Week 5

Another busy week. Still getting used to the amount of time homework consumes. The projects, however, are quite diverse now and perhaps that makes them more engaging, but its easier to focus on them now. I am quite excited to start construction on a 3D letter form. Constructing 3D forms is one of my more favorite things to do. It combines my penchant for physical labor and thoughtful design. You cant just jump into a construction, it takes forethought.

Word List

eggs
eggplant
eagle
eel
electricity
earth
ear
earmuffs
earphones
earrings
easel
eclipse
elephant
elk
embryo
echidna
elevator
escalator

Final Statement

Human Conflict. My book shows the cycle of human conflict, as it recurs throughout history. I tried, perhaps too hard at times, to make the entire document angled at that theme, with the type and dots working together. However, in the final representations i managed to bring more variety to the work. The dots still have similarities throughout the pages, so that you can tell the subject being depicted is the same. The dots form lines that interact and unravel and disperse. Alternate "zoom" techniques are used in each dot frame to personalize, or amass them.
The type slides also have a similar theme throughout. The text is massed into a square, and the square is manipulated from word to word. The square changes to rectangles that splits and interacts against and with.
I realized while completing this project that time management is key. Everything concerned with cutting and gluing seemed to take three times as long as I had originally planned. I will have to learn to factor that in from now on (if i want to get more that a few hours of sleep in a weekend).

week 3

i slept a lot at the beginning of the week to ward of illness. way too much sleep. And by the end of the week, no sleep was had at all. About 3 hours over the weekend. But anyway, this week has all been about the booklets for vis and type. its been tough. All the work takes about three times longer than you think it might.

Project One Reading Response

Contrast. Everyone knows what contrast is. When two things are different from each other, they contrast. That's easy enough to understand. What people may not realize, however, is how important and broad contrast is. It is everywhere, and it has nearly endless ways of utility. Knowing when, why and how to use contrast is also very important. Because contrast is everywhere, you don't want to accidentally use it, or use it incorrectly. If something is different from the rest but is not meant to be, obviously people will give meaning to it that isn't intended. Haha, just typing that sentence makes me feel silly because its an obvious statement. Even still, its helpful to be mindful of such things at all times. Especially on this project. Contrast should be handy in our tool box. The contrast of the opposite will help accent the word we want to portray.
As Meggs emphasizes, similarity is just as important as opposites. Similar objects still contrast each other by position or with the back-round. Techniques for Design are basically on a spectrum. Symmetry and Asymmetry are counterparts, as are regularity and irregularity, simplicity and complexity, etc. Its interesting to me because it seemed, in the earlier steps of this project, that when I would be trying to portray a certain word, and it wasn't working out, if I tried doing it the opposite way, then it worked. So, good stuff to keep in mind.

End Week Two

Week two was great, but very hectic. So many different projects going on at once, Its going to be interesting getting used to it. I do enjoy, however, that the projects are so different because when one is getting tiresome I can break by working on another. I'm also excited to be using Illustrator, Its so fun to learn. Thats mainly what I've been working on at the end of this second week. The orthographic layouts are so cool-looking, and easy to make on the computer. Best of all, my worst enemy; smudges, aren't a problem.

Words Revamp

Equilibrium

Expand

Tempted

Degrade

Strife

Clash

Ruin

Reconcile

Peace

Words and Themes

I wanted to play with the undulation of human conflict. History has a pattern of up and down, war and peace, and I want to convey that.

words:

innocence

youth

equality

expansion

discovery

temptation

weakness

greed

degradation

oppression

abuse

confrontation

enslavement

conflict

revolt

rejection

desolation

remorse

atonement

peace