Thackara Readings

John Thackara's book In the Bubble: Designing in a Complex World discusses the connection between design and environmental sustainability.  In fact, he points out that about eighty percent of a products environmental impact is determined in the design stage.  Because of this, designers must understand what would benefit the product the most.  


Designs should portray the product in a way that people find pleasing.  In such a busy and crowded world, simplistic designs seem most appealing.  To me, these simplistic designs are attractive because they tend to be clean.  To look at something that is simple against a very chaotic setting is refreshing once in a while.  

People must not forget that design is a creative process.  Yes, technology is used during the process, but relying on it too much can impede creativity.  I recently read a study that said that although people like to think multitasking is helpful, it can actually be harmful to the creative process.  That being said, it is important to take some time off from technology and all its distractions in order to come up with the best design.  Throughout this creative process, designes need to be conscious of their impact, both environmentally as well as socially.  

Assignment 2: Painting to Life

Cherubs

By Frances Burkham, Sarah Marran, Rafael Smith, and Leigh Ann Kay

Logline:

Two students let their minds wander as they actively daydream during detention.

Treatment:

As the video begins, two female students are seen entering a detention session. They

pull out their study materials and begin to work. Just as they start to focus, they

both begin daydreaming. As they ponder, the camera pans back and forth between

them, entering their thoughts, and illustrating a flashback sequence that the two are

familiar with. The flashback takes place in the lobby of the Ward building, where

the two girls met an attractive young man earlier that week. The first student’s

memories during the flashback are very positive, and she finds herself head over

heels for the attractive boy. The second students memories are much more negative;

she does not like the boy and is upset by her friend’s obsession with him. Their

contrasting opinions of the meeting slowly put a divide in their friendship. Just as

their daydreaming reaches its deepest level, they are awoken at the same time. They

are pulled back into reality, and the two girls continue on with their schoolwork.

Exercise 6: Video Pitch

Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte 

Painted by Georges Seurat 

Logline: This shows a typical spring afternoon on the quad; people studying, having fun, and hanging out.  

Treatment: It's a sunny spring afternoon on campus, with people hanging out on the quad.  All around the quad, people are busy.  They are rushing to get places, to class, to catch the metro, or to go home.  On the quad, people are busy, but not in a rushed way.  They are busy hanging out, studying, having fun, and relaxing.  There is a group of people talking and laughing about a story that one of them just told.  To their left, there are people playing frisbee.  Not far from the frisbee players is a lone girl sitting near a tree reading. She is having difficulty relaxing, because she is near the commotion of the busy class-goers and can see everyone else having fun with their friends.  Near her is another group of people, this time, sitting in a rough circle on their computers and phones, ignoring those around them.  During all of this, people are still shuffling along the sidewalks both in the quad and around it and more people are coming to sit on the quad, creating even more of a distraction for the girl.  This scene comes to a close by displaying all the activities that are occurring on the quad in one shot which shows the girl giving up and leaving the relaxing area that is the quad and giving into the busy commotion of those surrounding her.  

Exercise 4: Photo Essay

How-To Photo Essay:  How to go on a First Date

Step One: Meet at Front Door

Step Two: Walk to Dinner

Step Three: Order Dinner

Step Four: Make Eye Contact

Step Five: Flirt

Step Six: Fight Over the Check

Step Seven: Walk Home

Step Eight: Kiss Goodnight

Our photo essay is called “How to go on a First Date.”  It is not supposed to be a serious photo essay, rather it is meant to be a comedy.  Through the pictures, we wanted to show awkwardness, which is represented in the first half of the pictures.  In some cases, the awkwardness feels tangible, like in step four: make eye contact. 

We decided to do two different pictures for step one and step four because it shows two different perspectives, allowing for a bit more interpretation than just showing one.  When we took the pictures for step four, we did not follow the rule of thirds, because we felt it made the uncomfortable feeling less pronounced.  The picture for step three: order dinner, continuance is used a bit because our eyes want to follow his hand down to the main subject matter of the photo, the couple on a date. 

Overall, I’m happy with how our photo essay came out, the pictures convey the humor and the awkwardness that we wanted, because those are the feelings that can be very prominent when going on a first date.  

Assignment 1: Photo Analysis

"Memorial Day" 

"Memorial Day" was the Pulitzer Prize winning photograph from 1984.  The photographer, Anthony Suau, was at the cemetery looking for something to photograph for the front page of the Denver Post.  He saw this woman hugging her husband's grave.  As soon as he saw this scene, he thought it would make the perfect picture, but the woman quickly let go of the tombstone.  Suau then positioned himself with a longer lens and waited for her to hug it again.  When she did, he quickly snapped the picture, seen above, which caught the grief felt by many people.  After this photo was published, Suau admitted that he got many phone calls from people, saying, "I've done that before.  I have hugged my husband's, wife's, father's, mother's, etc grave.  I can relate to that picture.   I can really feel what that woman feels."

Even if you do not know the background of this photograph, it still evokes many strong emotions.  As stated above, many people can connect to this photograph, but many people who do not have a connection to the military still feel several profound emotions.  "Memorial Day" represents the grief of thousands of people who have lost their loved ones in the line of duty.  (As well as people who have lost loved ones who once have served in the armed forces.)

The shallow depth of field in "Memorial Day" creates an emphasis is on the woman hugging her husband's gravestone. Because of the repetition of tombstones, you can picture the rows and rows of tombstones surrounding this one grave.  The repetition of tombstones also adds to the drama of the photograph.  The multiple tombstones that can be seen, as well as the many our minds picture that have not been included in this photo, create an emotional response because it reminds us of how many soldiers have been lost fighting for our country.  Also, because the focal point, the woman hugging the tombstone, creates an emotional response, seeing the rows of tombstones emphasizes the sadness felt by the woman.   However, because the majority of the tombstones are blurred, the main emotional portion of the photograph is the woman and her husband's gravestone.

The flags also create a feeling of patriotism.  It shows that we, as citizens of America, appreciate our service men and women.  We still remember them, regardless of when they died.  We honor each of the fallen men and women equally, which is also shown in the layout of the tombstones.  The colors of the American flag also stand out, creating a strong sense of pride in America.

The main focus of the photograph "Memorial Day" is the woman holding the tombstone.  She is still wearing her wedding ring, which, along with the overall position of her body, shows her husband is still a valuable part of her life, even though he is no longer physically in her life.  Her grief is palpable, spreading the grief and sorrow onto the viewer.

"Memorial Day" is an incredibly powerful photograph.  Every little part of the photo, from the focal point of the woman to the blurred tombstones creates a feeling of grief and sorrow, regardless of any personal connection to the events in this picture.  Because every element makes this a powerful photograph, it is no surprise that Anthony Suau won the Pulitzer Prize in 1984 for his deeply emotional photo "Memorial Day."

Balance Images

Symmetrical 

The United States Capitol is one of the most famous buildings on the Mall.  If a vertical line were placed in the middle of the building, both sides would be exactly the same, that is, the building shows symmetry. 

This is a design that is on the celling of the National Cathedral.  If you divide this picture in half vertically, one side would match perfectly with the other.  This design is symmetrical, making it pleasing to our eyes. 

This is also taken in the National Cathedral.  The arches are exactly symmetrical.  If they weren't, there would be structural issues.  Symmetry is used to be easy on the eyes and for structural reason. 

The Metropolitan Memorial United Methodist Church across from campus is also symmetrical.  Again, if a vertical line were placed in the center of the building, one side would directly match the other.  

Asymmetrical Images

Our very own Katzen Arts Center has an asymmetrical design.  No line could be placed to make each side symmetrical.  The design, to me, is very pleasing because so many buildings we see are symmetrical.  To see a break in the "traditional" architecture is a nice change.

This statue, outside of Katzen, is one of my favorite on campus.  Besides it's bold color, it is not a traditional sculpture of people that we see all around the city.  Again, I find the asymmetrical design pleasing and unique.  

The SIS building on Campus is not symmetrical when looked at from the entrance.  The left side of the building sticks out more than the right, which, even though it looks sort of symmetrical in the picture, create an asymmetric design. 

Ordinarily, the lights on campus are symmetrical.  This light, because of the American University banner on the left, shows asymmetry.  It looks "left heavy."  Placing only one banner on the pole, draws our attention to it.  Asymmetry can be a good tool to use when we want to catch people's attention.  

Exercise 2: Gestalt Principles

The Gestalt principles explain how we use visual organization techniques to create meaning based on what we see.  These five principles, proximity, similarity, continuance, closure, and figure-ground, are demonstrated below.



Proximity:

The principle of proximity states objects or shapes that are close to one another appear to form groups.

The square in the middle is made up of four rows of three individual and unique squares.  Though they can be identified as  small individual squares, our brains tel us that it is one larger square.













The wedges of cheese are arranged into two groups of five.  Our minds instantly group the wedges together in two groups of five, and then, after looking at it for a bit, we notice there are ten wedges.








Similarity

The theory of similarity is that objects that appear to be similar will be grouped in the viewer’s mind.

Our mind will group the four m&ms together and will then group the three dots, and will group the three periods, the elipsis, together.  While the m&ms and periods are circles, they apear different to ur eyes, so we separate them into different groups.











Our mind divides this image into two sections. The top, larger images, and the lower, smaller images.  Together, they make up a large rectangle, but our brains first register this image as two separate images, the three large ones and the six smaller ones.













Continuance 

Proximity and similarity lead to the idea of continuance.  We are more likely to follow the direction of an established pattern than deviate from it.





The brush at the top of this ad draws your attention down towards the name of the brand and more information.  Our eyes want to travel down the paper, which is created by the paint dripping down onto the curved belt, which then draws our eyes down towards the brand.















The spiral staircase that these two people are standing on causes our eyes to follow the stairs down towards the middle, where we learn the name of the show is 666 Park Avenue.  Then we finally look at the bottom, where we find out that the show premieres, or premiered, on Sunday, September 30 at 10 pm on ABC.







Closure

Our mind seeks to complete images. We group images together using the principles of proximity, similarity, and continuance to complete pictures.





The World Wildlife Fund's logo is a panda.  There are no definitive lines that cause our minds to instantly know it is a panda, but our minds add in invisible lines to complete the picture.  Our brains link together the shapes seen to create a panda.

The USA Network symbol also demonstrates the principle of closure.  The "U" and the "A" are awkward shaped when looked at separately, but when combined, we can imagine the "S" being there.





Figure-Ground

The figure ground is altered by the size and placement of an image.


Generally, when we first look at the FedEx logo, we only see the lettering "FedEx."  If we look a little harder, we can see an arrow in between the "E" and the "X."  Once it is pointed out, it is easy to focus on the image as a whole and focus only on the arrow.







This Snickers ad has one face that can be interpreted in two different ways.  The first, we see a man with a hat and a beard. If we look harder, we can also see a man wearing a turtleneck. (It is also easier to see the two different men if you flip the ad upside down.)  Once we know there are two different ways to interpret the image, we can focus on one or the other interchangeably