Week 15: Film Analysis

Banksy

Shary Flenniken

Craft:  Since these two artists have two different styles, they have different techniques when it comes to creating their pieces of work.  Banksy is a graffiti artist so he uses spray when he displays the images on the walls. He makes cut-outs on cardboard then tapes them to the wall. He sprays the cut-out image and the rest of the spray goes on the cardboard.  This prevents excess spray from going on the artwork. He then takes off the cardboard paper to reveal his whole art piece.  He uses two different graffiti colors, white and black and their shades to color in the illustrations.  Flenniken uses a completely different technique when she composes comics.  Her system is more complicated since she has to draw a multitude of images for one strip. In this specific strip, she uses five panels and two tiers.. All the gutters are around the same size and she uses black and white ink for the illustrations. She also uses shades of white and black within her strip. Her strip is one spread long, and she enhances the strip by using a variety of speech bubbles.  These add a touch of dialogue between two characters and show the relationship between them. The side images elicit to the theme and are very subtle. 

Composition: When first looking ar Banksy's image, the first thing viewers can see is the maid.  It's the only image that has the darkest black in it and takes up the most space on the brick wall. The broom is what catches our eyes next since it's close to the main object and appears as if it's pointing to the maid.  The dustpan is what immediately follows since it goes in conjunction with the broom. Since the dustpan is pointing to the brick wall, our eyes go towards that direction.  The brick wall shows completely different colors than the rest of the image, but yet is not the main focus.  Showing the images in that order portray the idea that all those objects correlate with one another. Some are more important than others,though. For the comic strip, the first thing that attracts the viewers' eyes is the title, Trots and Bonnie.  The letters are huge in comparison to the rest of the comic strip detail. Viewers then go down the page and start from the top left of the strip and move from left to right.  This helps them understand the storyline of the comic because we read from left to right. It also helps that the first panel is bigger than the rest of the panels. It's a way of saying that that panel should be the first one to read then the other ones. Flenniken uses a strategy there and actually attracts the viewers' eyes to the first panel because of its absence of the black color.  In all the other panels, there's a heavy load of black displayed but in the first panel, there's barely any. This verifies the idea that readers should start on that panel first.

Concept: In both of these works of art, a separate message is displayed due to the unique sense of style that they elicit. In Banksy's work of art,  it looks like the maid is trying to hide something.   The image of the maid itself portrays a realistic maid, along with the other smaller objects.  The purpose of his message was to show the reality that while someone might not think that they're hiding anything, anyone can be watching them even when they don't realize it.  By having the art on a wall, our eyes act as the observer of the maid and what the maid is attempting to do.  We can see that she is trying to put the litter behind the curtain.   Flenniken's purpose is very clear due to the storyline that's represented through the comic. The thought captions help display this message since they contain a hint of satire.  The satire is based upon the difference between adults and what kids believe is true. It's an effective strip and portrays a sense of reality within the real life. What one thinks might not be what another person thinks.  They can have dissimilar views on a subject, and in this case, it's the revelations that the kid and adult appear to receive from each psychoanalyst. Both of these art pieces give a unique perspective on a certain topic. 

Week 14: Whole Beach Uno Deck

http://www.makeplayingcards.com/sell/marissakeleher 

Craft: Similar to other half of the deck, I used both Adobe Illustrator and Indesign for the remaining cards.  The other cards I had to make was the Skip, Reverse, and the four different Wild cards. The images of a beach ball, seashell, sailboat, kite, umbrella, and surfboard were found off Google.  Those images were then traced with the Pen tool in Adobe Illustrator.  Once I was done tracing, I placed the images into InDesign with their correct border.  The numbers were added using the Text tool in InDesign.  The Eyedropper tool was used when matching the color of the image with the border.  For the four Wild cards, I used the Eyedropper tool on the four different images.  

Composition: Since the Skip and Reverse cards are similar to the other images, viewers see the images first on the card.  They're located in the center and take up most of the space.  The border immediately follows since it's the next largest thing and is the same color as the image for the middle.  The letters are what viewers see last due to their size in comparison to the image. Since the word, Reverse, is a long word I had to crunch the letters and make the font smaller.  The word appears small from a distance so it's harder to identify that in relation to the other numbers.  The word, Skip, is only four letters, along with the word Wild so viewers would be able to identify those words first before the Reverse cards.  The Wild cards have a similar focus drawn as the Draw Four cards.  The images in the middle display the most attention since they do comprise of four different colors.  The black border brings out the white background and the letters. This combination portrays a strong contrast against the colorful images. 

Concept: All these cards in some way reinforce the beach theme due to the meaning behind the image and the word displayed on the card. The Skip card can relate to people that skip rocks in the ocean.  While most people don't necessarily skip shells, the same type of feeling is applied because most people associate skipping with a small object.  The Reverse card elicits a beach game if one was occurring at the beach.  Beach balls are meant to be hit back and forth so the Reverse card makes it appear as if the player was going to hit the ball back to the other player.  It helps establish a beach theme. The different images on the Wild cards correspond to the idea that people bring a variety of different objects to the beach. Someone can't physically bring a sailboat, but someone might use one at the beach. Nothing is the same about going to the beach and these cards elicit that idea. Even though these cards may be 2-D, the meaning behind them can relate to anbody. 

Week 13: Back of Card

Craft: For the back of the card, I used both InDesign and Adobe Illustrator.  In order to incorporate the blue border, I had to first make the border in Adobe Illustrator.  The anchor was also created in Adobe Illustrator.  After those two were created, I then had to place those objects into InDesign using the Place button.  When I placed them, I made sure that the lining was right and everything was centered.  The text was entered in InDesign using the Text tool.  The Pen tool was used to create the anchor since I had to trace an image of an anchor that I found on Google Images.  The Brush Stroke tool was used for the outline of the anchor.  I chose the two colors before I made any shapes.
Composition: Looking at this card, The first thing that pops out is the white anchor.  It takes up a majority of the page and is in the center of the page. The blue background contrasts the white anchor heavily.  Since white is a natural color, it stands out automatically. The text is what viewers see second since it's smaller and located on top of the page.  The text is not the main  focus, but instead the anchor is due to its size.  The background blends in with the image and text so it follows the two combinations. It creates a nice blend of mixture and doesn't appear too powerful.
Concept:  Due to the mixture of blue and yellow, the colors combined create a calm effect.  The blue is similar to the color of clear water.  It's not too dark or not too light. Also, the yellow reminds viewers of a sun.  A beach environment comprises of a sun and water so the yellow and blue elicit this feeling well.  The white anchor exaggerates this feeling because if it was any other color, the viewers wouldn't have the same effect. It bland color allows the theme to stand out even more.  From the distance, it looks as if the anchor was cut out from a piece of paper.  The card looks incomplete, but  is complete. The simple background acknowledges to readers that that design is the back of the card.  It allows viewers to not get distracted by the front design of the cards. It's easier for them to distinguish which is the front and which is the back. It's simple but effective.

Special Edition on Museum

                Masterpiece








                   While there were many great work of arts at the Art Institute, this is one of my favorite pieces due to its contrast in color between the red and blue shades.  The volcano's bright colors conflict with the dark blue sky, allowing the volcano to stand out from the picture.    Also, the piece appears realistically because of it's 3D appearance.  It appears as if someone is looking at the volcano from another location.    The 3D effect the piece has allows the viewers to see the volcano as whole and can clearly identify the volcano.  While the volcano appears dark, the bright smoke elicits the volcano and its presence within the artwork.  The bright colors surrounding the volcano exaggerate the people located near the bottom of the volcano.  If the people blended in with the light colors, then it would be hard to see that there are even people in the picture.  The white in the sky portray the contrast between the dark sky vs. the light colors.  Without the white, the sky would appear to be too dark.  There wouldn't be a sense of unity between the idea of light vs. dark.  The volcano, along with the orange smoke balances out with the dark sky and the smaller volcano.  There's an equality within the picture, yet it displays a focus on the volcano.

                  Compared to the masterpiece, the disaster piece doesn't show any contrast between colors and blends the colors together.  There's too much of the same brown color happening in the picture and the color overpowers the message of the piece.  Even though the structure is located in the center of the piece, it takes the focus away from the smaller surrounding stuff.  The building is too big, while the statue is too small. There's not that much of a difference between that and the smaller objects in relation to the color and signficance. I can't tell what the focus is supposed to be in the piece and what the main object is. The blending of the colors makes it really hard to distinguish between what the viewers are supposed to be focusing on. The statue appears to be part of the building because of its similarities between the colors.  The only thing that pops out is the lake because of its bluish color.  Even though the lake appears to be the only thing portraying a blue color, it appears as if it is one of the most significant pieces.  Nothing else seems to matter in the piece because the focus goes toward the lake.  The piece is not well balanced and shows too much similarity between the colors displayed.  This makes it appear ineffective towards the viewers.  It conveys mixed messages, which is the opposite of what the master piece portrays.  The masterpiece has a clear message.
















                                                                                                                   Disaster piece

Week 12: Half Deck of Beach Uno Cards

Craft: This week, we had to make half of our card deck building on ideas from the previous weeks.  Instead of using Adobe Illustrator, we used a new program, Adobe Indesign for our cards.  Indesign allows us to create masters and copies of each card so that we can easily make a layout for the cards.  Illustrator was used to make the images, while Indesign was used to create text and numbers.  Since the cards have to have consistency, I used multiple master pages in order for the images and numbers to be in approximately the same location within every other card. While on Indesign, I chose a font and applied that to the numbers and text.  The rulers allowed me to measure the numbers to make sure that they were similar within the top and bottom. The Export and Place button was used in order for me to place Illustrator images into Indesign.
Composition: When applying all the text and images into one template, viewers can easily identify the image first since it's located in the center of the page. The border is what follows after the image since it's located around the image and contains a little less space than the image does. The numbers are what viewers immediately see next since the numbers are located on top of the borders. However, when playing Uno, players will be able to see the numbers first then the border since they'll be most likely playing with their cards up.  They won't see the image until after they've placed their card done.
Concept: Even though it's only half a deck, the border alone allows the audience to recognize that the cards are part of an uno deck.  The border is similar to a real Uno deck except the borders are geometric and not organic.  Looking at the images, people might be able to recognize that these correlate to a beach theme.  None of the images are too broad where it's hard to identify what theme that this deck might represent.  The black border relating to the draw 4 cards elicits a different meaning for those cards in comparison to the rest.  If the cards were part of the color spectrum, then they would appear to be closely related to the other colors.  It would be hard to identify that those cards are different than the rest of the cards.

Week 11: Towel, Bucket, and Life Ring Variations

Craft:  Our assignment this week was the same as last week, but this time, we had to create 3 new images.  All of the images had three variations applied to them.  I used Adobe Illustrator, along with the pen tool to trace the images. The Fill button was applied to the images along with the Brush tool.  The brush tool allowed me to choose different outlines for each of the images.  While I'm not using the color or the stroke for my card deck, I will be focusing on the blue bucket with the ant outline.
Composition:  Since the bucket is viewed from the side, it gives the appearance that the handle is not the most important piece, but the body of the bucket is.  This allows the viewers to focus on the bucket design and not too much on the handle.  The white background exemplifies this idea. Without a blank background, it would be harder for viewers to focus on the ant outline and the use of the blue color.  The outline is what viewers would focus on first since the ants contain a majority of the bucket and are two different colors. The black and the red ants portray a contrast within the blue and as a result, makes the ants stand out among the rest.  They are able to stand out because of their color and the fact that half of the ants are black.  The color black is a dark and powerful color, contrasting against the blue.  The darker blue is what viewers see first since it's the main color of the bucket.  The lighter blue is seen second since the color is only located on the handle and the top layer.  This contrast in shades and the ant outline makes it easier on the viewers to distinguish between the handle and the bucket.  The color in correlation to the stroke allow the viewers to see that the bucket comprises of two different objects, but at the same time, is one whole design.
Concept:  Using the ant outline for the bucket, including the handle, creates a scary feeling towards the viewers.  Beaches contain ants so having ants located all around the bucket elicits fear.  No one ever wants to see ants crawling all over any of their items.  Seeing an image that contains what no one wants to experience changes their feeling about the image into a negative one.  Since the color contrasts with the dark ants, the ants are more noticeable, and because of this, they attract the viewers.  The ants are an exact replica of real ants which makes the image more terrifying.  One simple stroke can change the meaning of an object very quickly, as illustrated within the bucket design.

Week 10: Shovel, Sunglasses, and Flip Flops Variations

Craft: For the remainder of the semester, the focus is on designing a deck of cards, while adding a creative side to the design-making portion.  This week, we had to design 3 illustrations based off the theme of our cards and from there, have 3 variations of each illustration.  The variations included changing the color and stroke.  Since we have the option to trace a photograph, I decided to use photographs for each of my illustrations.  The illustration I will be talking about is the purple flip flops located on the right hand side of the screen.  I used a flip flop image off Google and placed the image into Adobe Illustrator after I saved the photo.  The pen tool was used when tracing the photograph.  The fill and stroke buttons were used when choosing what color I would like the flip flops to be.  Since I am doing an Uno deck, I decided to have the flip flops one main color, purple, and then a lighter shade of the color so that it's easier to distinguish the illustration as a pair of flip flops. The Brush library was used along with the Color Guide and Color section.  All those sections are found underneath the Windows button, located on top of the screen.
Composition: Since the flip flops fill up the entire page with a white background, the viewers can see the flip flops very clearly, and the background helps elicit the idea that the flip flops are the main focus.  There's nothing to distract the focus from the flip flops. The darker purple attracts viewers towards that color first, and the lighter shade follows that view.  The darker color is more prominent in terms of surface area so viewers are able to see that color first.  Since the lighter shade of purple is located in front of the dark purple, the viewers eyes directly go to the lighter shade.  The lighter shade is not overpowering the darker shade so viewers' are still able to see the darker shade first and then  the lighter shade.  The strokes outlined on the flip flops are what viewers see last since the strokes are very small compared to the purple colors. The simple combination of both color and the strokes help the viewers distinguish the illustration as flip flops and allows them to see a clearly recognize the illustration.
Concept: Even though the majority of the color is dark, the color displays the idea that flip flops can be any color, and that they don't necessarily have to be bright.  While light colors are usually associated with a beach theme, the flip flops show that any flip flops are okay to wear on the beach.   Also, the flip flops appear as if they were bought from a regular store since they don't look fancy and don't have any exquisite designs.  They appear as just normal flip flops and illustrate the idea that the beach is just a place to relax and is a laid back place. The flip flops also suggest that many people go to the beach since the flip flops aren't a specific brand or design.  Even though the brush stroke might be fancy, the main use of the strokes were to exaggerate the shape of the flip flops.  A simple design can elicit a whole new meaning towards an illustration.