Composition: Critical Reflection Section 3

Clarity

 I think that literal, stylistic and thematic messages are all presented in the piece. If you look at my thought process in my narratives, you can see what makes the words literal, what makes the words stylistic (my additions and alterations) and what makes them thematic. Each piece of the typographical conveyance activity is working toward appealing the the audience. Getting them to feel how I feel, or even if it's something different that's fine as well, as long as my piece is moving in some way, shape or form I think I did my job. For example in my "lightly" piece, once I took a step back I truly felt more calm and peaceful. The colors, texture, design, and more all worked together to achieve something appealing that internally allowed me to feel an emotion. There is alwys possibility of misinterpretation of any one's piece because everyone thinks and feels differently. Something that I like and is creative to me, may be boring and unoriginal to someone else. I can only do my best to what feels right to me, and hope that majority of who sees my work is overall pleased with it. I think I did a good job of balancing the attention. I don't think I have more than one message in any of my pieces. I think my impact is at the perfect amount. Of course, I'm sure there could be changes but I like the way each piece makes an impact. Some pieces like the "atom", "lightly" and "pillow" are all very creative and at the same time reflect a simple message, while other pieces like "brick" and "xxl" are on the more simplistic side. Overall I think I did a nice job balancing the weight and message of all of the pieces to make sure that the whole is just right for the viewer to look at.

Audience

The target viewer for this piece I think is my classmates and professor obviously, and then also people who like to view different styles of artwork. People who like to compare and contrast and be imaginative would like my artwork. There are many visual tastes working together with this graphic; some simple, some complex, some with lots of variety and some with little variety. I have a spectrum of tastes covered in this piece. In order to be sure of my conclusions I can have others review my work and tell me how they interpret it and get outside perspectives. I think the tone of my overall typographical conveyance piece should be open-minded. I want people to see my thought process and my work, and then come to their own conclusions. I think I did that with my work, I made sure to be detailed, but also leave room for someone else to get creative and say "I like that, but what would I do?" I think people would respond to everyday lingo, which is what I've used throughout my entire blog and this piece. If it was too art-driven that would limit my audience, but the point of this class is to show I've learned something so I do have some art lingo in here as well. People always prefer colors that stand out and grab your attention more than they prefer soft colors but it also depends on the mood of the person and the mood the piece is trying to convey. For "lightly" i used light colors because that's what the emotion called for, but for "brick" I used a darker color because of the mood I was trying to convey. I do not think the concept of this piece talks down to my target audience at all. I think I explained what I know, and how I know it, and gave people a basis of how to understand my personality and my own thoughts. This piece can provide insight and explanation for those that desire to know,  and color and creativity for those who desire to look and feel. I think this design stands apart to some extent because it's my own interpretation. I also know that a lot of people have the same thought process sometimes, so ideas can overlap but overall the way this piece was put together is 100% original for the audience to explore. If this piece were a person it would behave collectively because at the end of the project it all comes together to achieve one goal, it would be a colorful person with their own style and individuality because that's what this piece represents to me, and it would be fun-loving because this piece adds enough creativity to pop and stand out. I think the target audience would really like this person. Everyone wants to know someone different, and get another perspective, that's how we grow off of one another!

Purpose

This piece is supposed to reflect my understanding of most of what I've learned this year. How does color work and effect a piece? How does font change the feeling? How does style and texture and design alter an emotion? All of these things I considered when doing this activity. This is not meant to sell a product, it's meant to sell me. I am promoting myself and my individuality and my education of what I've learned this year. This piece has been adequately narrowed so that it can be given as much attention and power as it deserves. It draws a broad audience and touches a lot of different emotions, and also is aimed at the people in my class who can compare and contrast with me as to what makes my piece good and bad, compared to others. 

Overall, this piece was one of the most difficult but also one that I learned the most from. I know a lot more than I think I do, and even though I may not be the best with computers or programs yet, I am constantly improving and learning to challenge myself. I think from the beginning of the year to now I have come a long way and am very impressed and inspired by my own progress.

Composition: Typographical Conveyence

Activity 17: Typographical Conveyence (Putting it all together!)

For this section we were asked to put all of our knowledge from the semester to complete this final activity. We were given 6 words. With those 6 words we had to alter the font, lettering, shape, color, etc to best convey what the word means. I used PhotoShop to do all my work. Here is what I came up with:

This was a hard word for me to identify with because I have not shred anything in a long time. 

For the word "shred" I chose to keep the color black. It was easier to see the white when I was attempting to look like I was "cutting up the words." Shred makes me think of something messy, or discombobulated and that is why the shredding of the words looks crooked and a muck. The scissors were made bigger than the word to show that "shredding" is a bad thing. The scissors are a scare tactic that they are larger than the word. They are doing damage. I chose a font that would be easy to adjust to show off the changes I made. A serif font appealed to me more than a sans serif because I like the punch to the letters with the feet. If the letters were smooth it would have taken away from the aesthetics I think.

When I think of XXL I think of the logo on a tshirt. I didn't know quite how to go by describing that other than first of all, doing the obvious and making the word just as big as it's definition. I used black because typically logo's are black, and black is a daunting color; much like things that are extra extra large. I used serif font again because it helped punctuate the feel of the words. Bigger than big means business and that's what I was going for; larger than life feel. 

I changed the color to a deep mahogony/red to show off the connotation of the word. Bricks are typically a deep red color so that's what immediately came to my mind. I then chose a font that would show off my design of the word. I used the Photoshop manipulator tools to change the display of the word to look like a pattern of bricks. I spaced the individual letters out to give it more of an effect. I used a sans serif font because I thought it would help to display the brick pattern better than a serif font would. It almost looks like I cut these letters out of a brick wall and that makes me proud of my work. 

When I think of atoms I think of a lot of things. The word has a scientific feel to it so I chose a font that I thought one would find on scientific readings or diagrams. Something with structure but also with interest to the audience. I took the atom symbol from Photoshop and used it to form the "O" of the word which I think really makes the word come to life. I spaced out the letters in this one too so the audience could get a "structured" vibe. The letters closer together didn't have the same effect. I added red because when I think of something scientific I think of the colors black and red, serious and studious, but eye catching as well. I think I did a very good job giving off the feel of this word.

Lightly is always a fun word to get creative with. I chose a font that would display elegance and gracefulness. When I think of objects that are light I immediately thought of clouds. This is why I have a picture of a sun, to balance off the word "floating" behind it. I shifted the word up to add the effect of being in the sky. I also used the texture tools in Photoshop to change the texture of the word to look like a light breeze was blowing through the peaceful "clouds."  I changed the color obviously to a serene blue that would reflect clouds or a breeze. I think everything I did for this word pulls the meaning together in an aesthetically pleasing way.

This word I also had some difficult with, but am almost the most pleased with this word as well because of my perseverance. It's always hard to graphically depict the word "pillow". When I think of pillow I think soft, fluffy, maybe a bed, or laying down. I took a picture of a square and used tools in Photoshop to bend the square into a more "fluffy" look. I changed the colors to something you would maybe see on a bedspread. I used a font that was soft, and comfy in a way (the sans serif had that effect to me). I then layered the word on top of the pillow to look like it was laying down. This was the toughest word but the most fun for me to discover how creative I could get!

Composition: Critical Reflection Section 2

Connotation

Overall, I am very pleased with my work on this blog.It's one thing to evaluate your own work so I will try to stayed as unbiased as I can be. My themes and visual components all tie in very well together, I think. For instance, on the color echo activity I demonstrated a great job of matching theme with visual aspects. I chose the most important parts of the lips and used them as inspiration for a multi-colored backdrop. In order to evaluate if there is a thematic pattern one needs to establish what that is. I would say my wholistic theme is creativity, and appeasement to the eye. And as a whole, my blog uses every sub-component: fonts, textures, pictures, drawings, words, colors, etc to accomplish the goal of creativity and sensory pleasure. Some, more than others; for example the Emotional Design did an extremely good job of using a bunch of sub-components to complete the final effect. I think this theme is accurate in that it is not too specific or too broad. We do so many projects in class it's hard to find a narrow goal. You can be more creative when you think in broader terms. I don't think my blog needs to adjust a lot of it's components. As a whole it accurately depicts what I want it to depict. I want my work to speak for itself (with help from the text), and if it can't do that than i didn't do my job.I show my logo's, etc on my work to guide others in what they should be looking at or evaluating so I think I am right on track.

Attributes

As of this point in my work, I am very satisfied with the visual weight, colors I use, structures, and presentational style. It reflects enough of my character that one can not only discover my creativity, but can discover a bit about me as well. In the entirety of my blog, the background fits with the elements on my page. In specific instances like in the color echo or the emotional design, or even the hue and saturation to which there was no backdrop other than the one provided for my blog, I present good judgment with aesthetics. The backdrops are enough that they give my designs a point, but at the same time it brings everything together to present the importance of my designs. Color options have definitely been explored, especially in the case of the hue and saturation activity. The color scheme of each of my elements seems to always even out in my total blog, so as of now I don't want to change my work. I'm happy with the message they each convey alone and together. Texts are large enough, activities are appropriately intended for specific audiences, and the color of my type brings a homey, warm feeling to my blog. I wouldn't want to change fonts unless it was for the font activity. The same font is soft enough to be easy to the audience to see, but also hard enough that people want to read what is written. 

Placement

If my elements ever needed to be drawn attention to I make sure I draw attention to them. When I have multiple photos for an activity I switch between left and right layout so it keeps the eye moving. Middle I found to be too consistent and boring last evaluation. If I'm unsure as to whether the audience will catch the importance of something I reiterate it by typing it in my text, or drastically alter that part of the picture. In any case, what's needs attention gets it in my blog. I like the spacing between my work because one piece and it's text shouldn't be grouped with another piece and that text; the flow wouldn't amount to the way I have set it up. I alter, crop, rotate, etc whatever elements I need in order to make it appealing. I normally place my headings in the center and then stem from there. A little repetition can be good, but a change of pace can make things exciting and stimulating. Placement is what I have worked on most this section. I am very happy with the way it has turned out.

The CAPs questions  keep me on my toes when evaluating my blog. They make me take one more step further back and really be honest with myself. With this help, I have been able to improve since the beginning of the semester and that means the world to me. I came into this class dreading my uncreative brain and worrying that I would fail. I have come to a place now where I am confident that I can accomplish anything, and I look forward to coming to class everyday to try new things. 

Compositon: Combing Fonts and Images

Activity 16: Combining Fonts and Images

For this activity we were asked to put all of our knowledge of fonts and imaging together. We worked in Photoshop to create a logo with our own fonts and an image from the "custom shape" tool.

I chose the crest image which inspired my company logo. I used a font that was scripted and smooth which reminded me of royal handwriting. The word royal inspired my idea for the use of purple in the image because purple can invoke a royal feeling. Because of my good use of color and font I would definitely stop in this shop to look for my furniture. I would assume when I walked in to be treated like royalty. Who wouldn't want to feel like that!?

Composition: Word Portraits

Activity 15: Word Portraits

The point of this activity was to demonstrate the way one can amplify words mean more than just letters on a page. We were asked to pick 2 fonts that we could accurately describe by altering the words in any way we could. Then we were asked to pick 2 fonts that we would contradict by altering them. I altered my fonts through PowerPoint.

Descriptor words:

The font I chose for this is called "American Typewriter". I think my words describe this word very well. When I think of typewriters, I think back to the old days when people spent hours in front of that big machine trying to type 4 sentences because one wrong letter and you had to start from the beginning. People had to learn to be very articulate early on so they spent less time messing up and more time getting their work done. This why I decided to use studious. The brains that went into using a typewriter must have been much more advanced than now when the computer pretty much thinks for you. I used the descriptor historical because technology has become so advanced that typewriters do seem ancient at this point. I like the font color the way it was. It's classic, which is what I was trying to capture with this word. Also, I underlined studious because that was the main point I wanted people to pay attention to, and if I didn't change the color, I had to get people's attention somehow. I put a period at the end just for nostalgia. When I think of historical writing I think of how many more periods were used back then.

This font is called "Chalkduster". It obviously explains why I used the word childish to describe it. Chalk and kids go hand in hand. I used a light, fun color to emphasize the youth of this word. I picked a lighter color because it also seemed to resemble that of a crayon outline, which only helps to emphasize more the description to this font.

Contradictory words:

This font is called "Brush Script std". This font reminds me of elements like: graceful, elegant, calm; almost like a ballet dance. This is why I chose to contradict it with Abrupt. Abrupt is harsh, unfriendly; everything that elegance is not. I also kept this black because black is a very standout color when it's against light backgrounds.

This last font is called " Cracked". The title of the font may make sense with my word choice, but the explanations of why I chose this word to describe it will make sense in a minute also. When someone says they have OCD, they are sometimes saying they are extremely neat, or that they have to do routines in a certain way; extremely organized. So when I use this chopped up font that doesn't connect to make the letter a full letter, or  is this lavish red color, and the spacing and word size are not equal; this describes everything that is not clean, neat, or crazy orgaized. Hence why my word is contradictory to the "cracked" font.

Composition: Emotional Design

This activity was done to see how creative we could be with our emotional appeals. We were asked to take an ordinary object, and construct an emotion out of it by altering it in any way we felt fit. My partner Michelle and I, took an every day lava lamp from Google Images.

We picked the emotion happiness, which evolved into a sort of psychadelic happy. We targeted an audience of young adult/college students because they would be the most likely to use this object. Since we fall within that group it was easy for us to pick out the things that 12-25 year olds appreciate. Color, imagination, abstract ideas; so we went from there.

Next, we altered the lava lamp in PhotoShop. We highlighted the layout and used the magic wand tool to cut out the form. Then, we used the paint tool to fill it in to a solid black color. We then took out all the colors that would fall into a lava lamp and used the gradient tool to stretch the color out. We formed the colors into abstract hair above the shape so it started to simulate a Rastafarian person. We then edited the background to make the picture appear fuller. A light blue to mix in with the gradient colors we pulled out. We then added the cord of the lamp, but we maneuvered it with the shape tool to spell out what our emotion was. The cord also resembled a semi-smile out of the Rastafarian face, to me at least. Since we targeted a younger group it seemed more appropriate to go abstract which is why our form turned into a Rasta-man.  All in all I think we did a good job of pulling out our emotion. It took a while, but with hard work and dedication we made our shape into something unique that definitely makes the viewer feel a sense of an emotion when they look into it.

Our final image: