Formal
Reflection
This class forced me to stray from my dominantly abstract and expressionist style to more linear and functional graphics. I highly enjoyed working on the Not-for-profit website because I got a chance to help an organiziation I love, and experiment with a new and open graphic style. I had no knowledge of dreamweaver or fireworks coming into this class but I now feel confident in my ability to work with the basic functions of both programs. I found Mr. Armstrong to be very easy to talk to and informative. Mr. Armstrongs expectations were clearly stated in Blackboard and all assignment instructions were easy to find.
Informal
Reflection
The class was easygoing and fun. Naturaly, all assignments were expected to be turned in but the preasure and intensity of working on them was absent. Chuck was humorous as he was informative and explained things in a way I could understand them. I enjoyed working on the assignments and the in-class critiques actually helped me become aware of problems with my work. I enjoyed hearing Chuck rant about the cone coming up on campus and his plots to turn it into his office.
Criticism
The assignments from the book were a little dry and I had a hard time retaining any information given from it.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
5. NFP Defense
Old: http://www.civic.evansville.net/CIVIC%20MAIN%20PAGE%2008-09.htm
New:http://www.andy.usi-artspace.com/index.htm
Evansville Civic Theatre
After examining the Evansville Civic Theatres website I was convinced that it was not properly representing the Evansville Civic Theatre as a well organized establishment. The site navigation changes when "about us" is selected, the cream colored box around the body text is awkwardly placed over the maroon background, the top navigation panel consists of hard-to-read performance posters and are not distinguished from the cream colored background, the websites vital information was scattered across several navigation links, and entire site was very closed-in and horror-vacui.
My page uses white space as a clean and open spacing solution and decrease eye fatigue. I use white space as a sort of thesis for the entire website. White gives off a clean, sleek, and open feel.
To prevent the white space from completely dominating the site, I added a brown bar at the top of the page . The brown bar was carefully sectioned and modified from its original gradient. The vertical rectangles along the right side of the bar counter the strong horizontal emphasis that the brown bar imposes. By gradually lightening the color as it progresses to the right, the bar loses its dominance over its content and becomes an interesting graphic element rather than a mass of brown housing a logo.
The square logo on the upper left of the brown bar was placed for both nostalgia and balance. With the majority of the page being linear and anti-dynamic, it was necessary to hint at the possibility of dynamic images. The primary logo/title on the brown bar is a modified font that embellishes modest flourishes to counter the strong linear design of the page. The elegant sweeping gesture of the "C" in Civic Theatre" serves three purposes: To wrap around the text below "Civic Theatre", to offset the geometric emphasis of the rectangle binding the whole graphic, and to add elegance to the page. The graphic was made with both the shape of a ticket and a stamp in mind. The rectangle binding the graphic is a common visual element in both stamps and tickets, the small text above and below "Civic Theatre" is a common element of stamps, and the block font of the text above and below "Civic Theatre" is common in tickets. The visual tie to tickets was done for obvious reasons but the tie to stamps may not be as obvious. Stamps, be them inked or paper, are staples of timelessness. Paper stamps are collected for nostalgia and mark a certain time in history. Ink stamps record a certain time in history and are well traveled in that once they are placed on a package or envelope, they travel with the said item until they reach their destination. Stamps relate to theatre in that Theatre marks a set time of history with the vocabulary in its script, can record social issues (dramatized though they may be) of the time, and performances are well traveled in that a single play can be performed worldwide. With this explanation, I hope it is clear why I chose to incorporate the visual elements of stamps into my logo because it would be a shame not to see the relation between stamps and theatre.
The sites navigation has been organized into three distinct fields. The top navigation contains the most basic and well-traveled links. These navigation buttons are bound in ellipses to contrast the horizontal bar above them with organic shape. "This Season" contains any information on the activities pertaining to the current season of the Evansville Civic Theatre. "Community" contains in-site links to any pages relevant to community related subjects such as donating -a link that the original site did not contain- or participating.
A unique page to this site is the Performances page (http://www.andy.usi-artspace.com/Performances%20page.htm). A muted grey rectangle starts where the performance posters begin and extends to where the posters end. This rectangle was placed to harmonize with the rectangular performance posters and to give the text below the posters something to brace against.
The titles on each page are aligned to the right of the page as opposed to the traditional left alignment. I did this to prevent the page from resembling a template ,to break from tradition, and to offset the weight of the page i.e. to prevent the page from being left-side dominated. With the left navigation bar being as long as it is, I felt that the page needed something on the right side. The page title does its job more efficiently on the right side of the page because it is not competing with the navigation bar on the left. The title size is large enough to distinguish itself as a title but not so large that it dominates the body text.
Overall, my website is simple in appearance but is the product of hours of musing over the strategic placement of text. Since theatre is an extremely visual media it was important to contrast it with the opposite extreme to give it balance. I would categorize my site as minimalism. With each element placed, new troubles emerged and other visuals no longer did their job. The main trouble with a dominantly open spaced website like mine is that if the visual elements are not placed in such a way that they maximize the ascetic value of the elements around them, then they ruin the rest of the page. In short, whatever element doesn't add to the ascetic value if the page is ,by nature, subtracting from it. This concept is difficult enough with images but it raises newer and greater troubles with text. Since text is spaced, it shows the white background behind it and has trouble competing for the foreground. When placed with precision and balance, text can potentially bring more beauty than an image; I would like to say that this is the case with my website, so I will.
I would challenge the person who calls this layout conservative or claims that little work was put into the design. This design is not conservative because the maximum amount of spacing and text has been applied to ensure both symmetrical and asymmetrical balance remain in-tact. It would have been much easier to use images in this website but that would have been highly unoriginal because theatre traditionally incorporates images.
I decided to make the bold move of putting text in the spotlight rather than the image because theatre does the exact opposite. In a performance, an actor or actress recites their lines but the emphasis still remains on the visual performance rather than the script. With such an unbalanced emphasis it seems only natural to balance it with the opposite gesture: to emphasis text supported by visual. Since text was the new visual for this site it became necessary to make it as ecstatically pleasing as possible. With no image to accompany it, the text needed to be perfectly balanced in as many ways as possible. The solution is simple shapes and colors that support -not dominate- the text on each page.
So,
By using a surplus of white space to create a clean but not sterile background, the text becomes easy to focus on. The white space is still noticeable while reading the text, fulfilling the goal to balance the open space with text.
And to those who say "Your page is too open", "There is too much white space", or "This looks like it was done at the last minute"...
New:http://www.andy.usi-artspace.com/index.htm
Evansville Civic Theatre
After examining the Evansville Civic Theatres website I was convinced that it was not properly representing the Evansville Civic Theatre as a well organized establishment. The site navigation changes when "about us" is selected, the cream colored box around the body text is awkwardly placed over the maroon background, the top navigation panel consists of hard-to-read performance posters and are not distinguished from the cream colored background, the websites vital information was scattered across several navigation links, and entire site was very closed-in and horror-vacui.
My page uses white space as a clean and open spacing solution and decrease eye fatigue. I use white space as a sort of thesis for the entire website. White gives off a clean, sleek, and open feel.
To prevent the white space from completely dominating the site, I added a brown bar at the top of the page . The brown bar was carefully sectioned and modified from its original gradient. The vertical rectangles along the right side of the bar counter the strong horizontal emphasis that the brown bar imposes. By gradually lightening the color as it progresses to the right, the bar loses its dominance over its content and becomes an interesting graphic element rather than a mass of brown housing a logo.
The square logo on the upper left of the brown bar was placed for both nostalgia and balance. With the majority of the page being linear and anti-dynamic, it was necessary to hint at the possibility of dynamic images. The primary logo/title on the brown bar is a modified font that embellishes modest flourishes to counter the strong linear design of the page. The elegant sweeping gesture of the "C" in Civic Theatre" serves three purposes: To wrap around the text below "Civic Theatre", to offset the geometric emphasis of the rectangle binding the whole graphic, and to add elegance to the page. The graphic was made with both the shape of a ticket and a stamp in mind. The rectangle binding the graphic is a common visual element in both stamps and tickets, the small text above and below "Civic Theatre" is a common element of stamps, and the block font of the text above and below "Civic Theatre" is common in tickets. The visual tie to tickets was done for obvious reasons but the tie to stamps may not be as obvious. Stamps, be them inked or paper, are staples of timelessness. Paper stamps are collected for nostalgia and mark a certain time in history. Ink stamps record a certain time in history and are well traveled in that once they are placed on a package or envelope, they travel with the said item until they reach their destination. Stamps relate to theatre in that Theatre marks a set time of history with the vocabulary in its script, can record social issues (dramatized though they may be) of the time, and performances are well traveled in that a single play can be performed worldwide. With this explanation, I hope it is clear why I chose to incorporate the visual elements of stamps into my logo because it would be a shame not to see the relation between stamps and theatre.
The sites navigation has been organized into three distinct fields. The top navigation contains the most basic and well-traveled links. These navigation buttons are bound in ellipses to contrast the horizontal bar above them with organic shape. "This Season" contains any information on the activities pertaining to the current season of the Evansville Civic Theatre. "Community" contains in-site links to any pages relevant to community related subjects such as donating -a link that the original site did not contain- or participating.
A unique page to this site is the Performances page (http://www.andy.usi-artspace.com/Performances%20page.htm). A muted grey rectangle starts where the performance posters begin and extends to where the posters end. This rectangle was placed to harmonize with the rectangular performance posters and to give the text below the posters something to brace against.
The titles on each page are aligned to the right of the page as opposed to the traditional left alignment. I did this to prevent the page from resembling a template ,to break from tradition, and to offset the weight of the page i.e. to prevent the page from being left-side dominated. With the left navigation bar being as long as it is, I felt that the page needed something on the right side. The page title does its job more efficiently on the right side of the page because it is not competing with the navigation bar on the left. The title size is large enough to distinguish itself as a title but not so large that it dominates the body text.
Overall, my website is simple in appearance but is the product of hours of musing over the strategic placement of text. Since theatre is an extremely visual media it was important to contrast it with the opposite extreme to give it balance. I would categorize my site as minimalism. With each element placed, new troubles emerged and other visuals no longer did their job. The main trouble with a dominantly open spaced website like mine is that if the visual elements are not placed in such a way that they maximize the ascetic value of the elements around them, then they ruin the rest of the page. In short, whatever element doesn't add to the ascetic value if the page is ,by nature, subtracting from it. This concept is difficult enough with images but it raises newer and greater troubles with text. Since text is spaced, it shows the white background behind it and has trouble competing for the foreground. When placed with precision and balance, text can potentially bring more beauty than an image; I would like to say that this is the case with my website, so I will.
I would challenge the person who calls this layout conservative or claims that little work was put into the design. This design is not conservative because the maximum amount of spacing and text has been applied to ensure both symmetrical and asymmetrical balance remain in-tact. It would have been much easier to use images in this website but that would have been highly unoriginal because theatre traditionally incorporates images.
I decided to make the bold move of putting text in the spotlight rather than the image because theatre does the exact opposite. In a performance, an actor or actress recites their lines but the emphasis still remains on the visual performance rather than the script. With such an unbalanced emphasis it seems only natural to balance it with the opposite gesture: to emphasis text supported by visual. Since text was the new visual for this site it became necessary to make it as ecstatically pleasing as possible. With no image to accompany it, the text needed to be perfectly balanced in as many ways as possible. The solution is simple shapes and colors that support -not dominate- the text on each page.
So,
By using a surplus of white space to create a clean but not sterile background, the text becomes easy to focus on. The white space is still noticeable while reading the text, fulfilling the goal to balance the open space with text.
And to those who say "Your page is too open", "There is too much white space", or "This looks like it was done at the last minute"...
Thus I refute thee
4. Lawn Art Critique
http://msybert.willyworld.org/lawnart/index.htm
The Good
The Good
- The lawn art images link very well with the text adjacent to them. The homepage clearly indicates that the site is about lawn art and whets the viewers interest with an interesting opening quote.
- The black background is a crisp contrast to the images and holds its negative space very well.
The Bad
- The site navigation changes depending upon which page is being viewed making it slightly challenging to browse the site.
- The body text for each image is somewhat difficult to read due to its calligraphic nature.
Overall this is a very pleasing site. The layout is simple and straightforward. Score: 4/5
http://www.taz.usi-artspace.com/
The Good
- The site navigation is very clever and distinguishes itself from the rest of the page with a clean rollover effect. The flamingo is an icon in lawn art so it is very fitting that the flamingos beak should point to the navigation as a rollover effect.
- The pages are intellectually stimulating in that that show multiple visuals and toss small puns here and there.
The Bad
- The image background gradient competes with the the text and images for the first read. This may not have been a problem if the site background color had been changed to something darker such as purple or black but as it is, the green competes with the visual elements for the foreground.
- Though the site navigation is very clever it is a tad awkward to navigate with. It should strongly distinguish itself from the rest of the graphic elements or it runs the risk of being mistaken for a logo. If the ellipse binding the navigation had been more rounded like a circle and if the text within it had been evenly spaced and padded then it would be clearer that it served as the site navigation. The idea for a non-traditional site navigation is a brilliant one but in this case it needs a bit more tweaking.
Overall, this site is very clever and holds its graphic elements very well but it just needs some improvement on the crispness of its shapes and more diverse color choices. Other than the mentioned problems, this is a very well made site. Score: 4.8 / 5
http://ethan.usi-artspace.com/Lawn%20Holidays%20Revision.htm
The Good
- This site uses dynamic images as both high opaque and low opacity that work very harmoniously.
- The site navigation gives small, low opacity examples of what they link to. This not only adds to the informative power of the page, but it adds to the ascetic value.
- The use of moderate-high opacity rounded boxes for the body text of each page by preserving the images readability with the mentioned low opacity and supports the black body text with the maximum level of contrast without interfering with the high image load of the pages.
- The contact details at the bottom of the page are clever in that they support the thesis of lawn art by marketing on the sites viewers with the "purchase ornaments" pseudo-link.
- The sans-serif font chosen for the body text is readable even at a small size.
The Bad
- The site navigation is inconsistent between the pages because it does not include the link to the page currently being shown. The reason that this is a problem is that it prevents the site viewer from predicting where the next navigation image will take them.
- The site background color changes in accordance to the dominant color of the main image on the site. This is clever but it draws unnecessary attention to the background of the page currently being shown.
Overall this is a well done site. Even though it is image-heavy it does a very good job of keeping the images organized and,with the exception of the navigation, maintains the placement of the images on each page. Score: 4.5 / 5
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
USI Website critique
The Good
- Navigation: Besides the "myUSI" button, the left navigation bar is well organized and clearly indicates what goes where.
- Images: The flash video at the top of the page is eye-catching and informative. The links in the center of the page are very clearly summarize what they link to.
- Color: The colors of the website mimic the USI logo.
The Bad
- Navigation: The navigation seems slightly cluttered in my opinion. The "myUSI" button confused me when I first used the website because I was not aware that it led to my student email, blackboard, etc. and I spent about 5 minutes searching the site for them. Both the top and the navigation bars very awkwardly change in size between the sub-pages of the USI website, making it confusing to read and difficult to navigate.
- Images: The thumbnail images in the center of the page seem too large for their relative links in that they create too large of a margin between the links. The images in general seem spaced out and disorganized. I get the impression that the USI website was created from a template. The images, particularly the top logo, changes from page-to-page making it confusing to determine wether or not I've navigated away from the USI website.
- Color: The colors seem condensed and tightly packed against one another. I think that this is due to the awkward placement of the left navigation bar and it's awkward background image color; green has no place on the USI website.
- Space: The space seems very horror vacui. The visual elements appear to battle one another for attention and argue over which one will be read first. The left navigation bar is too short to demand attention to itself and stand out as the primary navigation. The text on the left navigation bar doesn't have enough padding on the bottom and not nearly enough at the bottom. The images at the bottom of the left navigation bar are too close together The website could benefit from being able to scroll down. Condensing this much information into such a tight space is overwhelming.
My Recommendations / What Needs Changing
- Navigation: Move the left navigation bar down so that it borders the red space holding the search bar and extend the left navigation bar to the entire length of the page even if the majority of it is bare. Keep the top navigation bar and USI logo above it on every page and sub-page to establish the pages as official USI pages and preserve the ease-of-navigation from page to page.
- Images: Decrease the size of the flash video by 1/4 so that it doesn't dominate the page. Include a photo gallery with images of the campus buildings from multiple angles so the new students know what to look for when going to class. Include pictures of special attributes of the campus buildings such as student lounges, Starbucks, sandwich shops, etc. so that students can plan quick stops between classes to study or eat. If I had been aware of the sandwich shop in the Liberal Arts building in my freshman year then I would have established that location as my home base between classes.
- Color: Stay consistent with the color scheme of the pages and sub-pages.
- Space: Move the "Campus Events" panel below the "University News" panel. Moving the Campus Events panel will increase the breathability of the page and decrease the information-to-space ratio and eye fatigue.
Overall, maintain the professional appearance of the USI website by staying consistent in the placement of the navigation bars. If this is done then viewers will have a central location to let their mouse idle while they read the information on the page.
Examples of Strong Graphic Elements
- The navigation at the bottom of the University of Minnesota is nicely placed and easy to read. - http://www1.umn.edu/twincities/index.php
- The padding between the "Events", "Spotlight", and "Academic Programs" panels on the University Of Chicagos website makes for a very breathable and informative data display. - http://www.uchicago.edu/
- The top navigation bar of the University of Virginia is extremely easy to read and clearly indicates what their relative drop-down menus hold. The drop-down menus are very well organized and clearly indicate what they lead to. - http://www.virginia.edu/
- The University of Michigans website is a prime example of medium-toned geometry that produce little to no eye fatigue while clearly housing navigation options. The page has very few images but still maintains a strong visual appeal. - http://www.umich.edu/
- The Univeristy of Oregons website is very similar to the current USI website in its placement of navigation but does a much better job of reducing eye fatigue because of the easy color transition between the left navigation bar and the background color. - http://www.uoregon.edu/
What do these sites have in common?
- Each of the listed sites has a delicate balance between information and unused space. The use of space is absolutely vital to websites. Too much open space combined with poor visual hierarchy allows the viewers eyes to wander around the page without guidance. Too much open space with a strong visual hierarchy draws the viewers attention to the use of visual elements rather than the information they hold. An example of strong visual hierarchy and too much open space is a website with vividly colored and strong geometry binding short body text and navigation, and a high contrast between the geometry colors and background color. The viewer tends to focus on the steep contrast between the geometry and background instead of reading the body text.
Conclusion
- The University of Virginias website has an outstanding top navigation bar but all the navigation on the page is overpowered by the flash videos and contrasting colors. The University of Michigans website boasts an outstanding use of soft colors. If the two websites were to combine the mentioned assets then the result would be an organic and professional website with clear navigation combined with a fine tuned ratio of information to color to open space.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Project 2: Lawn Art page
I chose to use greyscale in my page because I thought it would give the page a clean and structured appearance. Contrary, I think that greyscale makes the work look pretty dull. The strong geometric presence isolates visual elements and the greyscale scheme sets the visual hierarchy.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Webpage critiques
http://twildman.willyworld.org/
-The Good
The paint tubes at the top of the page is a clever and unique graphic element that is both visually stimulating and works well with the theme (i.e. Art Club).
The title is both visually stimulating and informative. The lumpy, paint-like texture goes very well with the title and the highlights give a very nice three diminutional effect.
The heading under "USI Art Club" is very brief yet very informative. It gets straight to the point of most viewers concerns regarding entry fees.
The heading under the body text "Join us Wednesdays at 9 p.m" very briefly gives the information that needs to be given to the viewer that quickly glances over the webpage.
The pencils and pens to either side of the body text are a clever way to block the readers eyes from moving away from the text. Though the artist could have used a box to serve the same purpose, it would not be nearly as esthetically pleasing and would not visually link to the theme. It is this critics opinion that the pens and pencils are the most clever visual element used on the page.
-The Bad
The paint tubes and paint used to write the title are not supported by an equally stimulating background. If the background perhaps had a texture such as a painters pallet or an easel then it would offset the visual information given by the paint and tubes.
The white text is straining on this critics eyes. I find it hard to stay focused on the text with such a harsh contrast. If the background were white and the text were black then this would not be a problem but such as it is, the text is fatiguing.
http://mtravis.willyworld.org/
-The Good
The body text(s) are simple and straight to the point. All the most necessary information is provided and is easy to read.
The graphic elements on the notebook and notebook paper relate to the theme (i.e. Art Club) and look hand-rendered, adding to the gritty feel of hand drawn art.
-The Bad
The title is difficult to distinguish from the corn kernels. If the title were a color farther away from the yellow tint of the corn kernels then it would be easier to read assuming that the hand rendered letters were less sporadic and more evenly kerned with each other.
Though this critic understands how the corn relates to the theme, it should be assumed that the casual page viewer knows nothing of Art Club. As such, the corn seems out-of-place as it is not relevant to, and not mentioned in, any of the body text. The corn detracts from the muted tones of the notebook and the background with its comparably vivid colors.
http://www.kyletieken.com/
-The Good
The information provided by the body text in the would-be bullet points ( -- ) make skimming over the page easy.
The title is very easy to distinguish from the background and body text.
The visual elements relate to the theme (i.e. Art Club)
-The Bad
The body text is spaced too far apart to sustain this critics attention. I found my eyes aimlessly wandering around the page and focusing on the background texture as apposed to the text.
The body text is not bold enough to adequately contrast with the harsh white middleground of the notebook. If the notebook were given a low opacity texture and the text were vertical,given one color, and a bolder font, then the body would be easier to distinguish and would stand out from the middleground in this critics opinion.
The visual elements are not very prominent in the webpage and are overpowered by the solid white middleground.
The pencil does not mesh well with the flat, two dimensional motif of the page.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Censorship and an Art movement in the making
It's been a very productive day for The Keep. I completed 2 new works and found 2 more scribbled down on notebook paper that had been shoved into the drawer with all of the other Keep poems that didn't meet my expectations. I think I've come up with a direction to take the series.
In other news,
In response to the redundant shit-storm raining down on us that somehow passes as art these days, I've decided to spark a new art movement. It's a daunting task but I really feel up to it. There has go to be a new direction to take art that doesn't involve manga or painting with blood, or (God forbid) using your own fecal matter as a medium (Yes, it HAS happened). I think that if people had something new to do, then they'd eagerly move away from the cliches that they've trapped themselves into. Okay, so maybe smearing shit on a canvas isn't exactly mainstream "art" but I don't think we're too far away from seeing that happening.
To take art to another level, I believe we should look to the past and examine the elements used by the masters. Picasso, Van Gogh, Warhol, De Vinci, etc. These artists were ahead of their time, yeah? So why not study them and integrate their techniques into your own?
Explore the process of making art.
Reflect societies views back on them.
Break expectations.
I know it isn't politically correct to say so, but a lot of the crap posted on DA really shouldn't be considered art. I hate censorship as much as every other passionate artist, but I don't believe that spraying blue silly string on your girlfriends vagina should be considered art. Using "You're just trying to censor me" as an excuse is just that, an excuse.
I'm not endorsing censorship but I do think that it should be placed where it really needs to be. That is to say, at the idiots that take pictures of vulgar materiel just for the sake of being vulgar, people who color other peoples work and give themselves props for doing so, and/or people who insist on using cliche subject matter.
Censorship isn't going away and there's really not a whole lot we can do about it. What we can do however is try to redirect it to where it really belongs.
In other news,
In response to the redundant shit-storm raining down on us that somehow passes as art these days, I've decided to spark a new art movement. It's a daunting task but I really feel up to it. There has go to be a new direction to take art that doesn't involve manga or painting with blood, or (God forbid) using your own fecal matter as a medium (Yes, it HAS happened). I think that if people had something new to do, then they'd eagerly move away from the cliches that they've trapped themselves into. Okay, so maybe smearing shit on a canvas isn't exactly mainstream "art" but I don't think we're too far away from seeing that happening.
To take art to another level, I believe we should look to the past and examine the elements used by the masters. Picasso, Van Gogh, Warhol, De Vinci, etc. These artists were ahead of their time, yeah? So why not study them and integrate their techniques into your own?
Explore the process of making art.
Reflect societies views back on them.
Break expectations.
I know it isn't politically correct to say so, but a lot of the crap posted on DA really shouldn't be considered art. I hate censorship as much as every other passionate artist, but I don't believe that spraying blue silly string on your girlfriends vagina should be considered art. Using "You're just trying to censor me" as an excuse is just that, an excuse.
I'm not endorsing censorship but I do think that it should be placed where it really needs to be. That is to say, at the idiots that take pictures of vulgar materiel just for the sake of being vulgar, people who color other peoples work and give themselves props for doing so, and/or people who insist on using cliche subject matter.
Censorship isn't going away and there's really not a whole lot we can do about it. What we can do however is try to redirect it to where it really belongs.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
A (not so) brief rant
I'm having writers block. Worse yet, I've written myself into a corner. I need to take the story in a new direction, but I'm not sure where to take it. I've already established my key characters and was in the middle of introducing a new one when I read over my work and saw a few cliches. When I saw these cliches, I was disgusted.
I highly value uniqueness and I am repulsed by the repetition of mainstream cliches so much that I work on my appearance to be unique, making a statement against mainstream cliches. To do something just because everyone else is doing so is, in my opinion, the epitome of non-creative thinking. Imitation has its place but not to the extent that its been taken by mainstream society. For example, there has been a dramatic surge of young artists that have taken up the eastern "manga" style of drawing. I do believe in diversity and expanding ones horizons, and this normally wouldn't really bother me but the sheer number of people that use this drawing style is mind-numbing. I've tried to find diversity in the drawings done in this manga style but there are an alarming amount of similarities to all of them; so much so that they all look alike. The people drawn in this style either have biologically impossible hairstyles, ridiculously disproportionate bodies (females with breasts larger than their hips and males with shoulders that extent past their hips), or both of these. They almost always carry some sort of bladed weapon with dragon or demon decorations. I wouldn't mind if there were just a few drawings like this but their are thousands. I don't intend to slander the artists too much. Indeed, there is a knack to this style and most of the drawings are very well done but there are just so many of them that they tend to lose their beauty and unique quality because the manga style is overused. It's a fairly easy style to work with and ranges in detail and quality as with every other style but the variations tend to be small.
The point I'm trying to make is that while all art is beautiful in its own way, it tends to lose its beauty when thousands of other artists do the same kind of work. What truly worries me is that even though there are thousands of these works, as I've stated before, thousands more are still being made. I can appreciate that it's hard to let a good thing go, especially when you've been doing it for a while, but I can't understand the appeal of doing the same thing that thousands, nay millions, of others are doing.
I can sort of agree with Andy Warhol and the statement he made with his work. Industrialization and streamlinProxy-Connection: keep-alive
Cache-Control: max-age=0
g designs and ideas has stabbed creativity and made it harder for artists to come up with new designs because they're being bombarded by the same thing over and over again. It's getting harder to come up with new ideas when certain ideas are being thrust upon you and you're told to accept them as "what you should do" or "how you should be". It's sad to see that this has influenced art and even sadder than I'm beginning to feel it's effect.
I highly value uniqueness and I am repulsed by the repetition of mainstream cliches so much that I work on my appearance to be unique, making a statement against mainstream cliches. To do something just because everyone else is doing so is, in my opinion, the epitome of non-creative thinking. Imitation has its place but not to the extent that its been taken by mainstream society. For example, there has been a dramatic surge of young artists that have taken up the eastern "manga" style of drawing. I do believe in diversity and expanding ones horizons, and this normally wouldn't really bother me but the sheer number of people that use this drawing style is mind-numbing. I've tried to find diversity in the drawings done in this manga style but there are an alarming amount of similarities to all of them; so much so that they all look alike. The people drawn in this style either have biologically impossible hairstyles, ridiculously disproportionate bodies (females with breasts larger than their hips and males with shoulders that extent past their hips), or both of these. They almost always carry some sort of bladed weapon with dragon or demon decorations. I wouldn't mind if there were just a few drawings like this but their are thousands. I don't intend to slander the artists too much. Indeed, there is a knack to this style and most of the drawings are very well done but there are just so many of them that they tend to lose their beauty and unique quality because the manga style is overused. It's a fairly easy style to work with and ranges in detail and quality as with every other style but the variations tend to be small.
The point I'm trying to make is that while all art is beautiful in its own way, it tends to lose its beauty when thousands of other artists do the same kind of work. What truly worries me is that even though there are thousands of these works, as I've stated before, thousands more are still being made. I can appreciate that it's hard to let a good thing go, especially when you've been doing it for a while, but I can't understand the appeal of doing the same thing that thousands, nay millions, of others are doing.
I can sort of agree with Andy Warhol and the statement he made with his work. Industrialization and streamlinProxy-Connection: keep-alive
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g designs and ideas has stabbed creativity and made it harder for artists to come up with new designs because they're being bombarded by the same thing over and over again. It's getting harder to come up with new ideas when certain ideas are being thrust upon you and you're told to accept them as "what you should do" or "how you should be". It's sad to see that this has influenced art and even sadder than I'm beginning to feel it's effect.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Project 1 Art Club Layout: Finalized
What I wanted to do,What I did, Why I did it, and What I could have done
- What I wanted to do
The main feature of this design is the strong horizontal lines and shapes.
- The text acts as the strongest horizontal and it is supported by the title and upper right image. In order to keep the viewer focused on the text, a powerful vertical barrier (image on the left) combines with the title and upper left image to frame the text.
- To keep the title interesting I placed an image under the “A” in Art for no other reason than improving aesthetic value. Because the text needs to be the “first read” of this composition, I gave it highlights to make it unique from the rest of the visual elements
- The background image makes the negative space interesting and unites the rest of the images with a common theme.
If I wasn't concerned with a professional appearance as my main goal, the project would look like this.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Project 1: Update - Horizontal
Merged 2 of the concepts in Photoshop. The result came out clean with a strong horizontal emphasis that supports the body text. Horizontal emphasis is important in this design since the body text is the "meat" of the design. The viewer reads from left to right, horizontally, so it makes sense that the images should do the same.
Project 1: Concepts
Drew another concept.
I'm thinking about merging two of the 3 concepts I've drawn so far.
The images I've selected from my art gallery are too busy. The images should probably be minimalistic so as to support the body text and not draw attention.
I'm thinking about merging two of the 3 concepts I've drawn so far.
The images I've selected from my art gallery are too busy. The images should probably be minimalistic so as to support the body text and not draw attention.
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