Learning about design and what goes into it was a lot more than I expected. When I design things like wallpapers and posters I tend to do these things without thinking. I had the opportunity to check out the book by Chip Kidd and learned a lot from his book. I liked how everything was described by using the design or typeface he was writing about.
The part of the book that caught my eye is something that I have never seen before, reading from right to left! Chip points out the cover of this book “Things We Didn’t See Coming” by Steven Amsterdam.
I have never thought about this type of design and it fascinates me. I have no idea what this book is about but I wanna read it.
I learned that design is both straightforward and complex. Design can be exactly what it means or it can be the complete opposite and all of it translates super well depending on how well you designed it! I also learned how to balance designs better. How too much color can be hard to read, or using a certain font will translate differently than another font might. I really liked digging into learning about design and I now have a better eye out for these things as I go through the day!
When looking at the prompts, I immediately noticed a theme of the outdoors, but was really excited about the abstract theme and what I could do with that. It was fun being able to walk around and take all of your surroundings in when you’re looking for something specific. It helped me to see everything and think of nature and where I’m walking in a manner different than I usually would.
For my third choice assignment, I felt inspired by the favorite song lyric assignment, especially with my course character, Lenore, in mind. She works in a music based subculture, so music is something holds very dear and close to heart. I went on a deep dive through all my playlists in search of the perfect lyric for her that would work as her favorite. I ended up settling on a ” ‘Come, devil, come’ she sang, ‘Call out my name’ ” from the song “Farewell Wanderlust” by The Amazing Devil. I felt like this lyric symbolized the way she battles and faces her inner demons and her past on a daily basis as it’s something that lives with her and always will, so instead of trying to push it away, she confronts them head on.
The next part of the assignment was to superimpose the lyrics over a background that represents the lyric. I chose a photo I took of the aurora we saw over campus last autumn. On the surface, it may seem like the background has no connection with the lyrics, but I used it very metaphorically. The thought process was that the aurora is something that is always happening somewhere in the world, it doesn’t often happen here, but it is always in existence. Sometimes it lasts in the sky for a long time, sometimes it stays for the blink of an eye. You may not know when you’ll see it again, but you know you probably will in one context or another at some point. I felt like that fit with the idea of Lenore’s inner demons and the confrontation of them. Sometimes the internal struggles lay dormant. They still exist, they just aren’t making an appearance. And sometimes they shine bright at the surface.
With the background and lyrics selected, I hopped onto Canva and put it all together. I chose a font that was sophisticated and elegant, but with a text effect that showed layers to symbolize all the different parts of Lenore under the surface. I also used some little elements like emphasis markers and devil horns to add character to the lyric and to attempt to visualize the way Lenore perceives the lyric in her mind, with extra emphasis on the “Call out my name” to show her unwavering demeanor towards confrontation.
I had fun thinking about all the little details and putting this together. It’s not the most intricate creation, but I think what really rings through is the symbolism and meaning behind each creative choice and how it relates to Lenore.
We had to to the worst photoshop job ever for today’s Daily Create. It occurred to me that the worst thing I could do would be to ask an AI to give me a bad photoshop job.
But using that would be lame. I had a rather unrealistic photo of myself with a book of shelves from an earlier attempt at humor, so I unceremoniously plopped by AI bad PS job on it. Guess I suck at Photoshop.
There were a lot of topics regarding design that were covered in these articles and videos, but the elements that stuck with me the most were color and typography. As someone who has done my fair share of graphic design as an event runner and social media manager for all sorts of organizations, color and typography are always something I’m very conscious about, however, I could never synthesize and summarize my thoughts to describe why. These articles and videos really helped me understand my own mind and thoughts, specifically the videos of the movie poster expert and the Stranger Things font, and the article about Chip Kidd’s book.
I’ve always been a bit more in tune with my understanding and perception of colors in my design as I’ve always found that to be one of the key context clues in media to relay messages and tones. In fact, I dove into this in my Corpse Bride color analysis. Despite this being something I consider myself to be pretty in tune with, there were certain themes I had never really thought about. For example, how often blue is used for thriller movie posters or how different uses of negative space can convey entirely different messages.
Typography is the one I’ve always struggled to describe. I’ve always been aware of the influence it can have, I can understand that the tone and mood can change with a font, but up until now I haven’t been able to articulate why. I found the Stranger Things video particularly interesting as I always felt like I recognized the font, but couldn’t place it. It always had a retro feel, but after watching the video and seeing some of the other uses of that font that inspired the creation of the title sequence completely shifted my perspective and provided a much deeper nuance to the whole vibe especially knowing what the show is about.
I started this journey on a rainy Friday morning at 9:13 AM
The items that I was sent to capture were:
Fences and walls can divide or demarcate. Make a creative photo of a fence or wall.
Make a photograph of a smile, either literal or symbolic
Represent or express something loud
Gauges, meters, and turn signals are all signs of indicators
Make a photograph with your camera at floor level
Create a self portrait, without your face, that represents you
“Music is what feelings sound like” Make a photo of something musical
For “fences and walls can divide or demarcate” my first thought was the construction fence that blocks people from getting too close to Monroe. This fence was perfect because it splits in the middle, one side is painters tape blue while the other is chain link. I walked over to Monroe and snapped the picture at 9:18.
I figured while I was outside I would get the next picture: “make a photograph of a smile, either literal or figurative.” There are a lot of leaves by Virginia Hall so I used them to assemble two eyes and a smile. The rain was unideal weather for this activity, but for this picture it helped to have something weigh the leaves down to keep them from blowing away. The smile only took me a few seconds to assemble, I took the picture at 9:19 and went on my way.
The next picture I decided to get was “gauges, meters, and turn signals are all indicators.” For this prompt, I was completely stumped because I couldn’t think of any indicators on campus. However, on my way back to my dorm I ran into the poll with different arrows pointed at different places. I figured that was as close as I was going to get to an indicator so I got my shot, and by 9:20, I was moving on to the next prompt.
Once I was back at my dorm, I went into the common room to “make a photograph with your camera at floor level.” I took a picture of my shoes because these are the shoes I wear everywhere and these were the shoes that were protecting my feet from the rain on this fine morning so it was only fitting. I’m sorry if there are any sneaker heads reading this, I know they’re creased, I apologize. For this picture, I set it up against the wall and set the timer, t took me about 10 seconds total. The picture was done and taken by 9:23.
For my next picture, I did “create a self-portrait, without your face, that identifies you” I chose to take a picture of my corner of the room. I live in a dorm with a random roommate, so we each have our own sides of the room decorated. I am obsessed with my corner because I think it perfectly represents me. You can see the stuffed animals I sleep with every night, you can see the decorations I chose to adorn my bookshelf, and you can see my friends in the pictures that are on my wall. This picture reminds me of the song “In My Own Little Corner” from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella. The picture was taken at 9:27,
The next prompt I did was “represent or express something loud” so I turned my computer all the way up and started blasting music. On top of that, I chose a Lady Gaga song because her fashion and some of her music is very loud. I had to take a picture a few times because I wanted the volume level to show in the picture but every time I moved my hand to take the picture, it would go back down. Eventually I learned to shutter the camera to get as many pictures as possible and I figured one of them had to be good. By 9:30 I the picture was taken I moved on to my last prompt.
For the last photo, my prompt was “make a photo of something musical.” By this point, I thought I had gotten all my pictures already so when I saw that there was one more, I scrambled to find something. Thankfully my dorm has two pianos so I chose the closest one. I like this picture because you can see the sheet music says “The Office Theme Song” which is great because if you can play the piano, you should absolutely play The Office theme song! What a great use of free will! My last photo was taken at 9:30.
I finished the activity at 9:31 AM
I had fun with this activity, it felt like a scavenger hunt. I think if the weather was nicer I would have enjoyed it even more because I didn’t start getting into the groove of it until I got back inside. My favorite picture I took is the one with my shoes, I think it’s the artiest of all of them and you can see how much my shoes have been through.
“Merge something together in whatever graphics software you can, to top do worse than what one person claims as the âworst photoshopped photo everâ”
This was probably my least favorite part of this week’s work, why read an article when you can create after all, so it ended up being my last task of the week. Probably should have skipped the money video I was confused and uncomfortable the whole time.
Honestly, I was at work when I was doing this assignment, so I had a lot and only a little to work with. So, they are very tech based in a way but that’s about it. I did it in the 20-minute allotted got confused how time works and took the second picture late or early I still don’t know. What do you mean it stops at 60 ugh, time.
So, most of my assignments were chosen based on existing images I had or ideas. It was done in the first few days since there were so many pages, I took time flipping through only to go back to the beginning in the end.
This weeks daily creates I started much sooner, so I was quite pleased and wasn’t stressing over it daily like last week. My favorite was the Australia day one since mine came out quite cute.
Commenting
I have been making sure to react daily or react to ones that I noticed.
This week felt much slower compared to last, and I kept feeling like I was forgetting something. I even reread the assignment four times to make sure I didnât miss anything…haha. I really enjoyed watching the TED Talk, the video about movie posters, and the Stranger Things video. I learned a lot of cool things about design from these videos and from this week in general, as I mentioned in my reflection.
Doing the Photoblitz was a cool experience, but Iâm not sure if I did it correctly. I ended up completing more tasks than required and finished in about seven minutes, which left me confused. Was it really supposed to be that fast? Maybe the goal was to complete as many as possible within 20 minutes…Iâm not exactly sure. Either way, it was fun! I enjoy visual assignments, especially when the prompts are provided.
Here are the Daily Creates I did this week. Although I didnât participate in them, I still checked them daily out of curiosity and wanted to complete them, but time got away from me!
My participation this week was low because I was really busy with other classes, but I still read through almost every post. Here are some of the posts I interacted with.
I’m super productive in my work environment, so sometimes I stay after we close to complete my assignments. Luckily for me, the DKC is full of resources…everything I could need! I was impressed and even slightly overwhelmed by the number of options available.
This assignment was pretty cool. Since I take quick photos, I was able to get through a good amount of work. As I kept going, I gained perspective and started getting more creative, trying to find interesting subjects instead of the usual boring ones.
Make a photo that freezes or isolates the motion of an object
Take a photo that includes a manufactured product and at least one of its elements.
Make a photograph of a plastic object.
Take a picture of anger, or something that makes you angry.
Take a picture from the inside of something looking out.
A photo that communicates a abandoned or discarded feeling
Wood has a lot of character and variety. A photo of something wooden.
A perfect line. Make a photo of interesting vertical, horizontal, or diagonal lines.
Two contrasting things, e.g. light & darkness, life & death, cats & dogs.
he edge of a knife, the waters edge, or some other edge.
Find a grid pattern somewhere (brick sidewalk or ceiling tiles).
Make a photo of something upside down that is never seen that way
Here are the photos I took:
Make a photo that freezes or isolates the motion of an object
Take a photo that includes a manufactured product and at least one of its elements.
Make a photograph of a plastic object.
he edge of a knife, the waters edge, or some other edge.
Take a picture of anger, or something that makes you angry.
A photo that communicates a abandoned or discarded feeling
Take a picture from the inside of something looking out.
Make a photo of something upside down that is never seen that way
Two contrasting things, e.g. light & darkness, life & death, cats & dogs.
Wood has a lot of character and variety. A photo of something wooden.
A perfect line. Make a photo of interesting vertical, horizontal, or diagonal lines.
Find a grid pattern somewhere (brick sidewalk or ceiling tiles).
But using that would be lame. I had a rather unrealistic photo of myself with a book of shelves from an earlier attempt at humor, so I unceremoniously plopped by AI bad PS job on it. Guess 
