Navigation Project

Since I'm fairly new to the design world, I wanted to design a piece to show as part of a portfolio. Therefore, my app is a personal collection of the projects and observations I have completed over the semester.  The intended audience would be anyone interested in looking at my work (hopefully more than just Mum and Dad). At first my concept was based on the collision of urban and organic design, as I felt that was really the underlying connection between all of my projects/outside studies. Then, as I spent more time with the content I was mainly focusing on how each design concept related to one another. There was a flow throughout the themes, which intrinsically linked or threaded them together. This is how 'Common Thread' was born.

It's easiest for me to just layout what was going on in my mind when developing this navigational structure. So here it goes...

My content starts with the grid project, because with any type of design there is some form of underlying structure.
The grid poster leads into the grid observation to show how a simple grid can be used in the 'real world'.
The grid observation links to The Eames research post. This is because to me the most interesting part of their work was their house, the structure of which was based on a pattern of repeating a cube. However, they amended the original layout of the building so they wouldn't disturb its natural surroundings.This started to combine the harsh, grid structure with a softer, organic feel.
This lead me to my craft project, as although it was designed on a physical cube, the story was about the overwhelming, unpredictable nature of the sea.
Constructing the cube gave me a great appreciation for artists who used paper as their medium, so my observation was on a fabulously intricate paper city.
The city was built using multiple layers of paper, tying in nicely to my layers observation of another 'paper artist'.
The layers observation was great inspiration for our layers project. Where we designed large scale installations using whatever material we desired. My group focused mainly on paper and yarn.
With those materials we created a lot of hand woven messages; exploring the different kinds of type you could make.
Type was an obvious choice for the next observation. From our layers project we learned a lot about texture, and how typography can be used to develop a pattern or texture.
Which we learned A LOT about in our texture project, where type was the only thing that could be used to recreate an image.
Contrasting that highly visual project, I found an article on an architect who tragically lost his sight, forcing him to rely on his other senses, especially touch. He had to develop a new way to print out his blueprints in a way he could still understand them. Braille.
The determination this man had, gave me an overwhelming sense of his 'voice' and love for constructing environmental spaces. This lead me to my voice project, where we had to use a building to display a message to a certain audience. My message was to the students/business professionals in Boston encouraging them to slow down and appreciate life.
An artist who was phenomenally successful at portraying that message was Sister Corita. Her messages impacted so many people, and through their design expressed core emotions such as joy and faith.
J.K. Rowling and Stephanie Meyers (both authors of incredibly popular books/movies) have affected even more people with their creative imagination. Not with the same type of message as Corita, but one that has spread as far, if not further.
But back to Corita's work, she leverages image, type, and colour in her designs to communicate her message.
Her use of image brings me to one of my favorite photographers who really observes the natural light, reflections, and colours. His photographs are mainly of the ocean, and materials/scenes found around it. 
The variation in his photos of the colour blue could have really helped my blue colour study at the beginning of the term. 
Sol Lewitt is an artist who really takes colour study to the next level. His large scale installation art was so vibrant and in your face you couldn't help but be awed by it. 
Speaking of large scale artists, I found an article on an environmental artist who uses fields to construct his art. I really liked his use of natural materials and the temporary nature of his work. 
Similarly, there is another artist who also works with organic materials, but mainly in small scaled items, like terrariums so small they can fit in your hand. 
Scale also has a lot to do with the way in which we read things, or the hierarchy in our work. Granted, colour, image, typeface etc, also affect hierarchy, but it is mainly the shift in scale that catches peoples attention. So for the hierarchy project, we had to play with the scale shifts in order direct our audiences attention to different things. 
Finally, hierarchy dictates what people see first and how easily they compute the message. This is an essential part of navigation. If there isn't something big to say 'hey, go this way' the signage (or whatever tool is used) is not successful. These bathroom examples were clever, simple, yet effective.


My grid was a 6 column grid with a 1 pica gutter width. This worked well for my project, because it allowed me enough freedom to play with different widths of the text columns and images. This being said, to go along with my concept, there were a number of places where I chose to ignore the grid.  Where this happened was often where I used the script typeface (Halohandletter Script), emphasizing the organic. Whereas, the areas with the serif font (Univers Ultra Condensed) I generally stuck pretty close to the grid.

Here's the link to my navigation project-hope you enjoy. Changes to the navigation page and icon come!

Texture Project

My description for this photo was:

Deep purples fade to lavendar and crisp white. 

Rugged green leaves and vines contrast the fragility of the petals.

In total I ended up with 27 layers in Illustrator. I sectioned out the different areas of the photo and labeled them appropriately. The typeface I used was ITC Galliard Std, which is a serif font. I mostly used it's ultra black italic weight, so it would hold the most colour, and the ragged edges would mimic those of the natural leaves and flower. 

I originally had done my texture piece on a close up shot of a banana, but changed to this photo because it had a lot more texture to play with. I really wanted to see how much I could get the recreation to look like the photo. I feel that I could've made it look more like the original image, however, time was an issue. So some of the details on the flower/leaves are not as exact as they could be.

Grid Project Redo

In my first go at the project I was concerned about being able to read the message. In this round I wanted to see what I could do if I threw legibility to the wind. The same paragraph and typeface were both used.

Hierarchy Project

 

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."- Amendment 10

The message that I wanted to convey across all three parts of this project was that the individual states are not united. I feel that with the number of people Although the amendment says the individual States are allowed to decide matters by themselves, the vast number of people in each state prohibits decisions from being made. In the first composition (major scale shift) I made 'not' be the largest word and broke it into pieces to enhance the feeling of not being united. The rest of the wording in the amendment is small and also broken up into the negative space, almost allowing them to fade away. The second composition (minor scale shift) I took the amendment and repeated it, into the form of the 'x' symbol. The x shape is not connected, framing the message in the middle. The third piece (image) I used the amendment to literally frame the image.

In my opinion the second piece is the most successful. There are a number of levels of hierarchy that work, drawing you farther into the piece. The requirement of small scale shift forced me to think outside the box to get the message across. With the other two compositions I felt like I had so many options, I became overwhelmed and just settled for something.

I chose black, yellow, and white as my colour palette because I felt like this is a serious topic. The black allowed me to play with the varying shades of gray, adjusting the feel of each composition. The yellow provided me with a very high contrast colour that could stand out well on black or gray.

"To understand is to stand under which is to look up to, which is a good way to understand."- Sister Corita

 

  

"Corita Kent's...work was a living meditation, with consciousness and devotion to the soul of the here and now"-Lorraine Wild.

Sister Mary Corita/Sister Corita Kent, was born Frances Elizabeth Kent in 1918, but changed her name when she joined the Order of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1936. She is known in the design world as a legendary for her bright, progressive silkscreen prints.

It's unmistakable that she was an artist in the 1960s. Her work is clearly reflective of the time she lived in; full of change, hope, and social activism. It is also said she was partly inspired by Pope John XXIII's challenge for the Catholic Church to renew and rethink it's traditions. Corita's work combined colour, type, and image to create bold, beautiful pieces of art sending out a message of love, faith and joy.

Pizza considered a vegetable? Way to go America...

This article infuriates me. America is ranked #1 in the world for obesity, and after reading this article it's no surprise as to why. 

According to a decision made by Congress anything containing 2 tablespoons of tomato paste can now be considered a vegetable. This means that a slice of pizza now falls into the vegetable column. The article also makes it clear that this is purely a political move to stop some major industries from taking a severe cut in revenue. 

There are many different opinions on this recent decision. I picked out two contrasting views:

Retired Air Force General Richard E. Hawley, (who now works with Mission: Readiness to combat obesity):

“This is a tragedy for the country... We are taking a step backward apparently in response to pressure from groups who see it in their interest to serve junk food in our schools.”

Corey Henry (spokesman for the American Frozen Food Institute):

“We are not saying pizza is a vegetable... What we are saying is if you serve a slice of pizza with 2 tablespoons of vegetable paste, it can be an important way to deliver a number of vegetables that children will actually consume.”

Now to some of my issues with this decision... 

1) Aren't tomatoes considered a fruit? So why the hell Congress just allowed them to be considered a serving of vegetables is beyond me. 

2) Even if tomatoes were a vegetable the amount of sugar in the tomato paste, fat in the cheese, and carbohydrates in the crust should be enough to have it banned school menus altogether. 

3) Budget cuts in this area is going to severely affect the American economy in the long run. To highlight how obesity effects the economy I have listed a number of staggering statistics:

• $127million are spent on hospital costs each year due to childhood obesity. This is more than 3 times that of 2 decades ago. 
• Annual direct costs of childhood obesity= $14.3 billion.
• In 1994 US businesses spent $5 BILLION in non-medical costs due to obesity:
• $2.4 billion was spent on paid sick leave
• $1.8 billion on life insurance
• $0.8 billion on disability insurance 
• US-wide annual cost of “excess” medical speding attributed to obesity=$86-$147 billion.

Economy aside, it's astounding to me that Congress doesn't seem to be at all concerned with how this decision will effect overall health in America. In fact, it may even increase the amount of obese people in the country. In short, studies show that obese children are more likely to grow up to be obese adults. Obese adults are more likely to raise obese children, as the children adopt the eating/exercise routines of their parents. 

End rant. 

Article link:

http://www.thejournal.ie/us-congress-rules-that-pizza-is-a-vegetable-282033-Nov2011/

Link to a report on the issue by MSNBC:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJy971DCDlg

"Bring joy and vigor to whatever you do."- Ray Eames

Charles and Ray Eames are considered icons in the design world. They explored many facets of design including: architecture, engineering, drawing, textiles, furniture, fine art, photography, film, and industrial and graphic design.

They were both successful artists and designers before they married in 1941, however, as a team the dynamic duo took the design world by storm. One thing that caught my attention in particular was the house they built for Arts and Architectures experimental housing project in the 1940s. With the end of WWII, millions of soldiers returned to the US causing an incredible strain on the housing in America. So to help, the magazine hired numerous notable architects of the time to design and construct modern inexpensive houses in order to cope with the increased demand.

Ray and Charles Eames were amongst the commissioned architects and ended up building Case House #8, also known now as the Eames House. They built this house on the Pacific Coast in California. Originally the house was designed to stretch into and across a meadow on the property. But after seeing the gorgeous landscape, the couple decided to build the house at the very edge of the property to preserve as much nature as possible.

The structure of the house is a pattern of repeating a cube. They then split the house into two functional parts, living area and studio. The interior is open, comfortable, and inspired by the Japanese way of living. This house is still considered a marvel in modern architecture and the most successful in the Case Housing Study. Below is a link to a video made by the couple of their house.


Article link:
http://www.stepinsidedesign.com/STEPMagazine/Article/28824/

Video link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv7ipQdUrYk&feature=related