JAMES JEAN

While on the subject of illustrators (see previous post), I’ve come across a lot of different illustrative styles while perusing my favourite concert poster websites. That being said, I was recently blown away by an illustrator who has nothing to do with concert posters. I was checking out one of my favourite culture websites - Lost at E Minor - and came across New York artist James Jean. His work is imaginative and surreal while still maintaining some root in reality. If only my moleskin notepad had similar contents to Mr. Jeans’, amazing stuff - check it out!

Worksheet Four

As a communication designer the more ways you have of communicating the more people you can communicate with. The more people you can communicate with, the more jobs you are likely to get. Design is all about communication.

It is important to understand what is going on around you as a designer, and to tap into media trends, local news, and world news because theses are all forms of communication that are happening. They are informing, and have been informed by relevant factors in the world. Losing touch with these factors will inevitably cause one to lose touch with people, and the jobs those people provide.

One of my favourite illustrators, Tyler Stout, was asked a question about staying current with trends in a recent interview and here is an excerpt from that interview:

Do you think it's important for an illustrator to have a good sense of current events and the world at large? I ask because so much nonverbal communication is embedded in an image, more and more it seems illustrators are expected to express a great deal in their work.

That’s an interesting question. I guess it helps to keep in touch with current events, you can certainly communicate better with the client, deliver what they're looking for. Other than that, I don't know what's important for an illustrator. It’s important they know how to draw, and know what their peers are up to, if they want to be out there competing for jobs. If I was relying on a style like graffiti paint drips, and didn't look around and realize everyone else was doing that, soon I would be lost in the midst of all these other people, so its important to at least realize what is kinda going on in the world of commercial illustration, or snowboard illustration, or clothing illustration. As for seeing Iron Man or voting in the current election, I don't associate those things with something I have to do because of what I do. But, if on my next job the client says "I want this sticker graphic to be the Iron Man of the sticker world", well then I should go out and see Iron Man I guess. But I've already seen it. And I still wouldn't know what he meant.

Ware Has My Life Gone?

Since it wasn’t so long ago that we were all called upon to create some sort of animation for our pictographs in information design, and since we are all probably very stressed out heading into our final week of semester four, I thought I would pass along this very light-hearted bit of animation from accomplished comic illustrator Chris Ware. I couldn’t help but smile throughout the story as the narrators pleasant and sharing tone welcomed me in. 

Photosynth Captures Attention

After watching a fascinating presentation from Microsoft Live Labs architect Blaise Agüera y Arcas on the capabilities of the C Dragon technology and Photosynth software, it was hard not to be impressed. I was especially in awe of the zooming features that Photosynth displayed, and had literally not seen anything like that before. Amidst all the incredible applications I am sure will develop for this software, the one that came to mind first for me was facial recognition. I imagined a situation where criminals, when brought in for a mugshot, are not merely subject to one straight on photo, and a couple of profiles, but are put into a scenario where a camera(s) takes hundreds of digital photos from hundreds of different angles. The software would then develop a three-dimensional model of the face based on similarities, and a witness could then be able to use Photosynth software to rotate and examine faces from a vast number of different angles, and appropriately from the angle that they may have seen a criminal. I am sure I will be hearing more about this software over the next few years and look forward to discovering how the online community realizes this technology’s potential. 

Humph! Humber

Is anyone else a little disappointed in the way that Humber College has handled our class this year, or perhaps less specifically, the summer session? To start with, our course load is condensed from fifteen weeks to twelve weeks, but we knew that going in and despite all the headaches and late nights/early mornings we accept it, and can brag and boast with a kind of pride about the sacrifices we make to get it all done. Fine. The cafeteria located in our section of campus is closed which means we must rely on the coffee cart in the basement of our building, wait no, that was closed too, which means we must rely on the snack dispensers in the basement of our building, wait no, they were taken away, which means we have to go William’s. Fine. The office of our faculty is closed. There is no one to accept assignments, we can’t make photocopies, we can’t use the long stapler (I needed that yesterday), and there is no one to contact when a teacher calls in to the office to cancel class, so an entire class of students shows up to no teacher, and come the following week there is still no explanation until our teacher tells us he was sick. Fine. The printers in the majority of classrooms are disabled, but we’re still paying for them. Fine. We have classes that are divided in half between two teachers and it is obvious that these two teachers have corresponded very little to not at all so that expectations built up over the first half of a course are dashed in the second half, and marking schemes, and expected assignments are thrown out the window. Kind of annoying. But fine. Just fine. 

Classical Coaster

Last week’s class that featured a talk from composer Benjamin Zander was pretty inspiring. I can’t say I’ve been a huge fan of classical music at any point in my life, but I’ve been meaning to start a thorough investigation. My grandmother has a bunch of old classical records up at our cottage that I want to get into, but it means setting up my old turntable, and I’ve been putting that off until I move into my new place (already a year and half overdue...sigh). Our classmate Lisa claims she is a classical flautist, but refuses to provide any proof, maybe this calling out will prompt some action on her behalf. Haha! Having been sidetracked, I return to the point of this post which is to provide the link to this lovely commercial for the Zürich Chamber Orchestra - enjoy the ride!

This Is Ground Control

Most of my communication is of the reactionary sort. I like to gather information on a subject before I respond to it. Like most, I can communicate in many ways. I am typety-type-typing as we speak (so to speak), and that’s certainly one way I can communicate. I can type an email, I can type up a letter to be mailed or handed out as a memo, I can type messages into a phone, or on MSN messenger. Typing is one way I can communicate. 

I can also write or print those same messages.

I can communicate directly with someone through facial expressions and speech . Hello. Can you here me? I do this by understanding a language, and through the sounds and expressions I can make and understand. I can be disinterested with a grunt, angered or pained with a yell, satisfied with a purr, and happy with a smile. 

I can also communicate by recording myself onto video. I can film myself doing any manner of thing on video, and communicate to a viewer through playback. I can put this video onto videotape, I can put it on DVD, CD, Blue Ray, I can send it through my phone, etc. etc. 

I can also record my voice and have that played back to communicate with an audience. This can be listened to on tape, vinyl, CD, DVD, and forth, and forth, and forth. 

Wow! I have so many ways to communicate and I haven’t even listed holograms, crystal balls, mind control, or the subversive ways that humans beings communicate and don’t even realize. 

PC You Make Me Laugh

It’s amazing how entertained I am by the “Sad Song” commercial for Mac computers. I’ve now seen the ad around five times, and still can’t help but chuckle to myself at the PC character and his blues delivery. Really though, I’ve quite enjoyed every ad in the Mac/PC series of advertisements, they make me smile. Yes, Mac has got me right where they want me. 

In some way, Mac has told me, I am superior. If it is only because of the operating system I use on my computer, so be it, superior I am. It’s interesting that Mac was able to tap into such an interesting part of human nature - the need to be a superior, better than something else - and use it to drive their campaign. While, the ads talk about the benefits of one operating system over another, the personification of the operating systems in the Mac and PC characters is what really delivers the message that I, the Mac user, am the superior person. I am younger, happier, more attractive, more relaxed, more stylish, quicker, smarter, etc. etc. Yes, I want to be all those things. 

Could I see myself purchasing a PC?

Oh! the embarrassment. 

Finnish Furniture

I’m moving into a new residence sometime in the coming months and because of that I’ve become increasingly interested in furniture. I can’t seem to pass a furniture store without having a prolonged window shop, and must ogle at all the fascinating shapes, colours, and textures on display. 

Of course, some advertising guru picked up on my current weakness for furniture and I received a flyer in the mail notifying me of the grand opening of The King East, a new condo development going up in Toronto’s furniture district with a marketing scheme notably directed at designers (slogan: “Where Design Lives”). I had visions of grandeur. 

After perusing the King East website and looking at some of the designers featured in the 30@330 section, I came across a name I hadn't heard before but certainly enjoyed - Eero Aarnio. 

Aarnio is a Finnish born designer whose breakthrough design came in 1963 with the introduction of the Ball Chair. Aarnio was a pioneer in the use of plastic for furniture design, and his use of fiberglass is especially significant in that it enabled furniture design to encompass every shape possible, making furniture design a freer form of sculpture. You'll recognize many of Aarnio’s designs as standards of 60’s and 70’s pop culture.

2010 Freestyle Moguls Olympic Gold Medalist

Media moguls have lots and lots of monies. They have so much monies that they actually have some say in what kind of mass messages are reaching the general population of viewers and listeners; but, while they undeniably shape the way we think, they can’t take away our ability to think for ourselves. 

We should be able to receive a message, interpret it, and decide whether that information is relevant to us, or even truthful. We should be asking, Why I am being told this? and What does this message say about the world I live and my place in it? From there we can ask personal questions such as: Is this the world I want to live in? and decide if we want to change the way things are, or keep on in similar fashion, but the choice must certainly be ours. 

It is a passive mind that will not succeed in our field of design. Design is about challenging, and moving forwards, and onwards. That cannot be done without critical thought. We are all filters for the final message. 

Top ten lists are so hard, especially when you’re asked to list your ten favourite things (in the grand scheme of the world)! (see previous post)

10. Collecting 

9.   Art

8.   Running

7.   Swimming

6.   The past

5.   The future

4.   Other people

3.   Food

2.   Water

1.   Air

Top five lists are so hard, especially when you’re asked to list your five favourite items! (I'm hearing a gameshow introduction Price is Right styles)

5. I have a bamboo plant which I try to nurture that has been around for a long time. 

4. Guitar

3. Art, magazines, random visuals

2. Cottage w/contents

1.  Old collections (photos, sportscards, etc.)

note: if you checked out the Price is Right link is it not so weird to not see Bob Barker?

It's almost wrong.

Ms. Zych

I’ve been called upon to describe my friend Lisa by examining her visual, tactile, auditory, olfactory, and gustatory representations. I’ll also be looking at what represents her in terms of natural, artifactual, and mechanical media. 

Visual: Lisa is a slightly figure who looks as though she plays flute (and she does). You might catch her reading a book, or busying her hands with a bit of knitting (although I’ve never seen her knit). 

Tactile: Soft wool

Auditory: Lisa is sometimes loud, and sometimes quiet. She listens well, and absorbs sounds from all about her. There is sometimes restraint in her voice, and sometimes it is mixed with quiet confidence. If she were a bird she would sing at dawn.

Olfactory: A story you were told and liked.

Gustatory: I have known Lisa to survive on two celery sticks a day. She has a stomach the size of large radish, and has been mistaken for a jackrabbit. 

Natural: Lisa communicates mostly with her eyes, but if you don’t look twice you might miss her. Not a hand talker.

Artifactual: A comic book you like. A test from grade two with an A+ on it. A foreign stamp with nice colours. 

Mechanical: Lisa is a Grandfather clock that runs counter-clockwise when everything lines up.

Note: I do know what olfactory means.

 

Cigarette Anyone?

There’s been a lot of talk lately about the efforts being made to hide cigarette packaging at point of purchase. As the cigarette package begins to drift out of view, its’ influence is being seen in far reaching places. Notice the similarities in naming conventions. A very interesting sales tool.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude

My introduction to the work of Christo and Jeanne-Claude came during the first of my many visits to Telegramme prints. On the East wall of Telegramme’s small but well adorned store, hung a print of a conceptual drawing for The Gates, a project Christo and Jeanne-Claude started  in 1979 and fully realized in 2005. I was immediately struck by the scale of what the drawing proposed to me, then the colours captured me, and I envisioned myself amidst the array of orange shown sailing through the barren trees of New York city in february. The print, although lovely, was well beyond my means. 

Christo and Jeanne-Claude are two remarkable artists. Remarkable on one hand, because of the sheer scale of their works, not only in physical size, but in terms of coordinative effort. Remarkable on the other hand, because of the beauty of their work, its relationship with its environment, and the fact that any fundraising for these projects (and these projects do need funds) is done by the artists themselves, without sponser, by selling conceptual drawings and other art done by Christo. 

Christo and Jeanne-Claude expressly ask that no images from their website be reproduced without permission, but they have lots of interesting stuff to view at their site. Check out the Common Errors section to get a feel for their fascinating convictions, and visit their Works in Progress section to see what they’re currently up to. 

Weekly Media Consumption

For my Contemporary Design Theory class, I’ve been asked to document a week’s worth of media consumption...mmm...media. 

Here goes:

Reading: I love to read for pleasure...mmm...pleasure (I’ll stop), but when school is on, there just isn’t a whole lot of time to indulge in a good book. I've been reading Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead for months now, and I’m not making a whole lot of progress, but I am into it. My week of reading breaks down into approximately 2-3hrs of pleasure reading, and 2-3hrs of reading for school.

Radio: Funnily enough, when I listen to the radio it isn’t to tune into music, in fact, I find much of what’s on conventional radio to be, well, conventional. When I do tune into a radio station, it’s usually CBC radio and I listen to catch up on the latest bits of relevant news. That being said, I have a friend who subscribes to Sirius satellite radio, and there is a program called Left of Centre which plays a great mix of new music. I am very tempted to sign up for it, very tempted indeed. My week of radio consumption amounts to about 2 hours in total. 

Music: So, while I don’t listen to a lot of music on the radio, I do listen to a lot of music. I’ve got a few wheelbarrow loads worth of Cd’s, and I keep buying them like they’re going out of style hmm...I guess they are. I listen to about 25 hours of music during a typical week. 

T.V. / DVD’S: I watch way too much television. If I’m home, and a baseball game is on, it’s pretty much a sure thing I’ll be watching it. I figure the typical game lasts about three hours. Since it’s currently baseball season and teams play almost every day, I’m pretty much watching a baseball game every day. Now, as sad as that sounds, I’m far from glued to the television for the entire three hours, usually I take the opportunity to have a nap, or cruise the internet, or flip through a magazine, or do some homework, or, or, or. There’s something reassuring about just having the T.V. on.  I probably have the television on for a misleading 30 hours a week. 

Email: I check that email thing rather often. It has become a habit. A greedy, needy habit. The ratio of emails I actually get to the number of times I check my email is way off - way, way off. I wish I were more popular. I have started sending out random emails to random email addresses, just to see if I get responses. No I haven’t, but send me an email, it'll make me feel better. I probably receive about 25-35 relevant emails a week, and send out about the same. 

Web: Email and web surfing go hand in hand in terms of sheer obsessiveness. I have my sites, and come hell or high water I am going to visit those sites. I will. I will. I will. I probably spend 15-20 hours a week on the internet - maybe more. 

Video Games: Me and my friend Muhammadali play video games constantly. He kicks my ass at just about everything we play, but he’s a good sport and never rubs it in. That’s why he’s so Mo. Actual time playing video games is near zero hours a week. 

Cell Phone: I will spend 2-3 hours talking on my cell phone per week, and I'll send and receive about 40-50 text messages per week. 

Merci!

Vent, Applaud, Vent

First I’m going to vent, then I’m going to applaud, then I’m going to vent again. 

Vent one: What is with the parity between Canadian and American prices on books and magazines? For those not in the currency exchange loop, the Canadian dollar has been doing quite well in comparison to the U.S dollar for quite some time now, and the two dollars are currently about par. So, why no change in the discrepancy of price? Some governing body needs to address this. As an example, STEP magazine sells its bi-monthly magazine to Americans at $7.95 a pop while us Canadians, deemed richer or simply naive, must dole out $11.50 per issue. What?

Applaud: CMYK magazine on the other hand sells its quarterly magazine to Americans for $8.99, and to Canadians for $8.99. Hurrah! Hurrah! Bravo! Bravo! but...

Vent two: ...if perhaps you’d like to make a commitment to the magazine, show your love and sign up for a year’s subscription, well then all bets are off. Americans get their yearly subscription for $25 per annum, while us Canadians, deemed better endowed or an easy sell, must cough up $38, and only U.S funds will be accepted thank you. What? 

Blonde Redhead / Mike Mills

I've been a big fan of the rock band Blonde Redhead since their 2004 album “Misery is a Butterfly”, and my devotion was only strengthened after the release of their follow up, and most current album “23”. The albums are constantly working their way onto my Cd player, and the band’s unique vocals and overall sound put me into a headspace I can’t normally find. Both albums also have a great design, which, of course, doesn’t hurt my appreciation any. 

Up until last week I hadn’t seen any of the video’s off of “23”, but I happened upon them when I was doing some visual research at Blonde Redhead’s label’s website (www.4AD.com). I was delighted to see that all of the video’s were done by Mike Mills, who has seen a lot of publicity over the last few years for being an extremely talented jack of all trades. From what I have gathered, Mills started out, or at least made a name for himself, doing graphic design work for musical acts such as Sonic Youth, The Beastie Boys, and Air. He found his way into making music videos and hasn’t looked back, graduating to direct his first feature film with 2005’s Thumbsucker, a somewhat recent favourite of mine. 

The interesting thing about the videos Mills does for Blonde Redhead, is how different they are from most music videos out there. You know the ones that feature endless edits of the band looking their “coolest”, or visually distracted videos that merely keep ones eyes active until the song is done. Of the videos for Blonde Redhead Mills says “What if I only had one element? How could I reduce that element to it’s composite parts? Could I reduce that again? If I kept reducing, would I get to the hugeness of the music?” 

After watching all of the available videos, I was impressed by Mills ability to let the songs breathe within the context of video. He manages to seduce the viewer into his visuals, while never overstepping his boundaries, all the while contributing to the power of the music. 

To check up on Mike Mills, and check out his videos for Blonde Redhead, head over to his website (www.mikemillsweb.com), and take a little tour. You'll find five videos from Blonde Redhead’s album “23”, each offering its own rewards; and, if you liked the movie Titanic, or even if you didn’t but feel in a giving mood, you should give the video for the title track “23” a play - very nice editing!  

Note: After investigating a little further, Art Direction for the album “23” was done by David Heasty, who a nice website featuring his impressive work at www.heasty.com (although I don't think Blonde Redhead is featured).

OCAD Student Showcase

What a full day it has been. Actually had breakfast, which was a pleasant change. Not much compares to syrup and bacon. Did a proper grocery shop Thursday night for the first time in possibly months, so now my fridge is stocked and I can begin to eat well, or... (looking in the fridge)... wait, I thought I bought more than that. 

Went to the opening of OCAD’s student showcase after breakfast. I wasn’t overly affected by much of what was on display, some of the paintings and illustrations were nice, but when I reached the 6th floor I did find myself impressed by the quality of the fourth-year graphic design work. There was a nice blend of creative and technical ability. I must admit to being a bit daunted by much of what I saw, but I took it as inspiration, and remembered that these students have five semesters of instruction on me. Note to self - get to work!

After OCAD, it was back home for a much needed nap. Sleep is zen. I awoke to the promise of a Blue Jay’s win, but realized this was not likely, and so went to the movies with friends. While waiting for Harold and Kumar to begin, I was, of course, subject to all of the advertising that pours forth before all the advertising for other movies starts.  I was happy to see a very strange, but terrific commercial for Coke Zero featuring two tongues and an eye. Do investigate. Harold and Kumar was funny. There were some close to awkward moments of political incorrectness, but the movie never dwelled on those moments, and moved about with an over-edited and over-dubbed good faith. 

I arrived home after the movie, ate some BBQ chips, reheated some pasta, ate a few pistachios nuts, finished with some yogurt, and wrote this post. OK, so maybe there is a lot of food.