ITAP LECTURE 9 2012

Today we had our last ITAP lecture of the term. The lecture was all about how when put with an image text can completely chance the context and the value of the image as well as help to tell us the story.

Psychogeography was talked about, the theory that if a bad thing has occurred in that place such as a murder or tragedy the place gives off a "bad vibe" and some certain individuals can actually tell what has happened there 

As an example of this i have decided to use the The Amityville Horror. 

The true story is about a house that possesses "demonic forces".  The father of a family brutally murders his wife and three children. A year after, another family buy the house where the murders occurred. after a while the father of the family starts behaving in a similar way to the one before.

I've just put this point in because it interested me.

The main point though, was that of text and image, how an image is perceived differently when it is explained or a piece of text is put with the image

as an example I have put an image taken by Nan Goldin:

Gilles' arm, Paris, France 1993

At first glance the image seems quite normal, but then we read the caption displayed next to the image and suddenly it becomes immensely powerful and moving. Nan Goldin is famous for photographing the people she loves and this is one of her friends Gilles who in this photo, has just died of AIDS. 

ITAP LECTURE 8 2012

The 8th ITAP lecture was all about the Design Process that we have to go through when producing something as visual communicator's. 

The fist point I am going to talk about is "a brief history of production' the lecturer told us it is important to know where our heritage comes from, the history behind the technology we use as visual communicators and consumers of products.

The Diamond Sutra was the earliest, and dated recorded book, produced in AD400 it was created using wood blocks and ink on paper, the wood blocks will have been hand carved then pressed onto the paper, the diamond sutra was created in the form of a scroll. 

Below is a picture of a print within the diamond sutra, the detail was amazing and done by hand using the wood blocks:

The first book of Psalms was to be the first book ever published in North America in 1640 it was made up of a hundred and forty-eight small quarto leaves

In 1785 Benjamin Franklin opened up a working print shop, he produced things such as newspapers, and created illustrations and cartoons so that people that could not read yet could still understand the stories through pictures.

In the mid 15th century Johann Gutenberg of Germany invented a mechanical printing press  The Gutenberg Bible was the first major book to be produced on such a thing. before this invention every other book in Europe had to be copied by hand.

The book was written in latin and contained beautiful illustrations within it, which were printed in colour. 

All this history shows us that production processes have changed dramatically throughout time.

I've chosen "Experts" as the second key point this week; the point was about the experts in certain fields of visual communication, such as graphic designers, illustrators etc, individuals that approach a task with an expert approach, and unique style as well as having the confidence to do so.. 

I have chosen to look at Tim Walker in regards to the task, I feel he's an expert in his field when it comes to installation and fantasy within photography. Below are some examples of Tim Walkers work:

I find him an expert because his images tell a story in such a powerful way and have a unique twist and edge on them. It really shows that such time and dedication is taken into making his images look and feel exactly how he wants them to. 

ITAP LECTURE 7 2012

Today's lecture was called Production & Outcomes, Influences & Reactions. How things around can effect us and therefore influence our work.

The first point i have chosen to look at is "interpretation", how people perceive a story due to influences that they were receiving from issues around them such as culture, war etc from an art point of view.

The lecturer talked used Alice In Wonderland as an example to highlight this point, i am going to do the same purely because the story is one of my favourites.

The original illustrations for the story were done by John Tenniel, they were drawn in the 19th century which was victorian ages, if we look at that era it was very harsh, and this shows through his drawings, scratchy sketches with detail, but no colour, Alice's expressions seem pinched and unsettling which portray her character to me nowadays as uppity maybe a little bit spoilt.

If we look further on in time we can see that this changes, in 1951 Disney bought out a animated film of Alice in Wonderland, it was very colourful and Alice's character changed, if we look at her appearance her features are considerably softer, and she's made out to look a lot more innocent and how she should look for a young girl.

For my second point i have decided to look at key principle number 2 "Delivery" 
i am going to do the first activity we were given the option to do.

One of the people i really aspire to when it comes to using an interesting format or platform deliver their work is a street artist/photographer called JR, i used his work as a point of research when i was in collage as i found his work really bold and expressive.
 He takes black and white photographs of people and places them on what he feels is the appropriate building. Below i have posted a few of his photographs from a project called "Women are Hero's" this was a really strong project that took place in Brazil, India, Cambodia and Africa. 

I think this project is really strong and gives the people in poverty where these were pasted, hope and something to look forward to.

I admire JR for his unique and really interesting approach to getting your work out there, expressing yourself and in this case, making a difference.

ITAP LECTURE 6 2012

Today's lecture was about narrative and structure within visual communication, the lecture was given by the two animation and moving image tutors.

For my first point i have chosen "Story". the lecturer talked about the importance of stories. as social beings they play important roles in our lives, there are many different forms; passing information, getting a certain message across, reporting back to friends or family as well as being used to develop a narrative for art. 
 Stories help us to understand the world around us, and indeed our past, what our ancestors were like and how we have grown as a race. thanks to these stories we have learn and taught valuble lessons.
They generate emotions that are personal to us as well as to other people stories are remembered more that a piece of information because they may relate to us in some way therefore are ingrained unconsciously into our minds, so if given a trigger we will relate back to that story, repeating it and passing it on. 

they tend to develop from some key roots:

• Journey's we've been on, people we've met places we've been
• Experiences, both personal and those of other people
• Observations, something we have witnessed happen or is happening around us
• Documentary of something in the past such as war

it is important when thinking about developing narrative in art or photography, to make sure we tell or convey them in the right way, what is our intention and purpose. we must think about our audience and make sure we are communication the right message as well.

Below i have used a film cover as an example of Story, this is a film that is based on Nazi Germany, this is an example of a story being told about the past: 

For my second point i have decided to look at the point "Developing Narrative"
In every piece of narrative there is always conflict, as well as a protagonist who is always the good person, actively has something that needs to be done; a problem to be solved. Then there is the antagonist which is the individual, or problem that stands in the way of the protagonist, using Little Riding Hood as an example, she herself would be the protagonist and the wolf would be the opposite, he presents her with a problem of not being able to attend to her sick grandmother, and there is the conflict. 
another point within developing narrative is the layers in narrative. this is about hidden or deeper meanings within a story or piece of narrative, the story "Little Red Riding Hood" was used as an example, there are many different variations of this story as it is a very old fable, people have explored different layers and meanings of it; for example sexual awakening; the theory that the cloak represents fertility and the wolf rape. 

ITAP LECTURE 5 2012

This weeks lecture was given by of the Graphic Design teachers. i found it very inspiring and it is definitely going to be useful when making decisions about text layout and communication throughout out our magazine project. 

The first point i have decided to summarise "legibility within visual communication"  

When making an advertisement or editorial text many things must be taken into consideration. the text cannot be inconsistent and must be in a position that seems pleasing to the eye and doesn't confuse the reader. Red and Green mustn't be used together as some people suffer from colourblindness and therefor this can be distressing for the viewer. 

we must make sure that the text in the magazine has strong contrast and distinctive patterns although text can still be legible if creative typography is use. Below is an example of David Carson's work, he is well known for pushing the boundaries of legibility:

It is very important to avoid putting text over images because this completely confuses what each aspect is trying to communicate and looks really messy.

With adverts we must think about elements such as the lighting the advertisement is being used in, the distance the viewer will be, to determine the size of the text and to decide what font would be appropriate, for example "the worlds biggest burger" would not have fancy curly writing on it's advertisement.

Newspapers are an example of very legible text, the way they lay things out on the page is very important, they bring out part of the message in a big font in order to catch the readers attention, sometimes in a form of a pun or a short punchy collection of words summing up the story.

The second point i have decided to touch on is "Tone of Voice". 

It was about making the right choices when making the magazine, the way it is presented is very important and this has to be taken into consideration when thinking about the audience it's being shown too and the topic, the type has to be doing what the word is saying, text next to a photo must be given the same treatment. below i have given an example of the tone of voice NOT being thought about:

Worlds Biggest Burger £5

or the examples used in the lecture:

SHOUT

WHISPER

i felt these examples were really good and showed exactly the importance of choosing the right fonts and headings when it comes to designing a magazine or writing editorial text. This lecture has definitely opened my eyes and is going to be really helpful when making choices with my group for our magazine.

ITAP LECTURE 4 2012

This was my favourite lecture so far, I found it so refreshing and felt I could really connect with what the lecturer was saying. the points I have decided to reflect on and write about are "research" and the second point talked about "visual". 

The first point I have chosen to talk about is the importance of collecting research to help aid you in your practices, there are two forms of research; primary research which is going out and collecting the information needed yourself, whether this is in the form of photography, questionnaires or drawings, it's the practice of physically going out and collecting the information first hand, which stimulates the brain. 

 The second form is secondary research this is using data and information that others have collected before to help you with an idea or to give you inspiration, for example when I was in college I decided I wanted to experiment with underwater photography, so i looked for images that i liked the style of to help me create the sort of images I desired, and to show the thought process I had gone through throughout the assignment. The lecturer talked about how if you do not fully understand your field or practice and have not demonstrated that you have explored it or shown your thought processes your work will become shallow and uninformed. Below is an example in one of my sketchbooks where I have collected secondary research in the form of magazine layouts and adverts:

The second point is Visual, what was discusses was that in order to keep the creative mind alive almost, we are to keep constantly recording and collecting things that inspire us and help us to come up with ideas that could then lead on to pieces of work, things that show who we are. There are many different ways to do this, whether is be words, images or behaviour. Every artist will have their own way. I think that as visual research is collected it begins to show what sort of a person you are and your style within your medium. We are having to do this in the form of our RVJ's, we are constantly enquiring and trying to solve problems and questions we may have, I feel it is very important for us to collect things in our journals as research will come into every element of this project and ones to follow. 

ITAP LECTURE 3 2012

The third lecture we attended was called connectivity, I've chosen to look at the points about "the notions of originality" and where to draw the line when it comes to stealing ideas within creative mediums. And key principle number two: "Cultural Context within your chosen medium". I did struggle a bit with separating the points in this weeks lecture, but on closer inspection I realise that the lecturer blended the points together.

We were shown a passage by a man called Jim Jarmusch, it talks about how nothing is original, and it's very hard to think of something that has not been done before. The idea that instead of wasting time trying to think of something new, to revamp or renew an existing idea and make it your own, although it will of been done before, it will never be the same, for instance a photograph of the same subject will never be exactly the same as the original one taken because it was taken at a different point in time. 
 People have been doing this for years and years in the form of drawing, photography and mixed media. We were shown quite a few examples of this, like famous paintings that had been re-done but in the form of say a photograph. I have included an example below of this:

The image by Tamara de Lampicka shows the art movement futurism, Nick Nights photograph below has clearly taken inspiration from this, he is renowned for doing quite abstract photo shoots so I can see why he would of chosen to remake the image. The properties are quite similar, the pose of the model and even the creases in the material of her dress.

For the second point I have chosen Cultural Context within Chosen medium, I feel all the points were similar but this particular one talked about how artists use the culture around them to influence their work, this too has been shown throughout art history, I feel it's important that artists do this so it's almost like history is being captured thought art. An example of this would be say if an Asian decided to do textiles and did a project based on traditional Asian dress. As another example below I have included photo's taken by Dorathea Lange of the great depression, this shows photography influenced from culture issues and impact.