ITAP Week 9 Image and Text

The meaning of an image can be affected my what context the image is shown such as the series of four photographs by John Hilliard called ‘Cause of Death?’ These four photographs show the same person lying down in the same place but, by John Hilliard altering the image by cropping it down in four different ways and by him then adding text to the pictures simply saying the cause of death, in this case he used burned, crushed, drowned and fell, he is able to change the meaning and narrative of the photographs. Another example of how adding text to a photograph can change the meaning of the image is the work that Gillian Wearing does with her photography. In her work she gets people to write down what they are feeling or thinking at the time and then pose with it while she takes a picture. For example she has taken a photo of a policeman holding a sign saying ‘help’ and what appears to be a businessman holding a sign saying ‘I’m desperate.’ By having these signs in the photographs of what the person is thinking written down on them changes the meaning and the story of the image, such as what does the policeman need help with? and why is the businessman desperate? This creates a contrast between what the person is thinking to how the public sees them by the way they act and dress. Jim Goldberg is another photographer that uses what the people he photographs thinks and feels in his work. Particularly in his series called ‘Rich and Poor’ where he takes photos of both the rich and poor then gets them to write down what they either think of the people around them or the place they are in etc. This has similar results as Gillian Wearing work, but demonstrates how linking an image with text as well as the way it is laid out can change the meaning of the piece.

ITAP Week 8 Production Of Visual Communication

The top 10 milestones in the history of production in my opinion are:

• Sumerians use cuneiform alphabet on clay tablets– 3500bc
• Paper invented in China by Ts’ai lun – AD 105
• Johannes Gutenberg printed first book in Europe – 1445
• Papermaking machine invented by Nicolas-Louis Robert – 1798
• Negative/positive photography invented by Fox Talbot – 1839
• First colour separation process invented – 1890
• Adobe systems founded – 1982
• CD- ROM invented, Parke Lightbown builds a computer application that runs from a computer based version of the compact disk – 1984
• Email invented by Ray Tomlinson – 1971

I believe these points are the top 10 because they are all things that are still used in the world today and have influenced some other ways of making and producing work, such as books have given people different ideas of laying out work and how to display things.

Johannes Gutenberg made the first book in Europe in 1445. He produced the book by using an invention that later led to him inventing the printing pres a few years after. The book he printed was the bible, it was a revelation of its time because of the neat and easy to read lettering without the need of glasses. 

ITAP Week 7 Production and Outcomes (Influences and Reactions)

Here are two interpretations of Spiderman. The first one is the original cartoon drawing from 1967 and the second is the new redrawn version called ultimate Spiderman, which was released in 2000. These are both interpretations of what Stan Lee envisioned to be Spiderman when he came up with the idea. Both drawings fit in well with the period they were released and this is made obvious because the original drawing is simple and uses block colour with little detail and no shading or tone, which if you look at other cartoons that were been on at the same time you would see it fits in well. Compared to the Ultimate Spiderman drawing, which is more realistic in a sense that shadow and the feeling of movement have been included in the image making the drawing come to life more like you get with modern comics. However the main concept of what the costume looks like has stayed the same showing that they have stayed true to the original and main ideas of how Spiderman looks and this is the same for every reincarnation of Spiderman be it cartoon, comic, film, toy or console game.

My own working methodology design process is to first go and make mind maps about any initial ideas I have about the brief that I've been given, then research and collect relevant information about my ideas through books, photography and things I observe. I will then develop any good ideas further by experimenting with different media and materials, be it either digital, print making or hand drawn to see what effects and textures I can get to make an image more interesting and relevant to the brief that I have been given. Then by getting feed back on my work I continuously keep going back to it developing it further until I’m happy with it to put forward into production for the final piece, before sitting down to evaluate the work and what I’ve learnt from the process.  

ITAP Week 6 Narrative

A story is the basic form of telling a linked series of events, either true or fiction that is usually a description of a journey that characters make. Stories can come from a many number of places such as the news that you have either watched on T.V or read in a newspaper, from the history of recorded events in the past also, from legend, which is a story pasted down for generations which people believe to based around real historical facts but can not be proved. In visual communication you tell a story through your work by thinking about who the target audience is, because nothing can appeal to all ages. Something that appeals to an adult won’t interest a child. Also, though the images you try to get across your message for example if you were advertising a Ford Fiesta you would want an image that would show how practical it is compared to a Lamborghini Murcielago where you’d want to show how powerful and fast it is.

Developing a narrative is taking the idea of original story or theme and developing it further. For example when you explore deeper into the meaning behind the ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ story you get a number of different interpretations such as rebirth, natural cycles (day and night, changing of the season) and sexual. An example of this is Tex Avery’s version of ‘Little Red Riding Hood’, which was released in 1943 called ‘Red Hot Riding Hood’. In this version of the story, Red Riding Hood is performer at a nightclub and the wolf is portrayed as someone who follows her and is obsessed with her. This gives a completely different angle from the way the traditional story is told, but keeping the same elements to make it a ‘Red Riding Hood’ story. Using alternatives to what people normally associate with things is very useful as a visual communicator because it can put an interesting twist on the obvious or modernise it so it is more relevant to the current time period such as, the latest version of Sherlock Holmes, on BBC one, is set in modern day London but the traditional, core elements of the story are the same as Sir Arthur Cannon Doyle wrote in his books. 

ITAP Week 5 Visual Communication

The tone of voice in this image advertising the visual communication student’s art exhibition called Lost and Found. I think this is a good example of where the correct tone of voice has been used because they have used a luggage label to print onto which symbolizes lost luggage and then the text they have used a clear font which is easy to read and left the O out of lost and included it in found but by using two colours for both words suggests the O was lost from lost and then found in found. This makes the way they have used typography in the advertisement correctly giving it the right tone of voice so the people it is aimed at know what it is about. 

This is another example of where the tone of voice of the advert has been done correctly. I think this because the slogan “elevate your business” has been put next to an elevator and then the colours that have been used for the type are tones from the photo such as the slogan colour is from the arrow pointing up above the elevator. Also, the type of font that has been used is simple and business like for its target audience. 

This is an example of good use of visual hierarchy. I think this because the red and blue contrast each other well making the text saying what it is and where it is stand out first and then the details afterwards. It has worked well like this because most people have a quick glance at an advert and in that short time you have to catch their attention with something. When I first looked at this I saw student takeover, which stands out more been white text on the blue background, I’m a student so I’d carry on looking and see Highcross Leicester then the information on the red background. This works well because the visual hierarchy is in the correct order with your eye been attracted to the most important part first and so on.

This is a poster I have in my room and I thought it showed a good visual hierarchy because simply the background of the image is blurred and the person in the foreground isn’t making him stand out because he is the main focus of the poster. 

ITAP Week 4 Inspiration and Understanding

Research is the collecting of data, information and facts to increase our understanding of a topic or issue. This is separated into two different types of research, primary and secondary. Primary research is when you physically go out and get the information yourself and create new information that was not there before such as questionnaires. Whereas secondary research is when you use information that someone else has gone out, collected and you have found it by either reading books or via the Internet. Another way of researching something is by doing visual research, which is creating images, diagrams, illustrations or photographs of the subject. This method of research is what I will mainly be using to gather the information I need for my online magazine along with secondary research to gather information about the history of landmarks around Birmingham. A current artist that is good at completing this type of research is Paul Davis. He is a good example of this because he goes around daily with a notebook writing down phrases, words and drawing things that give him ideas so that when he comes to make a piece of work he already has lots of different ideas that he can use to help him make his final outcome. Inspiration can be found anywhere and take any shape. Inspiration usually comes when you let your mind wonder and just observe what’s around you. Some people find that by collecting things such as other artists work, toys, comics, books etc are useful because they then have a library of things they can reference at any time also, for some people collecting things helps stimulate the brain to become more creative and help them come up with something new. Others find that making their workspace full of things that inspire them helpful. So when they are working their surrounded by posters, books, CD’s and figures that they can take elements from such as what they look like, how they were made and what there made off and use it in their own work.

ITAP Week 3 Connectivity

As artist nothing we do is “original” it’s all connected to someone else’s ideas. It is essentially stealing. But where do we draw the line at stealing someone else’s ideas? Even great artists such as Pablo Picasso have done it. For example his painting of Las Meninas, he got the idea from another painting by Diego de Silva Velazquez, which was also called Las Meninas. The only difference is that Picasso’s painting was done 300 years after Diego’s and this shows that took the idea from his painting but put his own twist on the idea making it his own. Picasso is famous for saying “great minds steal” by this he means that good artists look at other artists work and take inspiration from what has gone before them using it in their own way, making something different based on the same idea. Another way artist get their influence is by looking at different forms of historical culture. For example many artists such as, Masaccio and Ron O’Donnel have looked at the creation story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. As well as this artist have draw inspiration from myths and legends about Greek gods and other figures of worship in religions. An example of this is a statue of the goddess’s ceremonial apron has had a modern twist on it using a photo of a women then editing it. Another piece of historical culture that artist have drawn inspiration from is the supernatural. Probably the most famous pieces are the five Cottingley Fairies photographs. These pieces were several years later, in the 1980s, were revealed to be fakes which at the time cleared up any uncertainty people had about their authenticity at the time of their release. But they have inspired many other artists such as Matt Collishaw, Rankin (Nokia) and was even part of a recent BBC advert. This all shows that to be a good artist/ designer you have too look around at what other artist and designers have done in the past and to use what you like from their work and not to be scared about admitting that that’s your inspiration because it is what every one does because nothing is “original” its all recycled ideas done in a new way. 

ITAP Week 2 Development of creative thought and structure in Illustration and Graphic Art

Overcoming mindsets is a deliberate thinking strategy to free you from the practice of solving everyday problems. In order to do this you need to break your natural way of thinking and move away from comfort zones freeing your mind to look at alternatives away from your normal conventional approach to problems. To do this I would start by questioning my traditional way of thinking by asking things like, what if? And why not? Also, by trying to go in with an open mind and not having any assumptions about the problem. Christoph Niemann is a graphic illustrator who comes up with very good simple visual ideas, which are fun and interesting to look at. Such as, his images of the toaster with bread popping out in different ways and the one with a god throwing lightening at a man, who catches it and throws back DNA. His work shows a non-conventional approach to things because the image is not something you would normally think of doing in association with the theme, for example the one with the person peaking though the fingers is talking about even with eyes covered theirs always someone peeking.

Developing ideational fluency is producing ideas that fulfill a requirement. Ideational fluency is the number of ideas to solve a problem rather then the quality of the ideas that you come up with. It’s all about getting ideas down on a page using methods such as mind maps and classification. I use mind mapping to get down my ideas because I find it an easy way to see all my ideas at the same time. It also, enables me to link some together as well as, going into more detail about my ideas for one thing branching off from the original thought. Such as, for the current magazine project, an initial idea was the history of Birmingham, which then led me to landmarks, which then linked back to another idea I had about culture in Birmingham. To help me think I have things around me in my room that I like and find interesting and they help give me ideas spontaneously. I find this works because things that inspire me surround me and I can draw inspiration from them.

ITAP Week 1 RVJ (Reflective Visual Journal)

Drawing is a personal and emotional way of expressing yourself on a page, which nearly everyone is conscious about, as it is one of the most recognised ways of seeing if you have ability or not, so you constantly feel judged and that every piece has to be a masterpiece. The RVJ is a great way of expressing ideas and your thought process though images regardless of their quality or style and it allows you to experiment and take risks with materials when creating an image, not necessarily using pencil, giving you no limits to what you can accomplish. An example of this is Danny Gregory who, in his journal volume 6, draws a range of everyday things he sees in there just to get ideas down. Some are quick sketches others time has gone into them, but it is clear he is going though a journey and capturing every thought that comes into his head though imagery.  Another example is Leonardo De Vinci, who is known for developing his ideas by “thinking on a page” describing his ideas though imagery rather than words, using the right side of his brain by experimenting with ideas then coming back and using the left side to analyse his work seeing what works and what doesn’t, then going back to the right side to come up with a new idea based on what he’d learnt. It is important to use both sides of the brain when it comes to getting the best creative work out of yourself. Using the right side of the brain to be experimental, curious and playful and the left to analyse, edit and ask what is useful. Neither side is better use to us then the other, as creative people we need both as they both complement each other helping us to achieve better results. 

T-Shirt designs

These are a couple of the designs I made for T-shirts which were influenced by the David Fullarton. What I took form David Fullartons work that I liked was the fact that he collects random scraps of things such as bus tickets and books so i went out and collected a few things like this to produce a load of different textures for my image and text like the ones above. These designs are my favourite because I like the way the graph paper and book pages have added to the mono print images also, the coffee stains made on the one help add to what I was trying to create. The message I'm trying to get across in these pieces was of lonelyness and by having ripped up pieces of paper with some overlapping it symbolises piecing things back together. 

Day of the Triffids book cover

This piece my target audience are adults, which I have tried to accomplish by giving the piece a sinister feel to it with the colours used in the background. Out of the four displayed I think the one in top right works the best because the text is clear and easy to read, the buildings in the background have blended well making a dark, mysterious backdrop in contrast to the foreground silhouette of buildings. The etching of the Triffid is not too over powering on the cover but fits in well with the background. 

I got the idea for this from looking at Katsushika Hokusai's work which gave me the inital idea to do a etching on perspex of corn, but when i left it to dry on its side it reminded me of a Triffid so i incorpreted it into a book cover design for the book "Day of the Triffids."  

Audi R8

As this is an advertising poster it has to be aspirational and to do this I found a dramatic image for the background that I could put the image I'd take of the car onto. By then making a mono print of the image created I layered it on top to add texture but keeping the drama it creates. To follow the texture given by the mono print I spray painted the text and blended it in so it all linked together but using different techniques. Also, I rendered the car in shades of red to make it stand out, so even though there it all this texture, text and dramatic backdrop the main focus is still the car and it is the first thing your eye is drawn to, hopefully making the car something desirable.

CD Cover

My influence for this piece of work was Daivd Fullarton as he inspired me to collect things to do with memories. So I decided to focus on somewhere I've been and collect images I have and from magazines as well as from whatever else I could find. By collaging the pieces together to get a layered image I found some text to link with what I was trying to get across so it was more clearer to people what the piece was all about. I think my message has come across well in this piece because the text combined with the dreamy expression on the mono print and the collage of images all from one place gives a feeling of reflection.

Ralph Steadman

Ralph Steadman uses pens, brushes, inks, acrylics, oils, etching, silkscreen and collage, and has also produced sculptures in iron and steel. He has an often brutal, savage style. I like his work because I find the scrastchy style the images are drawn in make the images interesting to look at compared to if they were perfectly smooth lines. Also, the limited use of colour in most of his images giving the image real impact on the page and giving his work a very distinctive style.

Life size mono print

This piece is inspired by the work of Laura Oldfield Ford and David Fullarton. The elements I took from their work to use in mine were to use mainly back and white and to add colour in a few places to make an impact on the piece. Such as in this piece I worked using black ink and used different coloured paper to attract your eye to certain areas. Another element was to collect different things in this case I chose to collect different types of paper which when printed on the ink gave a slightly different effect making each piece of the mono print different from the last. 

Recycling Posters

These are posters I designed to promote recycling by showing how much energy people could save by recycling so much of of one thing for example the one of the left shows that one glass bottle can power a computer for 25 minutes. My inspiration for these was the work of Lester Beall. I've shown elements of his work by using the arrows from the recycling logo repeated across the background of the pieces as well as having simple, clear, easy to read text and by having a simple image that illustrates what I'm trying to get across in the posters.

David Fullarton

David Fullarton uses the notebooks he has filled with odd words, catch phrases, numbered parking lot receipts, warnings, and instructions in foreign languages.  Collaging text, numbers, and images onto brightly colored grounds, Fullarton delights in lifting phrases and images from their contexts and placing them in new surroundings that amend and redirect their meaning.

I find his work interesting as he takes a new and funny way to look at things in life such as how much time people spend on facebook, youtube etc and jobs for students. I also like the way he collages everything using bright colours to get your attention and then following it up with an interesting font and a humorous illustrative image to go with it. 

Laura Oldfield Ford

She is best known for her politically active and poetic engagement with London as a site of social antagonism. Currently She is working on producing more then one hundred ink drawings chronicling the impact of regeneration on London. She does this by going on walks around abandoned areas and imagines them populated by the semiotic ghosts of failed utopias in the year 2013.

I like the way she uses colour in her work to help highlight certain areas in the picture. Also, the colour comes arcoss to be like garffette in some pictures where she has highlighted walls and even wrote words using the colour. As well as this the way she uses text in her images is interesting because they are mainly dates, times or just a couple of words, but this is just enough to have such a positive impact on the work making it even more interesting, making you think what does this mean, what makes these dates so important. Another thing I like about her work is that you feel as though you are inside the image as though you were actually there.

Her work is produced from zine. She also uses pen and acrylic to produce the work.

 

 

Julian Legrand

"I've always been drawn to black and white. I like its timelessness and its distilled essence" - Julian Legrand
This quote sums up what I like best about his work because of how simple and affective taking a black and white image is and how having it this way ages the photo making it instantly more interesting to look at then if it was in colour.
Another thing about his work I find interesting is the way he goes around and just observes peoples behavior taking pictures of their unscripted natural way of life not knowing what his going to get hoping to come across something interesting.

Below is a link to images on his website that he has taken by walking around the streets of Paris
http://www.julienlegrand.com/street-photography-black-and-white/

Lester Beall

I like his work because of the simple use of colour and the way he uses something simple such as an arrow and lines to help get the message across, as well as this I like the clear use of typography, as it is clear, simple and very effective on the page. Also, I like the way he makes the most important things bigger and stand out on the page so its easy to see what the message is in the piece. Such as in "light" the light bulb is bigger then anything else on the page because it is more important then the house or the text. This shows clearly that the piece is about saving energy.

Willaim Kentridge

I find his work visually interesting to look at because even though every image is nearly in black and white, when he adds another element to the image such as text, texture or another colour it impacts the image to make it a lot more interesting. His work manly tries to communicate political views with a poetic element, such as in his image entitled "Her absence filled the world" he tries to bring across the message of segregation. I think his work is mainly for older generations because of some of the serious messages he tries to communicate through his work such as colonialism and segregation.