Class exercise C: Iconic and Indexical

Gist of the lecture: pictogram and semantics. 

We were asked to form groups of two or three, choose an object and represent it in it's iconic and indexical form. The iconic form bearing direct indication to the signified object in this case an iPod and the indexical form bearing some indication to the iPod.

Here, my groupmate and I have come up with a sketch of the iPod which is an icon and the musical note which is an indexical signifier as the iPod is an mp3 player which plays music and music consist of musical notes in part. On top of that in our cultural context, the musical note is indicative of music as a whole, thus we used it as an indexical signifier.

Class Exercise B : Constructive Criticism

In this week's lecture, we were asked to perform constructive criticism on any design or a piece of artwork. Constructive criticism is aimed at evaluating a piece or artwork or design, in this case I have selecting a piece or artwork, basically giving my two cents worth of opinion and advice, targeted at aiding the artist to improve his/her artwork.

Below is what I have retrieved from the web.

http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kwscy8uOJa1qzudtco1_500.jpg

Basically what you can see in the picture is three elephants, supposedly from another photo, being superimposed onto another photo of a still seawater.  

The color tone used in this image is rather dull, comprising of largely blue to gray tones, yet soothing to the eyes. This color selection might be a good way to portray the tranquility and consistency of the image as implied by the use of calm waters and elephants, which are known to be gentle giants. 

The elephants are somewhat positioned around the center of the image, thus granting importance and focus on them. On top of that, the elephants are of different sizes and placed strategically to give depth to the entire picture, so that it does not turn out to be too two dimensional of poorly composited.

The greatest issue I have with this picture is the poor use of CG tools like photoshop or illustrator as could be seen around the area where the elephants' legs are submerged in the water. The artist could probably add more ripples and blending around the legs of the elephants so that it does not look like it was just cropped and pasted on the water. Moreover, the water seemed too deep for the elephants to literally walk as if they we walking on the sea bed. This could either be solved by using an image of the seawater near the shore with the elephants just entering the water or for a more abstract connotation, the elephants can be portrayed as if they were walking on the surface of the water itself.

Overall it was a nice idea but I think it requires more work, depth and profound usage of CG tools in creating the image.

Class Exercise A: Creativity Amplifier

First in-class assignment..

We were tasked to create a device/machine that could amplify creativity by 100 times. Wow.

First thing that came to me mind was... Omg. First assignment of the semester! My mind went blank for a moment. Then the most obvious of ideas came to mind. Why not simply use an amplifier to amplify and some device to receive and transmit the ideas?

At times, good designs do not necessary mean coming up with a whole deal of complicated out-of-the-world ideas that upon laying eyes by the layman draws a big question mark.

The idea that i came up with may not be brand new or very much creative, but the picture explains itself and is easily perceived by its observer.

-Creativity does not necessarily equate to innovation; turn old ideas into new ones.

Design vs Art

Day 1 of school, first lecture of the semester..

Well, 0ne key concept that intrigued me is the difference between design and art covered in today's lecture.

While it was commonly known that design = art and vice versa, in actual fact a design involves more than mere artistic talent itself. It has more restrictions, a specific target audience and a message to be conveyed. Designers are tasked with problems by their clients, and challenged to use their artistic abilities to creatively solve the problem and mould the end-product suited to the liking of one's client.

On the other hand, a piece of art commonly involves a problem in which an artist comes up with and aim to solve or express the problem using one's creativity, almost without any limits in presentation and end product.

-Anyone can be an artist, but it takes more than art to be a true designer.

Adobe Illustrator

First lesson..

Well it was my first time using adobe illustrator, under proper guidance. It was a fun process of discovering how to trace outline for real objects and turning them into vectors. We were taught how to add gradient onto vectors, and being ambitious i tried to add patterns and shadow.

And viola! With a touch of photoshop, here is what i came up with...

-Walking on the flip-side of life.