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I'm not sure what to post today, but I randomly enjoy making little notepads/sketch pads for myself. I've been playing with with different styles of Japanese stab binding

Greek House Continued

Here are updated pictures from my 16MP point and shoot. ( I don't want to risk my SLR camera in a place that is covered in and has greasy vapors). I'm frustrated that my bosses are so callous about design

Excited

I know it's really silly, but remember the post I had with the rubber tree as a possible idea for the restaurant I work at? Today, I contacted a person about using a font he created for the menu. (It's the font that my boss liked the most out of a list of possibilities) Within the same day, the creator contacted me back and is going to allow me to use it commercially for $10. It's becoming real for me; I love that. I never had moments like this while I was in the sciences and that's probably why I just auto-piloted through it.

Different language

So in Typography we're exploring letter forms. For some reason today it popped into my head, "what would happen if I did the same exploration on a chinese character?"

Heart

There were different "styles," but using this one it was most distinguishable to being the heart character after it was cropped. It also gave me a little insight as to why the heart Radical is the way it is... 快 (the character on the left)

origami!

I love origami. There's something about activities that require working with your hands that really appeals to me. I love throwing on the wheel in ceramics, and I enjoy folding origami. While doing some research on youtube for project ideas I found this tutorial that made me curious.

3 sides red

3 sides green

shot of both

some tugging and pinching... TADA~

compromise!

in my way of thinking... two not completely valid posts is equivalent to one valid one?

I have a mini light table at my apartment; it's a little more than 5"x9". But for my current purposes, it suffices. It created some interesting photos though. (please disregard the clutter on my table)

sooooo....

I know that we're not supposed to do many food posts, but this took a decent portion of my evening. I have a bad habit of buying fruit, getting busy, and end up forgetting about it. Apples, I'm usually okay about, but this morning the two I ate for breakfast were a little sketchy in the center. (In retrospect, that was probably because my frig partially froze them.) Bananas on the other hand? ALWAYS end up as banana bread.  

A friend favorite, but a pain to make. However, I do find the way the cookies crackle interesting.

Banana Nut Bread! I haven't tried it yet but it seems like it's going to be dense (4 mashed bananas) and moist.

I love this breakfast bread. It has apple chunks, pecans, and oatmeal.

So in the morning? if you're at the art school? FIND ME I'LL HAVE BREAKFAST!

cropping exercise

Reflection Questions

How successfully does each crop work?

How is cropping an improvement to the original?

What unnecessary components in the original have been eliminated through cropping?

How has the focal point in each photo changes or been improved?

Are the cropped images compositionally well balanced?

I think the crop helps focus the picture.
I feel like the cropping helps highlight the movement of the stream
The pooling at the end of the stream was cropped along with some
  of the foliage on the left
The way the picture is balanced now mimics the flow of the stream
I feel like they're well balanced.

The crop highlights the butterfly.
It improves the picture by taking out the distracting flowers on
  the left
The flowers on the left distracted from the flowers that
   the butterfly was feeding
The butterfly now rest in the center third of the photo
I feel like both photos are well composed.

The crop highlights the focus of the water
It improves the picture by taking out the cement block on the
  bottom left corner
I feel like the cement distracted from the naturalistic qualities
  of the photo
The photo now highlights the movement of the water
Both have their charm, but the cropped is more focused

The crop focuses the picture on the clouds
Cropping help takes out the distracting trees and power lines
I feel like the trees and power lines were distracting, however
  by cropping that I feel like it also took the darkest clouds
The photo now highlights the clouds
Neither are great, but they both have redeemable aspects

The crop highlights the rule of thirds

Cropping helps highlight the squirrel digging

The cropping helps clean up the composition by adding the 

  visual interest created by the rule of thirds

The photo now highlights the squirrel and his background

The crop is more successful than the original

The crop better presents the decorations

Cropping helps highlight takes out the random oreo package

By taking away the oreo package it cleans up the picture

The photo now focuses on the flowers

The crop is more successful than the original

The crop highlights the snail using the rule of thirds

Cropping helps highlight the snail traveling

The cropping helps clean up the composition by adding the 

  visual interest created by the rule of thirds

The photo now highlights the snail's journey

Both are good, but I feel like the crop is better

Sketch

I miss drawing. With this blog I hope to take more time for little sketches.

Mondays....

My thoughts on Mondays summarized by my cat:

Final Sketches

When given this exercise we worked through concept mapping as well as sketching out the ideas. During the sketches I feel like I focused more on the different possible designs for the vessel for our organic beverage.

To my thinking, an organic beverage needs to be recyclable and appeal to college age kids needed to be modern and compact. As a result I explored the idea of drink packets that would dissolve in water to create a small fizzy beverage that would not only boost one's energy level, but also provide some nutrients. It would be similar to the contents of Emergen C, except the target would not only be boosting the immune system, but also the person's focus and energy. So, our contents would include Taurine as well as Caffeine (I didn't look into whether or not caffeine or taurine would be dissolvable under such circumstances, so this is hypothetical and in an ideal situation)

The name I played with and labeled on my sketches was "Power ↑" simply because it would mimic the movement of the vessels as well as the beverage's desired effects.

For the first product I played with the idea of folded paper pouches that would contain a capsule or the power at the bottom. The consumer would add a designated amount of water, stir the beverage until fizzy and then consume. Once consumed and the pouch rinsed, it would be recyclable in any paper recycling location.

This model focused on the same beverage principle, but allowed for  cup that would be extendable. It would be  a small hockey puck that would fit into backpacks and once needed the connected circles would extend downwards to form a cup.

This model also used paper, but within the paper there would be a thin strand of spiraled plastic. Once opened the plastic would release allowing the formation of a cup. There would be a tab on the side that allowed you to remove the plastic after consumption- allowing the consumer to recycle both the paper and the plastic.

Homework Part 1

Here is the Mind mapping and some of the original sketches for our fictitious organic soda product.

 

Idea

I've worked at the Greek House for more years than I'm willing to admit. Working there I've noticed that their menu and sign hasn't changed in the duration I've worked there and so I've been playing with ideas.

One idea involves the Rubber Tree that has always been a prominent part of the restaurant. I borrowed my coworker's smart phone and took this picture. I'm probably going to bring a nice point and shoot camera tomorrow to retake the picture, but I've toyed with the idea of vectoring the tree and having it decorate a to-go menu... We'll see...

Another Post

While I was in the bathroom earlier I noticed the random collection of loofas perched above our bathtub. I was really interesting in the texture as well as the shadows that were created within each loofa.  The color combination amongst the loofas appealed to me as well as the black and white tiled background. I hope to use these eventually as a template for vectoring to challenge myself. (Nikon 5000 Lens: 35mm) Mainly playing with depth of field.

First Entry

Creative ideas/ Sketches/ Photography

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