MX // FLUX WIREFRAMES

Flux Wireframes

Taxonomy Book

In making our taxonomy books we decided to categorize our marks by nature vs. manmade. We thought it was the best way to describe our poem being that our haiku is about this struggle between this person's  umbrella with the blowing winter rain. We liked the idea of using screw posts with a more soft paper to show this manmade with the nature. We used a french fold method, which worked out nicely with the screw posts we wanted to use.  We decided to title our book "the umbrella vs. the wind" it is this struggle between the two, but we decided to use our marks in a more playful manner. Going with a more storybook feel, making our text big and using lowercase letters to portray a children's story book. I thought about the books used to teach children shapes when they are young, and our book some what symbolizes that idea. We have marks going into the margin, and going off the page, so the marks are bold and obvious, but in most cases just using that one word to explain the mark. (plopped, rolled, stomped, ect.) I am pleased with our end product. I was nervous that the screw posts were going to be to loose, but they fit perfectly in our book. 

Final Statement

This project has been such a process. We explored so many aspects of design. Starting by using non traditional tools  to create marks, turning these marks to create a visual motif representing our haiku poem, and then taking those symbols and creating a relationship between the the three by using motion. 

windy winter rain

my big silly umbrella 

tries walking backwards 

 Beginning this entire process by picking a single poem was pretty interesting. Working in partners we chose a poem that could be read in many different ways. I took this poem in a more silly way. This struggle and awkward situation of when your umbrella decides to blow away from you or walking down the street in the gross rain with a big umbrella. My partner, David, took the poem in a more confrontational or more of the struggle between the the person and his/her umbrella. After choosing this poem we were assigned to choose objects that related to our haiku poem. We decided on objects from natural to represent the winter as well as objects such as the umbrella and shoes.  
  After we made these marks it was then when we had to try to create thumbnails that were drawn previously relating to our poem. This was probably one of the most difficult steps. Trying to find certain shapes in a mass of marks and digging through them like a scavenger hunt. Then taking an analog method to create our motifs and scanning them in. i really liked my end product of my motifs. I also learned that even when having something good, doesn't mean it always works. I created two different little "men" with their umbrella for my haiku, in which one was very beautiful, but that didn't go with this quirkiness of my haiku. I ended up going with a short little man as I refer to him, with shorter legs and kind of crazy arms and a big umbrella. This motif represented my poem best and went with my other motifs most successfully. 
  Little did I know that these motifs would be turning into a motion graphic. Using Flash was the most challenging part for me. I get frustrated when I know nothing about something and having specific ways putting the motifs together made the task even harder. I discovered that Flash is one of the those programs were you must just sit down and work on it and work on it, down the road I figured things out. I got a lot of help from my classmates (which I am very thankful for!) and I conquered a difficult task for myself. I appreciate my final video that much more now.
  This project really embodied once again all of the process and outcomes a designer can obtain with just one idea. Taking this one poem and turning it into a motion video and creating a book out of all of our marks. I think it was a good project that embodied all of what we have learned so far this year from our other projects. Using our visual communication knowledge to create a visually pleasing and interesting sequence of shapes to tell a story. 

Motif Animation

?
(i am still going to continue to upload my animation, hopefully it works soon!)

This leaves the shadows behind... which should not be there! But this is my motif animation. I hope the SWF file I leave (Jamie) has the text in the correct typeface! It is correct on here hopefully, so I am sorry if that happens again. I don't know what happened or where the problem was. I unfortunately found music to include with my animation, but itunes would not allow... the song I found was a jazz song, to put off the feeling of this playfulness. Having the rain and umbrella in this that  situation sounded like a bit of a fast paced jazz song to me. A song called I'll Remember April  I found, I think would have worked out well!

Linear Development

A more critical critique...

Choosing my Dot Book to critique is not really something I wanted to do, but I know it is good to go back and learn from your mistakes. I believe this has probably been my least successful project in VisCom this semester. I was really just unhappy with the finished product. I wish that the craft would have been better. I know that the potential was there, but it didn't come across that way. It is also just upsetting when you work so hard on a product and one thing can ruin it all. The binding and cover are the first things a viewer sees and those are the worst parts. I know that some of my imagery could have been better as well, but I did like my overall concept. It challenged me and yet I still had the freedom to be really creative and "me" in my imagery.

I liked my title, but the way I constructed my cover

 did not work with wire-o binding.  

Semester Reflection

   I can't even begin to start to explain the things that I have learned this semester. I feel as if I have been designing for a year already just by the things I have learned and all of the information and knowledge I have gained. Even though this semester seems like it flew by,  I think there a key parts to each project for me that will stick with me. I decided to discuss each project, I think this should help to organize my thoughts better.
   In our first project, the Dot Book, I took away that even with the most simple shape, such as a circle, you can communicate almost any emotion or word if really work at it. With this being my first big project as a designer, I was really excited that the end product was going to be a book. I also was thankful for the simpleness, being new to design. Little did I know how the placement of dots could reveal an entire story. I quickly learned the idea of communication visually, as well as all of the communication as a class and with my teachers which was something pretty new for me. The teacher and class critiques on every single step of the project was a process that helped me work through this project.  The word iteration also stuck with me throughout this project.  I know that the first 4-5 ideas or thumbnails might not be the final product. As I know and often hear, graphic design is always changing and so is the process of creating a design.

     The Kansas City posters were our second project, and I was honestly really nervous about this project. With the final project being a poster. Creating something poster like was unknown territory for me. The process was very similar to our dot book project, but the concept of juxtaposition was key for these posters. I liked how involving so many different processes came together to create a single product. A photograph, a line study, and typography coming together to make a clean and thoughtful poster. I would say the two things from this project that will stick with me would be digital craft, and that not everything can be created on the computer! Beautiful lines, and shapes are all around us and I will keep this in mind as I continue my work. Jamie also pushed my digital craft, especially on my Downtown poster with the skyline. Individually going over each line of my line study with the pen tool to have the line be smooth and flow together. I was really proud of my end product and what I accomplished. I was happy that my concept stuck throughout the critiques and over time just became more clear and clean(digital craft).

    The motif project was all of the visual communication that we have learned so far coming together. Creating shapes out of analog method combined with text and in the end creating a flash video out of our motifs to portray our haiku poem. whew! I think this project taught me all of the things that you can do to communicate an idea or story. Once again using an analog method to create our project. Taking our analog marks and using them digitally. I think this is a good outlet for me. I have yet to master creating everything on the computer, but I know how to use paint, scissors, glue, objects, and a scanner to get a product. I love how that is a part of design that I don't think many people realize. To be able to incorporate these methods that have nothing to do with a computer. Combining type and digital methods, I get the best of both worlds!

    The knowledge I will carry to next semester, is probably everything I have learned this semester! I feel like I kind of started from "scratch" but I do think it is amazing the things I am beginning to understand and learn everyday.  I really appreciate the professionalism I have learned this year and how to incorporate that into my work as well. The passion that Jamie, Marty, and Kelly have has definitely rubbed off on me.
Thank you! 

Vector Motifs

These are my motifs in vector form. I still kept as much detail as I could since my shapes have a very ruff hand made feel. It makes the forms seem more uniform so they look like one complete shape once vectored.

Motifs: Before and After

[before]

-we discussed that my figure's body still is too big for the umbrella. Since the poem says my big umbrella I changed the size of the person to be smaller or about the same size of the umbrella so that the proportions make more sense. I also trimmed his arm down which looks much better, and it even looks like he has some fingers now. I also cut down the umbrella handle a bit so that it doesn't look so much like my wind motif. I also flipped the whole image because of the direction the wind motif. It looks as if it is blowing to the right so keeping motion in mind the wind would be sweeping up under the umbrella blowing it to the right.

[after ]

__________________________________________________________

[before]

For this motif I changed the placement of the text and made the footprints more wonky and random then they were before. I moved the text to the bottom as well, which helps lead eye up the foot prints. I made the top foot prints small to show more direction and create depth.

[after]

__________________________________________________________

[before]

 I made my wind motif a bit larger  and moved the text to the bottom as well.

[after]

Time and Motion: reading response

pgs 215-231 from Lupton's Graphic Design the New Basics


In this passage about time and motion, Lupton explains that even still image has implied motion. Designers must think like typographers, animators, painters, and filmmakers. Motion takes on so many new elements rather then just a static image. Color, the frame, movements of the images, typefaces, and more must all be working together. Time based media is a whole new genre that designers must conquer and be thinking as a painter or animator all at the same time to achieve the appropriate results. Graphic designers often use implied motion. Implied motion takes on the sense of movement and really just a static image on a page, but by placing it off the page or cropped and slanted implies movement. A lot of photography takes on the implied movement in showing either a still shot of the subject in stopped in time or the aftermath of their movement produces a blurriness that represent time on a two-dimensional surface. In an animation basis using color and image in sequences show movement in time. Storyboards are the way designers must go about organizing every aspect of a piece. This helps visually communicate the overall idea before production and portrays the story line. Storyboards also suggest the main changes in motion and can be a place to write notes and visualize the overall idea of the images. I think motion based design can be very beautiful as well as very informative. It is another way to relay a message to the audience. Video can be very interactive and attention grabbing.

Taxonomy: Nature vs. Man Made

The Urge to Make Things

This writing by Leo Lionni was really interesting. His detailed take on just creating things made me think of how with this action we sometimes take for granted, it is much more complex then I realized. It reminded me of my first semester in foundations last year. Many of our painting projects had to be made without the use of planing or thinking. The goal being to just let the movement of your hand take over. Lionni says, "the irresistible urge to make things" which I think any artist can relate to. Even in the summer when I am not in school, I need to be creating things. Even if it is something small I have to be making something, getting the ideas onto the page or making an the artifact. He describes that the happiest, most fulfilling moment of the entire creative process are the moments of inspiration. This is probably the best description I have read of that feeling, that moment I or any creator gets when the idea and inspiration pop into your mind. The feeling that something is working or that exact moment of inspiration. This probably relates best to our mark making with the objects. Not really putting to much thought into it. Just trying to get the mark on the page and creating new ways to do so with the object. Lionni talks about textures of objects and the tactlessness of them. Even trying to get the objects texture onto the page so you can feel it and imagine it on the page. It is not about the content it is more about the feeling and holding the object. I think with our project for the final artifact I want to make that concept that part of it. To have the viewer or subject holding your object and not only being focussed on the content, but the feeling of the paper and marks on the paper. Getting the entire experience of what you created. 

Skylab Field Trip

Today we ventured to  Skylab Letterpress and it was a great experience. Being able to see everything up  close and really experience how such beautiful things are made was really interesting. I like how even being a designer I will still hopefully in the future get to work with a letterpress. The paper, ink, letterpresses, and design are wonderful along with the owner Bob Atkins. We got the chance to collect some of their gang sheets, misprints, and work for other businesses. The physicality of a business card or invitation is the greatest part of letterpress. Bob explained that the physical touch is what is so moving about having something letter-pressed, being able to feel the relief of the letters and the quality of the paper and its texture. It makes me want to design something just so I can get it letterpressed! 

Haikus

-Looking for Haikus was pretty interesting. I looked on the internet as my prime source, and David looked in books as well. We both had our own selections and from there we decided on the two. We also knew that we would just have to choose and make a decision because you can look and look all day. We did try and pick two poems that had good imagery which would help in finding objects and in creating our thumbnails. We chose two very different haikus, but they both take place in a cold winter setting.The first one is more serious and more creepy, but the second one has more humor and is still describing a harsh action. To make our word lists we produced mind maps and then read our words aloud which gave more ideas and words. In coming up with objects we came up with  conceptual ideas along with literal ideas as well. 

Empty trees, bare bones     
Dancing skeletons caper

Hear the howling wind.

frigid 

white 

winter

bare

gone 

blank

stark 

gust

movement 

blowing 

rush

push

noisy

howling 

loud 

shaking 

hard 

bone 

strange

eerie

clean 

blank

creepy 

desolate 

barren

scarce 

lonely 

needles 

pine cones 

leaves 

autumn

growth

support

structure 

rain

frolic 

Object Ideas: bones, twigs, branches, mini wolf/dog, skeleton, leaves, windmills, music, ear

windy winter rain

my silly big umbrella 

tries walking backward 

blowing

harsh

noisy

regressive

backward

rewind 

difficult 

mayhem 

turmoil

chaos

confusion 

mess

disarray

big 

wide

awkward 

silly 

tangled

protector 

shield 

guard 

silly 

pierce 

uncomfortable 

harsh

cold 

winter

rain

drenched 

soaking 

sting 

wet 

pain

shelter

monumental 

open

reverse 

friction 

conflict 

steps 

movement 

force 

failure 

funny 

laughter

embarrassment 

frazzled 

confounded 

scattered 

frustration 

disappointment 

objects: windmill, umbrella (cocktail),  shoes, arrows (direction), map, pins/needles, glove, winter wear

Juxtapositions: Final 6

1.

photograph and projected random line study

2.

scanned regularity line study and photograph

3.

random simple line study and photograph

4.

projected complex line study and photograph

5.

random complex line study and photograph

6. 

photograph and scanned complex line study

Project 2: Line Process/ Evaluation of Posters

01) Basic Line: We first started with basic line studies reflecting the progression, regularity, and randomness. My line study above represents progression, but a progression that starts from the center.
02) Complex Line: With this complex line study I overlapped two basic line studies of progression resulting in another progressive complex line study. 
03) During the manipulation phase we experimented with scanning, projecting, and copying our line studies from the first two phases. This is line study is scanned. We could control the movement as we dragged it along the scanner light and it produced this amazing grid look of gradient. This reminded me of the lights of a skyline at night. The lights fade into the black sky above. 
04-05) I took this photograph of Downtown KC at night, and really made the blacks black to go with the with the line manipulation. I focussed in on the scanned image which reflected the buildings in the photograph and the windows of the buildings. 
06) For the final poster, and after many iterations, I broke the image and the scanned line study up into columns. I really wanted the whole photograph to be seen so that it was obvious that it was a skyline. I like how when looking at the poster with the line study and photograph together you see a skyline, not just the line study or photograph. I have to look at the poster for a while to realize that there are random blocks of white line mixed in with the photograph.
(poster 1)                                   (poster 2)

Evaluation of Posters: 
I believe that my posters reflect the Downtown area in their own way.  (poster 1) The overall black poster has a lot of movement with in photograph and the curvature of the line study. This movement activates the composition and reflects the night life of the downtown area and all of the bustling around of the people and cars. Although the line study and the skyline reflect the night and beauty of the city, the large black space that takes over the majority of this poster creates a rich calming affect. With all of the space, it seems as if you are standing where I was looking at the skyline, it feels as if the sky is still present in the poster. The bold type of Futura shows the modern look and the strength of the buildings as well as the downtown's boldness. I learned a lot about Photoshop and Illustrator through this process. My skills have improved in these programs from where the were before. I did most of my work in photoshop, but for the line study in the skyline poster I had to use the pen tool and live trace to make the line study smooth and to connect all of the white blocks together. 
(poster 2) In this poster the photograph is the KC Star production building and a random complex line study. That building is probably one of my favorite buildings in downtown. It is large, bold, and has so many line and different view points I thought it portrayed many of my line studies perfectly. With the building being glass you are able to see all of the stairs, railings, posts, presses, and rolls inside.  The overall building is a simple shape, but once you see inside it is a great big random line study! This building represents a part of media and the communication of the KC area. With this photograph and line study already being so busy it was difficult at first to break up the space by still showing the line study and representing the picture. All of the lines have an overlapping look which is what inspired me to create another layered look. I tried many different places for my text. I think this is the best place for my text. It aligns with the strips so it looks as if it is part of the strip above it. It fits right in and in other locations in the composition it looked as if it were floating or it was out of alignment with a strip just enough to look awkward. I also how it is in the bottom of the poster which enhances the downtown aspect, but also with the other poster the texts create asymmetry. I also like the black space and white space the two produce when next to each other. The positive and negative affect of the posters and the text tie them together. I am very satisfied with my two end products. I have learned so much as far as alignment with text and line, programs, color, juxtapositions, and seeing line and shape with a designers eye. It is very satisfying to know that all of that knowledge will carry directly on to the projects to come. 

Paula Scher Video Response

my KC poster

Listening to Scher talk about New York City reminded me of my thoughts of KC when creating my posters. Her type and designs reflect the city perfectly. The posters and typography she creates are tall, loud, busy, layered, and her variation of scale showcase the city. She says that NYC is a place where all these neighborhoods and people are combined together and they provide her inspiration.  Kansas City consists of many neighborhoods as well, each one somewhat different from the other. She also explains how the city is like a grid system and her type is produced like the grids she sees. Her words and letters come out tall and dense like the buildings. The letters are bold and loud possibly like the cab drivers music or someone yelling on the street, and the many opinions that are circulating throughout the public. She also mentions that city is always changing. I think that sums many things up. Change relating to our KC posters in that this whole process has been in constant change. Each critique from our line studies to the posters, one thing adding on to another to make something different. That is one of the best parts of being a design in that we must keep up with all of the changes going on around us. The design changes with the culture and society. Also, like NYC I think KC is very different with the people and cultures, but in terms of buildings and certain locations, such as downtown, they can be very similar. I think my posters show KC how I see it just as Scher sees NY through her eyes.  I have a poster of the skyline taken at night, with a lot of black negative space which I think can be read in different ways. It can be more calming because of the empty space, but then with the images at the bottom it could be read as very busy with a lot of movement which represents the nightlife. The text is in bold as well, but thin at the same time to coincide with the buildings and the boldness of the city. Scher's explanations of her inspiration and thought processes reminded me of the work we have been doing with this line project.