Graphically Undesigned

Intro to Graphic Design.
Beginning Drawing.
Photography.

Lines.
Colors.
Backgrounds.
Shapes.
Texture.

Aaaaaa!



Drawing: This is not an ear. This is a sweeping line. It is darker at this end, lighter at that end and it intersects with this shadow right here.

Photography: This is an ear. Get rid of everything else. It's clutter. Background schmackground.

Design: This is an ear. It's made up of lines and shapes and colors. It has a texture and mass. There are color values in it. All these color values mean things. It's a pinkish tan.. which means.. we haven't learned what this means yet. This ear is attached to a head which we can't see. We can see the hair, however. The hair is blonde and whispy. This implies the individual attached to the ear is carefree and light-hearted. Behind this hair that's attached to this person whose ear we're looking at is an ocean scene. This ocean scene is made up of a sandy texture on the bottom. This sandy texture is earthy tan. Earthy tan implies stability, naturalness, something organic, something wholesome. The sand is a darker value, which contrasts with the lighter foreground. This gives the background a slightly darker visual mass. The foreground is a lighter visual mass. What's the overall visual mass? The ocean is a light value of azure and above it is a light blue sky. The sky has a pattern of white puffy clouds. This gives the impression of trustworthiness, dependability, classic(ness?), loyalty, freedom, cleanliness, refinement, purity, an air of refreshment and truth. This whole picture of the ear, the hair, the ocean, the clouds, the sand and the little bottle of beer that's sticking out of the cooler is all printed on heavy weight paper. Thus, the advertisement has a heavy physical mass, but a relatively light visual mass.

See? Aaaaaa!


So yeah. I had my first introduction to Graphic Design yesterday. My head is still spinning, even though I've had two classes since then. Next week? Lines: an in-depth look. Thank God I only have this class once a week.





Power to the woman holding the pen!!

She da man.


(And notice she's cast in a red light, wearing red, her chair is red, her office is red. This ad is just screaming with red - power! vitality! energy! excitement! passion! confidence! Doesn't she make you want to take action and buy a Uni-Ball pen?

Yeah, me neither.)










This one makes you think though, doesn't it?









So first order of Graphic Design business: put together a folder of advertisements - brochures, fliers, magazine advertisements, newspaper ads, business cards, logos, letterheads, labels and packaging, book jackets, anything that advertises something.

We're going to spend a lot of our out-of-class assignments organizing these ads into categories according to their features.

These categories will be things such as: Lines, Shapes, Mass, Textures, and Colors

Here are just a few I'm going to use (of the ones I found online, most are hard print).

Awww, a soap box.








Shapes and g-r-e-e-n.......















B&W and scienc-y.......






















Tell me you're not cracking up at this one?
Well? Aren't you?
















I hate golf, but I like the colors and the lines in this.









This one simply because it had some easy shapes in it and I was having a hard time finding shapes. Maybe I'll find more and get rid of this one because I don't really like it. Although including not-so-good advertising is also part of the project.










And one of my favorites - doesn't it just scream to you the audience it's aimed at?

B&W Friday

I have a few spare minutes so I thought I would put some B&W's up. Some of these I took on Friday, some of them I took a few months ago.

Here's a fern I shot for a depth of field portfolio I was putting together a while ago.

And a doorstop for my still life portfolio.

Measuring cups/spoons for a reflection thing I'm working on.

Another still life.

And another.

A B&W of a little place that's right across from City Hall.

A B&W of part of City Hall.

A puddle reflection.

Part of the Center for the Performing Arts.


And the coolest place ever - Alum Rock Park.

First day of class

Beginning drawing, beginning photography and pilates. Well, pilates is still to come and after today I'm going to need it. I had to take a PE and I figured I might as well sign up for something that's going to help me calm down after panic sets in during every class (or at least every drawing class). Photography was really simple even though we covered a lot today. It was sort of like a nice, reassuring review. Beginning drawing on the other hand?

I'm going to fail this class. She promised me I wouldn't fail this class if I just tried everything. It was okay now that I think back on it. It was terrifying at the time. At the beginning, she made sure we all understood that a lot of us were NOT art majors and that she knew this. She knew we would never be artists and never wanted to be artists, but we have to take the class anyway. Mostly what she wants us to take away from the class at the end of the semester is how to look at things differently. How to go from using our "logical" mode that says, "This is an ear. Draw an ear. OMG my drawing doesn't look like an ear." to our artistic mode that tells us, "This is a line and this is a shape and it intersects with this shadow."

So after all that reassurance, I still think I'm going to fail, although my drawing of the piece of paper I crumpled up got considerably better after she stopped by to help me and give me some hints. I can't draw stick figures and this class really has me worried.







After I get some pictures of the stuff I did so you can laugh at it, I'll finish my blog for today. We drew a picture that was upside down so it was hard to tell what it was. That was supposed to keep our "logical" mode from kicking in and telling us what it was supposed to look like. Mine turned out okay but she looks like she's been in a car accident and has very short midget arms and one huge gargantuan thigh. Oh well. First attempt.










Next, we were instructed to crumple up a piece of paper and uncrumple it. Okay, now draw it. Pay attention to the lines and the shadows and shapes. Mine started out awful but the second half got better after she gave me some hints on how to use my pencil to shade better that "coloring in". :) *Oops* Well wtf do I know about art.








We got to trace next. Yay! Sort of yay. We traced the basic contour of a hand, then we were to shade it in by looking at the picture. Mine actually turned out okay. For me. It wasn't like some other peoples', but for me I was impressed. Drawing the contour of my own hand was a different story. She finally took pity on me and "helped" me by guiding my hand around my paper. She said I was starting to look like my eyes were going to fall out. She was right.

























The last thing we did was talk about negative space where we looked at a piece of paper with a chair drawn on it, then we drew the white parts and not the chair. That actually stopped my "logical" mode from telling me it was a chair. Instead, I sat there going, "That is the ugliest triangle I've ever seen in my life."



The one thing that really stuck in my head from my first class in drawing is.... Did you know your eye is the same width as your nose is long? I had to go home and try it and she was right. It really is. Huh!




Photography came next after lunch and it was much less exasperating. We talked about shutter, aperture and film speed. Wide angles and zooms. Oh, if you're looking for a free Photo Editor, he gave us a good one. It's called The Gimp (General Image Manipulation Program) and you can get it at: http://www.photonhead.com/photo-editing/thegimp.php

Anyway, back to it. We talked about the differences between good pictures and great pictures, what our eyes go to first when looking at a picture and why, how we can get rid of clutter that takes away from the picture, and why we should consider using people in our pictures (yuck). We talked about color, layout, creating depth, good dramatic lighting and bad dramatic lighting, shot preparation, and what times of day present what types of light and what each type of light is best for. Right before the end of class, we started talking about different subjects to shoot and how to take the best pictures of each of them.

Our first assignment is to find several pictures we like, and describe why it is we like them.

Keep checking back because I'm going to take some pictures of my really scary drawings so you can laugh at them with me. And trust me, I'm laughing.

*mwah*
<3

Do-Over

Okay, now to re-do the blog that got eaten. Keep in mind the first time I did it was spectacular, so if this is lacking, blame WordPad. I did more exploring. Finally got my VTA pass. Still didn't make it very far away from SJSU but found some really neat places. I'm sure most of them have been shot so many times they have started to schmooze for the camera, but really what's wrong with schmoozy buildings?

I guess I'll find out later today when I have my first photography class. :)







This is all out of order, but first comes the light rail. This is part of the public transportation that will be seeing my shoes on board a lot while I'm here. I don't have a car, never have had a car, and frankly was terrified of driving in and around LA. Plus I can't afford a car, so I've gotten pretty good at being plonked somewhere and having to find my own way around.

If you plan to hop on or off the light rail at the 1st St stop, this is where you'll be. Stop and grab a bite to eat at Johnny Rockets? *yuck*








Out of order, totally different day and time of day, but here's a cool pic I took of the light rail when I was out near and after dark to take pictures of the 4th St Parking Garage and the MLK Library.





I can't remember where I saw this guy, but he was part of a mural - I don't know if it was a legit mural or just graffitti but he was cute nonetheless. Sorry, I know he's sort of a *C* but he's too cute to be a bad one. He's more like a wandering minstrel who got robbed and had to borrow some clothes from a dumpster where a circus had been, don't you think? It's worth a thought.











Here are a couple other random buildings in downtown. The Knight Ridder building, the Fairmont Hotel and its clock, and a little side street beside the clock.










They're a little out of order. This blog thing is a pain in the ass sometimes. It won't let me move it where I want it.


























This is the artwork that was on one of the doors of the Fairmont Hotel. It's by Oak Grove H.S. and is part of the "San Jose Downtown Doors Project".


















Okay, next comes City Hall. This place is amazing and I probably took 30 pictures of it total, but that's the handy part about having a digital camera. :) I can get rid of the ones I don't want. And it's the handy thing of being my own blog editor because I can put up the pictures I want you to see. *evil take-over-the-world laugh*

Yeah, whatever. So here's City Hall. It's a beautiful set of buildings (or one building, it's hard to tell). The funky things out front are water misters like the ones they have at amusement parks to keep people cool. The buildings themselves have one long low wing, the dome thing in the center, then a big tall building behind it.














That's a lot of pictures of City Hall.























Okay, now the ones I promised from the other day. Here's the 4th St Parking garage the way it's lit up at night. I have no idea how they do this, but it looks really neat. I have one of it around dusk and it's prettier, but I can't find what I did with it.









This is MLK Library right after dusk. The first one is looking up at it, the other is the atrium.




















I'll leave you with two random pictures.





This really cool building is the Bridge Bank. The entire facade is glass and the reflections are so neat. I'm planning on going back there and taking another picture toward sunset to compare what they look like.






This is a place I passed while getting lost looking for my bus stop. It was an abandoned building that had a bunch of kids' bicycles hanging over the front of it. "Bicycle Accident Investigation" struck me as ironic because I pictured all these bicycles falling off on people as whatever is holding them up there rusts away. I'm assuming it was abandoned, I'm not really sure. But it had an interesting door and I like things with character. So here you go.

Oh, and in case you didn't know or hadn't realized yet, if you click the pictures in this blog, they do blow up to larger pictures. :)






When I did this blog originally, I yapped about making tempeh and all the rest of the stuff I did that day. This time you don't get that, but I will include the ending to the original blog that got eaten just in case you ever decide you want to try something new.


TLT's are yummy stuff. :) (Tempeh, lettuce & tomato)



Seasoned tempeh for sandwiches

1 package tempeh, sliced 1/4" thick
1 c warm vegetable broth
1 T soy sauce (if you like it salty, use more)
1 t liquid smoke
1/2 t onion powder
1/2 t garlic powder
1/4 t chipotle seasoning
1/4 t chili powder


Mix liquid ingredients and seasonings, pour into skillet.
Add tempeh.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 10 mins.
Halfway through, turn the tempeh.
Remove from heat.

Spray another skillet with cooking spray.
Place tempeh slices into skillet over medium heat.
Brown on both sides.
When they're almost done, add a few tablespoons of the sauce and let it evaporate to give it even more yummy flavor.


It's great on sandwiches, in eggs, on salads, be creative. And you think healthy food has to taste bland. Pffffttt... My TLT has dill spread on it, but you can use mayonnaise or if you want a version that's not half-solidified fat, try veganaise. Stop turning up your nose, I saw that.













Okay, class soon. Getting the scary one out of the way first with Beginning Drawing. I hope they don't expect much. :}



And watch out, I'm breaking out my B&W film on Friday.

Arrrggggghhhhh!

F*cking A! My internet was down last night when I wanted to put up my blog for the day, so I made it in Word Pad and was just going to paste it over when I got the chance. Well, so much for that. Word Pad ate all but the first paragraph. WTF!? Now I'm pissy and too short-tempered to redo it. I'll do it later, or tomorrow, or whenever I don't feel like kicking my computer. I know I saved it - multiple times. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

That's all.
Bye.

First SJSU Trek

Okay, so where do I even start? How about a nice picture of one of the many SJSU signs. I went exploring today before I got my books and found all sorts of neat things. I never actually got off campus except when I got the rest of my books, which I found cheaper at a place called Robert's Art Suppy and Bookstore. It's the off-campus (but not very far off-campus) competition to the SJSU Spartan Bookstore.







Then how about we go to a nice campus map?















This is one of the gates that leads to SJSU campus.


















And one of the main walkways. Campus is basically right downtown, but it's like it's own separate little world. I really didn't get off campus, like I said. I'm planning on doing some more exploring tomorrow when I have time.











Funky tree that's beside the Engineering Building (which I forgot to take a picture of).















Here's our Student Union building.








And the statue about Black Power that's behind it.













This is Tower Hall. Isn't it pretty? I took a bunch of pictures of it, but this one shows the whole building. The rest of the pictures I have are just parts of it and different angles.








Two pictures of Dwight Bentel Hall, the Journalism building.






















Martin Luther King, Jr. Library. What can you say besides "Wow"... This place is HUGE and amazingly pretty. I can't wait to take some picture of it at night when it's all lit up.

Oh, that reminds me. I need to take a picture of the 4th St. Parking Garage, too. It has some funky lights on the side that make it really unique. I didn't get the chance to take a picture of it when we were driving in.







This is one of the stairways inside MLK Jr. Library. Sure it's cliche, but it was literally begging for me to snap its picture.

:)










And now, I saved the best (and funkiest) for last. Okay, maybe it's not the best, but it's definitely the funkiest. This is the Arts Building where I'll be spending a lot of my time. Actually, it's the Arts Building sign.


Then we have the Art Quad. Which has to be, by far, the wildest place I visited all day. There's a sculpture/statue/something/thing there that has had no title as far as I could tell except for the stenciled letters directly painted on it that said, "Acce$$ Re$tricted". Here's a photo of the whole thing, then I'll break it down for you.











Here's the head....
















Which is holding a chain in its mouth. Dangling from the chain is this poor guy. He's holding onto the chain behind his back, his briefcase is attached to his tie. The chain is attached again to his ankles.














Dangling from the chain on his ankles, is this young lady, who is sitting comfortably on a swing, breastfeeding her child. I'm going to let you draw your own conclusions as to what this is all about. I have a few different ideas and it would be neat to actually discover if any of them agree with the original design.










Well, that's all for now. I still haven't gotten my VTA (Valley Transportation Authority) Pass yet since I never made it off campus. I think I'll do that tomorrow. There are a lot of places within walking distance, so I think I'm going to head out and stock up on some groceries.

I've got some research to do tonight as to where the best and cheapest little vegetarian places are. I passed several billion little cafes and coffee shops, so I know I won't be lacking for caffeine. And I've heard downtown San Jose has at least 592,298 Starbucks. The Starbucks card that I've had since Christmas is going to start smoking soon.

Oh yes, and Mo the invisible kitty has finally come out of hiding. I coaxed her out on a bribe. Who can resist curling up on a warm pair of Hello Kitty pajamas?



Hasta luego. 0:)



I'm off to find tempeh and vanilla soy milk!