Design Blog 3: Typographica

Stephen Coles' article: http://typographica.org/on-typography/roboto-typeface-is-a-four-headed-frankenstein/

Before looking on the blog Typographica, I had only read approximately two or three articles/stories on typography. I have always appreciated the art as an observer with practically no knowledge of it until Visual Communication class. Now, I know a bit about serif, sans-serif and slab fonts, as well as some of the purposes they serve. Reading Stephen Coles’  Typographica article, “Roboto is a Four-headed Frankenfont,” taught me just how passionate typographers are about their work. Coles argues that the new typeface Google had created for high density displays looks terrible. To be completely honest, when I looked at the sample Coles provides, I was not disgusted by Roboto. I did not like it, but I did not loathe it. I felt that there is almost unlimited creativity in coming up with a new typeface, but I soon learned that thinking that is a mistake. Coles analyzes this new typeface and informs readers that it borrows design elements from a Grotesk sans and a Humanist sans. While he states that it is acceptable to combine these families, he claims that Roboto combines all the wrong elements from them to create a mish-mash of a typeface. There are unspoken rules in borrowing aspects of typeface families to make a new typeface. One must be diligent in his or her choices so that the combination is harmonious, not jarring or muddled. Google notes that the typeface was created for the high density display of a cell phone, so it may look different on that screen than that of a computer. I never realized that the device providing the medium for which the typeface is displayed can change the look of the letters and symbols. Now that smart phones are so common, typographers must be busy trying to make typefaces that look good on those screens. 

www.typographica.org

Design Blog 2: enpundit.com

The website enpundit.com has thousands of articles on art, design and technology. Its multifaceted selection of topics ensures that nearly everyone can find something pertaining to his/her interest. One article, “A Positive Light on Negative Space by Artist Tang Yau Hoong,” shows how the artist plays with the idea of negative space. Usually, I think of negative space as something that is empty, a part of the document or art piece that helps provide balance for the true design it surrounds or cuts through. However, Tang Yau Hoong’s artwork utilizes the negative space so that it becomes an apparent active part of the design. Many of his works feel almost like optical illusions; they provide two different worlds within the same piece.

http://enpundit.com/a-positive-light-on-negative-space-by-artist-tang-yau-hoong/

Another article I enjoyed is “Quite Possibly the Most Gorgeous Office Space Ever,” which includes photos of Urban Outfitters’ office space in Philadelphia. The article explores how the office strikes a balance between old and new, original and renovated. The exposed pipes and wooden beams in the ceiling contrast with the pops of bright color provided by the swivel desk chairs and couch pillows, which also lend softness. All of the industrial elements might seem cold, but they become interesting and beautiful when paired with natural elements of plants and water features. It reminds me of good feng shui principles, which call for a balance amongst all of the elements in order to maintain strong, flowing energy throughout the rooms. Even though it is an office, I would like to live there.

http://enpundit.com/quite-possibly-the-most-gorgeous-office-space-ever/ 

Design Blog 1: LogoDesignLove

While perusing the LogoDesignLove blog, the photo of Katona Jozsef Theatre’s design element instantly caught my attention. I love bright, clean, simple designs. The theatre’s business cards, papers and envelopes are all stark white with red quotation marks in the corners. My favorite color is red, and I loved how they paired such a brilliant, energizing color with the clean whiteness. Also, I think I was attracted to the quotation mark motif because I love quotes and book passages. I admired the photo amongst all the others, yet I had to click on it to learn more after reading its caption, which tells its audience that the quotation marks are designed after theatre masks. I did not see it on first glance, and I do not know if I would have noticed if I had not read that. However, this subtlety balances out the pop of color so that nothing screams at the viewer in a bad, glaringly obvious way. The theatre mask design has a clear connection to the company, yet the quotation marks might throw off many viewers. I believe they chose quotation marks to show that all these words - from the magazine article to the company letter to the theatre’s title on a business card - are mere snippets of its entirety, a small look at its whole being. One may even go so far as to say that the quotation marks can be metaphorically placed around each performance of the theatre, since one performance is just one small part of the millions of performances out there. The actors can only show us one slice of life each night. It may not create an impossible, all-encompassing “book” on theatre, but it makes for a damn good quote.

http://www.logodesignlove.com/katona-jozsef-theatre 

Questions on Tufte Reading

On page 107, the beginning of “Chartjunk: Vibrations, Grids and Ducks,” Tufte claims that graphical decoration prospers in technical publications. Aside from the fact that it is cheaper, what are the reasons for this unneeded design element’s success?

On page 112, Jacques Bertin claimed that a good design has to “flirt with ambiguity.” Tufte goes on to say that there are no good examples that prove this idea. Why have we not been able to provide a good example? Should we even be trying to make graphics that flirt with ambiguity if it seems that good ones are not made in this way?

On page 117, what do Venturi, Brown and Izenour mean when they assert, “It is all right to decorate construction but never construct decoration” in Learning from Las Vegas?

In the second Tufte reading, the author shows the importance of visual design reflecting the true scientific analysis with the examples of the cholera epidemic in 1800s London and the Challenger explosion. Does he then suggest that a graphic designer should also have an educational background in the field which he/she is portraying? Science and graphic design are usually thought of as areas on different sides of the spectrum. How can someone marry the two in order to create a strong design?

Rose, "Content Analysis" and "Audience Studies"

I can use content analysis in a future MAPC project. Comedies fascinate me, and I have recently become interested in women’s roles in comedies. Oftentimes, I think of men being funnier than women, but I feel that this idea is not true. However, I also think that more men star in Hollywood comedies than women. Perhaps I can use content analysis to study comedies in a formal, academic way. I can research the top 50 comedies produced by Hollywood in the past 50 years or so. Then, I can find those film’s posters or DVD covers. That could be step one of the process: finding my images. I like the random way of choosing images. I could number them all and pick a random few numbers to analyze. In order to devise my categories for coding, I need to follow the procedures assessed by Rose: the categories must be exhaustive, exclusive and enlightening (Rose 91). For example, a few of my categories can include the number of women featured on the covers, the number of men, how revealing the clothing is, and which gender is featured in the foreground rather than the background. However, following the rules of content analysis is difficult. Since my categories cannot overlap, I might not be able to code the number of women and which gender is in the front of the image. In regard to coding the images, I can use Excel to mark off which images address which categories. Then, to analyze them, I can put the results into a bar or line graph. I can use qualitative analysis to determine what the results mean. Perhaps they will help provide evidence for my theory that more men are featured in comedies and that women are not seen as funny as men based solely on what is featured in posters or DVD covers.

I may be able to use information I learned in the “Audience Studies” chapter in a future project. In regard to my interest in comedies featuring strong female leads, I could perform audience studies. Rose suggests that researchers should use public institutions to find participants. Since I go to Clemson, a public academic institution, I am in a great environment for locating participants. If I want a diverse group, I can set out an ad in different buildings and choose participants based on age, ethnicity, where they are from, etc. After this assessment, I can ask those chosen to watch two different comedies: one that has mostly females in the leading cast (perhaps Bridesmaids) and one that has mostly males in the cast (possibly Horrible Bosses). To maintain the integrity of the research, I would not tell the participants what I am studying while I watch them react to the movies. Then, I can perform one-on-one interviews with them. I think that these interviews are better than group interviews because I fear that participants’ answers in group interviews may influence what other participants say. After asking questions regarding which parts were funnier and focusing on any differences or similarities between the male and female film characters the audience found, I can enter the data into a spreadsheet and graph. Perhaps this quantitative information will allow me to find patterns that can help further my research.

Rose's "Visual Methodologies" Chapters 1, 2 and 12

On page 3, Rose mentions that several theorists have studied the centrality of the visual in our current society. This centrality is so prevalent that Rose even tells the audience about Martin Jay’s term, ocularcentrism, for this phenomenon. Are there opposing theories that claim that the visual is not the central sense that dominates our society? I agree that the visual seems to be the strongest in our culture, but do any theories point to the auditory as being a dominating sense as well?

Rose is careful to mention that ocularcentrism occurs in contemporary Western life. Do other cultures and ways of life focus on the visual more than other senses? Which cultures do not allow the visual to dominate, and how do they function differently than ours?

Page 7 introduces the audience to the term “post-human.” Does this term imply that we are becoming less human? Are we moving away from our instincts for the sake of faster and more advanced technologies?

Since the location of seeing and experiencing a visual is important to the viewing process, according to page 15, then how did people decide that the designs and layouts for typical stages and theatres were the most conducive to the visual aspects?

In chapter 2 on page 23, Rose mentions that at times, street photography can be seen as voyeurism. Where is the line drawn between good art and offensive practices?

Page 26 mentions auteur theory, which claims that the maker or creator’s intentions is the most important part of the visual. Rose states right after that more recent work places less importance on the maker and more on the audience and its interpretations of the work. How is this shift reflected in our society? What does this shift mean for other modes of work? Why does our society now care less about the creator and more about the creation’s effects on others?

Can convergence (noted on page 36) weaken a visual’s message since it takes away the strong relationship between content and medium? It does take away many confinements, but can that have negative repercussions?

Chapter 12 deals with the ethics of photography. Can someone use photographs depicting the subjects in a negative light for research ethically, or must the photographs always shy away from offended their subjects?

How do photo-sharing websites not get into trouble for copyright or anonymity purposes?

Understanding Comics, Chapters 2-3; Persepolis

In Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud theorizes that human beings are self-centered and try to see themselves in many objects. He uses examples such as the front of a car or an electrical outlet. Since reading this chapter, I have noticed how I naturally see faces in inanimate objects. My toothbrush holder has three openings and looks as if it is about to talk to me. Making the subjects in comic books look more cartoonish does help me identify with these characters more and allows me to put myself in their situations. I have found I have been able to identify with characters in cartoons or anime more easily than television shows with real actors. Aside from the fact that their features are less individual and defined than those of real humans, the cartoons’ facial expressions are more pronounced, drawing me into the pathos of the moment. Seeing such strong emotion prominently displayed makes it more accessible for me as a viewer to conjure up similar feelings and empathize with the character, rather than sympathizing from more of a distance. If I am emotionally invested in the characters and story, I extremely likely to finish reading or watching until the end.

“Blood in the Gutter” shows us that negative space is crucial to comics and many other forms of art. McCloud asserts that “the art of comics is as subtractive an art as it is additive” (85). Comics must strike a balance between negative and positive space so that readers are given enough information without having their senses overwhelmed or their creativity and imagination stifled. McCloud observes that comics from Japan have honored this balance studiously throughout the years. He states that the East understands that “elements omitted from a work of art are as much a part of that work as those included” (82).

While reading this chapter, I thought of writer and artist Austin Kleon’s work in his project, Newspaper Blackout Poems. Kleon read newspaper articles and blacked out most of the words with a Sharpie, leaving only a few behind to create poetry. One of his most well-known works from this collection states, “Creativity is subtraction.” He seems to echoes McCloud’s view of comics, the “subtractive art.” Beauty is found in Kleon’s work not just through the readable words, which are themselves entertaining and honest, but also through the fact that so many words were read and chosen to be excluded by the artist. They have now become invisible underneath the marker, allowing the visible words to take on new meaning and beauty. Similarly, comics must use the invisible - the gutters - to connect panels in a way that makes readers understand the panels’ meanings.

This use of positive and negative space factors into Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel, Persepolis. Satrapi usually uses panels; however, she employs a different tactic when she tells her readers of her uncle’s death. This tragedy was one of Satrapi’s first that she experienced first-hand. She loved her uncle and worried about his safety when he was imprisoned. She uses panels to show their conversation in the prison, but then when she announces, “That was my last meeting with my beloved Anoosh,” (70) the drawing of the newspaper declaring her uncle’s execution is surrounded by negative space without the use of a frame. Perhaps this image shows that her pain could not be contained within a panel, that this hurt bleeds out into the empty vastness of negative space and colors her perception between every action from now on. She then uses an entire page devoted to the image of her as a little girl floating in a black background with the words, “And so I was lost, without any bearings...What could be worse than that?” (71). There is no gutter to use in between images on this page; this one panel must take up the whole page because for this girl in this particular moment in time, there are no such things as transitions. Loss and emptiness is all there is. The abrupt start of the war is signified by creating a new chapter. Many sections of Satrapi’s story employ smooth transitions between panels using the gutter, but she uses the technique of dedicating a whole page to one panel for certain images that symbolize a change in her life and culture to which she wants readers to pay close attention.

Kleon, Austin. Creativity Is Subtraction. 2010. Goodreads. Web. 24 Sept. 2012. 

Kleon, Austin. The Travelogue. 2010. 20X200 Artist Fund. Web. 24 Sept. 2012.

McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics. New York: HarperCollins, 1993. Print.

Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis. New York: Random House, Inc., 2003. Print.