorable. After watching so many videos that ultimately do the same thing, I forgot which ones I had seen and honestly just blended them all together. The projects lack their individualism, they lack their originality that always makes projects stand out from the rest. With the same transitions happening in each video, the viewer becomes bored with the videos just by simply watching a few. The similarity also limits how you can express the dialogue. I found it odd that a video that had a “suspenseful” scene had the basic transitions that a “funny” scene had. I mean they both emit very different emotions when listened to however…they have the same transitions?? I don’t get it. The videos are lacking the specific emotions that they emit overall.
Mostly all of the animated typography found on youtube was the same. Zooming in and out, changing color and size, etc. However when I looked at the Adobe website and watched the mini tutorials on how to create for example movie titles, credits, effects, etc. They were actually different from those on youtube. I liked them because they were focusing more on the variations you can do in after effects, anyone can do simple type appear larger and smaller or change color but not many can change the font to follow a certain path, have a reflection, or mold into the 3D objects on the compositions screen. Another difference between these videos and the clips on youtube were that these Adobe ones moved more with the camera and changed the scenes. The youtube ones were just a blank color in the background and stayed at about the same camera angle. Instead of moving around the screen as if you had a video camera and were recording it at different angles. The effects were also much different and much more interesting than the simple techniques used at the beginning.
It was hard to find videos that I found were unique. I liked some but they were like all of the other ones. Here are the ones that I liked and at the same time were different than the normal.
• 14sec Haiku Animation in Typography: this one used more camera angles, rather than the ordinary look straight at the screen with a simple background color. It also incorporated images into it.
• Type in motion SiKth test: Not one of my big favorites but I do enjoy the shape the text makes and the camera angles.
• Alex Gopher - motion typography: This one is one of my favorites! I love how the type makes up the entire city and how the type moves in-between each other. I found myself following more of a story rather than type that just spelled itself on the screen. Two thumbs up for me ☺ I think the imagination was the strongest in this video out of the three.
These videos differ in the subject matter, the way they executed the project and how they decided to use imagery. The first video actually used images while the second and last used type to create the scene and the images. The emotions were each different as well. The first one was a poem and the second one followed a rock song so simple with knowing that, we know they differ in mood. One is much more heavier and strong while the other is calmer. The last one you as the viewer connected with the storyline, you kept watching to see what would happen next and usage of type to create the big picture was amazing to me ☺
The last one by Alex Gopher is my favorite. I know it’s not a dialogue that I follow, more of a story line inside my head and the song but I still believe it is a great example of what you can do with after effects or any program of that sort. I liked this one because it wasn’t short neither extra long, perfect length. It was unique, and it was creative. In this video by Alex Gopher, the color is used to distinguish things from each other. For example the woman from the man with pink and blue text. The sound was used to help build the storyline and keep it going. And the images used were used by bringing type int5o to make the buildings and people.
30 memorable movie titles...
Sweeney Todd: I liked the mix of photography/video with illustrations, sometimes I can’t tell what it is. I also enjoy how the viewer follows something thought the scenes, in this example it would be the blood. Or maybe it’s the whole Johnny Depp thing that makes it memorable for me? ;)
Seven: Creepy, simple, and dark. This clip used the sounds to go along with its creepiness that helped me remember it. It stood out to me for some reason.
Eurotrip: I enjoyed the simple illustrations that go in line with the movie. Making them animated to appeal to a teenage generation made them amusing to watch and thus memorable for me.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Journal #3: Trollback
A few points from the video...
-Don't deal with just motion, it's more than that. It's storytelling.
-Don't stay content, go further...when you learn a song on a guitar you always want to learn more, other songs. do the same...
-Design is a language used to express things. You can do so many things with it, Strive to get emotions out, you can make stuff and no need for what its saying however it works well if you do have an underlying message.
-To change someones views...discussions, pressure, pleas, and negative statements never work. Emotional messages work way better.
-During storytelling, be inspired, tell stories, and leave things out.
-Inspiration is everywhere
I really liked Trollback's views and his ideas. Not to mention that he was a DJ at one point :)
All of the clips on his website are awesome, it makes me want to do all of those effects...
-Don't deal with just motion, it's more than that. It's storytelling.
-Don't stay content, go further...when you learn a song on a guitar you always want to learn more, other songs. do the same...
-Design is a language used to express things. You can do so many things with it, Strive to get emotions out, you can make stuff and no need for what its saying however it works well if you do have an underlying message.
-To change someones views...discussions, pressure, pleas, and negative statements never work. Emotional messages work way better.
-During storytelling, be inspired, tell stories, and leave things out.
-Inspiration is everywhere
I really liked Trollback's views and his ideas. Not to mention that he was a DJ at one point :)
All of the clips on his website are awesome, it makes me want to do all of those effects...
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Journal #2: Avoid Software
"It is not about the world of design, but the design of the world"
Bruce Mau was born on October 25, 1959 and is the founder of Institute without Boundaries.Joined the Fifty Fingers design group in 1980.
Established his own studio: Bruce Mau Design.
Design Director of Zone Books and creative director of I.D. magazine.
Has won numerous awards.
He published a set of goals in 1998 called: Incomplete Manifesto for Growth.
Out of the 43 goals I chose this following one to follow through...
Avoid software.The problem with software is that everyone has it.
Why? It's true, everyone has software. Photoshop, Illustrator, etc... what makes things unique sometimes is creating it with your own hands. I know I tend to rely too much on the computer sometimes and I would like to do more things on paper. I do like to but I can never get down and do it. So forget software, I'm relying more on hand made things.
Journal Entry #1
Who is Chip Kidd?
Born on September 12, 1964
Author, Editor, and Graphic Designer.
He tends to do more freelance work and has worked for: Doubleday, Farrar Straus & Giroux, Grove Press, HarperCollins, Penguin/Putname, Scribner, and Columbia University Press.
After reading an interview from him, I grabbed a few quotes I liked...
-I try to avoid something that's literal.
-I think the challenge as a designer in trade publishing is to do something that's an interesting design, but that also has a mass appeal.
-I like trying to surprise people.
-Ideas are everywhere.
Who is John Gall? Born in 1963 in New Jersey.
Graduated from Rutgers University's design dept.
Worked for Vintage.
-A really great cover is going to convey the essence of the book in a unique and surprising way that maybe pushes the design envelope a bit.
-If you think this is the way it should be done— do the opposite.
-Basically, I am always trying to surprise myself; and if I can do that, odds are others will perceive it as invigorating design. And I’m a big fan of the happy accident, and if I can contradict what I was saying about mass-market books, I will also approach a project from the viewpoint of what I shouldn’t do. Like I really shouldn’t put an airbrushed unicorn on a cover … but let’s see what it looks like.
Bookcover Examples:
I enjoy bookcovers that play on words/images, give you an instant feeling, and leave you thinking. Others that immediately grab your attention with the colors and shapes are also fun Simple is best. And photography is a plus :)
Born on September 12, 1964
Author, Editor, and Graphic Designer.
He tends to do more freelance work and has worked for: Doubleday, Farrar Straus & Giroux, Grove Press, HarperCollins, Penguin/Putname, Scribner, and Columbia University Press.
After reading an interview from him, I grabbed a few quotes I liked...
-I try to avoid something that's literal.
-I think the challenge as a designer in trade publishing is to do something that's an interesting design, but that also has a mass appeal.
-I like trying to surprise people.
-Ideas are everywhere.
Who is John Gall? Born in 1963 in New Jersey.
Graduated from Rutgers University's design dept.
Worked for Vintage.
-A really great cover is going to convey the essence of the book in a unique and surprising way that maybe pushes the design envelope a bit.
-If you think this is the way it should be done— do the opposite.
-Basically, I am always trying to surprise myself; and if I can do that, odds are others will perceive it as invigorating design. And I’m a big fan of the happy accident, and if I can contradict what I was saying about mass-market books, I will also approach a project from the viewpoint of what I shouldn’t do. Like I really shouldn’t put an airbrushed unicorn on a cover … but let’s see what it looks like.
Bookcover Examples:
I enjoy bookcovers that play on words/images, give you an instant feeling, and leave you thinking. Others that immediately grab your attention with the colors and shapes are also fun Simple is best. And photography is a plus :)
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