The End Result- Accepting Limitations

The End Result- Accepting Limitations

As I sit here writing this, I have learned a lot from this project. I have worked on these scallops for hours and hours. Yet, the end result doesn't look as amazing as some people's lamp sculptures that took five minutes. This project made me realize my own limitations. Although, I may be a great designer and artist in my own right, there are just somethings I cannot do perfectly. The scallops look nice, but the structure could use some work. I tried from every angle, but found barely any solutions to my problem. I managed to make it work, but at what cost? I used a slim paper to emphasize the scallops and it does look nice, but the structure is questionable. It holds the piece together fine and I limited the amount inside so the viewer focuses on the lamp, but the overall shape isn't ideal. As I sat looking at this lamp the other night, an epiphany occurred. Man isn't perfect. I'm not perfect, I have great determination and motivation, but even that only extends so far. This project made me realize limits as a person and an artist. Sometimes you need to compromise to meet a deadline and accept your own restrictions. I know I have strengths and weaknesses. Craftsmanship is a weakness of mine, but now that I know of it, I can improve. Who knows, may be by this time next year I'll be great at it! 

Scallops, Scallops, Everywhere

Scallops, Scallops, Everywhere

I love the scallop idea I went with it's a lot of fun to sit and cut. I also like sewing the strips together. All in all relaxing so far. I still cannot figure out how it's going to close, but I have faith in myself. Just think in about a week I get to go home and craft! With my break I'm going to practice, practice, practice. First, I need to learn to sketch a bunch for my Illustration class this next spring. Then, I need to practice writing as well as my craftsmanship skills. So I will practice doing small projects to hone those skills for the spring! But for the moment, I'm going to cut away at these scallops. 

See these are my inspiration sketches, but they only get me so far. Models don't help me for some reason. Unless it's Illustration related some way, it's hard to interest me in making models. I have to really focus and hone my mind. Yet, drawing models is more interesting to me and I could have done even more if I had, had some time. 

Bristol Board & Forms

Bristol Board

I like Bristol board, but it's really thick and I want my lamp to be light and airy feeling. I'm thinking about using drawing paper. It's light and folds well, but is really see through. I just hope it will work! Otherwise playing with paper is a lot of fun! It's really relaxing and a great stress reliever, just cutting away at the paper. Molding different shapes is fun too. 

This one is supposed to be a squid or an octopus. I'm not really sure which I just crumpled paper to get the head effect and cut holes into the legs. I also tried making a fortune paper fold and that was interesting. Although, it did make me want to draw fortunes on it...

Cutting paper can be a lot of fun, it just is time consuming and I'm still worried about how well I'll execute the lamp. Oh well, we'll just have to wait and see! 

Paper, Paper, and More Paper

Paper, Paper, and More Paper

This paper lamp project has so far been really tough. I'm worried about my technical skills. I can create a well thought out idea, but making it into an actual form is tough. I will try my best and see what happens. Although I did like Linda's example of what a paper lamp could look like. I really enjoyed her examples! The jellyfish was my favorite. I hope I can do well on this project and create something that looks promising. The different ways paper folds is vast and there's still the option to crumple, mold, shape, etc. 

Look at that lamp! Isn't it amazing what a little paper can do. I just wish my physical skills were as amazing as my mental skills in design. If only I could sew fabric and draw digitally for everything! Oh, well what I lack in skill I make up for in effort. Wish me luck!

Pondering About Design Over Thanksgiving Break

Pondering About Design Over Thanksgiving Break

I was thinking about design in its various aspects of our lives over break. My sister and I love cats. The idea that there's design even in those silly cat pictures is ridiculous. Yet, if you think about it, it's true. A person that creates the various "cat memes" around the internet has to really think out the purpose of the design. Do they want the cat to be happy or sad? How do they want their audience to  feel when looking at it? Which colors or resolution makes the cat look its best? Actually, lot of thought and design can be put into a cat picture, if you think about it. 

Look at this picture for example, the designer wanted the viewer to be amused by the picture. Thus, they placed the cat into the universe environment, dilated its eyes, and made sure the face was adorable. All in all a well thought out plan. Cat photos get a large amount of viewers and it's a clever way to get a viewers attention. So, next time you see a simple cat picture, dog video, etc. think about the fact that there's design behind it. Also, here's more well-designed cat photos. 

Final Word & Overall Description of Letter Project

 Final Word & Overall Description of Letter Project

This project was over the use of letters. Each group got a specific word and studied various parts that make up a letter. My group had the word “compress.” We learned a variety of things about the word from certain vocabulary on parts of the letter to the impact our font choice had on the overall definition of the word. It was really mind boggling the amount of impact a few shapes can have on a word. After this we spent time creating prototypes for the composition of our three feet letters. Our group chose foam to emphasize the compact font and its ability to “compress” into small spaces. After all this was done, we made books from the photos of locations we took with our giant letters. The project was fast paced and I learned so much. There were a few hiccups down the road, but I feel I really enjoyed this project. 

Reflection on Different Parts of the Letter Project

Reflection on Different Parts of the Letter Project

This project really tried my patience and other aspects of my life. Not only did my I lose my computer, but many things ended up taking far longer than I first intended. The process book took a lot longer than I originally thought it would. I had started it and was well a way through until I lost the majority of my data. Then, I had to use a variety of methods to solve this and other problems. I learned better time management from different aspects of this project. It taught me how to really plan ahead. The letters took patience in how to handle the material. With my teammates, I had to slowly cut around each letter and place wire in to make them a sturdier structure. It took time, patience, and a lot of teamwork to solve this problem. As for the book, it was difficult meeting and passing all the criteria needed. It took some thinking, but I believe the problems were well solved. Although this project tried much of my patience and time, I feel I've learned a lot from the experiences I went through. 

The Meaning Behind Compress

The Meaning Behind Compress

Linda gave our group the idea to make our word "compress" out of foam. We thought this was a great idea. This would make taking the pictures easier as foam compresses almost anywhere. So we planned to make our words out of foam and this was no easy feat. Not only did the foam cost a little more, it was harder to work with. It took a lot of patience and a steady hand to cut, shade, and solidify the letters. Our group chose the future font in a compact form to emphasize compress's definition. Compress is defined as to press together; force into less space. This font and the make of the foam made it a perfect fit for the meaning of the word. Location actually proved to be relatively easy against the other parts. 

We placed the word around campus in different areas. The places we chose really compressed the letters even more and worked awesomely with the foam to give a cool look. I felt the meaning of the word really came through at this point. It was shown so simply and I really liked that about it. The letters were white and didn't stand out in a terrible way, but formed to the locations. This meaning of compression really fleshed out and evolved throughout the project and by the end it was great seeing the fruit of our labors. 

The Tunnel Book Research

The Tunnel Book Research

Yesterday I went to the Spencer Research Library for the first time. My sister works there part-time, but I’ve never been there for actual research. I loved going in there and being all cool and mature. My teacher Linda told me about actual tunnel books I could reference there. It was a really neat experience. She also told me about a library assistant named Espeth, who was a great help. I mainly looked at two tunnel books by Rand Huebsch. It really made the entire idea of a tunnel book a lot simpler. His books were really beautiful and the way he formed the book was simple, but really expressed his drawings. For fun, Espeth pulled out an old Victorian peep show book. It was so beautiful to peer through and displayed, I believe, an exhibit from London, England. They really inspired me and taught me so much. I really hope I can make such a beautiful book myself. 

Group Dynamics Reflection

Group Dynamics Reflection

This team was a tad more difficult to work with than my last. The personalities were very different and it was hard to get everyone to work together and meet up at specific times. Ellie was amazing, if I let her, she would've done a lot more of the project on her own with little help, she really made sure we got things done. She tends to let people take advantage of her and I didn't want that to happen, so I took a stand and made a point to the rest of the team to do their share. Ross did a good amount of work. He helped in class, came to most the meetings, when we contacted him, and was overall a hard worker and team member. Although, I was really disappointed in Katie. She came to one of our outside meetings and during class she would leave for long periods of time. She helped here and there, but I felt like she really didn't help as much as the others. Then near the end she got sick and that I could understand, but I really felt like she didn't do her part. The hardest problem for me as an individual was trying to get everyone together to work. It was really annoying on Monday night with just me and Ellie cutting foam. No one else replied to our messages on Facebook. As a group there was definitely a lack of communication and it was hard coming up with a solution to our foam problems. All in all an okay group, but I'm so glad that the group part is pretty much done. 

Photography Reading Reflection

 

Photography Reading Reflection

One of the fascinating things I forget about photography is the fact that it can be used in a number of ways. Photos can become a diary, sketchbook, even a way to collect stock images. I would like to utilize photography more and learn more about it in detail and its benefits. Symmetrical pictures relax the viewer, while asymmetrical pictures intrigue a viewer. Visual representation can help get a viewer's attention, but it can also cause some creepy effects. The picture of all the eyes was an example of this. I liked the picture of the cat and the off-handed use of framing for emphasis. Another thing I found interesting was the experimenting of things. The reading said to take one hundred pictures of a particular item to completely understand it. A photographer should play with lighting, angle, even giggling around the camera to get amazing effects. 

 

Steve Edward's Photography Reflection

Early on in Edward's writing he mentions that people from centuries ago believed art is supposed to exist through mental fruition or mental pleasure and more thought out. Documentary has little prupose but to document the subject. Photographic art has a real purpose and is well-thought out prior to the actual picture taking. Many terms related to photographic art is established from actual art terms. One thing I found interesting about Edward's writing was when he told about how a large amount of everyday information comes from photos.Also, objectivity is supposedly the self-evident part of a science as well as other specialist's forms of observation. This truly describes the essence of photography. I found this reading interesting, it mixed two of my favorite subjects art/photography and history.

I feel both readings pertained to the project by educating me on the importance of different views in photography. The use of symmetry is to calm and asymmetry is to attract a viewer’s attention, as well as the importance of the preconception of ideas and allowing your voice to be heard.

Parts of the Letter Reflection

Parts of the Letter Reflection 

It's interesting that typography evolved from handwriting. The concept that letters are separated from each other by the use of various strokes and we automatically know this is amazing. Our minds are taught to accept certain strokes to form the letter A, B, and so on. There actually is a visual harmony between the letters of the alphabet, being a design major I need to learn this. Serif is the short strokes that finish off the major. X-height is interesting. Many lower case x's heights are different, but all have the same point size. Both c's and p's have a bowl that's a rounded form that describes and counter and can either be open or closed. There are so many words covering the varying parts of different letters to the apex on W's and A's to ascenders and descenders. I really found all this information really interesting. My favorite vocabulary word used was tail for the letter Q. Even though I am an Illustration major, I find the structure of typography important. I feel if you are going to work in the design industry you need to know as much as possible. So this letter reading really helped me in starting to learn the proper terms for each stroke and character. 

Playing with Text

The Difficulties of Dynamic Type Font

This part of the project was really tough for me. I'm an illustration major and trying not to express the words through actual pictures was really hard. So I experimented with the weight of the letters, location, contrasting white and black. I also mixed with layout of the font. 

This assignment made me realize the variety of ways font can change and be used. You can express so much with just text and illustrate their meanings. Compress was also an easily illustrative word. Before, I had no desire to learn about font, but now I realized how much there is to font. There are a number of rules, regulations, and specific words to describe certain aspects about font. This assignment opened my eyes to possibilities along with the adaptability of text.