Today I continued developing my font work. The final outcome of the day was a combination of previous work and ideas refined and narrowed into one final typeset.
When creating my font I wished to keep some assets close to their original source idea. I got the visual inspiration from my initial sketch from punk posters and 'revolution' inspired wall type. This style of type is popular with post-modern work or more rebellious imagery.
I got to certain letters and I jotted down a variety of versions to ensure it looked consistent and linear in a set. The letter B, J and G gave me a particularly difficult time as they are all very unique and stylised letters. Once I had gone through a few minor trial and errors I proceeded to make the rest of the alphahet. I intentionally inked the vowels red as I enjoyed the contrast.
After completing the alphabet I then created vectors of each letter in Illustrator. Having digital forms of the letters allows more freedom to what I do with the Typeset I created. I nameds the Typeset Revolt.
verb (used without object)1.
to break away from or rise against constituted authority, as by
open rebellion; cast off allegiance or subjection to those in authority;
rebel; mutiny:
A convergence of ideas is when two different directions eventually meet. Convergence is the point where we translate information and give interpretation. As a designer it is important that everything we do is communicating an idea or concept efficiently. People communicate through, arts, talking music and body language. A good communicator often has a clear understanding of the message they wish to communicate. This often pairs with theory and a solid groundwork.
Culture and social behaviour is a convergence of opinions, viewpoints and morals people with similar views and morals often diverge into subcultures. Every person is the way that they are through a convergence of information and situation. Beliefs, lifestyle and viewpoints are a catalytic convergence.
My inspirations for art is a convergence of materials coming together to create my own personal creation. To give an idea of process I have collected a few different materials which inspire my latest drawings. This work was inspired by historical and contemporary inspirations from western and eastern cultures.
Mannerism art and baroque inspired poses often feature idealised features and often emphasise neck arches. These styles were romanticised to show power, control and idealised beauty.
As a fan of biblical imagery and saint paintings I like to take traits from these paintings and put them in my own work such as the use of hand arches and halos.
From a more contemporary perspective I am inspired by Japanese horror and folklore inspired artists.
As these ideas converge together I am able to create my own work with a solid aesthetic grounding that I can correlate to pre-existing work with an understanding of its origins.
'Those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing' - Salvador Dali
Parody pastiche and satire in design are often used as a way to achieve a message with humour, political commentary, critique and nostalgia. It gives a layered opportunity of engagement in a topic or idea without feeling the need to be as on guard.
Satire - A critique or attack, driven by a desire to make a social commentary or challenge the status quo. It often uses humour to do this. Often seen in political magazines the jokes are intentionally humorous while having unnerving qualities that force the viewer to think more deeply about the subject. This method was used heavily in war propaganda.
Parody - Seen as a visual satire or pun where a style or appearance copies the conventions or style of a work or author. Sometimes used for recognition or to make joke at the work. For this style of art to work there has to be a cultural awareness to the original source of the image.
This image is clearly a parody of the famous painting 'The Mona Lisa' by Leonardo Da Vinci 1503. By changing the image Marcel Duchanp successfully gives the image a new concept. It makes fun of the original painting in a cheeky manner by using an eccentric and iconic moustache combined with the letters L.H.O.O.Q. The lettering is a pun as when pronounced in french it translates to "she has a hot ass". The fact that this painting is as timeless and iconic gives the parody more impact and a similar timeless effect correlating directly to the original.
Banksy created a further appropriation of this piece with a parody of a parody. This piece makes direct reference to the "she has a hot ass" phrase prevalent in the original parody piece. On the surface this image can be enjoyed but it is only hightened with the knowledge of the original parody by Duchanp.
Pastiche - A form of 'homage'. Similar to a parody as it mimics elements of another works style but more as an affectionate nod to the original idea with no strict comment on the work.
This short segment is a clear homage to Miyazaki's famous Ghibli animations.
A meme - is an idea that spreads among society in an unplanned and effortless way, according to Richard Dawkins. Memes initially would re-use images often with a funny quote either relating to the mood of the image and giving it an alternative context.
The content is often simple and easy to consume. It is only through the continuous propagation of memes and the advent of social media that they quickly evolved into a cultural outlet. Most memes start in the same way, appropriation of someone else's art or imagery and altering the image to suit a certain joke or stereotype. These memes can even be created off the back of an image that is in itself a parody/joke already. Memes soon became the standard form of post-modernist art. The jokes are often inorganic and mass produced with minor alterations. The idea soon being lost within amalgamation of alternatives to the same concept.
Memes are now a mass-marketing force comparable to traditional advertising techniques. The message board internet social group '4-Chan', grouped together in a protest act of anti-establishment and rebellion. The counter-culture was identified by wearing the Guy Fawkes mask featured in novel 'V for Vendetta', which became a meme within its community. This somewhat backfired as an in-group identifier however, as the masks soon popularity became mass produced and Warner Brothers sold $600,000 in merchandise sales to many people who are well outside of this counter-culture group.
As memes are created often using misappropriated pictures and material, it was only a matter of time before lawsuits and copyright laws started to befall the creators from corporate entities and mainstream media outlets.
The masses now control memes and the content that becomes popular. More recently there are more political and social commentary memes.
Often as a trend becomes more popular with political or social figures, the sooner the trend will die out and a new meme will come along. Corporations, companies and established political figures have attempted to use and create memes as a method of marketing, which can potentially be ridiculed, which in itself is capable of becoming its own meme, running counter to the interests and intent of the creator of its forebearer.
My lecture task was to create a meme based on Donald Trump. He is an easy subject to use as there is there is a lot of stigma around him at the moment due to his recent promotion to presidency. The task was to use the image provided and alter it to give it a new message. This is what i created:
The style is based on a well known preexisting art style of an 80's manga comic 'Jojo's Bizarre Adventure'. The characters are often dramatically chiselled and have effeminate features. Each character within the series has a power up character ( Stand ) one of the most popular ones being called The World (pronounced Za Warudo in it's original context in Japanese). Creating a pun from this I shortened 'za warudo' to 'za waru' as it would be pronounced "the wall."
The imagery is lightly mocking and playful from a general public standpoint, but it is only if you are a fan or familiar with the original work where the reference gains a even deeper meaning. The joke is therefore appreciable on multiple levels.
Today I went to The Whitworth Art Museum to see the Andy Warhol exhibit they had there. It was interesting to see his work in real scale as you often overlook how large the pieces are. Up-close you can see the print screen process which I found to be quite fun. I was mostly interested in seeing his 'Electric Chair' pieces as I found the concept behind them to be quite interesting.
After exploring the gallery I branched into the local area in search of interesting architecture, type and art.
In a time where it has become increasingly difficult to distinguish what is real from imitations, it is important to oftenquestion what we consider to be true or false about what we are shown. It is important to keep everything open to suspicion and scrutiny.
Art forgery is considered a crime. The idea of a 'real painting' and a 'fake painting' is questionable as a pair of identical paintings, one copied from the other, could on the surface be the totally the same, but one would would be considered "authentic" while the other would not. I find this concept interesting that an artist who forges replica paintings requires the same level of skill, if not higher, than the skill set required to create the original (i.e. creating artificial ageing and other marks of provenance). In the video above the artist is proud of his work knowing it isn't the original work. The ability to being able to fool someone, to this creator, is its own art. He sees his work as a craft, something he has perfected through time and practice. The skills that he uses are authentic, just not the imagery held within the paintings he sells.
The fact that he has created a replica of a pre-existing painting can dilute the experience of the original. The social and cultural context of the painting is what gives the art its richness, If there was no original painting to compare it to, then would it gain the same level of appreciation as a stand-alone piece?
With this concept then thrown into a technological, consumer drivensociety, there is a sense of irony in knowing that the experience of seeing the original paintings can be diluted further as the vast majority of famous and well regarded artworks may be mostly seen digitally as a representation on a computer screen.
As these artworks can be viewed online, it therefore follows that this digital media will follow the trend of being re-appropriated or post-produced, thus resulting in a situation whereby a £100,000 painting can be put on a £10 t-shirt and cheap hat.
The overwhelming majority of media and consumption in our current society promotes a rise in a philistine mindset. As materialism becomes more common and popular, people become detached from the original context and meaning of works. Luxury logos and role models inspire and propel the creation of counterfeit goods because of this. Consumers are often aware that the item they are buying is not "authentic", but the desire to own these inaccessible or expensive items fuels and creates a market of its own. The items are cheap and have the much of the same visual impact, but it begs the question, does the meaning and 'specialness' of the item become lesser? This is open to questioning on a case-by-case basis, as it also questions if the satisfaction we gain from an item is more important than the legitimacy of the art/product origin.
There is a counter to this consumer culture and the rise in popularity in "quality" and "authentic" goods which is now becoming much more popular. Craft beers and traditional barbers are now being promoted, and the proliferation of independent business over corporate entities is increasing. Alongside this movement there is a correlation of nostalgia and the idea of "things used to be better". Born from this mindset, there is now a new generation of consumers such as Vinyl collectors and lovers of shabby chic, who find satisfaction and personal pride in the workmanship and quality of products from a less consumerist age.
"In an age of impersonal digital media, building social connectedness through nostalgia is an easy way for companies to leverage the optimistic feelings that often accompany walks down memory lane. Associating brand messaging with positive references from the 90s, 80s — and even the 70s — humanizes brands, forging meaningful connections between the past and present." - Friedman, L. (2016). Why Nostalgia Marketing Works So Well With Millennials, And How Your Brand Can Benefit. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com.
Is the reason we are drawn to these "quality and "authentic" outlooks just good marketing strategies based on boosting self worth and emotional bonds with the past, or are people sick of the abundance of "fake" imagery and counterfeit goods in the consumer world?
Leaving this open to interpretation and questioning would you consider authenticity to be a feeling? A style of production or an experience? Perhaps its none or all of these. I personally feel there is no strict definition as it all comes down to cultural and social development.
Todays lecture we learnt about the fundamentals of 3D modelling on a program called Cinema 4D. The basics of this program is to create a 3D object within a virtual 3D space. To get realistic renders you have to create a set for the object to sit
in. Every film set will have lighting and cameras and it is the same within 3D software. These are the core
for what will set the object into a 3D environment and give it depth.
Here is a basic shape on the standard field of the software. You are able to scale, warp, reshape and alter these to whatever you wish to create.
This is showing the shape with a solid floor layer. This gives grounding to the objects opposed to the objects being in a groundless enviroment.
This image portrays where the camera angles within the set are and the lighting source. This will determine what the final images look like.
Within the same software is a timeline that allows you to create animations. Using the same effects and more used to alter the shape initially if clocked with keyframes can create animations. small planet big ideas from Sophie Wales on Vimeo. Taking the skills I was taught and following along with a online
tutorial I created this simple moving water animation on a low poly
planet. The planet I made was inspired by this :
This style is very popular at the moment and I drew inspiration from a indie game called "AWE". This god-game is about creating small planet ecosystems.so I wanted to try to
emulate it in visual styles and queues. I wish to continue this project of planets to try out
different materials and styles within the software.
To finish off the year of After Effects workshops my class and I worked on a collaborative piece. We each created a ten second video where each individual person was to create an object or scene which would move from right to left across a sky setting. The background stays consistent with each individual video to give a linear and continuous feeling from one piece to the next.
With the theme being broad and open I decided to create a sky ship. I wished to replicate the style of historical maps and adventurers. This theme is increasingly popular with the Sci -Fi sub genre 'Steampunk'.
The main charm of this style is the hand drawn aspect and etching technique. To achieve this I made hand drawn sketches of each of the individual components I wished to use in my composition to scan and create digitally. Once opened into Illustrator I convert the lines into vector based lines. These are versatile and allow me to adjust any sizing and shape without pixelation. From there I adjusted with colour as the composition would have a blank background till in post.
When making my animation Iensured that the clouds would overlap the ship so that I could give a visual representation of 3D without creating a 3D model. To create the flag I made the flag move on a 3D plane to show a sign of it flickering in the wind. power of flight from Sophie Wales on Vimeo. This is the full colaborative piece we created: Group C Finale - Flight of the Valkyries from Motion-go on Vimeo.
Working with the idea of documenting a retro arcade I followed a tutorial to test a glowing animation style that I could implement into my work.It isn't an overly animated but gives an atmospheric feeling to it.
There are not many examples of early visual representations of animation however I became fascinated with Russian Variophones. Evgeny Sholpo developed the variophone in 1930. His work revolved around ornamental, artificial and visually synthetic sound. The variophone utilised soundwaves which he visualised onto cardboard disks which moved to a 35mm film reel to create a looping visual film. The filmstrip is then amplified using speakers and photocell methods to create synthesied audio. Though successful so far his variophone was destroyed during the seige of Leiningrad, the place of his work, in 1941. His work along others around this time became revolutionary for visual audio and landed Sholpo's a place as director of the new Scientific‐Research Labratory for Graphical Sound after World War two ended.
Our sketchbooks are personal and can often hold our subcontious inside. Doodling is a freeflowing practice that allows creativity without the need to think too seriously of what we put inside. When in lectures it can be worth jotting notes down in doodle form as the information can often feel more engrained. These were my doodles related to this lecture:
Doodling taps into an uncontious of being aware you are drawing while not having a knowledge of what or how you do it. The outcome isn't always important so you enter a dream like state some could consider to be hinterland an area lying beyond what is visible or known.
This lecture we were introduced to Jay Paynes work and process. First an foremost an illustrator Jay wishes to be a man of many traits and stated the first thing he would do when thinking of an idea would be to look through his previous sketch books. His most recent work revolves around exploring the edges of reality and a hypnogogic state. The conscious and the subcontious visually represented.
To continue this work I wished to elaborate on the idea of Hinterland and did a sketch series based on things that we see that are not necessarily there. I initially upon hearing the world felt unsettled by the idea of a fairytale-esque setting. This drew me towards the feeling of being alone in a forest and feeling watched. The thought of birch trees and how their wood has the likeness to having eyes showed emphasise to the feeling of being watched. The feeling itself is a psychological reaction of fear that can relate to facial recognition in others or fear of danger with fight or flight.
I played around with shadows and reflections aswell as they are both things i associate with feelings of fear. Jumping at my own reflections in the dark before I turn on a light or the idea that i can always see a shadowy figure in the doorway of a coat cupboard.
As these are just drawings relating to my work i would like to expand and refine these even more in the future. perhaps into a digital illustrative piece or a short story.
