COLORS AND MOODS

It's important to remember the importance of colors. Whether you're choosing colors for a design project, your wedding, or rooms in your house, color has a "profound effect on how we feel both mentally and physically." With that being said, keep in mind the effects colors have on people (on you!) and the emotional associations humans have with certain colors, so that you create the right mood with your next project. 

JUL & MAT MUSIC PAINTING

Jul & Mat Music Painting

Great music and great colors...Jul & Mat Music Painting video is funky and creative. The hands continuously paint a blank canvas aligning to the song's beats. It makes you a little dizzy from staring at it, but it's fun to watch...curious to see what will happen next and how it will end.  

D'BLOGALA

d'blogala

It's funny how I ran into this blog... In her 3rd grade English class, my 9-year old step-sister wrote a poem about slavery. I was so impressed by her poem, I started browsing the web for children's writing books. I feel like I have to foster her talent! I stumbled across Doodle Diary: Art Journaling For Girls. It "combines images with words and art journaling techniques." Although it's not all writing, it will expose her to other art forms. Dawn DeVries Sokol's is the author and her blog, d'blogala, is just a collection design work and art journaling, but I think it's worth following... It's always good to have creative influences around you when brainstorming and working on a project. 

SPIDER-MAN ON BROADWAY

Spider-Man On Broadway

Is anyone planning to attend the Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark show on  Broadway? I certainly am. I grew up watching the Spider-Man cartoon, so I'll be there. The show opens December 8th. It's been reported that Spider-Man will be flying across the audience, leaping and hopping all over the place displaying amazing visuals, sounds, and the power of technology. But I bet you don't know how much the budget is: $400 BILLION, I repeat, $400 BILLION. With a budget like that, this show better be groundbreaking. It's the most expensive Broadway show in history. Read more about the show in the article titled, A Web And A Prayer written by Jesse Greene

TSA's CONTROVERSIAL AIRPORT SCREENING PROCEDURES

TSA S&M
New York magazine, December 6, 2010 issue

New York magazine's editorial cartoons are hilarious. How do you feel about the Transportation Security Administration's new screening procedures? I feel like this, if it's going to protect the lives of human beings, I'm all for the new system. Sometimes I think people just want to be against something. I mean, we all know what a half naked body looks like, we've seen it on TV hundreds, even thousands of times. So if it's okay on TV, why wouldn't it be okay in this situation? TSA's not even saving the scans. 

SHOW & TELL SOMETHING INTERESTING

The Return of "Get Your Way On"

The satire never ends... Take a look at this comic strip. It pokes fun at the most controversial topics discussed in politics today: the war, the current administration, and the planned building of a mosque near ground zero. But should these topics be turned into jokes? 

SHOW & TELL A SHORT VIDEO

Meet Me In The Basement 

By Broken Social Scene, a Canadian indie rock band  

In response to the 2010 G-20 Toronto summit, the fourth meeting where the G-20 heads of government discussed the global financial system and the world economy, Broken Social Scene produced this short video, Meet Me in the Basement. The video is interesting because it brings to light (in one form) all of the chaos happening in the world today, from politics to changes in civilization. There is no constant narrative, but the few phrases – hate, love, protestors clash with a vengeance, you’re doing it wrong, riots and protestors, pop culture and Christianity, crime scene, etcetera – that do pop up carry strong messages. The images and footage in Meet Me in the Basement show events that have recently happened around the world and what’s going on in the world today – from 9/11 to Justin Beiber to Michael Jackson’s transformation to rioters and protestors to a starving black child in a third world country.

Talk about influence on society. I found this review of the video online: “The new Broken Social Scene video is a pastiche of shocking news footage and ugly still photos that basically amounts to the same "We are Rome before the fall! The world is ending!" gist you've seen projected on wall space at too many college art shows. But the editing is so expertly crisp and the song itself so propulsive and engaging that by the end, you find yourself ready to sign up for the revolution.”

MORE CARTOONS: CAN YOU DRAW THE INTERNET?

Can you draw the internet?

I don’t understand what the developers are going to do with the cartoons children draw and submit, but they do have a valid point: “Children today are growing up in a world of technology and communications. They have never experienced a world without the internet, with every part of their day consumed by mobile phones, websites, computer games, apps, Xbox, you name it.” So, they’ve come up with this site to find out what children’s perceptions of the internet actually is by way of scribble, drawing, or pieces of art. It's pretty interesting to see how children think and what they think about the web and technology through cartoon drawings...

CARICATURES & EDITORIAL CARTOONS

Nine out of every ten times I pick up DC’s free daily newspapers: the Washington Examiner or the Express, I find a caricature or editorial cartoon illustrating President Barack Obama in some way. Most of the time they ridicule his daily and weekly political battles. I got to thinking about the affects these types of illustrations have on the public. I also began to wonder are these the illustrators’ or the newspapers’ interpretations or both? And is it fair to boldly express their personal views – ultimately forcing them onto the public?  You see these graphical representations “reveal complex attitudes of certain people at a particular time.” Journalist and writer John Geipel stated in his book The Cartoon, cartoons “are a potent weapon of ridicule, ideal for deflating the pompous and the overbearing, exposing injustice and deriding hypocrisy.”

Professor Paul Lester said, “Cartoons tell as much about the audience as they do about the artists.” I don’t agree with that statement entirely because I don’t agree with most of the caricature and editorial cartoons in either of the newspapers. In fact, I get upset that the newspaper editors constantly publish those types of illustrations. They are extremely powerful illustrative devices I think can negatively persuade society. Take a look at some of the caricature and editorial cartoons I found floating around online: 

WHAT SHOULD AN INFORMATIONAL GRAPHIC DO?

I thought I would share a little information about infographs. I have a book, Visual Communication: Images with Messages written by Paul Martin Lester who dedicated one of its 17 chapters to informational graphics. It’s very interesting. If you pick up the book and don’t read the entire thing, at least read this chapter. You will learn about the history of infographs, how important infographs are in telling complex stories, important historical precedents for today’s infographs, and different types of infographs and how they’re used.

Let’s start with the definition: “Informational graphics (called infographics or new graphics) are visual displays that can be anything from a pleasing arrangement of facts and figures in a table to a complex, interactive diagram with accompanying text that helps explain a complex story’s meaning. With headlines, text, photographs, video, and audio, informational graphics are included in media presentations in order to explain aspects to a story that words and traditional pictures and video alone could not explain fully.” There are several types of infographics: informational graphics, which include newspaper infographics; statistical infographic elements, which include charts and data maps; and nonstatistical infographic elements, which include fact boxes, tables, nondata maps, diagrams, courtroom drawings, television schedules, calendars, icons and logos, flowcharts, timelines, and illustrations.

Remember, “A high quality infographic should do the following: 1) have an important message to communicate, 2) convey information in a clear, precise, and efficient manner, 3) never insult the intelligence of readers or viewers, and 4) always tell the truth.”

SHOW & TELL AN INFOGRAPHIC

Very entertaining. I think this Kill Bill infographic makes simple data needlessly complex. Don’t get me wrong. I think this is a creative and funny infograph, but is it really needed? Why not watch the movie? I wish it were in English so I could read the character descriptions, but because I saw the movie I get the gist of what it’s depicting.

SHOW & TELL AN INFOGRAPHIC

I believe someone from our class posted this very same infographic on his/her blog. However, I just had to post it on my blog because it's a wonderful infographic. Although there are no images or photos, the typography is perfectly arranged. The size and typeface are very effective and easy to read up close or from a distance.

The infographic gives us tidbits of information about black history (from slavery to present day) that led up to the first African-American, Barack Obama, being elected president. This graphic does an excellent job arranging a bunch of information in such a way that's both visual appealing and informative.

THE OPRAHMIDION?

Watch Video: The Oprahmidion

I love Oprah dearly. And if this is real...do you think it's too much? I certainly do. I believe Oprah has a positive influence on society. She raises awareness to issues we all should think about: finances, self-esteem, personal growth, professional development, and the list goes on. But a tomb? And fans that burn shrines and want to be buried with her? Really?   

SHOW AND TELL PACKAGING

Golden Star White Jasmine Sparkling Tea 

Golden Star's packaging works because it resembles the taste of the tea. It tastes like champagne without the alcohol. And the look of the bottle and label is similar to a bottle of campaign. Communication Arts describes the packaging:

"The team at Golden Star had taken years to develop the first-ever sparkling floral tea, tasting and testing many teas and refining their fermentation process. The result is an organic infusion that mimics the mouth-feel of champagne—without the alcohol. Through the packaging design, Elixir helped to blend tea’s rich history with sophisticated positioning as an ultra-premium alternative to fine still and sparkling wines." 

And the writing on the label is awesome: 

A unique beverage that invites you to change your expectations on how you enjoy tea.

This sparkling tea is hand steeped in small batches using the finest quality tea, sweetened with raw sugarcane juice, and finished with a mild fermentation that combines age-old traditions with modern winemaking techniques. The result is a non-alcoholic beverage that imparts a perfect balance of rounded sweetness with complex acidity.

It has a flush of effervescence reminiscent of fine champagne, and a delicate note of “brioche” with a floral jasmine nose. 

Golden Star White Jasmine Tea pairs superbly with a wide variety of cuisines, and delivers and ideal performance on the table and when raised up in celebration.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Lucinda Chu, London UK Artist/Photographer

When I ran across Lucinda Chu’s work browsing the web, I thought how amazing it is that a piece of artwork – whether it’s photography, a painting, sculpture, or words – can really have an effect on a person.

First I saw the photo of the girl in the chair. Then I saw the photo of the girl wearing the red dress, crying. Immediately I wanted to know, “What’s wrong with these two women? What happened to them to make then look so sad?” Afterward I noticed they were photographs constructed by LC, a photographer known for her still and moving images, musical scores, musical recordings and performance. I’m assuming her goal was to strike an emotional cord with her audience. As we all know, an artist’s intent (whether it’s using words or images) is to persuade and create an effect on his/her audience using one of the three rhetorical techniques: ethos, pathos, or logos.

It’s interesting to note my visual process, which can be found in Visual Communication: Images with Messages written by Paul Martin Lester. The visual process is how we perceive what we see and hear; it’s a continuous cycle that involves: sense, select, perceive, remember, learn, and know. “The more you know, the more you sense. The more you sense, the more you select. The more you select, the more you perceive. The more you perceive, the more you remember. The more you remember, the more you learn. The more you learn, the more you know.”

So, instead of only observing the photographs, I was intent on finding the meaning behind them so I could perceive what I was observing, to learn from it, and remember what I saw, how it made me feel, who the artist is, and the artist’s intent to store it away in my memory.  

SHOW & TELL A NARRATIVE

Maybelline Define-A-Lash Volume Washable Mascara

This zero clump volumizing mascara creates voluptuous volume with clean definition.

Sweep brush upwards from root to tip to separate individual lashes and to achieve definition and volume. Continue building lashes until you reach your desired look. Do not let dry between coats. Repeat for lower lash line. Removes easily with soap and water or Maybelline New York Expert Eyes Eye Makeup Remover Towelettes.

Maybelline’s Define-A-Lash Volume Washable Mascara’s narrative makes you feel like you have a wonder stick in your hand and you’re able to create those volumizing lashes you’ve always wanted. The narrative is written in active voice, which Constance Hale reminds us in Sin and Syntax, “Is strong, direct, muscular.” Reading the narrative we see the “rich images develop from the capacity to observe [the] subjects in action.”  It also uses strong dynamic verbs like, “sweep” rather than "apply" and “building” rather than plain ‘ol "put on". 

SHOW & TELL MY FAVORITE WORDS

Meditation

Peace

Love

Harmony

Happiness

I love what these words mean in my life. They are simple, straightforward, and to the point – like me. Just the act of meditating alone will have a positive effect on your mind during the entire day (Meditation: Peace of Mind). Which, in turn, can cause you to have a positive impact on someone else’s day. Not that I am perfect in everything I do. I’m not; I’m human – I have the worse road rage.

But think about how acting out these words could potentially affect you and someone else. If we consciously incorporated these words into our everyday thinking, we could better ourselves and create a positive environment around us.    

SHOW & TELL A CALL TO ACTION

Pepsi Refresh Project

What a great way to call on us to vote for people, businesses, and non-profits with ideas that will have a positive impact on society. Using the face of Pepsi, rather than creating an unfamiliar trademark, is brilliant. Pepsi is, of course, a well-known entity. Visual Communication: Images with Messages written by Paul Martin Lester says, “The purpose of an advertisement is to attract attention, arouse interest, stimulate desire, create an opinion, and move the viewer to a specific action (to buy the product).” Well, Pepsi entices Pepsi lovers to buy their beverage product, but also uses it to sponsor its refresh project. 

WORDS, IMAGES, GRAPHICS, TYPOGRAPHY, MOTION...

Troika Design Group, a broadcast design and network branding agency based in Hollywood, CA, is where I would love to work! Their projects/client list include everything/everyone from ESPN to the Food Network. They have a group of 20 plus designers, producers, animators, editors, etc and do everything: brand identity, campaigns, sports branding, show packaging, logo design, case studies...you name it. The work is amazing. And you've seen the company's work before - they designed CW, Access Hollywood, 2008 Beijing Olympics, and NBC's Sunday Night Football's logo (to name a few). Check out their site and take a look at some of their work below: 

ESPN College Football rebrand. 

Oxygen TV 

CW Network 

TNT's "We Know Drama" programming.

Fuse Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - The Introduction Ceremony is FUSE's biggest event of the year. 

GRAMMAR TIPS

Do you need to know if all adverbs end in -ly, if all proper nouns should be capitalized, or when to use "such as" or "like"? If so, Grammar Girl is a great website when you're stuck on questions like these.

By the way, you should use "like" when you're comparing something to another and "such as" when you want to include something. If you don't have the grammar bible Marie and I have, go to this site...

SHOW & TELL A CAMPAIGN

These ads are for Banana Republic's "Life at Work" campaign. The ads always have one or two people walking down the street (dressed in BR's clothes of course), smiling, the background blurred out, and a on-liner to the right of the person(s). The ad on the top reads: "Exceed expectations" and the other, "Enjoy the commute." BR creates a certain image - fresh, easy to commute in, and great clothing - for the clothing line with these one-liners! 

SHOW & TELL A CAMPAIGN

I love Silk's ad campaign for the vanilla and chocolate flavored soymilk. I think the ads are very well executed and the concept is  carried through both of them. The tagline is strong: "Strength in Every Pour." The placement of the graphics (which are nicely designed!), the font, and font size are harmonious, which is why it works as a campaign. The call to action changes in both, but it still works: "Pour on the power to help your heart and lower cholesterol" and "Pour on the power to help support your heart." They both want you to do something once you're done looking at the ad.

AD GONE OVERBOARD??

Okay, I think I'm afraid of this ad. I didn't plan on posting anything on my blog tonight; however, I needed to share this with the class. This ad is so creepy! I definitely get the point: DO NOT HAVE UNPROTECTED SEX...OR ELSE.

  

A WELL DESIGNED WEBSITE

I’m obsessed with well designed websites. I found another website today…Heikin photography. I believe that’s the guy’s name…most of the site is in French! What I like about the site is the photography – it’s beautiful and well displayed; I like that the browser extends to fit your entire screen to get a close up view of the photographs; the typography; and the music – it works well with the type of photography being displayed. I did, however, find it hard to navigate through the site at first because there is no standard navigation bar.  

ROBERTO BERNARDI: Hyper-Realist-Still-Life-Painter

Roberto Bernardi is an exceptional painter (YES THESE ARE PAINTINGS)! His work is amazing; it looks as if it's reality. He studied Renaissance painting and pictorial technique, which led to him creating his own hyper-realist works. His techniques: oil painting on canvas, focusing on the contrast of lightness and transparency. Bernardi's paintings can be found in numerous public and private collections throughout the world.

CHECK OUT THIS SITE!

This is a really great site. I love the illustrations, the movement, the typography, the Flash and the message behind it... The Girl Effect.

Are you an artist? Join The Sketchbook Project

 The Sketchbook Project

Sketchbooks from artists/illustrators will be exhibited at galleries and museums as they make their way on tour across the country. After the tour, all sketchbooks will enter into the permanent collection of The Brooklyn Art Library, where they will be barcoded and available for the public view. You must sign up by October 31, 2010; all sketchbooks must be postmarked by January 15, 2011; and the tour starts in March 2011. For more information, click the link above the photo. 

SHOW AND TELL A CONCEPT

Nike encouraged passerby to stop and walk or run a while on an interactive, ground level billboard with a built-in treadmill, located in Mexico. For every kilometer run, Nike donated a certain amount of money to Unicef. 

Nike's Transparent Billboard campaign encourages people to run! But I can't tell if it's a frame you can walk through or if it's a painting. 

Formula Toothcare (I've never heard of that brand of toothcare) advertising the product's ability to build strong teeth.

SHOW AND TELL A VERBAL DEFINITION

I think writer, Ben Mathis-Lilley, did a great job defining these tasty beers. I've actually tried the Bruery Saison Rue (#4), which you can buy right at Whole Foods market. 

#4 Bruery Saison Rue - A collision of forceful flavors - tart and fruity like other saisons, but also earthy, as if to evoke the farms where the style was born. 


#8 Saison Dupont - A refreshing brew balancing dry hoppiness with a citrusy aroma that reminds some tasters of peaches and apricots. 

SHOW & TELL A VISUAL DEFINITION...OR NOT

I can't even comment on this advertisement because I still don't know what it means! I'm sure the rest of you agree with me? 

SHOW AND TELL A VISUAL DEFINITION

The two photographs below are taken in the same location, the old Burlington Coat Factory site in New York City where Imam Feisal Abdul is planning to build a mosque near ground zero, but of two different people. I think it's interesting how a photograph of the same site but different people has two separate visual messages/definitions. The person in the top is an anti-mosque protestor and the woman in the bottom is a pro-mosque protestor. 

NEED A BOOST? TRY THE MIT EASY RIDER BICYCLE

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) designed a bicycle that captures kinetic energy. The energy is saved and released when the rider brakes, giving the rider a boost. It's the same kind of energy that's used by hybrid cars and charges up a battery that's located inside the wheel. The bike also has the ability to track air quality, a meter that logs miles, and a GPS unit to track routes. All of that data can be sent via Bluetooth to the rider's smartphone and shared with others. Sounds enticing right? Well, it's too bad the bike won't be put on the market! But it is a cool development. Perhaps I'll design my project on this new technology. 


OPEN for DISCUSSION


If the bike were going to be put on the market, would you buy it? If so, how much would you pay for a bike like this?

WE'RE EATING WHAT? HONEY!

We're eating honey and using it to cure ourselves. It's a quite versatile ingredient and can be used in almost everything - from appetizers to desserts and medicines to furniture polish.

WORD OF THE WEEK

CONDIGN \kuhn-DINE\ adjective 

Suitable to the fault or crime; deserved; adequate. 

OPEN for DISCUSSION
Help me use this word in a sentence! 

SHOW & TELL GOOD FOOD WRITING

New York Magazine 
Bad Kitty: The Lion, the city's newest faux speakeasy, is a pale imitation of its predecessors. 


The Lion serves its own $18 "Special Blend" burger garnished, disastrously, with a flabby chunk of fried pork belly. There are several French-accented bistro dishes (white asparagus with hollandaise, a decent slab of foie gras, a dreckish lobster bisque that looks like it just emerged from the Automat), and several cuts of beef. The first one we sampled was the $98 rib eye for two. We specified medium rare, but the beef was purple. When it returned from the kitchen, it was burned to a greasy crisp. 


The cannelloni (a conspicuous play on the popular truffled macaroni and cheese at the Waverly) has mercifully disappeared, and the grim lobster bisque has been replaced with a smooth, seasonal corn soup flavored, not unpleasantly, with creme fraiche and more truffles. But the appetizer of artichoke fritters tasted more of potatoes than artichokes, the baby beets in my baby-beet salad were slightly mushy, and the sticky yellowfin-tuna tartare had no real tuna taste at all. 


OPEN for DISCUSSION 


What I find interesting about these two excerpts from writer Adam Platt's article is that he characterizes the food he sampled at The Lion and he introduces new words (at least ones I've never heard of before) like, "dreckish", a slang term used to describe trash/rubbish, and "Automat", a fast food restaurant where simple foods and drink are served by coin-operated and bill-operated vending machines. Did you know automats have been around in the U.S. since the 1900s? The first automat in the U.S. was open June 12, 1902. Anyhow, those ingredients positioned throughout his article make it sound fresh and interesting! 


Example of an excellent characterization: "When it returned from the kitchen, it was burned to a greasy crisp." It reads like the beef walked out of the kitchen itself versus a waiter/waitress bringing it out to him. But I can picture the beef making its way back to the table fuming along the way. And I can basically taste those "slightly mushy" beets and visualize the expression on his face as he AND his taste buds experienced each dish. Overall, well written...by the way, I will NOT be dining at The Lion restaurant any time soon. 

WORD OF THE WEEK

HUBRIS \HYOO-bruhs\ noun 
Overbearing pride or presumption. 


OPEN for DISCUSSION
The compulsion of a global game is that it can turn hubris into humiliation in next to no time.