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. 

Final Video and Overall Thoughts on Final Prototype

The video turned out to be a bit of a challenge. It was hard to express the simpleness of the design as well as make the video simple. Yet, it was fun to experiment with the music, lighting, and overall flow of the video. Our final outcome shows our simple idea and the adaptability of the whisk in some form. Also, it was fun to play with the "pop" in of the pieces. At some points within the video it even sinks up to the music, which is pretty cool. this whisk was fun to work with, but we actually had to tape the pieces together in order for it work. At the end of the second whisking it nearly fell apart within the tape. Many of the videos in class were really good. I'll admit ours wasn't the best, but I really think it represented the idea, slogan, and simplicity.

The final whisk prototype also turned out amazing. Our group partner Zak actually carved the handle out of wood. It really looks great and the handle really fits comfortably in your hand. The magnets within the whisk heads almost completely work, but fall down easily. Yet, this final prototype really looks sleek, well-made, and is understandable. 

Reflection on the Second Project

This project took a lot out of me. I learned so much, made a number of mistakes, but in the end the results were amazing. Our final prototype turned out beautifully. At first I had no clue about creating a prototype and this project made me feel a tad inferior to the other design majors. I felt out of place for a good portion of this project and only felt like I could really help with sketching designs for the whisk, creating storyboards, and making the i-movie video. Yet, by the end of this project I felt like I did more than enough of my share of the work. Also, I found the whole prototype process making pretty interesting. I don’t trust myself with power tools, but it was fun to learn about different ways to carve wood and see Zak carve our prototype handle. At first, it was difficult to find where my abilities could help the most. But over the duration of the project, I did eventually find my spot.  The mapping technique that helped me the most was the mindmap. I really like putting all my ideas out so I can see them and then create connnections. As a group we gout our ideas out really well from using the mindmap. It enabled us to get everything out and then pick through our random thoughts. Although this project tried me at times, it was fun to learn about a different major an dtry something completely new.

Group Dynamic

Our group had a really interesting dynamic. It consisted of Maddy the newly decided industrial design major, Zak the graphic design major, David the photomedia major, and myself, Taylor the illustration major. At the beginning of this project, our group didn’t have an someone in the industrial design major and this made the creation of our actual prototype really hard. Maddie’s main job was the poster design and the conceptualizing of the prototype. My job was to draw a lot for this project. I made a number of extra conceptual drawings, storyboards, and finalized drawings of our whisk as well as worked on the video, Zak worked on the initial designs of the poster as well as the prototype whisk and made an amazing wood handle for it, and David did all the photowork and worked on the video with me. Although there were some rough spots throughout this project, I feel our group dynamic was really good and the final outcome really shows it.  

The Art of Storyboarding

The Art of Storyboarding

Storyboarding was the most fun for me on this project. We watched videos in class to help us with the whole concept of storyboarding. I made about four possible storyboard scenarios to express the idea  we wanted to make within our video. This one on top was just for fun and I wanted to draw dinosaurs. The main idea was to make the video as simplified at possible. It actually made expressing this idea on paper really hard. 

So I played around with this simplicity idea and created three different storyboards from it. I originally wanted to create a stream of different people using the whisk, making it a more universal product. This idea does not work with the actual layout of the place we're filming at. Instead of universality, we changed to adaptability. The whisk's head changes sizes easily through magnets, thus we utilized this simple idea and made it the focus of our video. All in all I think storyboarding gave me the ability to really feel what it was like being a story-boarder. I really feel like with a little practice, I'll be great at it. Also, my favorite storyboard references during the lecture were, of course, the Toy Story ones. I love them and how they express the ideas of the film so fluidly. I hope one day I can work at Pixar or at least be apart of a great children's film!

Interviews

Interviews

Doing interviews for this project was really interesting. It was awkward at first, to find people to ask, but after a while it became more natural. By the second round of interviews, it was a lot of fun. Many of the people were really mellow about the whole interview and I really tired to find people that actually cooked. Luckily, I live in a dorm with seven kitchens. It's a pretty simple task to find well-rounded cooks. I asked them a variety of questions in both rounds. The first mainly relied on problems and benefits of the typical whisk. While the second round revolved around the judgement of the different prototypes. Some made jokes about the prototypes, but they all gave me serious answers about what they liked and disliked. 

I also liked to get them to pose with the whisks if possible. It made the entire interview more fun and enjoyable. 

The Essence of Design within Pinterest

Recently I've really been into the website Pinterest. All the different projects, styles, and food ideas make me addicted to looking at all the different pins. The entire design and layout of the website is also incredibly cool. It has a variety of subjects for a large amount of people to submit things to. This causes a large amount of people to find their own interests within Pinterest. Also, some items posted are really well designed. 

 

There are projects from changing teacups into lights to reinventing and recycling some old wooden boxes into a stylized storage container. The variety of designing is endless. Yet, the most influential feature of the website is the ability for the common person to create something beautiful. Design is all around us in the present day and I really love this aspect of Pinterest that anyone can be a designer. I mean some first projects will be terrible failures, I've done a number and some turn out terribly. All people are not made to be designers, but I feel this website enables anyone to explore their own abilities and may even inspire some to join the design world. 

Understanding Comics Reflection

Understanding Comics Reflection 

From within the book Understanding Comics a unique take on the expressionism and world of comics is formed. Symbols are one of the universal creations within comics. Common symbols are used within various comics to represent the five senses as well as other emotions or actions. Also, symbols represent the language in which mankind can relate to one another. I really enjoyed this view on not only comics and how they're created, but the messages conveyed within each image. I found the fact that people relate more to abstract and iconic images of a person, than a realistic image. This is because we do not have a solid knowledge of our own appearance. We as people have a general idea of our given appearance, but not a complete understanding or idea. Yet, our brains can see faces in the most abstract of things like two dots and a line. I also like how blatantly the narrator explains how people would rather listen to his cartoony version of himself rather than a more realistic styled version. An obvious example would be the comic Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson, if Hobbes appeared as only a stuffed animal the entire time, the audience wouldn't be able to relate to him or Calvin's vivid imagination. Hobbes's iconic image makes him relatable as an adorable friend to the extreme Calvin. The things I learned from this comic about comics really stuck with me. Also, the aspect of things not existing was an interesting subject. The reading provided me with inspiration for my storyboards and also made me more excited about starting my studies in the illustration department.