Friday, April 29, 2011

Journal Entry 5/2


David Carson: David did not have formal training, and he designed magazines spreads. He designed them based on what felt right for him. He stated that it is important to pull from your personality. I really enjoyed all of the visuals that were shown. I responded to the variety of each piece. Each page that was in a magazine he made was a piece of art.



Milton Glaser:
Milton says that none of us have the ability to understand our lives or path until it's over. Design and art has a pacifying function in our culture, it creates a commonality between two people. He says in cultures where people exchange gifts, this passing on of gifts is a device in order to prevent everyone from killing each other. Milton says he teaches because it makes him feel good and helps him clarify his own objectives. It is exciting for him to see someone change and learn because of something that he has said. He goes on to say that Graphic design and social commentary correspond. Designers have the ability to transfer great ideas, that will cause no harm, to people all around you. I really responded to when he talked about doing things that affect my time, neighborhood, city, country, and the world. I also responded to when he talked about someone's later life. He says if one can sustain their interest in their profession then you are a lucky person. Some people loose interest in what they do and loose their "capacity for astonishment". The world is a very astonishing place and Milton says he is still astonished. He is very thankful for this.




Mark Romanek

He says when you are making a music video, you are creating a fake moment that you need people to believe. You are forced to think about every single detail. He says he plans his videos very little so the process of editing becomes a sort of journey and so he doesn't get hung up certain things. The most important thing is to emotionally engage the audience. It doesn't matter how beautiful the shot is, if it's a cold shot, it's got to go.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Journal Entry 4/18

While I was looking at the Good website, I noticed that many of their information graphics and videos were about bettering the world, or shocking information that may cause someone to want to help the world. They took public news and information and are presenting it in a visually appealing and sometimes humorous way.

Their website says that "GOOD is the integrated media platform for people who want to live well and do good. We are a company and community for the people, businesses, and NGOs moving the world forward. GOOD's mission is to provide content, experiences, and utilities to serve this community."

I watched The Incredible, Preventable Cost of Malaria. This video provided me with a ton of facts and information about the disease, but in just a few minutes. They presented the sad truth about malaria, but then explained how the disease can be prevented. I can tell that good wants to make an impact with everything they put on their site. Every video, information graphic, and article is packed full of meaning.

Good gives people a chance to get involved with projects and competitions, including doodling and photo competitions, and even one where you can your ideas about how to spread the word about the importance of vaccines or what to do with abandoned school buildings.

I really like this aspect of their website. I think it is fun to include and involve their audience. There are many creative and intelligent people who have a place to apply their skills to a good cause. They are using the power of the internet to spread their message to a huge audience. I really enjoyed looking at this website because they are a creative site that is helping the world in small ways.

"Good is for people who give a damn."

Clever Ads






Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Gloria Steinem's Address to the Women of America




For my Typography class, our next project is to choose a speech from the 20th Century. With the audio of the speech I have chosen, I will be creating a typographic expression/visual of the speech. I chose Gloria Steinem's Address to the Women of America.


Who is speaking?


Gloria Steinem, an American feminist, journalist and social and political activist

Why was/is the speech important to society?

This speech addresses the equality of women and other races, and questions the fairness of some things in America. This speech was given at the height of the Women’s Movement.

Why do you feel in is important or interesting?

I think it is interesting because the speech was made during a critical time in Women’s Rights. This speech is relevant today because of the movements and everything going on with trying to stop Planned Parenthood.

What is the emotion, mood, tone, personality, feeling of the speech?


This speech is powerful and strong, as well as hopeful and courageous. It is not a sad speech, but rather one that is empowering other women and minorities.

What is intonation, emphasis, what is loud, stressed, or soft. Where are there pauses...

There is an emphasis on many powerful words, and there are also many pauses in between phrases and sentences. She stays strong and powerful through the whole speech, and never softens her voice.

What do you FEEL should be loud or soft, long pause or ruhed?

She rushes a few words together, but most of her phrases are steady.

Is there a call to action? When listening to it what are key/emphasized words?
The words/phrases “revolution,” superior and inferior groups,” “chosen” “earned” and “humanism” are all emphasized. While there isn’t and call to action directly stated here, there is a general feeling that Gloria is hoping will grab peoples attention and make a difference.

How does it make you feel?

It is nice to hear a woman speak about fairness and humanism in the world. It is a positive speech that is powerful.

How do imagine that the audience felt?

I can imagine the audience felt like they should support the Womens movement and really try to make a difference. Because most prominent figures during this time were men, I'm sure most women were thrilled to be hearing powerful words from a women.

Could there be another interpretation of the speech?

For someone who didn’t believe in Women’s rights, another interpretation of this speech could be that it is negative and useless.

Write/find a short bio, of the person giving the speech.


Gloria Marie Steinem (born March 25, 1934) is an American feminist, journalist, and social and political activist who became nationally recognized as a leader of, and media spokeswoman for, the women's liberation movement in the late 1960s and 1970s. A prominent writer and political figure, Steinem has founded many organizations and projects and has been the recipient of many awards and honors. She was a columnist for New York magazine and co-founded Ms. magazine. In 1969, she published an article, "After Black Power, Women's Liberation" which, along with her early support of abortion rights, catapulted her to national fame as a feminist leader. In 2005, Steinem worked alongside Jane Fonda and Robin Morgan to co-found the Women's Media Center, an organization that works to amplify the voices of women in the media through advocacy, media and leadership training, and the creation of original content. Steinem currently serves on the board of the organization. She continues to involve herself in politics and media affairs as a commentator, writer, lecturer, and organizer, campaigning for candidates and reforms and publishing books and articles.


The Speech:



This is no simple reform. It really is a revolution. Sex and race because they are easy and visible differences have been the primary ways of organizing human beings into superior and inferior groups and into the cheap labour in which this system still depends. We are talking about a society in which there will be no roles other than those chosen or those earned. We are really talking about humanism.

Journal Entry 4/11

SCHOOL OF VISUAL ARTS VIDEO LECTURE WITH JACOB TROLLBACK




Motion graphics designer Jakob Trollback started out as a DJ. He eventually started the company Trollback + Company. In this video I watched, he talked to a group ofs students about his personal views regarding design, and how to be a better designer. Designing is about storytelling and understanding when something is right. Working in certain ways has forced him to figure out why he thinks certain things are right or wrong. Being a completely self taught designer, he has made a name int he design world. All personal discoveries involve personal thinking. While he was re branding the Discovery Channel, he focused on finding the right feel that suited the personality of the company.

I really enjoyed this video. I thought it was interesting to see his personal philosophies and thoughts about design and I agreed with some of the things he said.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Journal Entry 4/4



TYPE MEANS NEVER HAVING TO SAY YOU'RE SORRY
BY JESSICA HELFAND

While participating in a student portfolio review, Jessica Helfand found something had gone wrong how things were being taught. She notice book upon book was being set in Futura.


Paul Renner released Futura in 1928 and he was inspired by geometric and streamlined shapes. "Futura was important for a number of reasons: arguably the first sans-serif font to be widely distributed, it has since its inception influenced countless other typefaces and remains, to some, the epitome of modern design."

Futura today remains a typeface of its era: smooth and sleek, round and uncompromising.

I learned from this article that I really need to pay attention to WHY I choose typefaces. I shouldn't pick a typeface just because I like it. I need to take into consideration how it reads, the organization of it, size, etc.

Helfand says, "True, we live in a multi-cultural, aesthetically pluralistic world now —one where the form-to-content relationships aren't so easily identified, let alone made visually manifest." This is so true because most people now just choose something that looks good, and hardly consider it's application and meaning.

I think that DIN would be a good alternative because it is a sans serif font that seems to be based on geometric shapes.

_________________________________________________

13 WAYS OF LOOKING AT A TYPEFACE
BY MICHAEL BIERUT

For years of his career, Bierut worked for Massimo Vignelli, a designer who is legendary for using a very limited number of typefaces. Most of Bieruts projects were set in five fonts: Helvetica, Futura, Garamond No. 3, Century Expanded, and Bodoni. It truly was a time-saver.

Massimo said, "Out of thousands of typefaces, all we need are a few basic ones, and trash the rest." Michael didn't understand why someone would need to waste hours choosing a font, and his Catholic school upbringing must have well prepared me for this kind of moral clarity. I accepted it gratefully.

After he left his job with Massimo, he went crazy with his fonts. He used 36 fonts on 16 pages.

"She [his wife] remembered classmates who had switched to public school after eight years under the nuns: freed at last from demure plaid uniforms, they wore the shortest skirts they could find. "Jesus," she said, looking at one of my multiple font demolition derbies. "You've become a real slut, haven't you?"

Bierut gives us 13 reasons to choose a typeface:

1. Because it works.



2. Because you like its history.



3. Because you like its name.


4. Because of who designed it.


5. Because it was there.


6. Because they made you.


7. Because it reminds you of something.


8. Because it is beautiful.


9. Because it's ugly.

10. Because it's boring.

11. Because it's special.


12. Because you believe in it.

13. Because you can't not.