WEEK 9

This week we began our research for calendar. Some questions that I asked when researching calendar were: what is a calendar? How many kinds of calendars is there? What is the function of the calendar? What is the history of the calendar? How have designers made calendars? This is what I found to be the most important statement to calendar:

A calendar is a system of organizing units of time for the purpose of reckoning time over extended periods. By convention, the day is the smallest calendrical unit of time; the measurement of fractions of a day is classified as timekeeping. The generality of this definition is due to the diversity of methods that have been used in creating calendars. Although some calendars replicate astronomical cycles according to fixed rules, others are based on abstract, perpetually repeating cycles of no astronomical significance. Some calendars are regulated by astronomical observations, some carefully and redundantly enumerate every unit, and some contain ambiguities and discontinuities. Some calendars are codified in written laws; others are transmitted by oral tradition.The common theme of calendar making is the desire to organize units of time to satisfy the needs and preoccupations of society. In addition to serving practical purposes, the process of organization provides a sense, however illusory, of understanding and controlling time itself.

Here are the different images of calendar that I found to be the most interesting from the eyes as a designer. How I develop the sketches for my calendar from here on out will need to be as visually interesting.

Week 8

October 16-18:

Today the problem statement/ creative brief was revealed.

The graphic design department is in need of a calendar for

the academic year 2013-2014 it will be shown in the new

graphic design gallery next year. It will also be shown in the

 new spring show. Possibility it may be printed.

We were also given the assignment to research calendar

and all the variables. Also the history of calendar and that

the calendar is an academic calendar so it starts in August.

We were also given the grid and are going to begin to develop the

grid and how it will relate to our calendar.

Also I am starting to develop the calendar logo with Futura and

Baskerville as my typefaces for calendar. Below are some rough

Logo Sketches

Matrices

Week 7

Today in class Gwen talked with us the 6 steps to critical thinking.

Knowledge: define, list, arrange, identify.

Application: describe, discuss, explain, classify.

Comprehension: demonstrate, discover, choose, produce.

Analysis: Breakdown, compare, contrast.

Synthesisi: arrange, combine, compose, design.

Evaluation: Conclude, defend, judge, predict.

Blooms Taxonomy.

 I am finalizing my final sets for the images for the project we are

 working on. I developed my own problem statement to try to get an

understanding of what it is that I should be focusing on:

Construct 3 different compositions that are the four seasons, Winter,

Spring, Summer and Fall. Make sure that each comosition includes

at least one season and has eight images. The format needs to be

4x6” high quality photos, eight images that tell a story and hold

visual interest. The images will contrast as they tell a story. The image

sequence should also have interruptions to create rhythm, focal points

and grouping.

As I develop my images I will be able to more clearly make a dynamic set

of images.

What makes us look

This article is very relevant to me as an aspiring designer. It is basically telling us that we need to be mindful in our design and to make it a memorable piece so that it is not just skipped. We need to have interesting elements that are the design elements so that when someone sees our work, they stop and want to look at it. That we need to grab our viewers attention and to keep it.

I also added a picture of my series of images that are currently in development. I am trying to find a cohesive system that systematically grabs the viewers attention and makes them want to stay there and study my images. I still have more development to do.

Cheerio and how it relates to all of the problems

The Cheerio project allowed me to see more clearly how to take an object and make it relate to the design elements and the art elements. By dissecting the Cheerios, one could see clearly each element per Cheerio. What is so different about assignment 3, is that we have to define the different design elements and art elements in each image. This is much harder because the images that we shot have so many elements in them that it is harder to see them and to make the conductivities to make each image connect without being similar. I dissected my images by their "skeletal structure" so that I could try to see what the simplicity of the image was. Doing so, I was able to see the design elements more clearly than just looking at the image. I believe too that the Cheerio assignment made it more clear to me to see the design elements. I use them as my reference when I don't know what I could be seeing.

How would someone else see this problem and solve it?

I think that if someone who was outside the major and The University read my blog... they would be confused. I definitely need to post more images and edits to the blog so that what I am saying can be translated into a visual for someone who hasn't spent the time trying to solve the problem. They would note though my further understanding of what each problem reveals to me week by week.

Week 6

 "I see graphic design as the organization of information that is semantically correct, syntactically consistent, and pragmatically understandable."
Massimo Vignelli
Vignelli is the creator of American Airlines logo as well as many other corporate logos. He also is a packaging designer and has created the popular Bloomingdales bag. I found the information on his web site.
http://www.vignelli.com/home.html 
I think that what he is saying is that graphic design has to be understandable. It needs to communicate a clear message through its legibility in text and arrangement in image. Design also needs to have consistency... but it can't be too similar. There need to be repetitive elements without being obvious.

This ties into what I talked with Gwen about today in class in my series of images. She told me that they had too similar of shapes and that I needed to communicate my message by breaking apart my images into interval. Once I could see the "skeletal outline" of the image to see the direction and what axis they were based upon, I was able to see what she meant. I need to think of how to clearly communicate my message in a subtle way and how to begin to make my grid help to further communicate this message through the use of text.