Book Process and Goodbyes

(Insert Pictures here....having technical difficulties, will resolve soon)

With my book, Kacey and I found that the best way to put things together was to have the objects we used be our main category and then have the parts of those objects that we used (as marks) as the subcategory.

Our book-making process was bar none, the worse experience I've ever had in this dept.  It caused me great despair making mistake after mistake, even though both of us tried our damnedest.  I could no longer get angry anymore, I just feel deeper and deeper into depression.  We had to improvise a lot, just because we had already redone it so many times and run low on money.  It reminds me of all the reasons why I"m leaving this dept.

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But I must be clear....I have to get this off my chest.

I may be leaving...But I never gave up and never just blew things off to get them done.  I tried my best...and if it wasn't good enough...its because I'm not good enough, not that I didn't care.

Its been a fear of mine since I announced my departure that my teachers and classmates would believe that now I didn't care.  I never stopped, I still do.  Even when I tried not to care, I screwed that up too.

Its a matter of pride.

I would never allow myself to just blow off this dept., even if I got nothing from it.   But I got plenty from it.  My work is cleaner and more precise (even casually) then it has ever been.  I have a sense of precision even in thought that makes organizing more natural and less evil then before.  I am better for the experience

The hardest part is that I've made an enormous group of friends, that I am part of a UNIT with.  And despite the difficulties I've had here...the teachers and faculty are some of the finest I've ever had.

We're a true team, and it hurts me to leave them, but I must.

I will continue to maintain this blog (under the banner of an illustrator). and it will be more about LULZ and wont be as heavily updated, but it'll be here, if you ever want to keep track of me.

Later guys, I'll visit, I promise

Past Process Critique

This is one dead end iteration that comes to mind.  It was a composition WAAAAAAAAY back to the dot book when I was trying to fit the word "passionate" into the book. It was my ineptitude with the abstract form that made me veto this composition AND the word. However, now that I look at it, I could rework this and make at least a passable iteration.

With this piece the main problem was that I kept inadvertently making forms that resembled literal things.  This made a writing passion I wanted, but i kept seeing this little monster with hairy armpits dancing (lol). As much as I actually like that, it sure didn't help me.  If I had kept the movement without the details or the touching of forms, it would be possible to keep the word.

(sigh)

I still like my hairy armpit monster

Final Statement

To meet the objectives of the flash movie and the taxonomy book, i employed a method that I hadn't used since the beginning of the semester by making quantities of work and selecting from the bulk.  I made SO many marks and copies of marks and copies of copies of marks that it became a simple matter of selection for the taxonomy book.  It also allowed me to find the perfect mark through serendipitously trusting in the materials, hoping for a random bit of excellence.

The generation of marks was a great deal of fun compared to some of the more cut and dry aspects of design

Linear Transtition

 

The Tools used were the lens of our flashlight for both stamping and spray-painting.  For the man it was spray-painted matches.  I then separated the shapes and copied them

  

Final Marks

Watcha think?

Lovely locks of Gray
Perfect in form, wonderous
Spun grain from the earth

Do I get bonus points?

DO I?!?!

Leo Lionni - Visual Communication

As a noted childrens book writer and illustrator, Leo Lionni has a definite grasp of the playful and whimsical.  In the reading given, Leo reinforces the immersion of the artist/designer in the methods and art he or she is creating.  Its a game of pretend.  One  needs to become one with your work, creatin yourself within it.  It breeds style, and that stylistic approach is the one I need to seek for this project

Quantity vs. Quantity? Hmmm....

I had been having thoughts on this very concept before this text was assigned.  I believe Mr. Fritz's appraisal on process and improvement is spot on, not just with artistic process, but also with humankind's progress in general. It took many generations, and much slow refinement by using crude tools and skills to create more precise tools and skills.  I'm sure it took a rock to pound another rock onto a stick to make a hammer.  Although with the artistic refinement, Fritz makes an excellent point about purpose. A machine will crank out hundreds, perhaps thousands, of the same product, but will not try to improve upon them, because the machine places no personal importance upon the product.  Its performing its function and nothing more. There's a certain amount of pride that an artisan should feel for their craft.  That pride and desire to do well will create a need to improve with each piece created.

Theme analysis

War

Conflict
Tactics
Geography
Ideals
Discontent
Revolution
Soldier
Weapon
Strategy
Attack
Defense
Flank
Ordinance
Armour
General
Navy
Army
Logistics
Valor
Front




Government                                                  

Democracy
Oligarchy
Tyranny
Dictatorship
Ideals
Leadership
Efficiency
People
Revolution
Justice
Order
Few
Many
Law
Court
Legistlature
Leader
Ruler
Rebellion
Influence

Zombies and Graphic Design - My Choice for Contemporary Graphic Design

Dawn of the Dead (1978)

I've been obsessed with zombie films since I was about ten...just look at my movie collection and you'll see a envy worthy assortment of blood, guts, gore and the undead.  Few of them really have cool posters associated with them, at least not in the sense of a design. Most of them have the run-of-the-mill cheesy illustration of the walking dead or the heroes on the cover. One however has always stood apart from the others....so much so that I keep a poster of it on my wall

George Romero's original Dawn of the Dead was in my opinion the most cerebral of the initial "Dead" trilogy and worked very clever social commentary into the fabric of the film, but I'm going to stop myself from distracting myself with my own film geekery. My point is this: It is very appropriate that it has the most subtle and intelligent of the posters designs in the series

Its main element is a sense of continuation used to draw the viewer closer the the perceived threat of the poster, a stylized eyes only portrait of a zombie (within the film no less ). The wounding adds a touch of asymmetry to what would almost be a very logical and symmetrical design from its center alignment and corresponds to the different red hues throughout the poster. This lends a bit more to the feeling of unease to the  whole piece.

For a horror poster, this image uses very subtle tools to convey the feeling of dread and foreboding  that Romero and the other filmmakers wanted to portray in the film

Herbert, Meggs, and Sagmeister

All three of them had their own piece to say about the role and nature of graphic design work.  Stefan Sagmeister, an Austrian born graphic design with an important firm in New York, advocates being bold (or "having guts" in his words) when designing, suggesting that risk-taking and passion will help a designer prevail more times then not.  Meggs and Herbert approached the subject with a more analytical approach talking at great length about the universal language and hybrid qualities of design.  Herbert specifically mused on the delicate balance between style and substance.


I believe completely in what Sagmeister had to say, and have always felt that boldness is a vital part of truly excellent design or just artistry in general.  Standing out is very important to get the attention of those you're trying to get the message across to.  But also designers have to keep in mind that communication is the main point of a design and cannot get bogged down in the aesthetics. Meggs and Herbery both have excellent points on the careful considerations of our craft.

"What is Graphic Design?" - A Power To Wield

When I was building my artistic skills in high school and community college, I always seemed to encounter the same problem.  I would paint, and draw,  and do other more free-form art methods, but i never seemed to be satisfied on a whole.  I didn't really have any goals when I worked on art, which while relaxing, meant that I would always feel as if I wasn't accomplishing anything of particular worth.  Sure, I had painted a beautiful image, learned to render models faithfully and otherwise flourish in traditional art, but otherwise my world was virtually unaffected by what I had done.

I looked to Graphic Design and saw something different: while it still was definitely expressive and artistic, It DID have goals that could be applied in a practical manner. Not only could I produce a piece that moved people aesthetically, but also change the way they thought and felt in a very surgical sense.  There's much more power with that in my mind, then with most traditional art.  It helps me feel like I am doing my part to improve and shape society to pursue graphic design

Painting's a good hobby for me, Graphic Design's a good purpose