Final Compositions

 

My Colored Composition: Relating Mood to Traffic by DJ Tiesto

 

My Black/White Composition: Relating Rhythm to Traffic by DJ Tiesto 

attempt #1 at colored composition

Here are my thoughts for my colored composition. First thing I did was try to pick out a hue set that I felt was appropriate for my composition. I chose a split complimentary of purple/orange/yellow because those hues are associated with happiness, energy, wealth, and creativity.

 

Next I chose this photo of NYC traffic as the background for my composition, then simplified it which you can see above in my sketches. From there I made multiple lines to create the small, geometric shapes that I would later fill in with color.

inspiration for my colored composition

 

This is a painting done by Joseph Stella titled Spring, medium: watercolor. I saw this at the Bowdoin Museum of Art and was very intrigued by the overall composition. As I stood there and observed the painting, first thing I noticed was the depth of the painting. When I listen to the song I chose, the listener can experience multiple feelings towards the song, such as happiness, passion, energy, creativity, wealth, mystery and cleanliness. Although I feel that Joseph Stella's Spring doesnt have this many feelings/moods that could be associated with it, I feel that the stain glass effect with small, geometric shapes in a specific color set is very effective for my composition.

sketches for black/white composition

Here are a few of my thoughts for the black and white composition. For my color composition I wanted to focus on mood so for my black/white composition I solely focused on rhythm. When you think of a techno song, first instincts may be that it is a hectic song, however for Traffic by DJ Tiesto it is smooth. What I mean by smooth is the transitions from one bunch of beats to another set is not chaotic, the dj does not throw in random beats to throw off the listener. Other notes I jotted down were how many beats, the flow of the piece of music and a few sketches that could be associated with the music.

A video I stumbled upon that matches up each respective letter with a font of the same starting letter

http://vimeo.com/18499580

Assignment 11b - Ad #2 Final

This is my second ad. Compared to the first one, I wanted to make this one more creative. When I was brain storming, I was really interested in the metaphoric meaning of roots coming from the company to the education. At first I did not have a box around Where Young Minds Grow, rather a single root would connect to each letter. However I found that to be cheesy and got away from what I wanted the ads to portray which is clean, organized and not hard to distinguish what Juan's company was: professional.

Assignment 11b - Ad #1 Final

This is one of the two ads I came up with. This one is simplistic which I like because if your a non profit company selling textbooks to schools, you do not want a fancy ad. All the important information I gathered from the interview is on this ad. Reffering back to the Z format overall, the three main points would be Warning!, Tall Tree Publishing, and Where Minds Grow. I want the viwer's eye to hit those main points first than wonder. Overall there seems to be too much empty space but I did not want to clog the info.

Assignment 11b - sketch work for ad 2

This is the sketch work for my second ad. I started out by brain storming different words for grow and fourth word I thought of was roots. When I think about roots, I think sustainability. Relate that to publishing books for K-8th graders and you get roots coming out from the logo that could connect to the main concept of the company. Just some thoughts to work with....

Assignment 11b - sketch work for ad 1

This is some sketch work I did for my first ad. I knew in my head what I wanted to do immediately, figuring out the composition was the tough part. However using the notes given in class I knew I wanted to do a Z composition, plus things in 3's seem to be more powerful.

First Impressions About the Answers Juan Gave Me About His Company

Professional. Tall Tree Publishing is all about doing a good deed and helping out schools that cannot afford new, spiffy textbooks. The ideas I have for creating an ad for Tall Tree will be nothing complex because I want to get the point across about what it is that the company does. Nothing fancy; ads will have a lot of info compared to others. Logo is a must but as far as colors, nothing bright or wacky that would give people fits if reading the advertisement.

Assignment 11b: 10 Questions about Juan's Company

Question 1: What is it that your company does?
A: Tall Tree is a publishing company that writes textbooks and learning games to go with.

Question 2: What is your target audience?
A: K-8

Question 3: Do you sell to make a profit?
A:  No, doing a good deed for children's education around the nation.

Question 4: Competitive edge?
A:  Care for children's education

Question 5: National or International Location?
A: National

Question 6: Where are you located in the states?
A: Seattle is where our headquarters are located, however we have multiple stores in different regions of the US.

Question 7: How many stores total?
A: 110

Question 8: Do you sell to high end or low end?
A: We sell to anyone and everyone in need of a textbook/learning game upgrade. No discrimination!

DJ Tiesto - Traffic

 

After searching high and low for songs without lyrics through various genres, I chose this song by DJ Tiesto: Traffic. What appeals to me besides the fact that I like it in general, is the upbeat tempo and instrumentals used (although its primarily beats). I know I will be able to translate into an audio visual design as designs are already pouring into my head as to what to do.

Video of Elizabeth Murray in Her Natural Habitat - Painting Studio

I recently did a art project where I had to choose an artist and replicate two of their pieces, then create my own using their style. Elizabeth Murray was who I chose because of her chaotic, abstract paintings of oil on giant canvases. Here is a video of her style, scroll ahead 28 minutes into the video... Enjoy! Click Here

"The Sun and the Moon"

letter head 2

letter head 1

business card 2

business card 1

logo 2

 

After creating my first logo, I immediately knew what I wanted to do with my second logo. Instead of spelling out Tall brick, I used Tb then productions on the bottom in case there was a logo with TB as the initials so customers dont get confused. However now looking at my finished product, instead of a black background I should have used something lighter so the productions would have stuck out more. In the end, I am pleased with my finish product because it compliments my first logo.

logo 1

 

After deleting a few layers from my first try at creating a logo for Tall Brick Productions and after a few fixes, this is what I came up with. I am pleased with the outcome and would not change anything.

first attempt at logo1

This was my first attempt at a logo for Tall Brick Productions. I was liking where this was going because of the film background, font used for Tall Brick and the overall composition. However I was trying to create the logo before the letter head and  business card and this "logo" felt like the business card. I started playing around with the layers on photoshop and after deleting a few, I came up with the composition I was looking for my logo accidentally....

A Lamp - Art Deco and Art Nouvea Style

Out of the two, I had the most trouble with art nouveau because I had to essentially create an organic-shaped lamp. What I did was examine the movement of the lamp then create my art piece according too where my eye traveled. I put most emphasis on the top of the lamp because it was the heaviest part of the lamp and also because it was the most intricate part of the piece. As for the art deco lamp, it was easier because what I did was transformed any organic shapes into geometric shapes and exaggerated the proportions. Then instead of showing the intricate design on the original lamp shade with curvy lines, I used dots.

Replication of Acrylic on Canvas

This is my replica of Dustin's exagerated plum. If you were to compare his to mine you will notice many differences in the color and position of words. This is my second time working with acrylics (not counting my own project) and it definitely shows. When copying Dustin's, I did not use any tools to replicate it, only my own judgement.

Color/Typography Assignment

First word: Tall. My goal was to make it looked stretched out, therefore I made it thin and bigger compared to brick. As for the color, I had no idea what color represents tall. Since no color is associated with tall, I wanted to make it compliment red. Green and red does give it a christmasy kinda feeling but red is a primary color and green is a secondary color which is why I feel that green was a good choice.

Second word: BRICK. Brick was a much easier word to work with than tall as far as the color scheme. However I wanted to put more emphasis in the typography aspect of the word so physically, I tried to make it look like a brick. I chose a stencil font because if you look at a brick wall, a white layer surrounds each one. That is why the letters are not connected with a gap. 

Overall I feel that my tile met all the goals and requirements of the project. I had one color for each word and the typography was appropriate for each word. If I could do a couple things differently, I would make tall thinner and instead of vertical white gaps in brick, made them horizontal.

"Original Green" vs "Gadget Green"

http://placeshakers.wordpress.com/2009/04/27/mouzon-green-home-design-featured-in-wsj/

Miami architect Steve Mouzon discusses vernacular practices honed over time to shape highly efficient and much loved structures that adapt and endure over generations.

Tessellation Project

These two pieces are my cutouts that I worked with. The one on the right was the triangle I started with and the triangle on the left is the finished product. Since I had difficulties with photoshop I decided to make my tessellation by hand. Therefore since I was using an x-acto knife my options for cutting out the original shape were limited because the precision of an x-acto knife cannot compare to photoshop. The shape is of a half arrow. 

This here is my finished product. After cutting out my tessellation I figured it would be visually interesting to make my final product look like my original tessellation but scaled up. However I did not like how it came out so I moved on. Since I like things to be neat and not chaotic, I arranged the tessellation symmetrically. I started by rotating the tessellation 60 degrees on a corner to form a hexagon. From there I branched out to create movement vertically. I did this twice which is why there are four branches so to speak of. Next step was to give it a pattern and/or color. I chose black and red sharpie because I wanted to make the lines bold. Plus red and black seem to compliment eachother well. I started with the red sharpie and at the center of the hexagons I went vertical to add line movement. Next I colored the rest of the lines black so the red lines stick out more. Finally within the hexagons I colored in my original shape that I cut out and striped each one. 

Overall this project was a challenge because of photoshop. Although I was not successful in creating my tessellations via photoshop I did learn more about the program. At the beginning of the year I had no experience what so ever with photoshop but now I am gaining more confidence with it.

China's '3D Fast Bus' Straddles the Road So Cars Can Drive Under

 

A company in China believes they have the answer for subway train stations above ground: a train that straddles the road and allows cars to travel under it.  I think it is a great idea but the only problem I see going wrong with this is a car hitting a side of the train and derailing it, potentially hurting many people cause some idiot could not stay off his phone...

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1y9lG2/www.treehugger.com/files/2010/08/chinas-3d-fast-bus-straddling-road-cars-can-drive-under-video.php

x marks the spot

My final book page of the four consists of squares with circles in the middle as the background with an x at the golden point. Since this was my last one I wanted to challenge myself. Although it looks messy I like it because it is not perfect. Originally at the x there was no stamps meaning it was an empty x so to speak of. But I did not like it because it was tough to see and the goal of this project was to keep the emphasis on the golden point. With that in mind I filled in the x with multiple stamps so it stuck out more.


Overall this project was fun but exhausting because the precision needed to make sure my illusions were accurate was tough. With the two line book pages I wanted to make them obvious but not obvious and with the ink stamps I wanted to keep the point of them two obvious (if that makes sense).

circle bunch

My third of four book pages consists of multiple circles stacked up as the golden point with single circles layering the outside. My intention was to keep it simple because I felt if I made it too complicated, things would get messy. Circle is a basic shape but stacking them creates chaos and confusion.

spiral circle

My second book page of four consists of a spiral circle as the golden point with lines connected going to the outer page. My intention was to build upon my first book page because I felt the outward circle could be taken to another level so to speak of. What is different is the movement of the entire piece of artwork. First instead of straight lines inside the circle I made it a spiral and kept that same concept with lines going outward. Although their straight, as the viewer you force yourself to believe its an on-going spiral that never ends.

outward circle

My first of four book pages consists of a circle as the golden point with lines flowing into the middle of it. My intention was to lead the viewer into the circle but keep the circle's shape visible.

This video gives me the goose bumps every time

Washington State's Reggie Moore Ally Oop vs Washington 1/30/11

Off a steal Faisel Aiden gives an ally oop to Reggie Moore who slams it home to give the Cougs an 11 point lead vs rival Washington at Beasley Stadium. Washington State went on to win big and knock off 19th ranked Huskies at home for a huge win to add to their resume.

Black/White Circles Assignment

In this composition I wanted to have the reader start in the middle and be able to look out and two directions creating balance. Although it is asymmetry which means two halves are unequal, the twirls go off to the right and left. At first I only had black circles so I put white circles inbetween the black circles to create rhythm but act as a balance as well. Now the reader can start at either end of the curvy line and end up in the middle which I created differently on purpose. I created it on purpose to throw off the reader a bit but yet the balance and rhythm are still in tact.

 

In this compoisiton I wanted to expand on my first idea. I thought my first composition was boring so I connected the two ends to create a circle. Then I was intrigued by the Fibonacci Spiral so I wanted to add that concept into my composition as well. However that part was not so successful but I liked it because of proportion. As a viewer, your eye wants to focus on the three big black circles but instead it goes around the whole composition because of the white circles. The white circles makes it more visually intriguing adding a second circle/spiral on top although it is not physically connected. Like my first composition I expanded on that middle part but made more circles within eachother and threw it into my second composition.

Peter Precourt's Katrina Chronicles - CNN News Rating Spike

Recently in the Danforth Gallery at University of Maine Augusta, Peter Precourt put up a series of paintings related to Hurricane Katrina and different aspects of it. The painting I chose that was most interesting to me was the CNN News Ratings Spike. This painting shows an african-american holding his baby with white soldiers in front of him with a caption below it saying: "We watched, transfixed, the superdome superdivide." Below that was the CNN logo and around it, it stated: "And the news networks ratings spiked with each new primetime injustice and finally below that was another caption: "Meanwhile... the complete destruction of waveland mississippi was left on the cutting room floor." Also in the background is an abstraction of absolute destruction beautifully painted to show everything being washed away.

The meaning of this painting shows the media control on every day life which is clear if you take a little time to figure it out. Media only shows certain aspects of situations but Precourt tells all, especially in this painting. Although thousands of people were cooped up in the superdome, people tend to forget the total destruction of the hurricane. However I am confused about what Precourt was trying to say about the african-american male confronted by white soldiers. Was he trying to portray some racism saying that black people were getting the short end of the stick so to speak? Im not too sure but maybe he wasnt trying to be abstract about that specific situation and wasnt trying to show racism within the superdome

Boston Red Sox 2011 Preview

With two huge acquisitions of Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez the Red Sox offense looks more potent than ever. With Crawford and Ellsbury atop the lineup, their speed should force the opposing defense to shift leaving gaps for Youkilis, Gonzalez, Cameron, Pedroia and Drew to drive home the runs. Along with the addition of Bobby Jenks in the bullpen as the 7th inning man, the team is younger and healthier than previous years which is very important considering the long, exhausting 162 game season spanning over 8 months. In 2010 the Red Sox' opening day starting line-up spent the most days on the DL with 258, 48 more days then the A's. However since the Red Sox did not make the postseason they have had longer time resting up and getting ready for the 2011 season.

The x-factor will be pitching. Pitching wins championships and many teams would agree because in the offseason pitchers are always the primary targets of GM's. The Red Sox pitching staff has the talent to be a premier rotation in the majors but inconsistency has hurt them. Lester has been the anchor of the rotation but if everyone else pitches smart watch out for a record breaking win season.

The key to a successful 2011 season will be Terry Francona and his ability to order the lineup. The team has depth with alot of utility players which will make it easier to mix and match the lineup to his liking. Ellsbury has the ability to be lead off but will Francona put him at the bottom of the order as an anchor because Crawford does have the power to hit home runs and drive in runs with Pedroia to follow. Or will Francona take some pressure of Pedroia and put him 5th behind Gonzalez and before Drew to give a Left-Right-Left batting order which causes problems for opposing managers. It will be very interesting to see what occurs but right now as a Red Sox fans there is high hopes for the team going to the World Series.