Monday, 1 December 2008
BAIMP Narratives Out of class assignment
"According to your interpretations, break the narrative of each image apart into ‘nodes’ of action/events and come up with alternative ‘interactive’ variations to this narrative of the group's own choosing. How would you be able to play with or tell an alternative story interactively?"
Lil' Red Rides da Hood
A late post but this marks the start of my Narratives unit work and our group project based on a fairy-tale.
Exactly a week ago today i met with the other members of my group to start discussions on ideas for our project on exactly the same seats in The Loft as we are this minute.
Anyhoo... We got discussing through a variety of ideas and thinking what fairytale we could adapt into our interactive narrative.
We all agreed upon Little Red Riding Hood.
Exactly a week ago today i met with the other members of my group to start discussions on ideas for our project on exactly the same seats in The Loft as we are this minute.
Anyhoo... We got discussing through a variety of ideas and thinking what fairytale we could adapt into our interactive narrative.
We all agreed upon Little Red Riding Hood.
Saturday, 22 November 2008
AAAAARGHHH
Right, this should have been added on here on Wednesday....
This is my contextual analysis essay:
Matthew Barnstable BAIMP1 Images 2008 Contextual Analysis
For the images unit I have looked at the way technology has integrated with human operations and evolved through discoveries in advanced communication techniques and to assist general human functions. Through looking at these topics, I have created a series of images that portray a historical evolution and predictive ramifications on nature and ourselves through our use of technology.
We perceive images as a representation of reality that reflect the likeness of the object featured within. They are an optical counterpart produced unnaturally by human devices, advancing in simulation by the progression of technology.
Technology is the concept of our knowledge to create and use tools to better adapt to our environment and aid in the completion of tasks, and perhaps our intervention with nature. Nature and technology are therefore two conflicting elements within our ever developing and evolving society.
The definition of technology has evolved by way of the creation of mechanical items.
In the nineteenth century, technology referred simply to the practical arts used to create physical products, everything from wagon wheels and cotton cloth to telephones and steam engines. In the twentieth century, the meaning of the word was expanded to include everything involved in satisfying human material needs and wants, from factories and the organisations that operate them to scientific knowledge, engineering know-how, and technological products themselves. (National Academy of Engineering, 2008)
As it states, technology satisfies human material needs and wants. Civilisation's growing dependancy on technology is a cause for concern. In our continuing quest to further enhance the speed, efficiency and reliability of our technical equipment and products, we are fast consuming the Earth’s natural resources, damaging ours, and Earth’s creature’s inhibitable environment.
According to Moore’s law (a trend observed by Gordon E. Moore, cofounder of Intel), the number of electrical transistors that can be placed on an integrated circuit doubles approximately every two years. This observation was first made by Moore in a 1965 paper, and after almost half a century the observation shows the trend doesn’t appear to be slowing.
Moore said “Integrated electronics will make electronic techniques more generally available throughout all of society, performing many functions that presently are done inadequately by other techniques or not done at all.”
Society having access to and use of electronic equipment means that there is a great demand for production and supply. With the constant evolution of technological products for our entertainment and productivity, we are psychologically besieged by media and advertising to keep our needs satisfied. We upgrade our technical products with new models, constantly feeling the need to upgrade every time there is a quicker or easier way of performing tasks introduced. This has turned our society into a disposable culture, constantly discarding our outdated, unfashionable and unwanted equipment, and then introducing newer versions slightly superior in effectiveness. The only way to dispose of them is by returning them to the realms of our natural environment, traditionally finding a location uninhabited by humans to dump our waste, further destroying our habitat that has already been damaged by obtaining materials to fabricate the products.
Image 1, It came from the deep, focuses on this event of disposing consumed products upon our natural environment. It uses an imaginary concept of our discarded items gaining life, taking human form and returning to frighten us all into stopping our wasteful behaviour.
The series of images I have created keep to a consistent visual style trying to be realistic, and follow a narrative throughout the embedded text flowing from the first image through to the last. The images focus on the ideology of technology’s assistance in our day-to-day lives and living habits, mainly in tasks such as transportation and navigation within our surrounding environments. They look at how technical equipment integrates with the world around us and our lifestyles, and try to communicate the messages clearly through the content.
It came from the deep doesn’t focus on technology’s integration with society like the other images, it sets the narrative and the main message behind the series, the message of the impending chaos due to ensue from the constant updates in technology we frequently adopt into our lifestyles and disregard for our outdated items.
In a way, by using this image as my start, the message becomes less vague and the narrative flows logically. By starting at the end we know what to expect, to which we can then work backwards finding the cause of the encounter.
The first image has been given a dark shade and saturation to give the connotation of a desolate and unhappy feeling. The shipwreck at the side of the image adds to the dead and cold feel of the image, and evokes the thought that there is nothing good or cheerful about the content. The dull, gloomy feel interpreted by the viewer from the cold colours used can also construct the idea that it is early morning on a cold autumn or winter’s day, dawn is breaking on an unhappy event - Nature is regurgitating our waste to seek revenge.
Inspiration for this image came from looking through photographs that I had taken in an attempt to find a suitable image for nature. The beach, rocks and calm sea allowed me to imagine something creeping out, in a monsterly behaviour. This thought of a monster made out of discarded electrical products, creeping up out of the ocean like a swamp creature in a 1950s B-movie gave way to the thought of a flowing paragraph throughout the images: It came from the deep, travelling through the lens, interacting with surroundings, evolving technology, on a journey travelling from one place to another.
I had the idea of what to say in this serialised sentence, but needed to create images based upon this idea and to then further shape the words used.
The second image Travelling through the lens was created after reading this quote:
The rapid development or contemporary technology opens up the possibility that, in the next millennium, nature will be less and less constitutional, as it is more and more modified, in the increasingly technologically sophisticated world of the future. (Holmes Rolsten III, 1998)
My image challenges the basis of his statement by taking current global fears of resource consumption and setting my image in the very same time period but showing how the world may not be as technological as everyone predicts now.
Travelling through the lens continues the theme of water and the sea from the first image and as the title suggests, symbolises looking back in retrospection. The woman looks out across the sea at a sun setting behind the land of what used to be. Before we used up Earth’s natural resources and were dragged back to the foundations of civilisation. How we used to travel symbolised by the ferry and plane, and how she now uses a row boat again to travel around in the future without fuel or man-made synthetic materials.
Throughout the images, there are certain elements that capture the viewer’s gaze. The production principles lectures taught that colour and their associated moods play a part, but compositional elements such as lines, depth, value, and picture area assist in guiding the eye to certain focal points of interest in the image.
A design that has been composed well, leaves the viewer satisfied, urging them to view more.
In the composition production theory lecture, learning about the rule of thirds helped when designing evolving technology, to create a visually appealing composition to the image and to create a suitable layout to position the characters.
Designing the image around this concept keeps the layout clean and simple.
Lines play a very important part within an image, guiding the viewer’s gaze across the compositional features and can control how a viewer studies the image.
Interacting with surroundings features good use of lines to direct the viewer’s gaze from the bottom of the image into the middle of the crowd on the lower third proportion. There are then curved lines following the rooftops of the buildings and along the wall in the bottom left corner to the hand holding the phone.
Also with this image, studying and experimenting with typography after the typography lecture allowed me to decide upon a suitable font style that allowed me to re-create the text found on Google maps.
The requirement of text within the images helped in some respects with the development of ideas, as it allowed the integration of the serialised sentence within the images, creatively using the distort, perspective and scale tools featured in photoshop to merge the text into being an element within the design.
Over the unit, there were initial difficulties conceiving a consistent theme or idea throughout to feature within the images. This obstacle was overcome eventually through the idea focused around the integrated text and a set of image ideas were produced. There was then further difficulty choosing how to best visually represent the serialised sentence segments.
The overall theme and image ideas turned out extremely well, however due to novice knowledge and careless use of perspective and distort tools, text wasn’t merged within the images quite as had been intended.
Given an opportunity to do this unit again, the same theme would be kept and some varied images would be produced, perhaps even a longer series of images.
Word count: 1,565
My project website can be found at: http://www.freewebs.com/barnopolis89/index.html
This is my contextual analysis essay:
Matthew Barnstable BAIMP1 Images 2008 Contextual Analysis
For the images unit I have looked at the way technology has integrated with human operations and evolved through discoveries in advanced communication techniques and to assist general human functions. Through looking at these topics, I have created a series of images that portray a historical evolution and predictive ramifications on nature and ourselves through our use of technology.
We perceive images as a representation of reality that reflect the likeness of the object featured within. They are an optical counterpart produced unnaturally by human devices, advancing in simulation by the progression of technology.
Technology is the concept of our knowledge to create and use tools to better adapt to our environment and aid in the completion of tasks, and perhaps our intervention with nature. Nature and technology are therefore two conflicting elements within our ever developing and evolving society.
The definition of technology has evolved by way of the creation of mechanical items.
In the nineteenth century, technology referred simply to the practical arts used to create physical products, everything from wagon wheels and cotton cloth to telephones and steam engines. In the twentieth century, the meaning of the word was expanded to include everything involved in satisfying human material needs and wants, from factories and the organisations that operate them to scientific knowledge, engineering know-how, and technological products themselves. (National Academy of Engineering, 2008)
As it states, technology satisfies human material needs and wants. Civilisation's growing dependancy on technology is a cause for concern. In our continuing quest to further enhance the speed, efficiency and reliability of our technical equipment and products, we are fast consuming the Earth’s natural resources, damaging ours, and Earth’s creature’s inhibitable environment.
According to Moore’s law (a trend observed by Gordon E. Moore, cofounder of Intel), the number of electrical transistors that can be placed on an integrated circuit doubles approximately every two years. This observation was first made by Moore in a 1965 paper, and after almost half a century the observation shows the trend doesn’t appear to be slowing.
Moore said “Integrated electronics will make electronic techniques more generally available throughout all of society, performing many functions that presently are done inadequately by other techniques or not done at all.”
Society having access to and use of electronic equipment means that there is a great demand for production and supply. With the constant evolution of technological products for our entertainment and productivity, we are psychologically besieged by media and advertising to keep our needs satisfied. We upgrade our technical products with new models, constantly feeling the need to upgrade every time there is a quicker or easier way of performing tasks introduced. This has turned our society into a disposable culture, constantly discarding our outdated, unfashionable and unwanted equipment, and then introducing newer versions slightly superior in effectiveness. The only way to dispose of them is by returning them to the realms of our natural environment, traditionally finding a location uninhabited by humans to dump our waste, further destroying our habitat that has already been damaged by obtaining materials to fabricate the products.
Image 1, It came from the deep, focuses on this event of disposing consumed products upon our natural environment. It uses an imaginary concept of our discarded items gaining life, taking human form and returning to frighten us all into stopping our wasteful behaviour.
The series of images I have created keep to a consistent visual style trying to be realistic, and follow a narrative throughout the embedded text flowing from the first image through to the last. The images focus on the ideology of technology’s assistance in our day-to-day lives and living habits, mainly in tasks such as transportation and navigation within our surrounding environments. They look at how technical equipment integrates with the world around us and our lifestyles, and try to communicate the messages clearly through the content.
It came from the deep doesn’t focus on technology’s integration with society like the other images, it sets the narrative and the main message behind the series, the message of the impending chaos due to ensue from the constant updates in technology we frequently adopt into our lifestyles and disregard for our outdated items.
In a way, by using this image as my start, the message becomes less vague and the narrative flows logically. By starting at the end we know what to expect, to which we can then work backwards finding the cause of the encounter.
The first image has been given a dark shade and saturation to give the connotation of a desolate and unhappy feeling. The shipwreck at the side of the image adds to the dead and cold feel of the image, and evokes the thought that there is nothing good or cheerful about the content. The dull, gloomy feel interpreted by the viewer from the cold colours used can also construct the idea that it is early morning on a cold autumn or winter’s day, dawn is breaking on an unhappy event - Nature is regurgitating our waste to seek revenge.
Inspiration for this image came from looking through photographs that I had taken in an attempt to find a suitable image for nature. The beach, rocks and calm sea allowed me to imagine something creeping out, in a monsterly behaviour. This thought of a monster made out of discarded electrical products, creeping up out of the ocean like a swamp creature in a 1950s B-movie gave way to the thought of a flowing paragraph throughout the images: It came from the deep, travelling through the lens, interacting with surroundings, evolving technology, on a journey travelling from one place to another.
I had the idea of what to say in this serialised sentence, but needed to create images based upon this idea and to then further shape the words used.
The second image Travelling through the lens was created after reading this quote:
The rapid development or contemporary technology opens up the possibility that, in the next millennium, nature will be less and less constitutional, as it is more and more modified, in the increasingly technologically sophisticated world of the future. (Holmes Rolsten III, 1998)
My image challenges the basis of his statement by taking current global fears of resource consumption and setting my image in the very same time period but showing how the world may not be as technological as everyone predicts now.
Travelling through the lens continues the theme of water and the sea from the first image and as the title suggests, symbolises looking back in retrospection. The woman looks out across the sea at a sun setting behind the land of what used to be. Before we used up Earth’s natural resources and were dragged back to the foundations of civilisation. How we used to travel symbolised by the ferry and plane, and how she now uses a row boat again to travel around in the future without fuel or man-made synthetic materials.
Throughout the images, there are certain elements that capture the viewer’s gaze. The production principles lectures taught that colour and their associated moods play a part, but compositional elements such as lines, depth, value, and picture area assist in guiding the eye to certain focal points of interest in the image.
A design that has been composed well, leaves the viewer satisfied, urging them to view more.
In the composition production theory lecture, learning about the rule of thirds helped when designing evolving technology, to create a visually appealing composition to the image and to create a suitable layout to position the characters.
Designing the image around this concept keeps the layout clean and simple.
Lines play a very important part within an image, guiding the viewer’s gaze across the compositional features and can control how a viewer studies the image.
Interacting with surroundings features good use of lines to direct the viewer’s gaze from the bottom of the image into the middle of the crowd on the lower third proportion. There are then curved lines following the rooftops of the buildings and along the wall in the bottom left corner to the hand holding the phone.
Also with this image, studying and experimenting with typography after the typography lecture allowed me to decide upon a suitable font style that allowed me to re-create the text found on Google maps.
The requirement of text within the images helped in some respects with the development of ideas, as it allowed the integration of the serialised sentence within the images, creatively using the distort, perspective and scale tools featured in photoshop to merge the text into being an element within the design.
Over the unit, there were initial difficulties conceiving a consistent theme or idea throughout to feature within the images. This obstacle was overcome eventually through the idea focused around the integrated text and a set of image ideas were produced. There was then further difficulty choosing how to best visually represent the serialised sentence segments.
The overall theme and image ideas turned out extremely well, however due to novice knowledge and careless use of perspective and distort tools, text wasn’t merged within the images quite as had been intended.
Given an opportunity to do this unit again, the same theme would be kept and some varied images would be produced, perhaps even a longer series of images.
Word count: 1,565
My project website can be found at: http://www.freewebs.com/barnopolis89/index.html
Wednesday, 19 November 2008
Aaaargh!! Deadline Approaches!!! 9hrs and 45min to go!!!
Right, well my website is finished with all completed images hosted there. I have edited the two images which were last posted on here (just minor things like text...) and have since since completed 3 more images.
I am currently still writing my essay (yes, foolish matt has been a twat and left it all to the last minute..) which will be posted in a post after this one. But for now here are the finished images:
I am currently still writing my essay (yes, foolish matt has been a twat and left it all to the last minute..) which will be posted in a post after this one. But for now here are the finished images:
Tuesday, 11 November 2008
Images at last!!!
Whoo. After much turmoil and heavy procrastination, I have finally sat down and started to produce my hopefully final selection of images. I have chosen to include my first image produced in the first one day project, and have worked on several other images since.
I would just like to take this opportunity at the moment to thank a fantastic girl, Katie. Without her "nagging" and panicking for me, I think I would still be in the position of not having produced any images still come deadline. (^_^) Thank you!!
I would just like to take this opportunity at the moment to thank a fantastic girl, Katie. Without her "nagging" and panicking for me, I think I would still be in the position of not having produced any images still come deadline. (^_^) Thank you!!
Wednesday, 5 November 2008
Tuesday, 4 November 2008
Progress Report
Today in the practice seminar with Mark, we started looking at typography.
He got us to think of some words and alter the text so that their typography further enhanced their meaning.
Will have to get finished examples from on Mac at uni but will post them on here soon.
Next up, in our theory seminar with Claudia, we were looking at academic writing, but first of all reviewed our creative writing out of class assignment that we were supposed to have done. *ahem*
Anyway here is what I have written so far for my creative writing:
"Darkened skies, crashing waves, the steady creak and scratching of metal limbs. The monster of junk emerges from the tides.
This image deals with the topic of our disposal of old technology and appliances and it's affect against nature, and how nature will send back our waste to get us all. The serenity and peaceful nature of the setting in the image portrays the calmness of our surroundings. It portrays the beauty of our pure and organic landscapes surrounding us but contains a dark meaning contained within the character of trash.
Technology grows old, and so, as we consume more media, technology advances to serve us with new ways of interacting with and accessing information and media. With this continual upgrading of the tools we use, we dispose of our old, outdated systems without any regard to where it goes or how it is disposed of."
He got us to think of some words and alter the text so that their typography further enhanced their meaning.
Will have to get finished examples from on Mac at uni but will post them on here soon.
Next up, in our theory seminar with Claudia, we were looking at academic writing, but first of all reviewed our creative writing out of class assignment that we were supposed to have done. *ahem*
Anyway here is what I have written so far for my creative writing:
"Darkened skies, crashing waves, the steady creak and scratching of metal limbs. The monster of junk emerges from the tides.
This image deals with the topic of our disposal of old technology and appliances and it's affect against nature, and how nature will send back our waste to get us all. The serenity and peaceful nature of the setting in the image portrays the calmness of our surroundings. It portrays the beauty of our pure and organic landscapes surrounding us but contains a dark meaning contained within the character of trash.
Technology grows old, and so, as we consume more media, technology advances to serve us with new ways of interacting with and accessing information and media. With this continual upgrading of the tools we use, we dispose of our old, outdated systems without any regard to where it goes or how it is disposed of."
*Yawn*
Right. It's late and things definitely aren't good...
LET THIS BE A LESSON!!! DON'T LEAVE THINGS TO THE LAST MINUTE!!!!
I have finally decided upon one of my photos to use as the basis of my first image:
I am hoping to create a robot/monster thing that appears to be rising out of the water onto the beach..
I have collected different images of junk and old appliances that i can composite together to create a figure-like shape. I will then cover the creature in seaweed using some stock images i have gathered and change colouring to affect the mood of the image and to help blend in the character making it more realistic..
TIME TO START KNUCKLING DOWN MATT!!! Wed 19th November final hand-in!!! 15 DAYS!!!!!! (>_<)
LET THIS BE A LESSON!!! DON'T LEAVE THINGS TO THE LAST MINUTE!!!!
I have finally decided upon one of my photos to use as the basis of my first image:
I am hoping to create a robot/monster thing that appears to be rising out of the water onto the beach..
I have collected different images of junk and old appliances that i can composite together to create a figure-like shape. I will then cover the creature in seaweed using some stock images i have gathered and change colouring to affect the mood of the image and to help blend in the character making it more realistic..
TIME TO START KNUCKLING DOWN MATT!!! Wed 19th November final hand-in!!! 15 DAYS!!!!!! (>_<)
Monday, 3 November 2008
Uuuurgh...
Things are not going good lately...
First of all iTunes decided it was going to f*** up on me and delete all of my songs and playlists (65GB worth!!!) so i left it for several days and then decided the only way to recover it all was to use the magical Time Machine from Apple. Et Voila! All my music back and working, but now my 1TB hard-drive that it is all stored on has decided it's not going to co-operate :-(
Our house has been getting dial-up speeds on the internet which is not good. It feels like being back home with the poor speed... Seriously, I'm in Bournemouth. No ISP can justify giving dial-up speeds when after checking on our provider we're supposed to be able to get up to 24mb* (*speed varies according to location...) Friggin' annoying!!!
Saturday was not good. I was really ill and stayed confined to my bed all day. Not pretty... So i didn't get any work started or done or anything that day. Sunday i was a bit better but still didn't get around to any work until about 2am when i decided stupidly to start work on creating my website.. That only lasted for half an hour though when i decided it best to go to bed at 3..
Today kicked off pretty craply. I awoke with an extremely bad sore throat and loud cough that must have woken everyone in the house up.. I really didn't feel like going into uni.
Got through today and got home at 3pm, but about 4pm I started to fall asleep on the sofa. Not clever. I need to have an image and a piece of creative writing based on the image done by tomorrow and i manage to fall asleep for 2 and a half hours!!!
I have just decided to start looking through some photographs I have taken and am trying to decide on what to use and manipulate for my project..
Interestingly through doing a search through my pics, I found a photo I took during an art project last year at college. God knows wtf made me take it, but I feel it fits in with the idea of Nature/Technology lol.
iFish
First of all iTunes decided it was going to f*** up on me and delete all of my songs and playlists (65GB worth!!!) so i left it for several days and then decided the only way to recover it all was to use the magical Time Machine from Apple. Et Voila! All my music back and working, but now my 1TB hard-drive that it is all stored on has decided it's not going to co-operate :-(
Our house has been getting dial-up speeds on the internet which is not good. It feels like being back home with the poor speed... Seriously, I'm in Bournemouth. No ISP can justify giving dial-up speeds when after checking on our provider we're supposed to be able to get up to 24mb* (*speed varies according to location...) Friggin' annoying!!!
Saturday was not good. I was really ill and stayed confined to my bed all day. Not pretty... So i didn't get any work started or done or anything that day. Sunday i was a bit better but still didn't get around to any work until about 2am when i decided stupidly to start work on creating my website.. That only lasted for half an hour though when i decided it best to go to bed at 3..
Today kicked off pretty craply. I awoke with an extremely bad sore throat and loud cough that must have woken everyone in the house up.. I really didn't feel like going into uni.
Got through today and got home at 3pm, but about 4pm I started to fall asleep on the sofa. Not clever. I need to have an image and a piece of creative writing based on the image done by tomorrow and i manage to fall asleep for 2 and a half hours!!!
I have just decided to start looking through some photographs I have taken and am trying to decide on what to use and manipulate for my project..
Interestingly through doing a search through my pics, I found a photo I took during an art project last year at college. God knows wtf made me take it, but I feel it fits in with the idea of Nature/Technology lol.
iFish
Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Oh no...
Another 1 day project!!!
About the only time i am forced to motivate myself to do work.
I had all last night to make a start but yet again it's a 10am start which only gives me 5 and a half hours...
The brief is to create a branded campaign to raise awareness of ENVIRONMENTALLY-FRIENDLY WAYS OF USING TECHNOLOGY.
The client charity is named "PARADOX" and is keen to have a flexible, clear, common visual motif that can be incorporated into a variety of designs aimed at both MEN and WOMEN aged 15 to 24.
The visual materials will need to be usable on LETTERHEADS, WEBSITES, PACKAGING, POSTERS, TV ADVERTS and other promotional items...
Crikey i'd better get started!!!
1. A self-contradictory statement, which can only be true if it is false, and vice versa.
2. A counterintuitive conclusion or outcome. "It is an interesting paradox that drinking a lot of water can often make you feel thirsty.
3. A claim that two apparently contradictory ideas are true. "Not having a fashion is a fashion; that's a paradox."
Wiktionary definition for Paradox. Website. http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/paradox 28th October 2008.
Well that definition didn't help much in conjuring up ideas...
Let's take a look at some successful branding to get inspiration.
Logos collated from Interbrand Best Global 100 brands list http://www.interbrand.com/best_global_brands.aspx?langid=1000
Mik has just drawn up a mind-map on the board of stuff to think about:
He got me to look at Visual Paradox. An impossible but true image.
Examples here:
http://www.cs.princeton.edu/~chazelle/pics/escher.jpg
http://www.affordablehousinginstitute.org/blogs/us/escher_relativity_thumb_small.jpg
http://filipspagnoli.wordpress.com/2008/06/14/the-anti-democrats-paradox/
Looking at Visual Paradoxes was of no use. I think it got me more confused than i was already with this project.. I started thinking about how to create a logo that was a visual paradox, luckily as Mark saw i was struggling with ideas, he threw out some hints of stuff i could do (all of which luckily had nothing to do with visual p's).
I already had some typography on the go, trying to figure out suitable fonts for a typographic logo and i decided to try exploring more with an idea i had already started where i was integrating an image of the world in with text. The first ideas weren't really a success, i sketched out a few but the one i had started in photoshop originally turned out like this:
It looked clean but on a small scale the image of the world in the O wouldn't be visible. So i kept the font and gradient of the text and stayed with my idea of the world and developed it to this:
About the only time i am forced to motivate myself to do work.
I had all last night to make a start but yet again it's a 10am start which only gives me 5 and a half hours...
The brief is to create a branded campaign to raise awareness of ENVIRONMENTALLY-FRIENDLY WAYS OF USING TECHNOLOGY.
The client charity is named "PARADOX" and is keen to have a flexible, clear, common visual motif that can be incorporated into a variety of designs aimed at both MEN and WOMEN aged 15 to 24.
The visual materials will need to be usable on LETTERHEADS, WEBSITES, PACKAGING, POSTERS, TV ADVERTS and other promotional items...
Crikey i'd better get started!!!
PARADOX:
1. A self-contradictory statement, which can only be true if it is false, and vice versa.
2. A counterintuitive conclusion or outcome. "It is an interesting paradox that drinking a lot of water can often make you feel thirsty.
3. A claim that two apparently contradictory ideas are true. "Not having a fashion is a fashion; that's a paradox."
Wiktionary definition for Paradox. Website. http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/paradox 28th October 2008.
Well that definition didn't help much in conjuring up ideas...
Let's take a look at some successful branding to get inspiration.
Logos collated from Interbrand Best Global 100 brands list http://www.interbrand.com/best_global_brands.aspx?langid=1000
Mik has just drawn up a mind-map on the board of stuff to think about:
He got me to look at Visual Paradox. An impossible but true image.
Examples here:
http://www.cs.princeton.edu/~chazelle/pics/escher.jpg
http://www.affordablehousinginstitute.org/blogs/us/escher_relativity_thumb_small.jpg
http://filipspagnoli.wordpress.com/2008/06/14/the-anti-democrats-paradox/
Update - 14:27
Looking at Visual Paradoxes was of no use. I think it got me more confused than i was already with this project.. I started thinking about how to create a logo that was a visual paradox, luckily as Mark saw i was struggling with ideas, he threw out some hints of stuff i could do (all of which luckily had nothing to do with visual p's).
I already had some typography on the go, trying to figure out suitable fonts for a typographic logo and i decided to try exploring more with an idea i had already started where i was integrating an image of the world in with text. The first ideas weren't really a success, i sketched out a few but the one i had started in photoshop originally turned out like this:
It looked clean but on a small scale the image of the world in the O wouldn't be visible. So i kept the font and gradient of the text and stayed with my idea of the world and developed it to this:
Tuesday, 21 October 2008
Eurgh..
I am sat in W119 on a mac, "*All by myself..." with a pot of pasta i have just bought from the uni shop and can i say it truly is not very nice. I don't like pesto which i think is on this pasta, and it's a real shame cos it cost me £2.15.. I could have bought 3 or 4 loaves of bread for that!!! (It even says mayonnaise on the label, of which there is no mayonnaise..)
Ah well..
Right, well so much for replying "in a mo" to my last blog post...
This post is now to get my head in an organised state so i know what i am supposed to be doing in the next couple of days.
(Another mouthful of pasta... yuck. At least the chicken tastes good...)
Anyhoo, right.
#1. Start off visual diary by creating mind maps of terms Nature and Technology.
#2. Start random jotting of ideas... (I already have one main idea but need to get it on paper before i forget..)
#3. Research into ideas of nature and technology... Look into news articles and other articles of interest.
#4. Create mood boards
#5. Something else i'm not quite sure of at the moment..
Ah, it seems that there might be a class in this room now :-S
So much for being able to isolate myself and get on with work... I really don't want to go home!! (Yes, i finished lectures about an hour ago..)
Ah well..
Right, well so much for replying "in a mo" to my last blog post...
This post is now to get my head in an organised state so i know what i am supposed to be doing in the next couple of days.
(Another mouthful of pasta... yuck. At least the chicken tastes good...)
Anyhoo, right.
#1. Start off visual diary by creating mind maps of terms Nature and Technology.
#2. Start random jotting of ideas... (I already have one main idea but need to get it on paper before i forget..)
#3. Research into ideas of nature and technology... Look into news articles and other articles of interest.
#4. Create mood boards
#5. Something else i'm not quite sure of at the moment..
Ah, it seems that there might be a class in this room now :-S
So much for being able to isolate myself and get on with work... I really don't want to go home!! (Yes, i finished lectures about an hour ago..)
Monday, 20 October 2008
About to IMPlode...
Aaargh. So frustrated.
I need to start some major work on my visual diary but can't get inspired by anything...
Yeah i admit i have lazed a bit recently, but i have managed to get some leaflets and things from tourist info in Bournemouth on Saturday. So i can cut them up and stick pics in my book..
It's been bloody crap weather today. I should actually be using this to my advantage really though shouldn't i? Rain.. It's a natural occurrence.. Hmm... let me think about things for a bit and i'll write back in a mo.
I need to start some major work on my visual diary but can't get inspired by anything...
Yeah i admit i have lazed a bit recently, but i have managed to get some leaflets and things from tourist info in Bournemouth on Saturday. So i can cut them up and stick pics in my book..
It's been bloody crap weather today. I should actually be using this to my advantage really though shouldn't i? Rain.. It's a natural occurrence.. Hmm... let me think about things for a bit and i'll write back in a mo.
Tuesday, 14 October 2008
Finished?
Done my pic now. well it's good enough i hope.
I haven't done much but i can't really think of what else to add or alter on it. Claudia recommended that i left it as it was, and with only half an hour until hand-in i can't really do much more...
Anyhoo. Here's the Final pic:
I haven't done much but i can't really think of what else to add or alter on it. Claudia recommended that i left it as it was, and with only half an hour until hand-in i can't really do much more...
Anyhoo. Here's the Final pic:
Bit of Compositing done...
I've added a few more elements to my original starting image and adjusted various properties to get it looking as realistic as possible...
I will still need to add a blur to the rocket and probably add stars to the sky...
I will still need to add a blur to the rocket and probably add stars to the sky...
Whoop. Made A Start!
I found a picture that would work well as a base image for my composition, but i've been flicking through ideas in my head of doing, possibly, a piece kind of illustrative or graphical.
The image i have found is this one:
It works well with the idea of "Journey" because of the train rails and I also came across some planet images which has given me an idea to include space travel as the technology part...
The image i have found is this one:
It works well with the idea of "Journey" because of the train rails and I also came across some planet images which has given me an idea to include space travel as the technology part...
One Day Project. Not Exactly One Day Anymore...
Last night was one hell of a pain. I had big trouble trying to come up with ideas for the project image. I read so many people's status on Facebook about how they'd finished last night and I haven't made much progress still since last night. I'm on a bus into uni now so that I can make a start and hopefully find some sort of inspiration by the time I get there.
Haha random little info. On my way to the bus stop, about 10min ago, I had a guy pull up by me in the road and said "'ere mate, I know you're not the old bill.. Look I come from this company right (shows me a booklet) and we're selling these watches. If you buy me a drink I'll give you one brand new."
I thought do I look like a bloody mug to you? And said no and walked off. The guy drove off then.
A month in Bournemouth and I'm now a target for dealing dodgy watches to...
Posted with LifeCast
Haha random little info. On my way to the bus stop, about 10min ago, I had a guy pull up by me in the road and said "'ere mate, I know you're not the old bill.. Look I come from this company right (shows me a booklet) and we're selling these watches. If you buy me a drink I'll give you one brand new."
I thought do I look like a bloody mug to you? And said no and walked off. The guy drove off then.
A month in Bournemouth and I'm now a target for dealing dodgy watches to...
Posted with LifeCast
Monday, 13 October 2008
First One Day Project
Illustrate one or more of the following words using nature & technology as the overarching theme throughout.
- Depth
- Revolution
- Encounter
- Journey
- Element
Groups A & C meet in W112 @ 3.30pm
Finished image should be uploaded to blog ready to show at 3.30.
Improvement on 1st post
Right. The first post was a bit pointless. I needed to get something on the blog so I did just that.
It's been a bit of a slow start for me to start writing this blog as I was stupidly deciding "hmm which is better, Wordpress or Blogger? Should I write out my own php or just use a free web-based thing..?" and so basically I said "bugger it, I need to start this and I need to start this now!" just because we got given a 24hr project today and I need to post my pics here tomorrow...
So here I am blabbing on with random crap about how I finally got motivated enough to start typing on keyboard buttons to make words appear on this webbynet page.
I have been distracted the whole time whilst writing this post by videos on TEDtalks, they're relevant and very thought provoking and after 2 lectures by Claudia on introduction to visual culture on Monday mornings, I can't wait for the next lecture to come around. I'm loving the course content, what we are studying theory wise, and our first assignment task, but I NEED TO START DOING SOME BLOODY WORK NOW!!!
On the note of Monday lectures with Claudia, I really do think that students should come prepared with a bottle of water or some Benylin or get given some free on the door, because the coughing in the theatre is absolutely dreadful. Damn illnesses.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
