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.

Week 9: Card Games

           In the second half of the semester, we are focusing on designing cards for our own personal use.  We can invent our own game or redesign a current card game.  I chose to redesign a current card game, which in this case is Uno.  My family sometimes plays Uno which inclined me to make an Uno deck.  For my deck, I chose a beach theme since we go to the beach every year and relates to everyone. Since there are four main colors used within the Uno deck, I'm going to have an image represent a color.  This would allow the players to easily identify the color.   I had to make sure that the images were simple enough where I would only need two colors to fill them in with. The card would look weird if there were a multiple of colors used when the border is one color.  I'm incorporating the color of the border of the card into the image.  The other color would be a lighter shade of it.  The Wild card would have four different images since it's wild and we don't know what image we'll get.  Those images will include all four colors while also incorporating a beach image.  The border that I would create would be similar to the Uno border except my border would be more geometric.  The Skip, Reverse, and Wild card would say those words on there since it would be hard for people to know what cards are which since they're not the regular deck.  This is the general idea of my card game.

Week 8: RJEA Logos

Craft: This week, we had to design three different logos, along with three different variations for each one. Each logo included a font, color, and brush stroke variation. In week 7, I created two logos so I only had to create one more this week.  Since the logos were already made, I didn't have to use the pen tool to create any new shapes.  The circle for the third RJEA logo was used by the Ellipse tool.  The Brush tool and the Brush Library was also used when applying brushes to each of the variations.  The Fill button was used when choosing the different color schemes for the logos.  I opened up the color guide by clicking on Window on top of the screen and then choosing Color Guide.  This allowed me to preview a variety of different shades and tints depending on what color I chose.  The color scheme either came from the Fill Library or by the Color button which is also located in the Windows section. For the fonts, I used two different websites to download fonts.  Once I downloaded them, then I applied them to the type.  The Type tool was used for the last logo along with the Copy and Paste button.  I had to copy and paste the cougar paw into the circle.
Composition: While I used a variety of different color schemes, the one that pops out the most is the one that has a hue of light blue against the dark blue background.  It's the rectangular one with the black brush strokes applied to the rectangle and the lines.  The light against dark portrays a contrast within colors and allows the viewers to focus solely on the letters and words.  The lightness of the color distinguishes the letters and words from the dark background and directs our eyes immediately towards the letters and words.  The black brush strokes are what viewers see after the letters because they're located right below the letters and words.  While the letters and words are the same colors, the letters appear to be a little bigger than the words.  This makes the attention shift from the letters to the words.  The letters are what viewers will see first because of the size and then the words will follow since they're on the same line as the letters.  The color scheme in any design can have a big impact towards appealing to any audience.
Concept:  The light blue color that was used in the RJEA logo represents a calm feeling and it contrasts with the dark blue behind it.  The contrast between colors makes the poster look very powerful since there is a big difference between color shades.  The contrast elicits a stronger reaction than if the colors were very similar. If the colors were similar, then the viewer would have a hard time identifying the letters and words.  By having the difference between colors, the viewers are clearly able to see the relationship between the letters and words.  To expand this idea, the letters and words are located on the same line which help in understanding the message.  The brush strokes that were used represent a swift motion.  There are multiple black strokes that are used together to create an illusion of a large stroke.  This separation of strokes creates a swift motion, along with the fact that the lines aren't linear.  The strokes appear to be organic.  This design correlates to the idea of action located in the RJEA logo. Action connects to the idea of partaking in something so having the brush strokes implies that idea because they remind viewers of speed.  While speed might not directly correlate to action, it implies that idea. The brush strokes along with the contrast in colors exaggerates the idea that RJEA is an active and social organization.

Special Edition on Gallery

            Earlier in the semester, our class visited an art gallery consisting of many silk screen posters.  There were a variety of different design elements within each poster.  Each poster had a color scheme and pictures.  While some posters did look very appealing, some weren't that appealing because of the design elements that were used in the posters.  One poster that I found very attractive and appealing was the Great American Taxi poster in the bottom right corner.  The gray color, along with the white background, effectively allow the colors to blend in together without appearing as if there was an overpowering color. The black words against the gray background allow the readers to clearly read what tour the poster is for.  Also, the design of the poster is equally balanced from left to right when viewing it.  The words on the left side, excluding the one piece that's written along both sides, balance with the guitar on the right side. There's equal proportion from left to right and from top to bottom.  Since the words, "Great American Taxi,," are black against a white background and are bigger than the other words, they stand out more than any other object. My eyes immediately view those words first then the guitar since it is brown.  It separates itself since it's not a shade of black or white.  It's a bright color in contrast to the gray and white hues.  The outline of the poster makes it very appealing and the designs that go along with it.  The wings on the guitar add a new perspective towards it to make it appear as if it was about to fly.  One poster that I didn't like was the Avett Brothers one in the bottom left corner.  This poster doesn't effectively get the same reaction as when I saw the Great American Taxi poster.  The Avett Brothers poster has too much green involved that makes it  hard to see the yellow from far away.  Up close, I can read what the title says, but far away, I wouldn't be able to see it.  Since the lady's dress is also the same pattern as the green grass, it blends in and makes the poster look busy.  Nothing stands out in this poster except for the lady laying down.  That seems to be the main focus when the focus should be on the actual band.  Since there's not much details in the poster, it appears busy and a little bland at the same time.  Adding another design element might have shifted the focus and made the poster appear less busy.  The background seems to overpower everything.  There's nothing to divert our attention. The white circles appear as just a fill-in and from a viewer's perspective, it's hard to identify what they're supposed to represent along with the lady.  In the other one, the guitar alone represents a country feeling.  While these two posters might have the same purpose towards the viewers, the design can easily change a perspective from the simple use of colors and design elements.  Everything makes a difference.

     

Week 7: Fume Buster and RJEA Logos

Craft:  For this week's assignment, we had to create our own logos based off titles that were given to us by our teacher.  We had to have two variations of a logo: one consisting of just text and another one with text and image incorporated into the design.  Adobe Illustrator was used, along with the Pen tool and the Type tool. Since these designs were our own interpretations, we weren't allowed to trace any images from the internet.  The Pen tool was only used to make shapes that would contribute to our own image.  For the text only logos, I didn't use the Pen tool at all, only to make an outline of the half circle for the Fume Buster.  I did use the Line Segment tool to produce straight lines in the RJEA logo.  The lines were created by holding the Shift button done and dragging the line across. The Type tool allowed me to type the words and/or letters contributing to each specific logo.  I then chose what font I wanted for each word/letter.  The color for each word/letter and background was chosen using the Fill button. I was able to change the intensity of the stroke using the Stroke button.  The shapes were created using the Rectangle and Ellipse tool.
Composition: The viewers are able to perceive the logos differently since two variations are used for each logo. For the Fume Buster logos, the focus is mainly on the letters.  While the fan is incorporated into one of the Fume Buster logos, the fan is equal with the letters.  It is proportional to the surrounding letters. By having the direction towards the letters, viewers are able to clearly see what they are reading.  Nothing is overpowering the letters.  On the other Fume Buster logo, the letters are black so they stand out more against the blue contrast.  The fan that's located on the left logo is blue and green so it also takes the attention away from the black letters and also creates a small contrast between the letters. In both of those logos, the background isn't the main focus. For the RJEA cougar paw logo, the red letters are what viewers see first since they are very bright and are placed in front of a dark background.  Immediately after, the viewers are able to see the words written underneath since they are part of the cougar paw.  By placing the letters inside the cougar paw, viewers are able to see them right away and associate the letters to the words.  Also, the letters are bigger in size compared to the words.  They fill up less space so they're easier to distinguish first.  The triangles are what viewers see last because even when they are located on top of the paw, they are a different color than the whole paw.  The colors connect the two parts of the symbol together while the triangles stand alone.  The other RJEA logo doesn't include any images but the letters and words balance the attention.  Alternating placement of the letters and words helped create unity within the rectangle.  The colors exaggerate this point. Also, the colors keep the eyes moving since the letters and words are diagonal from each other.  They're not all placed in a straight line.  The lines blend into the background since they are black and don't pop out as much as the other colors used in the logo.
Concept: Each of the logos elicited a variety of reactions, both positive and negative.  The designs might have gotten the message across, but the background and use of color didn't quite fit in with the logos and was overpowering the main focus.  The Fume Buster logo that had the drawing of the fan was pleasing to the eye, but the background could have made the letters and fan stand out more if it was a solid color.  Having a plain background would help distinguish the fan from the background since the background does distract the viewers' eyes. The word, Buster, could have been a little bigger since it does include the fan on it.  This idea of a gradient background connects to the RJEA logos where the gradient goes from light to dark.  The gradient distracts the viewers' from what they should be looking at because the background is too busy.  For the RJEA paw logo, the black letters located in the middle of the brown paw could have been brighter in order for them to stand out more.  It's hard to tell what the words are saying without reading them up close.  Also, decreasing the size would allow all the letters to fit inside the paw without blending into the outline of the paw.  The RJEA logo with just the text could also have had a simpler background.  It's a little difficult to read the first part of the words, Justice and Action, when the yellow and white blend in together.  When the letters are against the black portion, viewers' can read the words very easily.  Although since the lines were black, some of them were hard to distinguish against the black background.  While the blue Fume Buster logo didn't have a gradient background, the similarities within the shades of blue make it hard to view the contrast between the two different halves of the circle.  The shades are very similar so having two opposite colors on the color spectrum would give the audience a different perception towards the contrast within the background.  Overall, the themes and designed were rightly perceived, but the colors with the incorporation of the background are some things to revise in the future.

Week 6: 3 Logos with 3 Different Variations For Each

Craft: For our logo assignment, we had to chose three logos and create three different variations for each one.  Using Adobe Illustrator, I first had to copy an image of the specific logo onto the artboard. Once the image was located on the artboard, I started tracing the outline of one of the logos using the pen tool.  If there were curves involved, I would click then drag the pen tool until the curve matched up to the original logo. Once the logo was traced, the color was changed using the fill and/or the fill library.  Sometimes, I would change the stroke by going to the Brush Library.  For some of the logos, I incorporated more online illustrations and traced them as well.  The Shape Builder tool was used sometimes to help blend the shapes together and create one piece.  All these tools helped me transform each logo into three unique variations.
Composition: After completing all the variations of each logo, we had to chose one variation from each logo and put them up on the board.  For the Under Armour logo, I chose the one that includes the lightning bolts attached to the bottom. Viewers can see both colors equally since the logo is proportional and balanced. The top and bottom have the same shapes, along with their size. This allows the attention not to divert anywhere else.  The contrast consisting of orange and blue help exemplify the balance. This design makes the logo whole, yet it has separate pieces that it's composed of. The black in the middle of the logo exemplifies the balance and the contrast between the orange and blue. For the dove logo, I selected the gold dove located on the top left.  The vertical lines are the main focus on the dove.  Some lines are thick while others are thin.  This immediately directs attention to the viewers because the lines vary and are used within the entire dove.  The gold chain is small but directs the attention towards the lines and not the outline.  The contrast in colors throughout the dove makes the dove appear neutral.  It creates a sense of unity. For Fila, I printed out the top left Fila logo, the one with the clipart objects and people.  The clipart objects and people all have a black fill so they appear more noticeable than the actual logo.  The logo connects to them in some way and equally balances out the people and objects.  There aren't too many clipart people and objects where they're overpowering the logo.  Each one takes up an equal space on each of the logo pieces. They fill up the empty spaces that are within the logo and makes it appear complete, similar to the Under Armour logo.  The colors are in that specific order because people read from left to right.  The colors wouldn't appear as if they had any significance then because of the random order.
Concept: The Under Armour logo correlates to the contrast between rain and sunshine.  The orange represents the sun while the lightning and blue symbolize rain.  By having both rain and sunshine elements implemented into the logo, one can conclude that this brand can be used in all types of weather. It's used throughout the whole entire year and the lightning bolts verify this idea that the brand can withstand anything.  The dove logo conveys a shiny feeling to it since it displays a variation of gold colors.  By conveying a shiny theme, the lines help exaggerate a feeling of smoothness located within the dove.  The line variety with the gold variation exemplify this emotion. The dove itself adds to this theme since doves have smooth fur.  The connotation doves have originally helps make the theme more meaningful.  The clipart that is displayed on the Fila logo create an illusion that the letters are 3D.  By having people and objects located on the letters in someway, they make the letters appear as if they actually real objects.   The  people and their actions that are being presented convey the letters as an obstacle course.  They're no longer being treated as letters.  Also, the red, white, and blue, symbolize America. The colors  are the same ones located on an American flag.. In some way or another, adding certain design elements to each one signifies a new meaning besides the fact that they're just logos.  One simple tool can change a logo into something completely different.

Week 5: Whole Alphabet Using Geometric and Organic Lines

Craft: In our class this week, we had to make the remaining letters from the alphabet using the pen tool in Adobe illustrator.  In my last blog post, I included all the straight letters.  This time, I had to create all the 11 curved letters using the Pen tool with the help of the Anchor Point tool.  For each letter, I originally started out with the pen tool to make a straight line.  I would click on the point where I wanted it to stop then dragged the line to produce a curve.  Some letters such as R and B consisted of this repetitive technique.  For most of the other curvy letters, I would just use the Anchor Point tool after making a straight line.  In the middle of the straight line, I would just click on the point where I wanted a curve, and it appeared.  This was used for letters such as C and U.  S and G were harder to make since I had to make a lot of modifications to them once I had a rough outline of them.  If the letters didn't look right, I would add anchor points using the Add Anchor Point tool and fix the curves using multiple points.  This was done with the help of the white pointer tool.  It allowed me to make any modifications I wanted to on any letters.  The zig zag font was also created using the pen tool and the Add Anchor Point tool.  I would add many anchor points to the left side of each letter and then modify them.  For every other anchor point, I brought the point into the letter so that the end results looked like zig zags all the way through.
Composition: With the whole alphabet on the artboard, the font makes the letters look complete.  The viewers see the zig zags first since they're located in every letter besides the blue fill.  The letters follow immediately since the zig zag font is placed with the letters.  As the previous artworks, the background is white, directing the focus towards the letters and their unique font. The letters' fonts are only located on the left side of each letter and not on the inside.  If zig zags were located on the inside of the letters, then the letters would appear too busy.  The zig zags would overshadow the original alphabet.   The letters are viewed from left to right since people read left to right. Only six are on each line so that the letters don't appear to be overcrowding with each other.  This makes the composition appear even and neutral.  The letters gain equal attention from the viewers because of their placement.
Concept: The letters appear as individual pieces, yet are collectively a whole because of the font that is applied to all them.  The font makes the letters consistent in relation to one another along with the height and size that is similar between the letters.  The zig zags portray a Jaws theme within the letters.  They look like shark teeth and can appear scary towards some viewers.  The sharp points exaggerate shark teeth since shark teeth are pointy and numerous.  The blue fill adds to the theme of sharks because they live in a blue ocean.  The dark hue of blue adds suspense to the idea because oceans are not that dark.  The dark blue elicits a night feeling.  The combination of the zig zags with the color convey a scary feeling.  If the letters were in a different shade or color, viewers might not experience the same feelings and thoughts when first viewing the letters.  While the letters might appear to be just letters with a personalized design and font added to them, they create a whole new meaning underneath that makes the letters stand out even more.

Week 4: Alphabet Letters Using Straight Lines

Craft: In Adobe Illustrator, we learned how to make certain letters of the alphabet using the pen tool.  We used guides and the rulers to help make the letters proportional to one another.  To make a letter, I started at the capline and would go to the baseline. The guides that were displayed were formatted the same way as the guides for any letter. The lines were all straight, and some letters consisted of more points than others.  The pen tool helped create corner points for each letter. Because of this, the letters all had various paths.  The letters were even filled in with the help of the fill tool. 
Composition: With the help of the fill button, the colors that form the shape help the viewers focus their attention on the letters and how they're composed from straight lines.  The colors exemplify the straight lines that were used to compose the letters. Similar to the last designs, the background is white which helps direct the focus to only the letters and nothing else.  By having a white background, the viewers could clearly distinguish the overall font without distractions.  
Concept: The letters that were created represent a feeling of calmness since the letters are filled in with blue and are all the same height.  The heights might be the same, but the letters aren't tightly compacted.  This makes the letters appear as puzzle pieces because of this design of them.  Also, the letters represent a feeling of simplicity since they don't have hooks attached to them.  They don't look complicated.

Week 3: 5 Different Variations for Each Object

Craft: For this week, I had to make five different variations of each object using the brush tool. I still used Adobe Illustrator and the same line drawings. I went to the Brush Library to preview and choose the different brush styles.  To get to the library,  I clicked on Window at the top, I then clicked on Brushes.  Only a few selections were shown so I clicked on the button containing the three lines in the right corner and chose what design I would use.  There were a multitude of patterns and designs. 
Composition: In our class, we had to choose one of our line drawings and the variations and present them to the class.  The class would say what they thought of each one as soon as they saw the variations of the spray bottles. The majority of the class liked the one on the top left the best.  Some people thought of tic tacs, zebra gum, and candy when they first noticed the spray bottle.  The spray bottle incorporated four different colors: green, red, orange, and yellow.  Those colors together made the spray bottle look as if it was made out of tic tacs due to the shape and size of the design elements.  Since the background is white, the viewers look directly at the spray bottle and can really focus on the different colors.  Also, the viewers focus on how the colors come together to create a meaningful piece.
Concept:  The colors create a warm and bright feeling towards the spray bottle.  Yellow, red, and orange usually correlates to the sun and the variety of shades it displays.  When all three of the colors come together, they make a unison emotion of liveliness and vibrant.  Despite the spray bottle's function, the colors display a whole new meaning to the spray bottle.  Usually we don't think of spray bottles being described as vibrant or bright, but the one brush pattern changed the significance and make the viewers look at the spray bottle in a new perspective.  If I had to chose my favorite variation, I would chose the middle one on the top due to the color shades and their effect.  The colors aren't that bright so they display a laid-back feeling.  They don't overpower the spray bottle because they're soft colors and are arranged very smoothly.