Thursday, 28 November 2013

Studio Brief 1, Design Process,Research


Urban Outfitters



Urban outfitter's backing papers are very considered and can tell money has gone into them. The one of the left suits the frame, its bright and the shapes are clashing, making it eye catching. Which sells the product of the frame better. The one on the right are images of their models in their clothes, so the frame is acting like another advert for the urban outfitter's way of life and products as well as showing off the frame in real life circumstances.

These frames also caught my eye firstly because of the frame itself but I really like the backing papers. The water marble look is quite calming which is juxtaposed to the sparkly frames. I think if it didn't have urban outfitters on the paper O'd keep it in.










Clas Ohlson





Clas Ohlson have gone for two classic ways of designing their backing paper. The top one is the emotive family image that people want to fill the frame with. This frame is aimed for families, probably new families, I think backing paper can have a lot of power in that, trying to show a wanted way of life. The bottom one is like a stock image of a pretty flower, which could attract girls who want to fill it with photos of their friends. I think it's quite interesting they chose these kind of shots of this plant to be in a frame like that because in real life, they wouldn't be framed like that. 

Wilkinsons 




 Wilkinsons had two different designs for their backing paper, one being a delicate tree and the other using circles. I think the trees are directed at females more, because of the colours used and the thinness of line used. The colour range is interesting too, because in my mind the top one with brighter colours would be a young adult age, the right one with the purples more middle aged and the cream and green for an older lady. They've also been separated by the frame style as well, the top one is stainless steel which is very modern. The right one is quite a normal pine which would suit someone from the 60's 70's generation. The left one definitely suits an older person because of the cream used, it reminds me of sofas from the 30's. 





This selection of designs I think for a younger audience, possibly male because of the lack of bright colours and simple information. The straight to the point kind of design reminds me of how a stereotypical male may approach a problem like buying photo frames. I don't think they're are very interesting to look at all, the dulled colours make the frame look cheap as well, which isn't good from a selling point of view.


I want to use colour as a way of attracting people, so need to research into the meanings and responses into colour, to see if I can develop a design from there.
These are responses and meanings for quite a range of colours I can use.

If I want to target a a certain type of person I think colour can really work with that.


Photoshop Induction

Photoshop is a pixel based program, meaning the images use small squares of colour rather than vectors. This means that the image can blur because of the amount of pixels in the image. Resolutions are used to work in different ways, 72 resolution is for screen based work, while a 300 resolution is for printing.

Lower resolutions can be used in larger scale work but appear high quality because of the size and the way your eye sees the image.


Optical mixing is where you can take two colours, separately, are next to each other finely but aren't technically mixed would appear mixed because of the way your eye sees it. So using very small dots of colour it can appear a new invented colour but they're actually two separate pigments next to each other. 



Maximum pixels you can have in one image in photoshop is 300,000x300,000, but because of that you would have a huge file size. 

Having a very high resolution on a website creates problems because it makes the website slower. If you own your website you have to pay for the space and pixels. Also if you've got big images that take a while to load no ones going to want to go on that website. 


On Photoshop you can find out the details of the image via, Image then Image Size. Or on the desktop you command and I to get more info. At the bottom of the file on Photoshop if you right click you can find out the width, height, colour mode and bit depth. 

Colour Mode -
RGB, Red Green Blue, which is used for screen and deals with light.
CMYK, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key (black), which is used for printing.
You have to save as RGB and then convert to CMYK to print, because if you save with CMYK you can't get back the information, because Photoshop works by deleting.

Gamut is the range of colours that are visible.
This shows the range of colours available within the colour modes meaning there is a lot more colours you can produce with RGB then CMYK.



In Photoshop when using the sliders in the colour palette,there is a warning triangle that will tell you when you have chosen a printable colour, if you don't pick one you can be moved to the nearest printable colour, so your design stays true went printed. 



Digits are used for the colour picker, apart from with the CMYK because they are a mixture of pigments when it comes to printing. The # section is the computer code for websites, the cube underneath the triangle shows the web safe colours, which will show you the nearest usable colour. 

On Photoshop I've played around with the colour modes to see how the lego is affected, you can tell the difference a lot between RGB, CMYK and the Greyscale. However the green only really changes between RGB and CMYK, its lot brighter in RGB on screen.

RGB
CMYK
Greyscale

Always keep an original because when you change the colour on Photoshop you delete the information, changing the image each time.
Levels and Curves change the black and whites of the colour, Hue and Saturation change the colours of the image, Colour Balance changes the colour as well, allowing you to have more control rather than Photoshop changing it for you.

If you use adjustment layers you can play around a lot more with the effects. 





Saturday, 16 November 2013

CoP1 Lecture 2: Visual Literacy - The Language of Design

Visual Literacy is the development of meaning from images and type. It is also the ability people have to construct meaning from visual images. 

Visual literacy: "All that is necessary for any language to exist is an agreement amongst a group of people that one thing will stand for another."

Visual Literacy is universal and is translated throughout the world, in different countries and cultures. The example of a toilet sign is very easy to understand with this. 

Universally people will understand this to mean toilets, for male and female however no one ever said that one means the other. Where did that come from? That is the visual literacy that people have come to understand.
The one below is a peculiar looking sign but is still understandable, I think because it's using the way men and women go to the toilet makes it very easy to understand. 


Another example of how symbols are used and their meaning can be changed due to design are plus signs or crosses (+).

When it is two lines like, + it can mean and or plus. When you add colour to it, such as green it becomes a first aid helping place. 


When its a red cross it represents a hospital.
The change in colour and format can change the meaning very quickly, the meaning is somehow decided by society and agreed upon. 

Semiotics was briefly mentioned as well which WE already knew about because of Richard's seminar the day before. These terms were used throughout the lecture which are good terms to know and understand.

Visual Semantics
 - The relationship between form and meaning and the way it fits into the culture.
Visual Syntax - The visual organisation of elements, which is the foundation of an image and the way we read it

Visual Synecdoche - This is when a part of something represents the whole.

Visual Metaphor - Transfers the meaning from one image to another.
Visual Metonym - A symbolic image that makes reference to something more literal.




Wednesday, 13 November 2013

CoP1 Lecture 5: Chronologies 3: Print

Print was probably one of the most important inventions in history, it completely changed the world. 
Before print people would only know their small surroundings, stories they would hear would come from word of mouth and probably wrong by the time it got around, like Chinese whispers. 

Printing was first introduced in Japan in 200BC, it took 300 years to get to China. That shows how slow getting things around were. China printed on material because it was more durable and easily transported. Printing then started in 1400BC which is quite a long time to get there. 

Religion was really the only thing printed at that time, everyone was involved in it. 


When the Gutenberg press was invented in the 1450's it meant that type and print was a lot more accessible. Anything could be printed, it meant that stories that were being told weren't being changed as they travelled. What was printed was untouchable and probably believed. The press made literacy develop because people needed to learn how to read. 

With the fast production rates of the press, 3,600 prints a day meant that knowledge was spreading out to more people and knowledge is power. So with that politics changed, society changed, there was hierarchies, Democracy and freedom of speech developed, Capitalism developed splitting people into classes of who can read and who can't.

Tuesday, 12 November 2013

Independent Redesign

http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2013/november/the-independent-redesign

I got my story for Studio Brief 4 from The Independent, so it's appropriate to comment on it's redesign, which Creative Review go into detail on their blog.


Red is used in some  papers like The Sun, Daily Mirror, The Star, to attract buyers and catch people's eyes. Normally I associate red with those tabloids, the cheaper full of celeb gossip ones that don't have much substance and can be offensive. So I thought it's odd that The Independent, a middle market tabloid that does hold good stories and intelligent views use red for their Header. 


However now with the new design it looks more like a broadsheet than a tabloid. It is also interesting to see a header on the side of the paper rather than at the top, it has made the paper look cleaner and more clear, which is good for big headlines. 


Personally I think the new design is a lot better, it suits the attitude of this paper a lot more and will catch people's eyes on the stand due to the different format.







Old Vs New



Monday, 11 November 2013

Studio Brief 4, Message and Delivery, Research

Animal Testing -

Personally I don't really know where to stand with animal testing. With products such as make up I don't think animals should be used, however with medical procedures like this story, I think they are the best candidate. It's a very interesting and delicate subject with huge debates.

One hand most medical discoveries or developments such as smallpox (cow) and anthrax (sheep) vaccine were due to animal testing.


However, the conditions the animals are in before and during the experiments are normally horrific and abuse for the animal.
I think this subject is very hard to work with and decide what is right and wrong, I am more on the cruelty side of the debate but can understand the benefits of the experiments. I would struggle a lot to create a graphic answer to this debate.

Science-

The science is quite complex behind this development. I think I understand it, that it's the tissue that is transplanted onto the mice and that is how the hair grows again. In the past it has just turned into more skin but because they have formed the tissue into a 3D spheroids it keeps the hair identity.

More information and results of the experiment are on this website. http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/10/16/1309970110

Baldness-

There are so many different people that are affected by baldness, this particular 'cure' can help burn victims, cancer victims, alopecia sufferers and male pattern baldness. 
This can be a very serious subject if concentrated on cancer victims, or burn victims, but because this is just research I can look at it with an open mind.
The newspapers and articles I read took on two tones of voices, it was either serious with belief that this cure is a step forward in medical history whereas other papers would take the mic and belittle it.
I support the more humorous tone of voice because there is so many way of dealing with baldness already like wigs and hair pieces. I don't understand why there has been so much money spent on this project and animals
messed with when in reality, this is a 'first world problem'. No one really needs this 'cure' like people need the cure of cancer.



Body Image

There are many famous people who look bald as well as some who don't like it.

Sinead O'connor is a famous female singer who has always been bald and looked good, which I think is good because there isn't a lot of women in the public eye who support the bald look and show a body confidence.
When Gail Porter lost her hair to alopecia she went public with it and shocked some people. However it was good to see someone just deal with hair loss, and think it was the end of the world.

Wayne Rooney and Jason Gardiner are men who couldn't deal with natural hair loss, so spent thousands on a hair transplant. I think they obviously did it to be happy within themselves but a normal man couldn't afford a procedure like that which isn't good for the public eye.
It also shows how expensive and unrealistic the 'cure' will probably be.






















Crit

When discussing my research it was brought to my attention that this story could be seen as not real news, which I think i agree with.
It does beg the question is this a real cure or just something that seems interesting but not real for a normal person.
Routes I could go down and the different tones of voices that were possible.

Font Analysis

Zapfino is a calligraphic font designed by Hermann Zapf, it is based on his original alphabet he designed in 1944, however Zapfino was designed in 1998. Apple use the font in Mac OS X and  iOS which has developed over time to include 1400 glyphs.

Zapf worked with Donald Knuth and David Siegel on a mathematic font called AMS Euler, Siegel wanted to continue working with him and create another font. Zapf referred to old sketches from 1944 and a font from 1948 called Stempel he was unable to make due to metal limitations. So after discussion they decided to develop the complicated software to create this font Zapfino. However Siegel abandoned the project due to heartache and Zapf had to show Linotype the work, which fortunately took it up and finished it with him. It was released in 1998.

This is an old style font, where form was pushed further than function, because of its stems and line movement. Although it is legible and readable, it is decorative with the extended curved stems and serifs.

This font has good cultural codes of an old classic age because of the serifs. Also the script style makes it connate a handwritten font that care and attention has gone into it. In reality Zapf was able to create these fonts with his hand and talent. Bayer disagrees, 'the manual skill and approach of the craftsman was seen to be inevitably replaced by mechanical techniques', which can be truthful in a sense however all fonts start with a hand rendered idea that then develops into digital. 
http://www.linotype.com/5667/theartofhermannzapf.html


Wednesday, 6 November 2013

CoP1 Lecture 4: Chronologies 2: Illustration

Illustration is strategic image making, used within the context of visual communication to convey meaning or concept. It has to be ascetically appropriate to the context.

What is good illustration?
Will it stick in your head?
Emotional response?
Makes you want to look at it more?

I think two pieces of illustration that answer all these questions are Vania Zouravliov's Baby Yaga and George Butler's work.



These pieces are stylistically very different, the first one has so much detail. It's really an impressive drawing, I love the texture and patterns that are included. It brings the story of the Baby Yaga alive and really helps to visually communicate it. 

Then Butler's style and drawings are so different because of the lack of detail and lines. He doesn't include everything he possibly could when he's drawing the areas he's in which works well because it doesn't over power the image. He's a reporter for war zones and quickly has to sketch out scenes and i think this style works very well. 

These images are appropriate for the context and personally I want to look at more so I think these are very good pieces of illustration.

Monday, 4 November 2013

Semiotic Analysis


The cultural code for this image is to do with the pop culture as well as society. Rihanna is depicted like Medusa, a famous myth who could turn men to stone by looking at her. A lot of people could agree that Rihanna may have the same kind of power. In music every single is a money maker, she sells out venues all across the world, so although people want to see her rather than not look at her, she still has a lot of power. Her image of bad girl is helped along with the lack of clothes she is seen in, many images of her are clothe-less or very small outfits. Men will stare at this image like Medusa. 

In reality, it is denoted that this is an image of a girl with no top and, a lot of snakes on her head with a demonic look in her eyes. However it is connoted that Rihanna is being a very powerful women, especially to men, to whom this magazine GQ is directed at, she can hold the stare with whomever looks at this image, which is like Medusa.

The text of this image is that sex sells, Rihanna doesn't need clothes to create a style. Although this image is very eye catching and powerful because of the styling. The snakes are mainly reds which is a colour for danger poison and intrigue, she has contacts in like a snake, as if she is part of that danger and intrigue. Her position of her hands, purposely covers her breasts but always brings attention to her eyes which is where, if it was medusa, aren't meant to look. Which is falling into the trap of danger and intrigue. Her facial expression is quite haunting as well, as if she has found someone to latch onto and turn to stone. In this case it would the audience or buyer, which is GQ's intention. Everything in this image is done on person to create a good selling point.

This is an iconic image, Rihanna is styled to look like Medusa. She is also representing powerful and strong women, because of the power Medusa had towards men. Some people would also argue that Rihanna is an iconic women, she is definitely iconic in her style with clothes and hair but in the future she will be remembered as an icon of this generation, for good or bad reasons. Rihanna is very similar to her in that, she can make money of music, but her fans are another source of power and responsibility. The snakes also help her look like Medusa, like the thing she is representing.