Sunday, May 1, 2011
Graphic Design: The New Basics
Rythmn and Balance: Balance is a fundamental human condition: we require physical balance to stand upright and walk; we seek balance among the many facets of our personal and professional lives; the world struggles for balance of power. In design, balance anchors and activates elements in space. Relationships among elements on the page or screen remind us of physical relationships. Visual balance occurs when the weight of one or more things is distributed evenly or proportionately in space. Like arranging furniture in a room, we move components around until the balance of form and space feels right. Large objects are a counterpoint to smaller ones; dark objects to lighter ones. A symmetrical design is inherently stable. Yet balance need not be static. A tightrope walker achieves balance while traversing a precarious line in space, continually shifting her weight while staying in motion.
Designers employ contrasting size, texture, value, color, and shape to offset or emphasize the weight of an object and achieve the acrobat's dynamic sense of balance. Rhythm is a strong, regular, repeated pattern: the beating of drums, the patter of rain, the falling of footsteps. Speech, music, and dance all employ rhythm to express form over time. Designers use rhythm to construct single images as well as to create books, magazines, and motion graphics that have duration and sequence. Designers seek rhythms that are punctuated with change and variation.
Type in motion: Time and motion are closely related principles. Any word or image that moves functions both spatially and temporally. Motion is a kind of change, and change takes place in time. Time and motion are considerations for all design work, from a multipage printed book, whose pages follow each other in time, to animations for film and television, which have literal duration. Motion can be implied as well as literal, however. Diagonal composition suggest movement, while rectilinear arrangements appear static. Cropping a shape can suggest motion, as does a sinuous line or a pointed, triangular shape. Designers today routinely work in time-based media as ell as print, and a design campaign often must function acoss multiple media simultaneously.
Animation encompasses diverse modes of visible change, including the literal movement of elements that fly on or off the screen as well as changes in scale, transparency, color,layer, and more. These alternative modes of change are especially useful for designing animated text on the web, where gratuitous movement can be more distracting than pleasing or informative. Film is a visual art. Designers of motion graphics must think both like animators and filmmakers. A motion sequence is developed through a series of storyboards, which convey the main phases and movementsv of an animation. A style frame serves to establish the visual elements of a project, such as its colors, typefaces, illustrative components, and more. Such frames must be designed with the same attentiveness to composition, scale, color, and other principles as any work of design. In addition, the motion designer thinks about how all these components will change and interact with each other over time.
Just Some Questions
How do you think the audience experience will change based on the media? I think a lot of things will revolve around the speech you pick. Personally I find my speech interesting, so if others do too then they should be intrigued to watch it. If people don't find the speech interesting then you need to draw their attention some other way.
What will the audience exprience in print? In print you can actually touch it, turn it, and see how it feels without sound. It should be able to be understood and felt, without sound or effects.
In Motion? You can feel the speech more I think in motion. The way the words are being said and how they "act". I think being able to animate things will draw more people's attention in rather than just be able to see it in print. A lot of people would rather watch something than read it these days.
What can you do in print that you can't do in motion? In print you have the power to make words feel more important rather than just making them as important as the speaker is making them. I know it is difficult for me because my speaker is very monotone and it is easier to make it in print rather than in motion.
What can you do in motion (in aftereffects) that you can't do in print? I think here you can change the volume and tone of the speaker in order to address attention to things. Also just being able to make things move and have sound effects makes the speech seem more real life.
Journal 13
After watching Larry Lessig on laws that choke creativity, I picked out some quotes that I found interesting.
"You should love for the love of culture, not for the love of money"- I completely agree with this and think that people should love what they are doing and not because it is making them money but because it is what they want to do in their life.
"These tools of creativity have become tools of speech, it is a literacy for this generation. It is how our kids speak and how they think, it is what your kids are as they increasingly understand digital technologies and its relationship to who these kids are." - I also agree with this because I think that technology and its changing ammenities have also changed the people who we are today. Kids usually have a better understanding of technology than adults and I think that it makes it our right to teach others. Our adult figures in our lives have taught us so much and I think that it is only necessary for us to teach them.
"Rejects copy-write and believes that the law is nothing more than an ass to be ignored and to be fought at every opportunity possible." - I do think that some laws need to be changed and altered to our world today, but I strongly agree that copy-writing is not right. I think that people can twist others words, which only leads to more damage. Damage that can be avoided. However I know the common saying that art is never your own idea, and I agree with this. I know I personally before every project and during it spend hours looking for inspiration, but even though I find things that I like and might use them, I always make them my own in some way, shape or form. I think that there are a lot of ideas out there that have just not yet been thought of and it is our job to think of them and create them.
Overall I thought this talk was very interesting. I have never heard of an adult complaining about the rules of copy-writing and suggesting that it be legal in some way. I can not however say I completely agree with him but I think it is something that I would definitely be more interested in listening to him talk more about it.
Journal 12
Paula Scher made many points about process and how she works by instinct. I know that I always struggle with process and tend to make a lot of last minute decisions, this has gotten me in trouble and I know it is my biggest problem. I have been trying to fix it, but it is hard to break a habit.
David Carson spoke about designing through self indulgence. I tend to never like things that I design. I think it is a mix of always seeing the mistakes and just wanting to keep working on something and also the fact that I don't have as much process as I should.
The last designer I watched was Milton Glaser, who talked about loving what you do with your life. I really enjoy everything there is about Graphic Design and I love learning more and more each class. I think as cheesy as this sounds, I enjoy doing our homework, yes I know I don't like the time it takes or the money it costs, but I can never see myself having a "normal person" major. I really enjoy creating things, learning more and more after each project and being in an environment where every knows everyone and there are always people there to help you.
Journal 11
Design Matters is a show that takes you inside the provactive world of design and branding as it intersects with contemporary culture.
I listened to the show with Jessica Helfand, I think the most fascinating thing that I learned from her was basically trying to make your mark on the world. She talks about how things are changing constantly throughout the world and we need to try and make them slow down and keep ahold of the older version of life, and not forget what we are in the past because the past makes us who we are and we cant just forget about it. Seeing as technology keeps changing, I think it is interesting how she wanted to sloe it down, most people these days are looking for the next best thing and she is just trying to hold on to the great things of the past. It makes me want to look back through pictures and things from my past and see what I have forgotten and try and realize what things have changed. I visited my grandparents tonight for Easter and my grandpa made me watch this documentary that was made on him. He had a high rank in WW2 and a person from the government came and made a documentary on his life. I found it fascinated about his life and how things have changed so drastically and all of the things that I have never known about my family. It all seemed to tie into some of the main points she was talking about and I liked how I could link things in my life and her life.
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