White space 2-15th Oct
1. Which was your most successful experiment from yesterday and why?
throughout yesterday we’ve experimented with using random shapes taking out from different photos that based on the theme White space. For my experiment I tried putting the shapes with different materials and in different places, on the windows, at the back of the door and around the corner. However, the experiment that went most successful and I like the most is the idea that’s using paper cut bird and rice, which is to use a decent amount of rice and a paper cut bird putting them in different position. The reason is because the white material that I bought for today’s project is rice, as I didn’t know we needed to use the material to make out our shapes. However I find it having a impressive effect when out together with white paper.
2. which reference did you find the most inspiring and why?
The reference that I found most inspiring is
3. How do these relate to your manifesto?
The manifesto that I state is not much, there’s only three rules, it is very specific. (See below)
Paper & Rice Manifesto
1. A decent amount of dry rice must be used
2. The material used other than rice must be paper all the times
3. The paper can be fluidly presented in different forms (Origami, paper cut)
The manifesto was listed based on the photo that I took, based on the bird and the rice, however after I tried to make more experiment based on the manifesto, I found that it is too limited, so I changed the ‘Rice bird Manifesto’ to ‘Paper & Rice Manifesto’, which I think there will be more possibilities within using the paper and rice.
Contextual practice-White space 14/Oct
1. What part of today's tase (White Space manifesto) did you find difficult and why?
After running through the whole day, I've reflected on what we did today, and actually realised that there are two part which I found a bit difficult for me. The first part is at the beginning of the day, we have to cover our eyes with a black strip and having a conversation about our research to 'white space', physically it has made the words harder to hear, as we can't see other's face expression, the shape of the word they are talking about. While at the same time there might be a clash during the discussion, as we all don't know who are we talking to, so there is a chance of answering at the same time, or no one is answering or speaking about the ideas. The second part of which we need to create our own manifesto I also find it really hard as I'm not such a person who's really well at living the rules and telling others what to do, hence me myself at that stage are still not 100 percent sure of what should I do, which I find it really difficult to start, but after giving a headline to it, I have a clear mind for writing it.
2. What lesson did you learn from following the project we set out
Throughout today's lesson, I felt the precess is not exactly similar to the past weeks, the whole day plans is more tight, each part are more well linked together which as coming to school this morning without a direction or an idea towards the idea white space, and walking out the class with a direction. We started with a group conversation with covering our eyes, to discuss about our research regarding to the topic, then movie on to the 5 minutes writing as take down any notes and questions that the group members were saying earlier, in this stage our teacher Lucy has mentioned to work personal and keep silent, which I find it super helpful, to separate the time between discussion and taking notes and not doing the two things at the same time (environmental different will give a different effect). After that we moved onwards to explore the 'white spaces' that could be find in and around the school buildings, this exercise is the first stage of today's project but in another way I think it is more like a hint to us, as to notify the art element that could give us inspirations in daily life. Following that we took out the shapes from the white spaces that we found and worked in a different scale, as like to ask us be creative, playful and work big. On the afternoon it is more like a theory lesson, of teaching us the basic knowledge and giving us a explanation of the idea of what we did earlier in the day.
3. What effect might formulation a manifesto, or statement of intent with rules, have on you as a designer?
For me, Manifesto is like a recipe when I cook, it is like a guid, guiding me to make something that is successful, or achieving a goal without making big mistakes. Obviously it is very helpful in some stage, as when I don't have any ideas of how can my ideas be represented, it is a good way to check the manifesto. Personally I don't really follow the manifesto or use it so frequently, but I believe it is listed there for people to remembered and followed.
Contextual Practice-Rhea Dillon
1. How did you respond to working as a team? What were the ways you found to combine your ideas to create a new & unique moodboard?
Working through todays lesson we had a choice regarding to do what we want, and I've chosen to join the photography group. There is in total 4 people in my group, each of us has a different idea towards the moodboard, to start, we firstly discussed about our impression to the movie and we found out that we all find it kind a little bit quirky, and the things that leaves us the most impression was the dance and the costume. After the discussion we started our photo inspiration research, and the photo we found were basically from the two points we mentioned, dancing and costume, the only difference is I'm the one who is more finding the photos that representing the costume and others more awards dancing. Throughout the discussion there wasn't any big issues, every member is feeling confident to say their own thought, and it is far more quicker than working by my self. The way of making the moodpboard unique is very easy as we are working in a group, although we have the same topic, but each on of us have a different understanding towards the movie, we all have different approaches to choose out the photos which we think could give ourself the most inspiration with, when everything was put together, it will be very obvious that it is not containing just one idea but four.
2. How were your ideas of fashion comms challenged + developed by the references presented by Rhea Dillon?
Myself personally are very interested in fashion communication as I love taking photos of others, especially people, fashions, special makeups or something that is quirky. Based on this, today's presentation, Rhea's speech did really give me a clear state and a example of what is it like to be studying fashion communication. Starting from her sharing the experience I've summarised a few point, it is important to work as a team, as it is important to hear about other's thought. Try different jobs/position (director, styling, crafts, shooting etc), so you do know which one you enjoy the most and which one you should try harder to work with in the future. Think about what you want in the future before you start, when creating your work, don't be afraid to add in some personal stuff. For fashion communication, mood board plays a very important role, it is important to take inspiration before you start, having a primary idea of what the final outcome would look like, and expand it further. Give meaning to each shoot, why is the composition, the lighting, the colour being used, and what is the story behind it. It's also important to respect your work and bring in the heritage. The last one also the one that I find very interesting about is the use of music change the effect.
How did making the moodboards transform your ideas/thinking into a cohesive shoot or studying prep moodboard?
For me, moodpboard is more like a plan before you shoot, its more like to pile up the mess in my mind. All the ideas jumps out and could leading me to different directions and outcomes, and moodpboard could effectively help myself to clean my mind with a clear target of what I'm I trying to achieve for the outcome, this will prevent messing up our mind in the middle of progression, making the outcome too complicated, and enhance the speed of working as there is already a target listed, I believe beyond these states the final outcome will be more cohesive and successful.
Contextual practice- spsecture launches
- what struck you about the works we saw in the presentation?
throughout the presentation, the video that is created by Bill Viola the electronic renaissance has left me strong imagery struck, as it has included lots of elements such as water, fire and the crowded people, flooding out from the building with the water. he uses video to explore the phenomena of sense perception as an avenue to self-knowledge, which is something that also left me a great impression.
2. As our world became more developed, our technology was developing in a certain speed, more new apps, social medias, different electronic devices has really taking part in our life. Each of us will be very familiar with creating a social account, and in this situation theres a high possibility of personal informations getting recorded, it is very worrying if the information are being separated, sell to others or being used for something that is not ethical. In the Vedic the AI outcome was very surprising for me, and with worry, concerning of how might my informations might being used in some part of the world?
3. The works in the presentation has a great communication power it is because of the use of the icons. Icons can be easily recognised by people around the world, especially the famous Icons, such as Donald Trump, Mona Lisa, are all super famous icons, that has certain background and history, which could give a more effective impact.
4. For my self I would say it is very important, it is fundamental to thoughtful decision-making and responsible thinking, which based on that people could be more peace and communicate with a much more positive feelings. Different ethical talking as which using the different word at the right time, the right place, the word you choose to be said are all the key of the ethical talking, these could easily communicate a various way of message.
Contextual Practice- immage making
1. In today's presentation my favourite designer is Gerald Holtom, of his Campaign for Nuclear Disarmamen symbol deisgned in 1958. From my own point of view, symbols are designed to be easily remembered and recognized, from Gerald's design it can be drawn in no more than three strokes. Secondly it has various way to expand the design, as a positive logo being used around the world to propagate peace and love.
2. Image making for me means the best way to get the message across by using images, symbols and fewer words, however the image that used are more than just normal drawings and pictures, but images that effectively convey specific ideas or make a connection with consumers.
3. Icon could stand for various things, a company, an object, a brand, or even a person. From my own understanding Icons are created to be a symbol for personal belongs, which could gives it a new look, new name new price even a new meaning. In other ways, icons can stand for believes and culture, a message that could spread along the social media or to the world, in either telling a story, a message or something thats positive/negative.
Contextual Practice-Hand lettering
1. The hand lettering is created using different angles of writing, when changing the angle of using the pen, there is a lot of different effects that you can get, from the 0 degree the stokes will be very thick and wide, and the 90 degrees will just be a straight line, which any angles in between will give a different thickness depends on how was the strokes made. The different hand lettering can create a different affect in order of what aspect you want your audience to feel, it can be naive, powerful, elegant, sad, or happy.
2. I've received a postcard that was written in 1985, a letter from Adele, from the postcard the information that I could get is, she's now on a holiday that the weather is very changeable, and from the sentence "hope all goes well for you" has inspired me to response from a angle, which the person who's receiving the letter Olive, Is suffering some challenge. Bsed on this I've made a few stop motion videos that olive is try to 'pretend' that everything was going well and she is trying her best, but the truth s opposite.
3. Out of all of my outcomes, the one that I liked the most and is the most successful is (Clip 1) as it response the postcard the most and with a clear straight forward representation. The idea of it is to firstly communicate the message in usual, as making a normal response, then turn the scene from a positive way to a negative but showing the reality of Olive's situation through the way of writing, from something that his very elegant and neat to the front that was r=written very rough, showing the stresses and pressure.
Contextual Practice-Say the meanings
1. My chosen text is: when I discovered who am I, I will be free", the reason of choosing this text is because from the time that I grow up and traveling, lived in different countries, I released that not many people are presenting themselves as how they want to be, but the way that how others liked them to be. One simple example could be, In china people do not have a high recognition and acceptation with fashion, so if you were something that's super bright or mini skirt, or cropped top, people around the street, especially the elders will make comments about you and your outfit, obviously the negative comments. Due to that lots of girls are dressed in a outfit witch is acceptable by parents and people around the street. Another famous example is Milgram experiment, he conducted an experiment focusing on conflict between obedience to authority and personal conscience, which again most people are being afraid of the words they want to say and the person they wanted to be under the pressure, or not wanting to be along so following other's choice even it is not what they wanted to do, including myself. So I think this text is very meaningful and powerful.
2. Looking from many different sides I've decided to explore from the appearance and clothing, as using the china's example, as also I have more ideas and thought to this directions as I've experienced it myself before, so I'm confident to communicate it.
3. For my poster I want it to be colourful, to be free, something that is bold and colourful, the text should standout as well as the images. I will start with sketches of the ideas and probably use a digital way such as taking photos to present the main message.
4. wish when people see my poster and the text, they should be very confident and brave, which they could reconsider the range of what was to be told to be wear, the rules that was taught by parents, or even be honest and face the true self they wanted to be.
Core-making meaning 1
- Due to the miss of the first two weeks, this is my first lesson in Graphic design, and my GCD group has already moved to the next stage which is the ‘making meaning’. Because of not having done the first stage, I’ve picked two quote examples given in Moodle, which is ‘Just do it’ from Nike, and ‘Mind the gap’ from the underground station. For both of them I started brainstorming, making ‘Mind the gap’ my first choice. By changing the context, I’ve emphasised the word ‘Mind’ which presenting it into a noun, of people’s thought. This then turns the context to ‘MIND , the (generation) gap”. In order of representing the context I highlighted the topic of time, wall, cracks, age groups and the look of young and elders. However it didn’t show up very nicely, the first 3 draft design were all too complicated, and not criticising the meaning, in this case, I’ve moved to my second choice. It fully shows positive and braves in the quote ‘Just do it’, however I’d like to make it more interesting by changing it from a positive context to a negative context. Looking from a negative side, the first point that appears in my mind is the pressure from parents, as in China’s education, school grades and year level report is everything, so often we can hear the sentence ‘this time you have to get xxpoint or XX grade minimum which leads me to the sentence ‘JUST DO IT!!!’. Based on this I’ve decided to play around with the alphabet of the grades (ABCD) and try to connect them with with the quote. Because of changing from ‘Mind the gap’ to ‘just do it’, there’s not much sketches shown for the just do it, so I’ve represented two of the ideas to my group and they’ve all preferred the ‘just do it’ plan, as again all not giving much interest, or a bit confused to the context of Mind the (generation gap).
- After talking through both of my ideas, my group members stated that the first idea should be presented in a more simple way mine is too complicated and not straight forward enough, or even not really presenting the idea of generation gap. For my second idea, one of my group member who’s from Indonesia really stand up for it as he has also experienced the similar education, he also gave me the hint about being controlled with our future jobs, as being told what occupation you should be, or having to do something that is related to parents. This then put another image up in my mind as we’ve now grown up a lot and getting closer to the society, job can be a serious concern for most of our parents, and will they still say “JUST DO IT”.
- Throughout today’s lesson of making meaning, we’ve had a look at using different tone to change the context of the word. After the practice with groups and classes, it is obvious that using a various tone could totally change the meaning of the word, as so as outing focus point on different word of each sentence, could highlight the main message they the sentence was trying to communicate, while each highlighted word could be said in using a totally opposite tone. For example to change something that is romantic to something that could be very fickle, or even figure out the time for when to leave a gap, between the words when saying it out could also gives it a different al manifestation.
Contextual practice-introduction to designing with sound
1. What have you learned about how the mood, tone, atmosphere?
Watching a film or a short clips, I believe everyone could feels what is the mood and atmosphere that it is presenting, and this I believe is based on the tone, the music, sound effect and the scenes that has being shot/created. Different music would bring a different mood to the scene, for example a scene that is very colourful, and playful, if I chose to add some quirky music to it, it will turn into a very strange scene, which might makes people think of the clown etc.
2. How are these properties enhanced or changed in and image when sound is added?
Giving a sound to the image/short clips can emphasise the mood or the idea you trying to represent. The sound won't need to be music, it can be sound effects, and adding certain sounds to the images/short clips could also change the mood of the videos/images, as we close our eyes and what we see in our mind is based on what we hear, we generate a image or a scene in our mind without seeing the images, and this is the importance of sounds.
3. What can you change in the audio to exaggerate atmosphere/mood? How can this form of exploration the developed in your own work?
In terms of adding the sound it doesn't means to add any kind of sounds, the different act to the sounds will change the effects of the moos. Sound can be changed in many ways, you can make it to be quieter or louder, which in this way a louder sound may emphasis the exiting, angry surprising mood, and a quiet sound will present a sad, peaceful mood. Give the sound a further effect will be a great idea as well, as to make the sound echoing, to repeat the sound or to layer two sounds together will give a big different. Based on my work which I'm trying to present a old playground look, but regarding to it is old and playground it makes me to think of the movie that Ive watched recently, (IT 2), and makes me want to add some quirky/horror effect, so for the sound it can be something that is not very clear, like playing out from a Ould radio, and further I want to find a music and add some sound effect to it.
Contextual practice- The use of different materials and light(animation box)
- Different materials could play different role in the shooting stage, for the gel-paper, it is more effective as being used as a basic filter to change the colours of the whole shooting and photo. For other materials that can pass the light through but blocking partly of the light are more efficient when we don't want such a strong light or we would like to spread the light point. Then is the materials that are really solid, these are being used as the decoration of the scene, I put it usually and the very first slot or the last slot but never in the middle. Lastly is the papers that are with textures, by using light and flashlight photoshoot it might gives a surprising affection so it is very fun to play around and experiment with.
2. Light can be changed by using various types of papers, such as defuse it by covering using the tracing paper, to make the lighting softer and more wide. Others like cut out part of the paper and direct the light from different angle to gives it a different mood, to decide where to put the lighting, from the back or the front would also make a big difference. Layer transparent materials to create deeper colours, or even use mirrored like materials to reflects the light.
3. To remake the box I will choose a box that is smaller and with long length, short width. The reason of that it is because the space could be more organised and I think the effect of using the light is more better as the light could be shined more wide and long from the other end of the box, hence more slot could be cut so it is more playful and ables me to experiment with more interesting materials.
4. The way of working can be used in many other ways, so far I could think of to use it in my next photoshoot, as changing the filter by using the different coloured gel-paper, to create a set of shooting with the theme of colour blocking. The skill could also be used when shooting the still live photos as well. For something that I would like to try in the future such as fashion design or textile will also be very helpful to put the transparent materials together with the fabrics and worth it to give it a try.
Contextual practice-still live photoshoot workshop
- The series photo taken within using the traditional Chinese stamp and the Chinese characters are the most successful ones, to say that is because it is more presenting the culture and the symbol of our own country, it is not only just a photo but something that is more meaningful. Looking more from the technique side of it, the lighting seems to be more successful when we used the natural lighting instead of the studio lighting, as the natural lighting is more warm, to make it the direction we want, we used the cardboard to create either shade or a cover to change the direction of it.
- Throughout today's still live photoshoots session, the most useful thing I learned is about the different ways of using lighting and how it would gives you a different affect when the light was spotted and focused in different angles, it could gave the final outcome a totally different mood, and giving the contrast between the object as also gives the audience a different perspective of it. as finishing the session today, I've noticed still live photos are just as same as live photos, before the lesson I was having my mind thinking how easy it could be, but at the end of the day I resized how live photo also need precise composition, lighting and colours.
- I’ve spent most of my time as a director of my team, as directing the composition, the lighting, what should we add, or take away from the scene. Other than that I've also did a lots of shooting outdoor with another set of makeups, which I find also interesting as looking the final outcome how different it is between natural sunlight and studio lighting.