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.

Week 5

My first set of images that I took for the seasons project were very representational. My table group and I developed mind maps to try and abstract the seasons. I got ideas from this, but not abstract ideas. I went out and purchased various items that were "abstracted" seasons. I bought various fruits and drinks that one could connect to the seasons. After I printed my contact sheets, I became dissatisfied with the results. The images were too representational.
The next day in class, I made a word matrix with all of the design principles. I found that although this was more challenging for me than the mind map, I had a better concept of how to abstract the images. I will know after I shoot my next set of pictures.

Project 2: leaves and linear shadow

As I was putting together the final steps of the project, I realized the beauty of the overall assignment. I never thought that I would be able to do any form of abstraction and this assignment has opened my eyes to it. After reviewing my process I also realized that I wouldn't have been able to reach the end result without the steps I took... even if I re-shot everyday. I am happy with how the process allowed me to grow. Included is my beginning photos that I took so that I could see how I started. Also included is a composition break up of each image and how they contrast with each other. I designed a color swatch around the images as well as included the problem statement.