Week 12: A Bittersweet Goodbye

Ever since I got my acceptance letter for RTA in March, I was eager to check out what courses I would be taking, and I was excited for digital media before I even got my high school diploma. It lived up to my expectations, and overall I enjoyed the course very much.

I found that the hands on yet relaxed approach to the labs allowed students to let their creativity flow. While at first it seemed a little unstructured, once I realized help was available when I needed it, I found the relaxed environment ideal for working in. The relaxed labs complimented the engaging lectures as well. I thoroughly enjoyed Laurie Petrou's approach to lecturing and felt it was extremely refreshing and innovative. Her use of YouTube gave the lecture material a sense of accessibility, and the fact that the content was so accessible made it easy to review for the course and gain a firmer grasp on what she was explaining.

There isn't much about the course I would want changed. I think the digital media course gives students a solid foundation to work with in their upper years and allows them to gain a feel for different programs and technology.

This course has changed me in the sense that I'm more receptive to having a presence on the internet. I am now more adamant about portraying myself in a more positive light online, and am even planning to buy the website sineadflood.com to have a place to host my portfolio in the future. I'm deleting less than desirable photos of myself on Facebook and changed my Twitter to my real name. This course has taught me the importance of self image and what an impact it can have on your life.

The most important thing I'm taking away from this course is one lesson: plan ahead! Projects that were planned resulted in positive feedback, grades, and a sense of self satisfaction with my work, whereas not planning ahead has resulted in the complete opposite. This course has taught me the importance of taking my time and trying my best with my projects.

Digital media has been a rewarding experience and one of my most self fulfilling classes. I'm glad it was a requirement.

Week 11- Me v.s Dreamweaver

I'm having a love/hate relationship with Dreamweaver. While it's easy to use, intuitive and user friendly, I'm still finding it hard to make do something majestic with it.

That aside though, one of the things I appreciated learning in digital media was how to do HTML coding. It was something I never thought I could do, but when I learned, it was as easy as riding a bike. I've even caught myself writing random code in Wordpad and previewing it in Firefox for fun at home! CSS, while simple, is a pretty fun tool to use as well. I guess overall, I'm surprised that I've found making the guts and nuts and bolts of a website to be both creative and enjoyable. However, I don't think it's something I'll thrive in and pursue further.

Week 10- Web 2.0 and Beyond!

The interwebs, a place to socialize, inform, and be heard. Once a tool utilized only by the military and establishments of higher learning, Web 2.0 is highly innovated and highly versatile, especially for the following reasons:

Dynamic content: An example of a dynamic content website would be The Stokes band website. It's extremely interactive and allows the user to have an enriching auditory and visual experience. The mixed media elements such as the newspaper juxtaposed with the space ship elements and sounds creates a unique and memorable experience. The use of Flash and mixed media that can be viewed on a computer or smart phone makes it adaptable and engaging.


User contribution: One of the most notorious user generated sites is YouTube. YouTube is based on and thrives on the works and submissions of the general public. It creates a sense of unity amongst the community, with comments allowing people to create a personal connection with those creating the content. Given the vast array of people who contribute to the community, users have a seemingly infinite amount of content to sift through, with a guarantee to find something interesting for them.

Social media: The most obvious example of social media is of course, Facebook. With over 200 million users, Facebook has become the ultimate social networking tool. Facebook allows people from all over the world to interact with each other by sharing photos, posting on each others walls, and essentially, shamelessly promote and craft an image of themselves. Facebook allows people to form groups based on opinions and interests which in turn expands the potential for networking, and for the more leisurely person, hosts competitive online games for friends to play with each other.

Online applications: tinySONG is a free online application that allows users to search for songs and share them quickly. This is an innovative online application because it takes a fraction of the time to find music this way, compared to using Limewire, iTunes or Youtube. It's exemplary of Web 2.0 it allows for the sharing of content amongst people.

Harnessing collective intelligence: Urbandictionary is a user generated database that provides definitions for modern colloquial terms and sayings. While multiple definitions are provided, users can vote as to whether it is an accurate definition or not. This is a prime example of Web 2.0 since it combines user generated content, images, and tags for users to access.

Week 9- Attack of the Flash

VIEW MY INTERACTIVE ASSIGNMENT HERE (SINCE BLOGGER WON'T UPLOAD IT)

For my interactive assignment, I wanted to stray from the bright and bold subject matter I chose for my poster assignment. My concept for this project was to combine childlike whimsey of pirate life with a twisted grim edge to it. My goal was to create an interactive assignment that was engaging for the user. Instead of creating a purely visual experience with the only interactivity being a play button, my intention was to create an auditory, visual and tactile experience for the user.

My target audience is boys and girls from ages 6-12. I feel that the bold black lines and solid fills combined with the rugged yet striking art style is visually pleasing and childlike. The use of pirate ships and pirate imagery is intended to capture a child's imagination and appeal to their sense of adventure and imagination. The interactive buttons that play fun and diverse noises would definitely amuse children and make them feel in control of the interactive experience.

I really challenged myself with Adobe Flash to make this project. I went above and beyond what we learned in class and went so far as to learn how to insert movie clips, which through an online tutorial, many, many tries and sleepless nights at the RCC, managed to do with the steering wheel on the ship's deck. I also learned through online tutorials how to make a continuous waves and clouds loop through the frame, which I feel enhanced the project and prevented it from being static. I drew all the images in Flash with a mouse since I love the slightly rugged yet clean lines that vectors provide.

I expected many challenges with this project, mainly pertaining to movie clips. I originally wanted the cannon to have its fuse burn down triggering a cannon ball to fly out through the frame, however I found that to be too difficult and execute, so I abandoned that idea. I instead settled for the spinning steering wheel, which I'm content with. I had difficulty incorporating typography into the project as well, as I didn't feel it fit anywhere in the design without cluttering it. I tried to meet the requirements however by adding typographic dollar signs to the treasure chest, as well as using pirate-y language to the start button.

During this project, I learned many things. For starters, Flash tutorials are a godsend when you're about to nod off to sleep at midnight in a computer lab and have anxiety attacks as to how to execute the simplest tasks. Secondly, I learned that playing with colour is very important. Originally I used very bright and cheery colours for the ship, however upon playing around and “gothing” up the colour scheme so to speak, I feel it made the rugged vector lines look intentional and gave the project an almost film-noir-Cabinet-of-Dr.Caligari-esque look (which I am quite fond of).

Overall, I'm quite happy with the way my project turned out. It's visually pleasing and fun to play with. Also, I challenged myself technically and I'm glad I did, because in turn I learned new skills with Flash. Actually, I enjoyed working with Flash during this project so much, it's inspired me to pursue Flash further to make more complex and lengthier animations, and possibly even games.

Afterthoughts:

This project taught me a lot about planning ahead and getting to know the programs you're working with. I took lessons from my experience with the poster assignment and decided to go for a less-is-more approach. While I did make sure to have a variety of interactive elements to the project, I didn't clutter the scene or go overboard with sounds and movements. I also learned to pace myself with the project, and rather doing it all in one big sit like the Photoshop assignment, I did this project in little increments. This allowed me to gain a fresh perspective of the piece and allow for change.

I don't feel that I gained much in the way of critiques, although I feel as if I got more positive feedback for this assignment compared to my last one. After seeing other assignments, however, I wish I tried a more sophisticated animation approach as opposed to my decrepit gothy style. One example that sticks out most for me is the animation that used perspective and blur to create depth. If I do another animation, I will definitely utilize that method, given the praise it was given and how visually striking it was.

Week 8- Interactive Crisis

I'm having a little Flash crisis.

I had my heart set on doing the narrative of my childhood, but after recording some of the dialogue and animating a few snippets, I'm not very pleased with the idea. I don't feel that I possess the artistic skill to create an awesome two minute animation, nor do I feel I have the kind of voice that's pleasing to listen to for a two minute animation.

Ergo, I'm reformulating my idea for my interactive assignment. I think that instead of a long animation, I'm going to just have one page of interactivity. Since vampires have become the flavour of the week, I'm going to resurrect the pirate trend and put the same Salad Fingers spin on it. I think I'm going to make a pirate ship deck with all the things you would find on a ship. However, all of these items will be interactive. For example, a ship's wheel that moves, a treasure chest that shines, a parrot that squawks, and a sick deckhand. This may be a little simpler than what I originally planned, however I think the simplicity will allow me to make a solid working piece, rather than do something beyond my skill level that will turn out mediocre.

Week 7- Scopitone Video

I had not even heard of scopitone videos before digital media class, however when I started watching them, I fell in love. The reason? They were all definitive retro camp. How so? For starters, all of the videos had the same premise- Boy meets girl. Boy loses girl. Boy chases after girl. Boy and girl are peachy keen at the end of the video. Secondly, I noticed that all of the videos I watched featured the main singer lipsynching along to the film. While these videos were very simplistic in execution and composition, they were effective and helped promote the video.

Now-a-days, music videos have become avante-garde productions. Plots of music videos can become very intense (in the case of R. Kelly's "Trapped in the Closet" saga, span for a good 3 or 5 videos). Production value is high with multiple camera angles, many hired actors, and elaborate costumes. It almost seems that the music takes a backseat to the video. This contrasts greatly from scopitone videos which were created for the sole purpose of promoting a video.

While modern music videos value style over substance compared to its vintage counterparts, they both share the common goal of promoting the artist. While scopitone videos are mildly entertaining in a camp way, they fail to entertain the way modern videos do. However, they both get the job done in exposing the viewer to a particular artist. And while highly choreographed dance moves may overshadow an artist's attempt at lipsynching for videos, it is still done in vain of the scopitone artists.

Whether which era of music videos is superior is up to interpretation. While some may be drawn to Lady Gaga's videos full of glitz, glam and swimming pools, for people who are interested in a catchy song and a retro throwback, a Paul Anka scopitone of him chasing a girl through a maze while dressed in a suit will suffice. That's at least how I feel.

Week 6- Animation Think Tank

With the animation assignment quickly approaching, I've given a lot of thought to what I wish to execute. After reading through some of my old writing, I came across a piece of narrative recalling all of the things I missed from my childhood. I thought it would be interesting to tell that narrative through the use of animation. What inspired me to do this idea was the monochromatic blue cartoon of the smoking beatnicks posted on Blackboard.

Because I have a penchant for things that are dark and grim, I want to make the style of animation very dark and eerie, almost like the Salad Fingers animations:
http://www.fat-pie.com/salad.htm

Asymmetrical eyes, hunched posture, and grim colour scheme will inspire the animation and will mix childhood sweetness with my teenage love of gore.

I suppose the one thing that will be crucial for me to learn and execute is how to do a motion path and how to create consistent animations and maintaining a sense of continuity with how I draw characters.

Week 5- Photoshop Magic

As a tattoo enthusiast, the imagery that adorns peoples’ skin tends to inspire my artwork. For this poster, I decided to juxtapose two very strong art styles to convey the tone of the event I feature which I feel embodies all CRAP principals while making a striking visual impact.

I chose to make a poster for the annual Toronto tattoo convention, and due to the fact that Japanese tattooing has become incredibly popular in the west, I decided to contrast very polished, vibrant and almost cartoony Japanese tattoo art with very gritty, highly filtered pictures of downtown Toronto (where the tattoo convention featuring in the poster takes place). To create a bolder contrast between the gritty and the polished, I used very feminine colours for the waves and cherry blossoms that were inspired by my own tattoos. I feel the repetition of cherry blossoms creates a guideline for the eye the follow down the page that can serve as a way to align the piece as well.

While heavily influenced by Japanese tattoo imagery, I was diligent to pay homage to classic Americana tattooing with the lettering I chose for the tattoo artists names and date of the show. I used the soft yellows to be reminiscent of classic Sailor Jerry tattoo flash for the lettering against the cityscape in order to make it stand out, as well as the banner, which is a staple in Americana tattooing.

I also feel I achieved my goal of extreme juxtaposition by the way I decided to create my images. Instead scanning hand drawn pictures for the waves and blossoms, I decided to challenge myself and draw the bright, bold images with a mouse on Photoshop. I feel this allowed me to have more consistency with colour and line work as opposed to using pencil crayon and Sharpie, although I felt keeping the lines steady at times was difficult.

A revelation I had during the design process was that when used appropriately, drop shadows and strokes could dramatically enhance some aspects of the piece. When I applied drop shadows and strokes to lettering, the cherry blossoms, and the CN Tower for example, I feel that it helped the image “come to life” so to speak, and rescued the poster from looking flat (which it did before I discovered these features).

Overall, I feel I have achieved my goal of making a technically challenging yet visually pleasing poster that plays heavily with juxtaposition to convey the message that NIX 2010, while held in a gritty, urban environment, is an event that celebrates cultural diversity in art and is a venue where beautiful artwork is created.

Afterthoughts:

The in-class critique and low mark of my poster was really disconcerting and upsetting to me. I worked so hard to produce an original piece using juxtaposition and interesting colours to create a visually interesting piece (not to mention I drew most of the project by hand with a mouse). However, I can see now that the image was too clustered and lacked direction, and I should have gone with a simplistic approach.

The process was long and tiring, but the one thing I did learn from doing this project was to not try to fit so much into one image. I should have had a clear idea of what I was doing from the beginning and set boundaries for myself in regards to how much I add to a project.

Week 4- Typography

http://trilogy.brynmawr.edu/guides/upload/pics/868/some_like_it_hot.jpg

It goes without saying that anything involving Marilyn Monroe is going to exude glamour. Even typography. The typography for this poster cover is a Broadway-esque font which conveys what the plot is about. The fact that all the type is at the top of the image coupled with the vertical lines of the curtain draws the eye downward though out the image. This is effective typography because it compliments the themes of the movie and photo very well, stands out against the image, and even helps identify the era in which the film takes place.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51H42SBBXCL._SS400_.jpg

On the topic of glamour, Dita Von Teese, much like Marilyn Monroe, makes typography a glamourous thing in these images. The front cover also utilizes the Broadway font used in the Some Like it Hot poster, which compliments the 1940's burlesque look that Dita Von Teese is known for. The use of the whispy cursive underneath effectively compliments the Broadway type as well because it helps convey the sense of femininity and lightness the photo strives to portray.

As for the Fetish back cover, not only does it provide an interesting juxtaposition with the front cover, but it accurately conveys the sense of domination and harshness the BDSM part of the book contains. The bold red text contrasts with the black and grey image nicely, yet the wispy cursive underneath creates a sense of unity between the two covers. This is effective typography because it conveys a sense of authoritativeness which is enhanced by the contrasting Broadway.



http://www.strawberrywalrus.com/graphics/warovercard.jpg

This ubiquitous image is so simple yet so effective. The striking contrast between the white background and simplistic black Ariel Bold-esque type is extremely eye-catching and grabbing. This is effective typography because it is so simple yet bold while addressing the grim issue of war. What also makes this effective typography is that its simplistic design and message make it appealing and accessible to people of all demographics.

Week 3- More C.R.A.P

Learning about C.R.A.P was like finding the wardrobe that lead to Narnia. It was like finding the door that lead to the trippy desert purgatory in Beetlejuice. It was like finding the Christmas tree carving that lead to Christmas Town in the Nightmare Before Christmas. It was like finding $10 in the pocket of a jacket you haven't worn in a year.

Pretty much, having such a simple guideline to follow for art and design work has made composing images so much easier for me. What I love about knowing about C.R.A.P now is that despite having limited artistic ability, I'm still able to critically analyze an image and have a checklist to assess whether or not an image is aesthetically striking and technically proper.

Incidentally, after learning about proper image format pertaining to contrast, repetition, alignment and proximity, overexposed MySpace pictures taken at a crazy angle drive me even more crazy than before. Thank you, RTA, for showing me the way in regards to social networking profile pictures. :)