Ads some meaning?

            Being apart of the 21^st century means we are all accustomed to the great technology we have today and also we tend to keep up with the latest trends. One of the biggest trends today is Facebook. In 2004, Facebook was launched out a Harvard dorm by sophomore, Mark Zuckerberg and three fellow friends. Today it has more than one million users worldwide.

The picture shown above isn’t exactly an advertisement for Facebook or even in their favor. Facebook’s name is spelled out on a table in their traditional text that is used for their logos. The name it’s self is made out of a white powdery substance that is to be interpreted as crack. What confirms our conclusion that the female in the upper portion of the picture is inhaling the last o through a paper roll. The viewer automatically assumes facebook as being addicting… which it is.

From a critical standpoint of how this shot works, the rule of thirds is applied. The site name isn’t directly in the middle of the picture. It’s on an angle that shoots from the bottom left hand corner to the top right, where the “Facebook user” is snorting it. This keeps the viewer’s eye moving throughout the photo.

Another lightly applied technique is what is in focus. Here the user is in focus while everything else is blurred. For example, the object in the top left by her elbow. We have no idea what it is nor do we really care. We’re still stuck on the fact of how brilliant this shot is. Keeping the user in focus gives the sense of what she is possibly feeling. We could interoperate it as everything around her is fading away and losing herself in the drug. 

The color scheme adds to this overall picture as well.  The picture has the same saturation throughout its colors which gives off this relax feeling to the viewer. Other than the brown of the table, the white of the “coke”, and the black of her hair, a mustard yellow and a robin egg blue are used. Colors are said to evoke emotion and these two colors that stand out stir up their own feelings.

According to color-wheel-pro (dot) com, pure yellow is an attention getter and usually produces a warming, cheerfulness feeling and stimulates mental activity. Yellow is also described as a spontaneous color but once a yellow becomes dulled it takes on a whole new meaning. A dulled yellow, such as mustard yellow, is said to imply caution, decay, sickness and jealousy. All feels that can relate when viewing Facebook user pages.

Blue is a much more simple color. It is often used to suggest calmness and serenity. At the same time it could be seen as sadness. Since the drug is being ingested into the user’s system the blue could even be viewed as being least appetizing. Blue isn’t a common color among food and as humans, we tend to avoid blue coloring in food because it is often a sign of poison or spoiled food.

Having a strong composition isn’t the only key to having a successful photo. Starting out with a strong message is the first step. Tints, shades, hues, and saturation are another. Effects can help enhance feelings and meanings of what the photographer is trying to get through to the viewer.  And picking a controversial topic that relates to millions of people helps more people appreciate the work put into it.

Off the Wall

            Founded in the beautiful United States of America, Vans celebrated its 46^th birthday this month. According to Jason Le, a writer at Sneaker Freaker. com, Steve Van Doren, who worked for the 3rd largest shoe manufacture in the United States, Randy’s, started this nationally known brand. Vans started off just as a shoe brand and today sells all different styles of shoes, clothing, stickers, accessories, and also gives sponsorships. This company is made to target young kids. It started off just targeting just surfers and skateboarders since the shoes were being produced in Southern California. Later, as the company developed a bit more, Vans started to accommodate BMX riders and snowboarders. Today it doesn’t matter who are, how old you are, or what sport you may do, Vans now makes all types of shoes and boots that can fit nearly every occasion. And in the 46 years of production Vans still maintained the same classic taste and style.

            Vans even maintained the same logo pretty much. If we showed Grandma or Grandma the Vans logo (shown above) and asked what do they think this company sells, they might assume automotive vans. So why does Vans have a logo that doesn’t clearly state what they are trying to get the consumers to buy? Why is the logo so plain? The Vans logo is plain black and white to have a classic feel as though they’re not trying to sell you something false. They don’t feel the need to add flashy colors to hide their product behind. Vans uses black and white to show that their product is what it is and they stand by it. The “V” in Vans is extending to the right over the rest of the letters in the logo to show their expansion eastward over the United States. The Vans logo font is a plain font just bolded. It’s close to Arial font but isn’t quite it so it must be a specifically made font for the Vans company.

            In 1976, Vans came out with a new logo and adopted a slogan. This logo was the official logo for Vans’ official skateboarding shoe. Today it can be found on almost any Vans merchandise. This new logo has the same old classic logo but inside of a skateboard with their new slogan, “Off the Wall”.  This new logo can be found in black and white or white and red. Still only using two colors keeps the image that the product is what it is take it or leave it. But by adding red and taking away the black it makes the logo bolder. Being bold is genuinely what the targeted group was supposed to be, big tough athletes that get back up once they have fallen. When Steve Van Doren was asked what the new slogan “Off the Wall” meant, he explained that in the 70’s skateboarders would say that phrase when riding in pools. It could also be interoperated as the brand being awesome, crazy, cool, unique, and rebellious.

Helchelsica

For this blog post, my class and I were asked to visit this website and take a quiz that would match a text with our personalities. I got Helvetica as my result.  According to the quiz I am, “an industry standard, classic, reliable, and a little bit boring. I shouldn’t let the haters get me down and that I have plenty of friends who think I’m the best”. This definition of Helvetica as my personality is for the most part accurate. I do consider myself very reliable, I believe classic looks are timeless, and I tend to be boring in my nature.

            Not many people stop to wonder why certain types are used on posters, billboards, or even a simple candy bar. There are hundreds upon thousands of different types of text that we as a society are exposed to though out the day. Some texts are used to make a product recognizable at a quick glance. While other texts are used to help provoke emotion or clear up a message.

            Why was Helvetica developed? Helvetica was created in 1957 to be used as a more readable and easily displayed typeface. This was very important as different media forms and a modern advertising industry was beginning to flourish. Soon after being produced, Helvetica became the most widely used font of its time. With its clean, smooth lines, it reflected a modern look that many graphic designers wanted. At the time, many European countries were recovering from war, Helvetica was the font used to express newness and modernity.

Sadly, about 20 years after breaking the scene, a font called, Frutiger, put Helvetica into retirement. Frutiger was said to be the “humanized” version of Helvetica. The only difference with Frutiger was a slightly jagged and varying widths Helvetica’s once naked design. From there on out designers craved new fonts that were more expressive and energetic. Although, today one of the most used fonts is Arial. Arial was developed by a company called Monotype and was released as a cheaper Helvetica substitute.  They’re vary similar but Arial has replace Helvetica as the digital standard, especially on the Internet.

 Fonts have changed over the years to fit the needs of growing industries. In modern times, each text has it’s own personality and flare. Text can be helpful in conveying a message or emotion. Or it can be simply used just because it’s easy to read. 

Comic Analysis

When growing up, the newspaper to me always seemed like something only old folks would read. It looked like just a jumble of boring words, collected with boring pictures, on normal boring paper. Everything about the newspaper screamed boring, that is, until the day that I realized there are comics hidden inside the middle of every Sunday newspaper. In 1994, Patrick McDonnell created the comic strip, Mutts. Ever since the day that I discovered the exciting world of Sunday comics, I've enjoyed Mutts the most.

So when asked to analyze a comic, it's only logical to use my favorite one!

Cartoonist are used to working with limited space. Their style is a little abstracted so the fine detail isn’t always there. But cartoonists have a way of using lines to help viewers understand what is going on. For example they can make objects look textured. In the comic strip I have chosen, the emphasized texture is fur. Short lines represent the fur that is flying off of the character and is sticking to everything in sight.  We can conclude that the character, Mooch, isn’t exploding because in the final panel, Mooch’s speech bubble tells us that it is shedding season. In this particular comic strip, McDonnell has the character talking to us. Since Mooch’s eye line is looking straightforward, as if he’s looking out of the comic and into the real world, it helps convince us that he is talking to us.

The other details that McDonnell includes but doesn’t get carried away with are the decorations in the room. We can clearly see there are two armchairs, a pillow, and an oval. The armchairs are very plain and do not have any pattern on them. One has a blanket and the other has a single pillow. The lines coming from the wall signify that the floor is hardwood. McDonnell doesn’t make them solid lines so that we focus more on the character and speech bubble. There are also lines coming down from the top of the comic. Once again they’re not solid lines and one could assume that they’re representing wallpaper. The oval in the top left of the comic doesn’t have anything in it. We can tell it’s a frame because McDonnell places and oval inside of another oval. What it is supposed to be is completely up to the viewer. Whether it is a window, mirror, or picture the choice is ours.

The last trick cartoonist have is creating depth. McDonnell makes us believe this comic has depth by placing the bottom of the armchairs a little bit below the plane (where the wall meets the floor). This gives us the illusion that there is space between the armchairs and the wall. Also he places lines under things such as the oval to represent a shadow.

Chelsea the Icon

When asked to pick an icon to represent myself I briefly tried to think of various ideas. The image I chose that would represent me best is the lovely pink pony you see above. At a quick glance, one might think that it's just a My Little Pony. But when you stop and take the time to look, you can see that the once innocent My Little Pony is transforming into something completely different. I feel this is symbolic of me because at a first glance I just seem like a shy quiet girl. But once I get a feel for other people's personalities I start transforming into someone that can be loud and highly obnoxious (though I try not to scare people away). 

This My Little Pony monstrosity is actually one of my own sketches. In the full series, a seemingly normal My Little Pony is transforming into a battle tank (like I said before, completely different). This is the second phase of six. I love this one the most because you can still tell that it is a My Little Pony but still wonder as to what it is becoming. I feel like I'm in a countless number of phases to become something potentially great. Whether those phases are for bettering myself as an artist or just simply as a person, I believe I'm still growing. At the same time I feel as though I will always have my five-year-old optimism to keep me young. 

Altering a My Little Pony into a battle tank seems kind of twisted. But the first word that I wish my viewers to associate with this My Little Battle Tank is creative. I try to live everyday in a creative way by seeing things in a new perspective and keeping an open mind. When thinking about My Little Ponies a few words that come to mind are, giggling, smiling, caring, and fun. I love to do just that. I love to see other people smiling and laughing just as much as I love to find myself doing the same. I care greatly for the people in my life and I appreciate each and every one of them. In my never ending strive for happiness it’s essential that I have fun. Words closely connected with battle tanks are usually strong and forceful. I may not look like much but I can hold my own. I’ve been through a lot of tough times and I’ve become a better person because of them. If I believe in something enough I will fight for it till the end.