the hybrid theory

ITAP-9

2012-01-09T04:22:00.000-08:00

Image and text

During this lecture we looked at the ways in which text can affect the image and how the viewer may perceive the image. For example take a look at this image by fine artist Magritte.

now when we first look at the image the first thing we notice is the pipe, next our eyes are drawn to the text which reads “this is not a pipe” without the use of this caption the meaning behind the pipe would be a little unclear. Another thing I like about this piece is that the lettering that has been used blends in with the aesthetics of the painting I also like that the lettering is hand written as opposed to it being a simple block style typeface and I feel that this adds extra warmth to the painting and gives it a more personal touch.

Next I’d like to look at this piece by mixed media artist and graphic designer Barbara Kruger, the piece is called your body is a battle ground.

Here she depicts a black and white photograph with its meaning being amplified by the use of red blocks filled with bold white text and straight away your eyes are drawn to the bold text. With this bold statement she causes the viewer to enquire and try to figure out the meaning of the photograph. Upon closer inspection the next thing that we notice is that one side is in black and white and the other is given a kind of negative effect, with this we see that she is playing with the idea of positive and negative good or bad. Another point to mention is that the woman is depicted staring right at you perhaps to involve the viewer more. Much of Barbaras work is centered around feminist issues and this piece is no exception, this was created in support of the 1989 march on Washington to support women’s rights with the emphasis on abortion (the right to choose)and birth control rights. So the phrase your body is a battleground is made perfectly relevant to the piece because it refers to the fight for a woman’s right to make her own decisions in regards to the subject of abortion good or bad which is emphasized by one half of the face being black and white and the other being in negative.

So as you can see the text that is used and how it is presented can give an added meaning to a piece of communication which is an important thing to consider when coming up with your own forms of visual communication.

Finally I’d like to look at an image that was taken by a photographer called Gillian wearing.

Gillian’s project involved finding passers-by and getting them to write what they thought and felt onto a piece of paper. From reading the text which says “I’m desperate” numerous thoughts rush to your head like “what is he desperate for” and “what does he mean by this?” etc.What I like about this is that it gets you to enquire and gives a different perspective on the person because if you were to look at the picture by itself without the text the meaning behind it and the persons thoughts would be obscured so I like the way the text gives meaning and a sense of purpose to the photo.

ITAP-8

2012-01-08T08:35:00.000-08:00

When and how was the first book in Europe printed?

The first fully printed book made in Europe was the Bible.

It was created in Strasburg in 1455 by Johannes Gutenberg and is also known as the Gutenberg bible.it is not sure how the bible project came about but at some point Gutenberg gave himself the task of creating a version of the bible that could be mass produced. Gutenberg who was previously a goldsmith, invented a special kind of printing ink, a method of casting type, and a special kind of press derived from the wine or oil press which became known as the Gutenberg press. This collection of integrated technologies has been called the first invention in Europe attributed to a single individual. Printing books was also the first process of mass production and was the process that centuries later became the essential model for the Industrial Revolution. His 42-line Bible was printed on paper and some copies on velium using movable type blocks and around 180 copies were made. Guttenberg’s contribution to printing was a key milestone in production as his technology was used so that numerous copies of literature could be made available to the public and after his discovery his methods had been refined to form numerous forms of printing presses/ processes. This was a big step in production as before this period every book in Europe had to be copied by hand.

Favourite professional

My choice for favourite professional was the artist Shepard fairey. His work has become a worldwide phenomenon this is due in part to his infamous obey giant sticker campaign that he launched in the early 80’s since then his “obey giant” stickers have been replicated and distributed in cities all over the world. I first noticed his work in the form of his stickers around Birmingham city center I also noticed t-shirt designs with the word “obey” simply emblazoned across the front of them but at that point I still didn’t know who Shepard fairey was, it wasn’t until later on at the beginning of university that I could finally but a “face to the brand” as it were. This was due to us watching a film called beautiful losers that shows the humble beginnings of a handful of well-established street artists and how they reached commercial success.

What stood out for me the most in terms of his work was his boldness and his ability to take an image and get it to stop you dead in your tracks to look at it, his design style is reminiscent of old world war 2 propaganda. This is because he deliberately looks at and is influenced by old war propaganda and popular culture.

Another reason why I admire Shepard Fairey is that he has complete control over his work and Is in the position where he can pick and choose the projects he wants to be involved in. “One thing I will not do is take a job from someone who I have an ethical conflict with. Hummer had offered me work, Camel Cigarettes had offered me tons of other shit that I turn down because I don't agree with it.”(interview taken fromhttp://www.fecalface.com/SF/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=757)

ITAP-7

2012-01-08T04:07:00.000-08:00

For this blog I will be looking at story development within the field of moving image. Now every story whether it’s a book or a film is structured using the three act method which quite simply, beginning, middle and end. “Every movie needs to have a beginning, middle and an end, but not necessarily in that order.” This quote is by a famous film maker called Jean-Luc Godard as he believed that every film has a structure: BEGINNING : MIDDLE : END or you could call also summarise it as ESTABLISH : CRISIS : RESOLVE

At the beginning of a film we are introduced to the main character and their environment. Most of the points needed for the viewer to be able to follow the story are introduced here; also the main conflict is briefly introduced. Next the protagonist is presented with a crisis that affects the equilibrium of the particular environment which sets up the next series of events. Lastly the main crisis is resolved which creates a new kind of equilibrium.

So I’d now like to take a look at the 2006 film “eragon”

ACT 1- the film starts off with a prologue, describing an encounter in a forest between a sorcerer, three elves, two male and one female. The Sorcerer, named Durza, with the help of twelve creatures called Urgals, kill the two male elves and capture the female elf, Arya. Before she is captured, Arya magically transports a blue stone she was carrying, which is later revealed to be a Dragon egg to a mountain range called the Spine. The film then introduces eragon who is the central character of the film; he is a 17 year old farm boy who lives in a small village with his older cousin and his uncle. Whilst out hunting he discovers the large blue stone in the middle of the forest which is revealed to be a dragon egg. The egg later hatches into the dragon “saphira”. Later we find that the antagonist king gallbotorix sends creatures known as razac to hunt and kill eragon and saphira this is because eragon is the only person who can potentially defeat him. After encountering these creatures eragon decides to flee, he later returns to find his uncle killed, upon seeing this he then departs with his dragon and a character named brom to find and join the vaarden who are a group of rebels that oppose the king.

ACT2- during the middle of the film eragon is dragged deeper into conflict and comes to terms with his destiny as a dragon rider. On his travels encounters a series of small skirmishes and he later discovers the varden.

ACT 3- Eragon has made contact with the varden and agrees to aid them in their battle against the king. Later we see eragon battle against the secondary antagonist called durza who is an evil sorcerer who was sent by the king to destroy the varden and eragon. A battle ensues in which durza is defeated the film is also left at cliff hanger as the king is yet to be defeated.

A Hero’s journey

The heroes’ journey like the 3 act structure contains 3 segments which are departure, initiation and return.

For the purpose of explaining the hero’s journey I would like to take a brief look at the film eragon as it depicts the hero’s journey in a somewhat linear fashion. Highlighting a few key elements of Joseph Campbell’s monomyth structure within the film

The call to adventure- eragon is in a mundane situation of normality before the egg hatches to reveal a dragon it is later stated that eragon is a dragon rider.

Refusal- out of fear he sends his dragon away as he doesn’t want to accept his new responsibilities as a dragon rider.

Crossing the first threshold- after accepting his destiny as a dragon rider he encounters Brom who helps him escape after the death of his uncle, his dragon returns to him and they embark on their new adventure.

Road of trials- during their travels eragon is mentored by Brom who was a former dragon rider, during these trials Brom teaches eragon sword-fighting and magic.

Apostasies- during their travels Brom is severely wounded and later dies.

Ultimate boon- eragon encounters the varden and the sorcerer durza is defeated.

ITAP-6

2012-01-07T10:58:00.000-08:00

Production and outcomes reactions and influences

This lecture is one that I found to be useful to me and more relevant than some of the previous lectures as it looked more closely at the area of illustration which is an area that I am particularly interested in and because it looked at in part, the way that images have been changed and adapted to fit the particular zeitgeist of the time period in which the work had been produced .The word zeitgeist refers to the ideas and “spirit” of the time and also the period and place, I found that this idea also coincided with a previous lecture which was on the notions of originality and how ideas can be “recycled” and reused to create a new interpretation of the original idea or concept. The example that was given during the lecture was Alice in wonderland. The book was written by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson and was illustrated by sir John Tenniel in 1865.

Now as we can see the image was produced using engravings and the old printing press that was prevalent during this time, this technology enabled books and images to be reproduced in larger quantities than they were previously, but due to the nature of the techniques and technology of the time the images were produced in black and white. A point to mention in regards to the way the figures were drawn is that Alice is illustrated in a somewhat realistic way, the characters of the hare and the mad hatter are drawn in quite a slightly more whimsical manner to perhaps enforce the idea that Alice is in a fantasy environment.

In contrast to this I’d like to focus on Walt Disney’s interpretation of the same story of Alice in wonderland.

Now the first thing we notice is that this version has colour and they are bright and they are vibrant, this is due in part to the technological advances that took place in this time period as animation had started to become much more sophisticated in its application and a wider range of colours and effects could be added. We also see that the ways the figures are represented visually are totally different to the way they were drawn originally. In the 1800’s, for example with the original the drawings seem to be quite stiff and rigid to me, whereas with Walt Disney’s version the characters are rendered in a much less formal traditional manner , the lines are also a lot cleaner especially when compared with the rough cross hatchings that were done previously this Is due to the way that drawings involved in animation have to be produced in order to create a much smoother animation. Another aspect to the way characters are drawn is that she is drawn in a much more innocent fashion so that it will appeal to a much younger target audience. The benefit of Alice been drawn in this way is that the younger viewers will find her a lot easier to relate to as she is depicted as being childlike and innocent.

ITAP-5

2012-01-07T10:42:00.000-08:00

Legibility and tone of voice

What defines legibility? Well when most people think of the word legibility they tend to equate it to handwriting, different type- faces etc. as you can see from the magazine my group and I have been working on we have opted for a large bold title for the cover so that the title of our magazine stands out and is clearly readable

Text is just one aspect of legibility as designers we aren’t quite so limited by legibility. for example if the point of a particular piece is to perhaps confuse their audience or get them to question the ideas behind the piece as a way to get them to delve deeper into the meaning of the particular piece in order to give them “food for thought” as it were then the piece has been successful.

I have been in this position once before when visiting the Saatchi gallery. Once there I came across a piece of sculpture created by Juliana Cerqueira and at first I didn’t quite know what to make of it at first I thought I was just a mass of clay but as I came closer to inspect it I noticed that there were outward protrusions of hands and feet and also large scratch marks and indents of fingers which made me think of the idea of escape or of climbing. It was later explained that Juliana had filled a box with clay as she explains here ““My work is driven by an investigation into physicality and how we interact with the physical world,” says Juliana Cerqueira Leite. “For Up, I built a box that was as tall as I could reach, slightly larger than my body, and completely filled it with clay. The box was raised onto a steel platform so I could crawl under it. I dug upwards through the clay until my entire body fit inside the box and I could reach its top with my arms stretched above my head. The final piece is a plaster cast taken from the space I dug out and shows the minimum amount of space I could occupy. The wavy surface is formed by the negative grooves from the tips of my fingers pulling the clay downwards and pushing it out of the bottom of the box. The work is black because when I was inside the clay it was completely dark. I couldn’t see anything so this piece was made entirely by touch”

So we can see here although the initially intent isn’t clear at first glance we sometimes have to question and delve deeper to find answers in order to “read”.

Next I’ll be talking about tone of voice not in the literal sense of speech but in terms of image and text for example look at this piece by Shepard fairey.

With this you can see it has quite a loud tone, this is attributed to his use of the colour red as a background and the use of black to make the image stand out. The figure is also depicted wielding a baton which gives the piece a somewhat menacing look, next if you read the text it has an element of dark humour.

ITAP-4

2012-01-07T08:15:00.000-08:00

For this section I will be looking at 2 key principals that were brought up during the lecture these two points are Understanding the target audience and inspiration.

So first off I’ll be looking at target audience. It’s important for the visual creative/designer to have a thorough understanding of the target audience, this is because when armed with knowledge on a target audience it gives the designer the ability to successfully solve the creative task at hand as solving the task is to satisfy the intended target audience. And I say “intended target audience” because It’s near impossible to simply target anyone so a target audience is created specifically to a certain group of people based on age, gender, interests etc.

A keen understanding of target audience Is paramount as it ultimately affects the look and feel of the final outcome/product in terms of aesthetics and content. The main objective of advertising is to persuade your target audience to buy a certain product which is achieved by attracting them with the setting, photos, illustrations, colour etc. take this male fragrance advertisement for example.

As you can see its clearly aimed at a male audience because of the use of a male actor and the lack of colour it is also interesting to note that the fragrance bottle is one of the few things that is displayed in colour, perhaps to further illustrate that it is the desirable product as it stands out quite clearly against the black and white background that has been used here.

Again using male fragrance ads as an example I chose to look at the video/tv campaign for the fragrance. This appeals to its male audience firstly and obviously through the use of a male actor and also the use of or rather the lack of colour that is used throughout the video clip. this masculine audience is further communicated with through the symbols that are used, such as wealth, power, women, cars gambling etc. even the name of the fragrance is used to further reiterate this idea of ”wealth” and “power” .Another thing to note is that when the actor clicks his fingers he gets whatever he wants instantaneously which links to power, wealth and the idea of the instant accessibility of desires .

The next key feature I will be looking at is inspiration, now for me personally as a visual communicator I have found that research into different genres/styles such as vintage tattoo flash, comic book art graffiti, fine art, illustration and manga art etc. and by following the work of other artists, this has given me a large source of inspiration for me to pull ideas from and I’ve managed to find merit in all branches of visual communication. I have found this useful because by looking at other peoples work It gets you thinking of ways in which you can improve your own practice.

Here are is a look at the work of illustrator Alex Pardee

Here we can see that he has taken inspiration from the film and graphic novel “watchmen” to create his own illustration. In an interview Alex says this about his inspiration. “Recently I think my inspiration has changed drastically. Visually I absorb anything and everything shiny. Movies, shitty TV, the internet, friends, taking walks, people watching, etc. I do get a lot of my inspiration from pop culture, whether it shows in my work or not. Pop culture, just in general, sparks things in me constantly.”

ITAP-3

2012-01-07T06:19:00.000-08:00

Notions of originality
This lecture was an interesting one in that it addresses the distinction between outright plagiarism and taking a particular design idea/concept that is already quite familiar and reworking it so that it can be used in a different context, the lecture also got me to question what is an "original" idea and a quote that came to my head was "a good artist creates a great master steals" but is it really ok to "steal" someone else’s idea? this I feel must be a dilemma that many visual creatives may come across especially when looking at another artists work for ideas and inspiration but I think the key point to consider would be the context in which this new interpretation is used and how it has been re-worked so that it isn’t a direct copy of the original, this point was made very clear throughout the lecture.
One way of using Pre-existing images/concepts and making them your own would be to use an image that is instantly recognisable and twist it in a way that it can be used in perhaps a different context or to convey a new idea. One image that springs to mind is the iconic image of the Mona Lisa; this image has been recycled numerous times for advertising campaigns. from adverts for cars to hair products.

even though both advertising companies are using the same instantly recognisable image of the Mona Lisa they are used in a different context that sets them apart from the original for example with the Audi ad campaign they depict the Mona Lisa in a standing position and the background is subtly different to the original, another point to mention is the tiny caption at the bottom of the poster which reads “a masterpiece with much more” which suggests that the new model of Audi is a new and improved version of the original.
But perhaps the interpretation of the Mona Lisa that stands out the most for me personally is Yasumasa Morimura's take on the iconic image.

This is because he questions the reason as to why Mona Lisa is smiling. He comes to his own conclusion that she was smiling because maybe she was pregnant at the time, he depicts this in three ways .firstly the image that we see is the familiar image that everyone is comfortable with and is accustomed to, next he draws her naked to suggest pregnancy and lastly he paints using the context of Leonardo da Vinci’s medical drawings, showing her organs and the foetus. This is Morimura’s original idea, but it was produced using a well-known figure.

Now this image was shown during the lecture and it seemed vaguely familiar to me and this is because it’s a more modern interpretation of a piece that was created by Botticelli in 1484 by an artist called David la Chapelle in 2009.

Now as far as composition goes it is near identical to the original painting, for instance there are two main central figures of a male and female but what sets them apart from the original is that the female is represented by an African woman which is quite fitting as the piece is entitled “the rape of Africa” and depicts the woman surrounded by livestock and the white male is surrounded by weapons and resources and there are also modern construction vehicles in the background which reflects the modern time period that we are in.

ITAP-2

2012-01-05T05:37:00.000-08:00

Managing a creative environment

For the visual creative having a comfortable creative environment is paramount as creativity is largely influenced by the working environment.The environment that a creative will choose to work will differ greatly depending on the person, so it's important that one must find or even create for themselves a place where they will work to the best of their ability. So from looking at the chosen creative environments of different artists I have seen a range of different workspaces in which they produce their work, ranging from hi-tec studios equipped with the latest equipment such a drawing tablets, macs' etc to really small and quite cluttered rooms that are saturated with examples of previous work and reference material while others opt for quite large spaces to work in that are quite bland, organized and quite clinical looking.
For me personally my ideal creative environment is my bedroom as I've found that in order for me to create to the best of my ability I need to be as comfortable as possible as my ideas seem to flow alot better,my creative environment is a sort of amalgamation of the previous workspaces that i mentioned for example, I like to surround myself with previous work and as much reference material as possible as I've found that it allows to create/recreate images much more accurately than if I was to draw exclusively from my imagination, my reference material ranges from books on the human body and anatomy to books on drawing techniques and even comic books,manga and tattoo magazines have all been invaluable sources to use for reference material. I also think that it is important that a workspace should be kept neat and tidy as things such as drawing materials and reference materials are readily available and easy to find as clutter fan be quite frustrating especially when trying to find equipment.
my laptop is also a key element within my workspace as having quick and easy access to the internet is highly important in collecting information and keeping up to date with the work of other visual creatives, I also keep a games console in my room and though some may view this as being highly counter productive towards my artwork I like to take short breaks especially if i'm particularly stuck on an idea as creating pieces of work can be quite stressful at times and also because in my opinion a creative environment should be a fun area to work in and shouldn't be too bland and clinical as I find it harder to create in such environments.
another key element is my small (but steadily growing) graphic novel and manga collection partly because they can be used them as a source of inspiration as far as how the narrative is conveyed through the images.

so here is an example of the workspace of one of my favourite illustrators Chris Parks.

what I like about his workspace is that its clean and slightly clinical in a way, but its covered in examples of his previous work, he also has a small collection of magazines and is equipped with drawing tablets and computers and because of the somewhat humorous nature of some of his creations his workspace is almost a kind of visual/ creative playground and would be my ideal workspace.

ITAP: How artists use RVJ'S & how the brain works

2011-10-31T12:58:00.000-07:00

Drawings have been used by artists of different creative backgrounds as a tool to generate solutions to solve a variety of design problems. The drawings in an artists RVJ don't have to be neat and tidy and in a lot of cases they are often quite crude and simple,this gives the artist the freedom to conjure up ideas relating to their brief and to think in a visual format in a way that isn't limited by self conciousness.

The sketchbook of leonardo da vinci for example contains images of various schematics for his inventions.

what I like about his sketches is that he would draw a large image of the invention and then include lots of small close up details of the different mechanisms with added commentary around them.

whilst looking at different artists to find examples of their sketchbooks I came across the sketchbook of Sam vallemeersch.

the aspect that stands out the most for me, is the vibrancy of his sketchbook and how there is very little commentary that accompanies his artwork in comparison with Leornado da vincis' sketchbook which has lots of small details with added commentary around it.
with Sams sketchbook you get the idea that he is freely exploring ideas, I also like the way he has different ideas that are almost layered on top of each other.

The final sketchbook I will be analysing is by lizzie finn, what sets Lizzies work apart from the other reflective visual journals that I have seen is that she doesn't use pen,pencil or any of the other traditional drawing mediums to express her inner thoughts, she instead utilises textiles and fabric.

How the brain works
The second design principle I will be discussing is the brain.
The human brain is split into to halves the right side and the left side, they carry out out different processing functions in different ways and by understanding these functions one can get a better idea of how to generate and evaluate ideas.
Right brain
The right side of the brain is best described as a child at play because its the side that is responsible for your creativity and your experimental nature.
Left side
If the right brain is the child at play then the left brain is best described as being like an accountant as its primary functions are to organise and to classify.
Utilising both sides
The way to utilise both sides is to freely create images and explore different conceptual ideas using the right brain once they have been created look back and evaluate what you've done utilising the left brain and decide what the best course of action will be in the form of annotations around the designs.