Last Blog Ever #5

What is the most significant accomplishment in looking at your Midterm or Final? You can talk about technique in Photoshop, investigating your Big Idea, creating a meaningful artwork, etc.

         My most significant accomplishment in regards to my Midterm and Final, has been the development of my Big Idea. I was able to analyze many parts of my life and personality through my artwork.

         In my midterm, I was able to break down my future dreams in my life. I have never truly broken down my future plans, and this artwork allowed me to develop a plan, and stylize my message. Using the Apple logo allowed me to break down my plans into layers, I was able to explore my big idea stylistically.

         In my final, I explored the opposite side of my personality, the fun side. I was able to successfully use layers to break down my big idea. I feel that going in opposite directions of my big idea from my midterm to my final, allowed for excellent exploration of myself through artwork. This was a success, and I feel it was therapeutic.

 

Final (above)

 

 Midterm (above)

Choose a project in the class and discuss your most challenging learning experience in Photoshop. Focus on a technique or concept from Photoshop that was difficult at first, but that you mastered by the end of the quarter.

         For my blog #2, I chose to do an advanced tutorial on Zombification. Through this course, I have not been challenged much with the tool are techniques used, but I have been challenged to strive for seamlessness and perfection in my edited images. In this project, I turned Blake Griffin into a zombie. Using the tutorial, I had to adapt the instructions to my selected image. My main difficulty in this class has been being consistent, and making sure that all my images look realistic, which I think I have achieved. 

 http://mearted252.blogspot.com/2012/04/blog-2-advanced-tutorial-zombification.html

Compare two projects from the quarter to compare and contrast how you achieved making meaning in the work. Try to showcase in your examples an improved capacity to making visual images that mean something as opposed to being a showcase of technique.

         I will again analyze the midterm and the final. For both of these projects I set to visually describe part of my personality through artwork that used symbolic layering. The main achievement in this artwork was the development of my personality though artwork. The differences were the big ideas explored. In the midterm, I explored dreams, and showed my plans for my life work (extreme work ethic). For the final, I explored the opposite big idea of fun. I did this through using my experiences in my fraternity in college. Both were layered, but in different ways. The midterm as very systematic and chronological. where the final was loosely organized.

(Images above)

Blog 4: Final Project "Fun"

1. Clearly define your Big Idea. What meaning-making is being attempted in this final work?

My Big Idea for my final is “fun.” This idea contrasts my midterm, where I focused on my life’s work, and had a small, detached portion allotted to fun and the pleasures of life. With this project, I am exploring my experiences coming into college. In joining my fraternity, I have truly learned to “turn-off” my crazy work ethic, and have real fun.

What visual strategy did you employ to accomplish your meaning? How does the image communicate your meaning?

I am using Sigma Chi Fraternity’s flag. The flag is three layers. Two rectangles (blue and gold), and a cross in the middle. I am going to use the top rectangle to represent my socializing with friends, and how it has allowed me to find my inner fun side. The bottom rectangle represents the fun and relaxing activities that I have opened up to, having been a part of my fun-loving community.

How is this work to be used? What context can you envision this work in?

This work is to be used to show my fun side. It serves as a symbolic representation of the progression of my personality and social life when entering college and joining my fraternity. 

2. List three visual genres/visual culture/artists/ designers/ material culture that have influenced your work for the final. In making visual statements, artists and designers often augment other visual phenomenon. What influenced you? Make sure to include some visual references/ hyperlinks to illustrate your point.

For this final, I hope to channel Picasso, the material culture of college life, and of other students’ works and the experience of Facebook. For Picasso, I am channeling his ability to make art with pure emotion, and pull from his deep subconscious to make beauty and truth. For the material culture of college, I am always experiencing it, and will use it in my representation of fun. As for the actual creation and form of my project, I am going to use the influence of other students’ works and the experience of Facebook. Personal photos from Facebook will reflect my social life. This same idea has been shown on other students’ projects.

http://www.facebook.com/

http://www.collegehumor.com/ 

http://totalfratmove.com/

3. Name one new Photoshop technique that you will attempt to incorporate in your final. Be specific. You may use a hyperlink to a technique that you found on another website.

I hope to expand upon my ability to retouch photos, and make them clear and close to perfect. If I am pulling photos from Facebook, they are most likely taken by people who were not in the best state of mind to take a good photo. Because of this, I will work to correct and retouch their images to work well in my final project.

http://mashable.com/2010/10/17/photoshop-retouch-profile-pic/

Picasso vs. Richard Linklater

         For this blog, I will examining Picaso’s Guernica. Picasso appeals to me because he was the first “artist” I knew of. His work truly comes from his heart and soul, and it is apparent through looking at his work and measuring his success. Few people are actually as talented, creative, and capable of channeling their sub-consciousness like him. Although it is tough to drop a pin on his true intentions or themes, I believe Guernica relates to surrealism. This altered reality reflects a dream like state that shows phases of suffering and pain. Although the work flows in a peculiar way and it is unlike anything I have seen, it is still emotional and inspiring to me. Looking at all the disjointed figures together, they seem all so random and abstract. However, I have a feeling they are all a part of the same troubled and violent society. This artistic ability is truly inspiring. I am inspired by his ability to have seemingly disjointed figures that all come together to show a shared reality. I hope to have the same effect in my work in this class. This inspiration will be channeled in my final project to think outside the box, and follow my own feelings. I don’t need to make everything so realistic if the theme is apparent. I hope to start using an abstract style to make my work stronger. Being able to see something without the distractions of the world around it should help me reach my goals. I would like to use surrealism in my work as emphasis of my point. Picasso uses his surrealism to express his point, and I hope to do the same.

http://serdar-hizli-art.com/picasso/picasso_symbolic_themes.htm

http://www.pablopicasso.org/guernica.jsp

         For my second analysis, I am looking at Richard Linklater, the director of the animated film, Waking Life. This film was first filmed with digital video, then artists using computers drew stylized lines and colors over each frame. This artistic style appeals to me because it takes reality, and it skews it in a stylistic way that has been never done before this film. It shows you that perception is reality, as it takes normal images and recreates it through another lens. The film is about perception and reality, and the artistic renditions express that. Using all the different editing to recreate the normal film, the artists were able to explore many themes through the different plot lines of the film. Its inspiring that this film can go from a regular film with themes of dreams, consciousness, and existentialism, but then use the visuals in a different way that fundamentally improves the style and themes of the film. I wonder where the inspiration came from to do this type of art. I want to take the approach of using something normal and adding a style to it that will bring out a theme. If I am able to use this expressive, stylistic technique, it will build the strength of my art. Going the surrealist route while also applying my stylistic changes to theme will help my art work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uk2DeTet98o

Blog #2: Advanced Tutorial Zombification

For this blog, I decided to do an advanced level tutorital. I was a little nervous at first, but it proved to be a lot of fun. I used the Zombification tutorial (http://effects.worth1000.com/tutorials/163328/zombification) on NBA player Blake Griffin.

I started by selecting his skin, and changing the brightness/contrast and hue (green) to make it grimmer looking. I then added a gradient overlay to add the grainy effect to the skin. I then selected the eyes, feathered them for fading, then changed the hue to red.

Continuing with the eyes, I used a blood spot over one eye (multiply), and faded it in. I then used the brush tool to make one eye white. Pretty scary so far! I then overlaid two different mouths from halloween masks and faded them in with multiply.

No zombie is complete without missing limbs! I took off Blake's arm, and then overlaid a cut off arm and faded it in with multiply and the smuge tool.

For the final touches, I added a slice across his neck (smuge tool to fade), and a cut on his head (multiply and lasso tools). All my final touches were not in the tutorial, but I used what I had learned to apply them to the image.

Overall, I felt this was difficult, and tested my photoshop abilities and knowledge. I feel I created a very cool image that goes from happy basketball player to scary, killer zombie.

Thanks,

Marc

Blog #1: Jon Ive of Apple

I have decided on looking at Jonathan Ive, the Senior Vice President of Industrial Design for Apple Inc. Jonathan and his team use Apple computers to design many Apple products. Interestingly, while Ive was studying artistic design in school, he felt inept to using a computer until he encountered an Apple. It is awesome that he went on to design their future line of products. Ive works with 3-D modeling software to design Apple products.

Looking at his design at Apple, Ive obviously wanted to design superior products that are ergonomic, sleek, and unforgettable. These denotations and connotations cross over in some cases. Looking at the iPad, all of the things listed above are denotations, yet there is an added value (connotation) of it being easy to use. Looking at the device it is sleek and simple. The 9.7" touch screen show the ease of use.

A lot of the innovative designs he works on focus on adding value to products. All Apple products are made well and have great insides, but the outside package is the most important.

Apple has been teasingly described as a vertically integrated marketing firm because of their products that “wow” consumers and bring them in through their marketing. Customers are hooked with the excellent computers, but the design brings them in.

Denotations of the MacBook Air line is the durability, portability, and sleekness of the brushed steel unibody exterior. The connotations from looking at the design is the extreme thinness of the design, that shows users they can bring the device anywhere and do anything.

Looking at the packaging for the iPhone. The denotation of this small box is the awesome presentation and experience of opening this all in one package. Upon opening the highly stylized and designed package, you are greeted with the iPhone and the message, “Made by Apple in California.” The design of the box is so thought out that when you take out the iPhone, all of the accessories and support is under it in the package. Connotatively, it shows the effort that a company would put in to give the user the full experience and give them everything they pay for (added value).

Jon Ive is a truly inspiring and revolutionary designer whose designs have revolutionized the personal electronic industry. He will always be most known for his design of the iPod.

Go Apple!

Images:

http://bindapple.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/apple-macbook-air.jpg

http://www.jacktelecom.com.hk/upImages/2010311105400.jpg

http://www.crunchbase.com/assets/images/original/0007/5132/75132v1.jpg

Information:

http://designmuseum.org/design/jonathan-ive

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/03/jonny-ive-on-apple-design-5-telling-insights-from-the-evening-standard-qa/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/29/jonathan-ive-apple-designer_n_940115.html

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