PSD UI kit for Twitter

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2011/12/22/freebie-new-twitter-profile-page-gui-psd/

Google Web Fonts

Just stumbled across this,

http://www.google.com/webfonts

Hundreds of free, open-source fontsoptimized for the web
Just 3 quick steps between you and a good lookin’ website

1. Choose:
Search or browse hundreds of font families, then add the ones you like to your Collection.

2. Review:
Compare and refine your Collection, even see the styles in a dynamic sample layout.

3. Use:
Grab the code we prepare and you’re ready to add the Collection to your website!

Inspiration-005: Dangers of Fraking

This is so awesome.

Resource 005: iPad Mock-Up Insanity

Be Amazed

The UI Kit I've been working on

I decided to make one after doing all the research I shared with you guys...  Here it is :

UI Kits

Free Standford online HCI class

Standford is hosting an online free HCI (Human Computer Interaction) class in January.

In case you don't have enough in your plate here's something to do..

http://www.hci-class.org/

Visual Systems Inspirational Interview

Inspirational interview on Visual Systems with Casey Reas and Ben Fry, Processing creators.

via  http://substratumseries.com/

Resource 004: Learn HTML & CSS in 30 Days

Free instructional program from a reliable source of online resources: TUTS+

Vector Based graphic UI eements for iPhone

Hey guys,

if you're interested, I posted a link to a site that has really clean vector based iPhone Ui elements.

Article 001: Adobe Discontinues Support for Flash

Article

interactive design meets physical computing and robotics

Hey guys here is a great example of interactive design and physical computing/robotics meeting up.

click me

Adobe HTML5 Animation

http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/edge/


Adobe® Edge is a new web motion and interaction design tool that allows designers to bring animated content to websites, using web standards like HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS3.

This weeks Reading / Exercises

Usability Reference:

http://www.usability.gov/methods/design_site/index.html

Card Sorting:

http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/card_sorting_a_definitive_guide


Paper Prototyping:

http://www.alistapart.com/articles/paperprototyping/

Navigation:

http://www.bestdesigntuts.com/25-unusual-website-designs-with-remarkable-navigation/

Food for Thought:

http://www.alistapart.com/articles/personality-in-design/

How to write an effective design brief

I found this article pretty useful when writing the design brief for the project.


http://justcreativedesign.com/2008/09/26/how-to-write-an-effective-design-brief/

Do websites need to look exactly the same in every browser?

This explains everything.

http://dowebsitesneedtolookexactlythesameineverybrowser.com/

Useful Web Documents Download

http://www.docpool.co/

Includes a website checklist! 

Awesome emerging tech site

guys check this site out. it covers all of the best emerging technology.

click me

Amon Tobin

Great video on the process of designing a stage for Amon Tobin's latest tour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLrt7-kIgIM&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Food For Thought

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/the_responsive_web_design_revolution_coming_to_a_f.php


"Facebook's mobile moves are part of a larger trend called responsive web design. It won't just be the code bases that change either. We, the users, will notice the differences too. For example, it's likely that Facebook's desktop website will over time utilize more of the design patterns in its mobile apps and site."

Resource 003: Apple Product PSD

Apple PSD's

Design 003: Dow-Smith

www.dow-smith.com

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Noses.

Aside from how hilarious the concept of this website is, and how badly it makes me ask..." Why did i never think of this?" The layout is very clean. The texture in the background and other design elements play up to the real world "print" look that we had talked about previously in class. Unfortumnately... not web responsive.

Find My Friends - I knew it!

http://gma.yahoo.com/cheating-heart-iphone-app-finds-wife-another-man-140300843.html

One of many stories to come  :)

Resource 002: Potential Responsive Web Formula

http://www.webdesignshock.com/responsive-web-design/

UI Kit Tutorial + Free 1 week Lynda

Here is the link to the UI toolkit tutorial from webdesign.tutplus.com

http://webdesign.tutsplus.com/videos/create-a-simple-user-interface-kit-from-scratch-free-psd-included/


Also, came across this 7-day free Lynda.com trial.

http://www.lynda.com/Mordy

Mobile Website Designs

Inspiration:

http://www.mobileawesomeness.com/

http://blog.templatemonster.com/2011/05/05/mobile-web-design-trends-2011/




Food for thought: Mobile Ready

Smartphones, iPads, netbooks, oh my! There’s a dizzying amount of mobile products available to the consumer in 2011. This means your web design must be responsive to multiple viewports.
Creating a mobile ready website is not simply removing the bells and whistles from your design. This can create a vacant and impersonal design. Although not impossible, distilling the magic from your original design into a pure representation of your brand is tough! Fortunately, technology is quickly removing this burden.

With the help of CSS3, primarily media queries, mobile web design has taken a big leap forward (more on this later). One of the most important advances is that you can design a whole site and allow your coding to conform to the user’s viewing medium.
It may be tempting to just create a dedicated mobile site, but that may no longer satisfy your audience. Increasingly, mobile sites include the option to visit the original site. If you do not offer this option or if your original site is not optimized to mobile standards, you are simply not ready for 2011. Forecasters predict that smartphones will outsell personal computers this year. Bulletproof your design to meet this demand.

Taken from:  http://webdesignledger.com/tips/web-design-trends-in-2011

Resource 001: Smashing Article - iPhone Icons

Designing for iPhone 4 Retina Display Techniques and Workflow

This is a great article that explains some of the adversities of designing for the retina display and how to overcome them.

Wareface

Here is an interesting site, representative of a responsive web design. It almost reminds me of the Content Aware feature in Photoshop, where you can edit out part of a image seamlessly.

Some pages work better than others, but overall, it is an effective site representing pages that adapt to any size of the window.

http://www.warface.co.uk

my responsive web example

hey guys check out another cool example of responsive web design....

~Rob

click me!

Responsive Architecture

http://filamentgroup.com/examples/responsive-images/

Nice, smooth re-sizing of image based on browser dimensions.

Responsive Website Design Blog

http://yaronschoen.com/work/

I like how organized and interative the work page is. It is easy to follow both on desktop screen and on a mobile device.

Design 002: Responsive Web

ThinkVitamin

I really enjoy Think Vitamin's layout. The interface itself adapts nicely to changes in size and resolution. In terms of display it looks and works great. I didn't notice anything funny with the navigation, or structure of the actual content postings. However, when resized to the smallest width possible some of the functionality drops. Such as: social media links, post categories, and the search feature. Additionally, there are some issues with images being resized within the posts. Most resize fine, but some end up looking disproportional.

Overall, I found that their layout adapted as it should. It was also very fast. However, there were minor issues with content adaptability. An additional note is that I tested their website on both my desktop and iPad.

Media queries in the wild

These two sites make nice use of media queries.

First, icon designer John Hicks, presents his work available in four different layouts, each optimized for your screen.

http://hicksdesign.co.uk/

Then, a fun example of typography use with a sparkle of the Coen brothers humor.

http://www.strangenative.com/foldup

No Class Tonight, Mon Oct 10

Monday October 10, No class tonight, please check your email.

thanks!

Between Now and Wednesday:

Please start researching Responsive Web // we'll begin this on Wednesday.  

Some Links:

http://www.alistapart.com/articles/responsive-web-design/

http://coding.smashingmagazine.com/2011/01/12/guidelines-for-responsive-web-design/

http://sixrevisions.com/tools/responsive-web-design/

http://webdesignledger.com/inspiration/24-excellent-examples-of-responsive-web-design

Blog Post:

Everyone, pick a responsive web design and do a blog post about what you think works well / what doesn't - we'll begin class with the blog on Wednesday.

Media Militia

Great site for resources, inspiration, and good articles.

http://mediamilitia.com/

Talk to Me: Design and the Communication between People and Objects

Last Sunday I went to this exhibition in New York at the MOMA.
I would highly recommend it. Nice curation of interaction projects based on Processing, R, OpenFrameworks and Arduino.

Dates: July 24–November 7, 2011

Talk to Me >>

Talk to Me explores the communication between people and things. All objects contain information that goes well beyond their immediate use or appearance. In some cases, objects like cell phones and computers exist to provide us with access to complex systems and networks, behaving as gateways and interpreters. Whether openly and actively, or in subtle, subliminal ways, things talk to us, and designers help us develop and improvise the dialogue.

The exhibition focuses on objects that involve a direct interaction, such as interfaces, information systems, visualization design, and communication devices, and on projects that establish an emotional, sensual, or intellectual connection with their users. Examples range from a few iconic products of the late 1960s to several projects currently in development—including computer and machine interfaces, websites, video games, devices and tools, furniture and physical products, and extending to installations and whole environments.

Cool Tutorial for creating a nice grain texture in Adobe Illustrator

http://vectips.com/tutorials/create-grainy-textures/

Inspiration-004: I-Heart

I would say that at the very core of my inspiration is a sincere desire to use what I learn to right the wrongs of our world. I realize I can't fix everything, but this video does well to illustrate why I even decided to go to school and learn media in the first place. It all comes back to the content that this video describes.

Typography Inspiration Website

Hi guys! Here is a website I found that utilizes some interesting , interactive and "eye catching" typography that I never saw before. I like the way it displays partial large font t to get the message across to the viewer.

http://www.polargold.de/#showcase

Typeface!

http://typeface.kartemquin.com/

About year ago went with a few friends and my undergrad advisor/professor friend to see the documentary "Typeface" IT followed the story of today's designer and artists using an old but all but forgotten technology of using letterpresses and typesetting.

THe film visits the Hamilton Wood Type Foundry/Museum, where wood type is still created today. Different studios from startups to well established design firms are visited and show how well letterpress can be integrated into today's design world.

Daniel Martin's Hello

Daniel Martin's personal site makes great use of typefaces to provided that warm, welcoming retro feeling.

go to site>>

Awesome book that reminded me of our Action Phrase assignment.

Hey Guys,

I head about this great book that contains no words but tells the story of an immigrant and his daily trials and tribulations in the form of images only. In the entire book there are no words. Click on the image to see more shots from the book.

I plan on purchasing this book. The illustrations are incredible form what I have seen. They're all pencil on paper and really look like they're about to come to life. I'd be surprised if Shaun Tan, the Australian author/Illustrator is not approached by a film maker to turn this into an animated short film.

Personas

http://thinkvitamin.com/design/how-to-understand-your-users-with-personas/

Web Design Inspiration

http://siteinspire.com/showcase

LOOK AT ME // READ ME

Visual Heirarchy : Click Me

Another link to good websites

http://www.awwwards.com/

Stock photo Sites

http://www.dreamstime.com/

http://www.thinkstockphotos.com/

Due Monday September 19, 2011

Milestone 1: Product Specific Website

1. Site Analysis / Audit
2. Two Mood Boards (Two looks)
3. Two Concept Layouts 

We will review these as a class on the main screen and choose a direction to pursue.

Think about how you will present your concepts to us :

Start with where you came from (Site analysis), move into your mood board and concept layouts.

Friday is a work session here in class!

Surrealism and vectors

I really like Simon Fernandes' work. Great web design as well.
go to Simon Fernandes' site >>

Great Article on SMASHMAG

Smashing magazine has an article posted that features websites that make great use of texture throughout their designs. A lot of cool looking layouts.

A few tools for everyone.

Adobe Kuler was mentioned in class... definitely a big inspiration in a lot of the work I have done in the past.

http://kuler.adobe.com/

And for those google chrome users out there...

Chroma

Wireframe Templates

Hi class,

These are the templates I've been using for wireframing. I linked the illustrator file, so feel free to customize it to your needs.

wireframe templates

Good Article about Size

Website Sizes & templates -- click me!

Visual Action Phrases

Inspiration-003: Vital

The most inspirational part of this video, for me, is the sound design. Which, in this instance is important because the artist who uploaded this video is actually a musician who comissioned a motion designer to create a video that embodied his music. That aside, I find the attention to detail and, as always, extremely high level of technical skill to be most inspirational. Overall, with this video I find that the music is what gets my creative jucies flowing.

The Amazing Wooden Mirror

Created by Daniel Rozin, The wooden mirror is a great blend of technology and creativity. A camera sensor detects the differences between lights and darks. The computer attached then sends messages to the servo motors that are attached to each wooden "pixel" to either turn up to reflect the light above or down to show the shadowed areas of the image that it is recreating.

Cool inspirational website and company

This is website of an award-winning traditional and new media production company , who uses multi and inter disciplinary approach to create work of both artistic, commercial & technical merits. They create projects Film / Video to New Media / Interactive, to Branding / Design.

I really enjoyed browsing through their site and it defintely engaged me to stay on their site for awhile. I loved their videos, large modern font style, bright neon colors, and clean layout. Enjoy! www.hellohello.name

Physical Data Visualization

Data is everywhere. I am most passionate about conveying and communicating in many different ways the information data holds within.

The two projects below Keyboard Frequency Sculpture and Measuring Type do exactly that. Michael Knuepfel represents the frequency of letters used by 3D printing keyboard keys and mounting them as bar charts. Matt Robinson analyzes ink usage by drawing with ballpoint pens large scale renditions of commonly used typefaces and comparing how much ink has been used.

Keyboard Frequency Sculpture













Measuring Type

Amazing Website

http://wonder-wall.com/#project/en

Design Post 9/7

Class,

I wanted to share something cool with you this week for our blog post. Nike has a really great website, the design is clean, and they present a large amount of product and info in a really clean and organized manner. However, I am not directing you to look at their entire website, but a specific piece. They have a feature called NikeID that allows you to design your own shoes and clothes within the parameters of their already present product line. Not only is this a cool feature that really allows you to customize your gear (an ever growing desire of consumers that we see in everything from clothes to cars to games), but their page allows you to view these customizations in real time. Give it a look and see what you think:

Click Me! - and then on the frames on the left go to nike id and get started!

~Rob

The Inner Kid

http://www.egopop.net/

This site "Egopop" is of particular interest to me. I particularly like Aleksandar Grkinic's use of very playful 3d objects.
He was a psychology student and he appeals to kids of all ages. Some of his other websites has a very symbol like feel such as the M3 logotype. What also appeals to me is the simple navigation
in the sites he designs.

oops here's the site....sorry

site.... http://www.christianlouboutin.com/

Bella

Inspiration-002: Open Your Eyes

I find this video to be very inspirational as the quality of the footage is top-notch. As an aspiring cinematographer my desire is to reach this level of quality in my work both functionally and creatively. The reason I am so drawn to the contents of this video are because the execution of the story being told is quite impressive. Being able to maintain such a high level of quality by not compromising technical details-in my opinion–tells a better story than simply focusing solely on either one of the two. Additionally, I also find this video inspiring because it's attainable. Overall, my inspiration here is drawn more from technical aspects than creative.

Inspirational website

Hi everyone,

Here is another website that I find inspiring and amazing. This is a website of a famous French shoe designer, Christian Louboutin. His designs and drawings of shoes are already great pieces of art, but I think the website design communicates well his design shoes. I think this website design has many elements which makes it so effective such as sound, flash, movement, flickering of lights, background noise, organization and easy navigation through site.

Every time I enter the site, I find something new and I question how the designer created it. Maybe some of you can figure it out.... Enjoy!

Design for Wednesday 8/31

Hello class,

Here is something i wanted to share for the blog for this week's class. It is the website of the band LMFAO... Very cool design and layout, it is very clean and doesnt crowd to much in too little a space. I think the design is a success because it fits the band's aesthetic perfectly. The only think I would have liked is to have some of their music greet me on the landing page. Other then that it is pretty cool.

http://www.lmfaomusic.com

~Rob

Conditional Design Manifesto

By documenting their operating model, the group of designers {Luna Maurer, Edo Paulus, Jonathan Puckey, Roel Wouters} have put together a set of principals that explain--and inspire--with their attempt to project execution and problem solving.

Their systematic approach is classified within three categories: process, logic, and input. The process is the product in which elements of the environment are logically altered by adjustable parameters.

Not sure if its the minimal writing, word selection, or just the feeling of recursion of a process within a process, that I feel drawn by it every time I read it. This is one of the few sites that I find myself constantly coming back to for reference and inspiration.

Process
The process is the product.

The most important aspects of a process are time, relationship and change.

The process produces formations rather than forms.

We search for unexpected but correlative, emergent patterns.

Even though a process has the appearance of objectivity, we realize the fact that it stems from subjective intentions.


Logic
Logic is our tool.

Logic is our method for accentuating the ungraspable.
A clear and logical setting emphasizes that which does not seem to fit within it.

We use logic to design the conditions through which the process can take place.

Design conditions using intelligible rules.

Avoid arbitrary randomness.
Difference should have a reason.

Use rules as constraints.
Constraints sharpen the perspective on the process and stimulate play within the limitations.


Input
The input is our material.

Input engages logic and activates and influences the process.

Input should come from our external and complex environment: nature, society and its human interactions.

go to conditional design manifesto >>

Letterscapes

Created by Peter Cho using Processing, Letterscapse is an interactive exploration of shape, form and interactive movement of recognizable characters. Using processing and Java, Peter cho has created a simple, yet engaging environment where one can freely navigate the world of letters he has created. I felt that his combinations of color, form and movement were striking, clean, and different. His unique user interface was a bit cumbersome when trying to escape from one are to return to the main screen. I figured it out, but I'm curious to see if anyone else from class has the same issue.


check it out below:
http://typotopo.com/letterscapes/index.html

Action Word Assignment

1. Pick 5 of the action words / phrases

2. Use illustration / photography / artwork to design and develop your ORIGINAL icon

3. 500 x 500 pixels @ 72dpi as a guide, your icons do not have to be square, they can be rectangular, etc

4. Wednesday (August 31) pitch me your concept and how you plan to execute the final deliverable

5. Final deliverable is a suite of 5 icons that express the action phrases you chose (keep in mind they should all be consistent and have the same look and feel)



DUE WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 07, 2011

Design Process

LOOK AT THIS & REVIEW!

http://modernspecies.com/case-study/our-design-process

My logo Design

Class,

This is the logo that i chose for my profile from the iterations that I made for this assignment. I felt this logo was the closest match to my personality and design aesthetic. I love bright colors, that are dramatic and really pop. this probably relates to my background in snowboarding where these colors are very much part of the art and style of the sport. I am also very much into a ripped apart/graffiti style. This is the reason that i chose the resulting font. I felt that this iteration, where you could barely see the letters, helped make more shapes that are pleasing to the eye. These shapes in my oppinion also create movement in the picturespace. the balance between blue and orange was also very much a part of this choice.

CG Hook

I chose Lionel Text Diesel as the text for the last few iterations of my personal logo. It is a very clean and clearly legible font. I want my designs to also be as clear and legible. Recently I have been making myself get out of the fad or using distressed type faces for anything and everything. Having said that, distressed fonts do have their place.

When creating this icon, instead of forcing shapes out of all of my initials, I decided to highlight the differences between the letters. This shape above is the space that the letters "C" and "G" do not have in common. As I was making this shape. I was looking at the form that was unfolding. It started to resemble the tip of a harpoon. Though I despise whaling, I am a water enthusiasts and an avid sailor so I felt that it was a fit. It also is an arrow that is pointing forward. I hope that it reminds me to never stop moving forward and challenging myself as a designer.

Iconic

In selecting Century Gothic for my font, I challenged myself to settle on a contemporary typeface that would be versatile in font weight and shape, as well as treatment of negative space. The color I selected would be pleasing to the eye, and not have too much contrast. In selecting my pick from the 20 ideas, while the last ones I put together became increasingly interesting, I found this one has many possibilities, especially for a possible Flash animation as well as a website, perhaps the negative space that is a portrait window to showcase some of my work. Or use the top space to show a banner, something you might see in "ArenaVision". I feel that the design is clean, and I like the tension effect of the M under the bold face. Sort of a "grace under pressure. Additionally, I like the abstract look. The letters are there, but they creat interesting negative shapes as well as their own look, from a number of perspectives.

Design 001: Logo

I chose this design from the twenty others primarily because it feels the most important. After I finished creating my logo batch I stepped away for about a day then came back and looked them over again. When I did this I found that my eye was continually drawn to this particular design. I surmise that because of its unusual structure my brain is trying to figure out what the shape is. However, as it's creator I know that it was modeled after the mathematical sign for infinity. It's obviously not too similar, but the overall shape is close. My design with this design was to leave the viewer intrigued but not confused. I would say that I did moderately well in achieving this goal.

Additionally, I chose the color yellow for several reasons. In our culture this particular color is interpreted to symbolize clarity, awareness and accomplishment. These are principles that I want both my prospective clients to associate with my brand as well as with the product they receive. I also find that this color best symbolizes how I tend to view my role as a media provider.

Logo Design 1

I chose this design for my initials because I think it portrays my style , philosophy and attitude of art and design. There is something about its fluidity of the lines, positive/negative spaces, and its high contrast of shapes/colors.

I like designs that classic, simple, organic, natural, intriguing, memorable, and "eye- catchy". I also chose this font style for its silhouette shapes of plants or leaves that seem to create this movement within teh square. Black and lavendar colors have always been in my color scheme of my representation. I find them powerful but also a delicate combination.

The two letters that I worked with were I and K. The I is positioned horizontally and the small K letter is overlapping the I. With this kind of overlap , it seems as though the top of the K letter continues onto this organic shaped spiral line.

Lastly, as we discussed in class there in interesting relationship occuring between the straight outlines of the letters and the curvy lines within the letters, which creates this "eye catchy" design.

Logo_LC

Both letters are merged together to create single element. The surrounding white space plays a dual role of enclosing the shape as well as representing the letters themselves.

The sans-serif type is simple, who stripped down to its most basic elements brings order and elegance to the design. Orange, an energetic color, calls to mind the feelings of excitement, warmth, and enthusiasm.

Jakob Nielsen

Class, get to know Jakob Nielsen & his 10 Heuristics for Usability -

These are ten general principles for user interface design. They are called "heuristics" because they are more in the nature of rules of thumb than specific usability guidelines.

http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/heuristic_list.html

HomeWork August 26

HomeWork:

1. Pic your best Logo iteration and "blog it" - tell us your design rationale

2. Use your best iteration as your blog profile pic

3. Submit your 5 best design iterations on 8.5" x 11" document (landscape) jpeg format

By Monday!!

Photographer's website....

Cool web design.... http://leetowndrow.com/

This is a portfolio website of Lee Towndrow, a famous photographer. I came across his website accidently and it definitely caught my eye. The layout of his photographs are interactive with the viewer and well organized. It makes it easy to follow his art style, subjects, and his skills. It made me want to stay on the website to look through all of his photographs and get to know him a little bit better. It also reminds of film strips and make me want to follow it as a narrative.

What looks cool to me

I never thought I would still be looking at music videos, but I guess there are cool ones still out there over the lip sync videos that flood the airwaves. And before the MTV generation, there was The Beatles....Of course " A Hard Days Night" pioneered what has become music videos. And of course "Strawberry Fields Forever"...way before MTV.

But there is one in particular I like...to me it is well edited, and I like the special effects.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpJQWGA108s

I like the edginess of the graphics. It has the look and feel of The Cars brand of music. Pop, rock, new wave. If I was going to do a music video, I would want to capture the feel and effects of this video.

Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir - 'Lux Aurumque'

I had originally heard of this project on NPR a few months ago. Eric Whitacre had come up with a plan to have chorus members from all over the world sing a different part to 'Lux Aurumque'.

There are 12 different countries represented:
Austria
Argentina
Canada
England
Germany
Ireland
New Zealand
The Philippines
Singapore
Spain
Sweden
United States of America

This stuck me because of how it made it possible for so many people to come together to create something beautiful regardless of how far away they were. This use of technology shows what can happen when we have a tool that can bring us all together.

Compressed Moive Barcodes

Movies are a very powerful communication tool. The way we feel, think, and react may be altered based on the stories being told, however much of the story-telling power comes from the colors and tones that set the mood.

Shown below, every frame in The Matrix is compressed and placed next to each other to form a unique barcode. The compressed result illustrates a condensed view of the entire movie.

See more on the moviebarcode tumblr >>

Inspiration-001: ShapeShifter

I was introduced to Charlex's work late in my undergrad career but quickly grew to appreciate their style. Since the first time I watched this, it has served to both challenge and inspire me. Every level of production was met with flawless precision. Most notably the chosen narrator. I could go on about the technical achievements, but those aren't what truly inspire me here. I am drawn to the blending of visual and the spoken word. When I watch this video I see the visuals not as impressive feats of artistic expression–though they are–but as extensions to what's being said. I think there's something to be said about realizing such a high level of parallelism. To me this is a level of creativity I have yet to reach.

In addition to the impressive creative display I also find several nuances about this piece to be very philosophically stimulating. Since I come from the Christian tradition, the element of spirituality plays a large role in my analysis of art, creative expression and so on. I find in this piece a dichotomy that both frightens and intrigues me. Though it is a beautiful work of art, this video was actually created to be an advertisement for Audi. However, the commercial purposes were blended so skillfully with the artistic that it is difficult to distinguish the two. Thus the philosophical implication of whether it is permissible to allow something–artistic expression–that at its core is defined by being beholden to no man, to become a tool of commercial enterprise. In other words, should we welcome or scorn the hybrid that is created through the integration of commercialism and artistism?

The inspiration I draw from this work is two-fold: seek to find avenues to which my creativity can serve a purpose higher than commercialism and achieve the same or greater level of excellence. I do however realize that marketing plays a heavy role in a designers income. Thus, I live in the tension that exists because of that fact.

A cool design...

Hey class,

I wanted to post this motion comic to show everyone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAUAC0RzMis

I really like the design of this work. The colors, the music and expression all fit very well with the dark and desolate vibe. The movement involved does a good job at showing the intent of the writers however, it still leaves a lot up to the viewers imagination. It does a very good job at drawing the viewer in and making you want to see more. I really love the character art involved too. The paint textures really add to the overall vibe of the piece. If anyone wants to see more, all of the parts of this series are posted on youtube. I'll see everyone later tonight in class.

~Rob

First Post

Students, please join the blog using the menu on the right of this page, we'll be posting and reviewing in class on a weekly basis. You can post just about anything design related that inspires you and you feel you want to share. Web sites / imagery / video / audio are all acceptable.

{ Please comment why you are inspired by your post and feel free to comment on other people's posts. }