Core Studio: Image / Fall 2008

Hi Everyone,

Hope all is moving along smoothly with your preparation for friday’s final critique.
From our one-on-one discussions this week, it seems like we’ll be finishing off the
semester with a lot of very strong work. I’m excited to see the end results.

Here’s an outline of what projects should be included on your CD/DVD portfolio:
(BRING TO FRIDAY’S CLASS FOR FINAL GRADE)

- Parameters & Limitations (Phase 3 digital version of all 4 comps)
- Pattern Design (include pdfs of all finals - include what network was used in the title)
- Texture (include all hi-res scans of your textural mark-making experiments)
- Typographic Layout (final comp as hi-res pdf)
- Typographic Word (all 3 final comps as hi-res pdfs)
- Color Harmonies (pdfs of all 6 final comps - name according to corresponding harmony)
- Photo Illustration Series (hi-res pdfs of all 3 panels - be sure to include opposing forces titles)
- Subculture Project (include your 1 pg design brief, final hi-res pdfs, placement shots & any other
documentation you feel is appropriate to properly archive your work)

!!! VERY IMPORTANT !!! As you name your files, please use the following naming conventions:

yearSemester_Course_FirstLast_ProjectName.extension

Example: “08F_Image_DanaMcClure_ProjectName.pdf”

Be sure to print your Name, Year, Semester, Class Name & Section on the actual
CD/DVD that you hand in. All files should be Hi-RES, Flattened Artwork.
(no psd files! pdfs are the most preferred format)

*Also, this is your last chance to complete any blog responses that you may not have
finished. I’ll be reviewing them one final time after Friday’s class.

Gook luck finishing up and I’ll see you on Friday.
Feel free to bring treats, I’m going to for sure.

In the “Type and Image” article I was really interested in the way of organizing space and the phrase energy of contrast.  I figure a major contrast is type and image, and so when I work on my project I will try and make the two harmonious. I liked how the author described in an understandable way how information can be transmitted through channel then put in a decoder and by those steps will reach its destination.  It was interesting for me to learn about this process because while it was talking about computers, I think it’s also how our minds work.   I was also focused on the “syntax of design” topic in the article because I found it interesting to think of the nuances in the language of design and how, by becoming aware of them, I can learn to use them correctly to better express the form and content I may wish to present.  Finally, the main consideration in text and how it interacts with image was that I hadn’t before thought of single letters as image, but had been thinking in terms of the entire word.  So, this gave me a new direction in the way I approach image as type and vice versa.

I thought about content and form while I read “Design Process.”  The author was talking about the relation of the two in terms of what is it, how is it going to be said.  I thought this was interesting cause mostly, until this last project I’d think of content in terms of the assignment and form in terms of the time and materials I had.    I liked the emphasis on looking because I think so much of our everyday life is based upon looking at the world and figuring out how to design the things we want to give to the world.  I liked the author wrote about trial and error and the importance of experimenting because sometimes even after I learned how to do a thing, it turned out that it didn’t work anyway.  Often while looking at the content I do my projects on I’ll become inspired by the things it reminds me of and experiment with different ways of connecting the two.   Finally, when I’m done I think about whether I solved the problem I set out to solve or whether I created a different solution than I intended because the image is a form of iconic I didn’t realize.

This article by Phillip Meggs addresses the many different facets of graphic design, its underlying philosophy, and the numerous techniques that are available to the designer. One point Meggs mentions in the beginning is how graphic design gives communications “resonance, a richness of tone that heightens the expressive power of the page.” I think he worded this really effectively because it’s true that graphic design seeks to reach an audience in a visually calculated way by presenting something in a manner that encourages a specific reaction. He also discusses the different aspects of typography and how it can be seen as either language communication or visual form, although the casual viewer often disregards the latter.

Later when he talks about “the union of word and picture,” he presents the problem of how to integrate language signs and pictorial images into a cohesive whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. He quotes Roland Barthes who says that “Formerly, the image illustrated the text; today, the text loads the image, burdening it with a culture, a moral, an imagination.” I plan on doing this with my own final project by taking images that alone may mean something very specific but putting them into an entirely different context using carefully chosen text that gives meaning to the image. The separate aspects of my designs taken as a whole will hopefully construct a message that transcends their singular elements and affect the viewer in a meaningful way.

Although my final piece is not focused on the integration of type and image so precisely, I found the article to be a great source of information for general ideas and approaches, as well as a reference point for some of the thoughts for the project.
My project is supposed to communicate to an audience, but because the audience is divided into two, it should also stay independent in order to emphasize the notion that it is it’s own unit. My main goal in this project is to communicate broad ideas that will be translated into something rather small, and by doing that hopefully I will be able to convey the feeling as though someone has been told a secret, or something rather intimate. My overall idea is to treat every element in the piece in a delicate manner, and the choices so far are the use of small cards, circle shapes and the placement of imagery on the center of the cards, and playing with the idea of object/subject. Wherever typography is needed I would like to use a typeface similar to a typewriter, or perhaps some simple handwriting as well.

  From the article I can see the deeper enfaces on type and image, the work involved in completing a pice which must resonate and be a gestalt. For placement is everything in a piece and when done correctly a piece is finished that has both goals stated and is something really special. This ideal is what I hope to do in this final pice as this is what the semester has built up to. The incorporation of all we learned from image, to type, color, scale, and all possible aspects to a picture and all these things must have careful consideration.  And for this final the reading has given me insight into extra viewpoints and aspects to work with. The article goes into camera angles,cropping of the image, graphic supports (like boarders, color, lines,etc), type, and such as fields to look into. For example the idea of boarders to fill my book to just add as they are intended but not take away. Or type in using a traditional form of type to go with a storybook look as apposed to a formal/neutral look as seen in brochors and maybe no as vivid as an advertisement. All this is crucial to truly make it work in accordance to the pictures and message it is to give. Even the implication at the end of motion, no the literal as i intend with the manipulation of parts but the illusion and use of to place more over to give the idea of complete movement throughout. Yet that would have to again become part of the thinking process in these next few days for completion has to come about and the bigger picture must be at the head rather than new ideas appearing possibly to late in the process for this project.

 One of the comments in this article that i found quite poignant stated that “graphic design is a hybrid discipline.” This assertion is refering to how graphic design is a composite art, it is using many different tools and images to communicate, including (but not limited to) symbolism, signs, text, photographs, illustrations, etc. With the final project I feel that I need to remember this; to not just focus on the images alone but to work with typography, design layout, and hierarchy. Also this article helped to remind me how its good to take a step back in the end and try to look at your design with new eyes, to see it from a different perspective to help you to find potential flaws and then improve them. Above all clarity is key, and the goal is perfectly clear visual communication, where the viewer ”hears” (sees) what you want to say or show.  Because we have an audience for the final project, we need to think about how we can most clearly convey our message. Often we assume (as mentioned in the “audience” section of the article) that everyone speaks our visual language and will read the same symbols and juxtapositions as we do; however this cannot be assumed, many decode images in different ways. In my final I need to work on pin-pointing my exact audience, so I know what visual language would best suit them. While a parkour move kong-vault silhouette would be obvious to any traceur, someone unfamiliar with parkour action would most likely interpret the shadow as a awkwardly-crouched human body  with the knees to the chest their hands behind them for support. The article discusses lots on the images themselves, styles, perspectives, locations, juxtapositions, etc., which led to me think about what I what for my images. It was interesting to see the example of how cropping an image can actually enhance its ability to convey a mood or emotion. Because I want to show action and motion in my images, I especially like the example of the horse running, which seemed to be a more active image when cropped. They also talked about the juxtaposition of type and image, and then the fusion of type and image. These and “type as letter” is something I will be working on for my logo or for creating a “brand” of sorts out of the parkour vector silhouettes. That also ties in to how earlier I was trying to make the text appear almost as a graffiti on the brick wall that was a background to one of the posters. Overall the article allowed me to rethink many things with a fresh eye, and it was an excellent composite article that covered pretty much all the design nuances that we’ve worked on this year. Though we are familiar with most of the concepts, it was nice to go over them again and truly scrutinize how the simple things (i.e. white space or scaling) are what create the design and thus convey the message.

The article mainly talks about the work of graphic designer as creating harmonies among the elements of a specific piece. graphic design often needs to deal with different elements, especially type, and iamges of many kinds(photograpies,illustration, drawings, etc..). During the semester we have learned about these elements, and I believe that the most importan step was to know how to divide elements in your head, this is the difference between audience and designers, audience is passive.

As for my project, the target audience is in part the subculture I researched about, and mostly people outside of it. The main graphic part of my work is the juxtaposition of the American flag and the Japanese flag. And I will use type just for the layout of the postcard, and the captions where I will translate the orginal text written by my participants.

Throughout the semester we were experimenting with type - I also worked on some of my own pieces and even drawings were type was included. This article is kind of aiming towards the same direction our type project was all about. I mean, most of the time type is part of the work we are doing and it is necessary to understand how it actually communicates to a specific audience. Therefore it is important to think about it when you create it and work with it. How you achieve the best results and the clearest message, concerning your goals..and of course how the type harmonizes with the image itself and the the design.  Colors, stroke(brush), dynamics, readability, et cetera are all important criteria one often overlooks, when being so involved in your work. It is always good to let go for a while and come back to your work - look at it with another eye and maybe see things you didn’t notice before. I guess through reading the article I was really reminded of those facts again. The type has to persuade an audience and talk to them, attract them to your piece and also please them in a way. Especially in our final project the type is supposed to make a statement, too - it can, doesn’t have to. But in my case I am really supporting the image with including type on my posters. So far the typeface is designed to communicate the warmth and somehow traditional feel of ‘Klezmer’ music… but on the other hand I wanted something new, something that also gets attention from other people out on the streets, no necessarily only musicians. All in all, I’ ve gone through so many steps of thinking and scetching and designing and and and, that hopefully after this PROCESS I am able to present a satisfying(for me ) at the end of semester. I mean it is all about the process of designing something and your own discussions about it, your own thoughts spinning around but which one to pick first ? - it’s about decision making, about evaluating, yeah, even arguing and finding the most satisfying solution for yourself, full-filling your goals- in any case.

This article relates to our current final project because it is one that incorporates both type and image. The article refers to the use of both type and image in graphic design and finding the harmony of the two. Our final project is about using both type and image as a way to relate the piece to a certain audience, which is in turn the job of a graphic designer. I’m designing a deck of cards which essentially is a product that will be whimsical and will get the consumer interested in break dancing and in essence promoting it to young urban consumers while they play with the product.