POSTCARD 2 & RESPONSE

by Josh Kruszynski

What a simple postcard response, yet still managed to get so much depth within. First, I noticed that this is a line drawing. A form of media that is plain and simple, which is very fitting to a paper plate. Color is also not used within the design(again), and I think it was a good decision and helps describe the bland nature you previously stated. From there, the design begins to dig deeper. The well-known recycle icon describes the reoccurring usage of material, whereas this recycle-like representation alludes to a usage that does not make its way back around. It is showing the "irresponsible consumption". The repetitious, pattern-like effect depicts the usage in terms of muliples rather than continous. (Multiple people take part in this action of "irresponsible consumption")
I would say this is representational transmission because it is drawing/ illustration/ graphic. Also, there was no noise from either one of us I think that distracted from the interpretation intended in the designs. They were pretty straight forward as far as usage between object and background and space.

I like this card.

(side note: my actual file actually has the paper plate centered. For some reason, my specific blogger layout cuts off certain parts of images etc if they are not within the size guidelines....I made the one on my iterations post smaller for your reinterpretation haha)

OTHER READING

This means this
The reading begins with describing and explaining the basics of a symbol. (where it comes from. How they work. How they are perceived.) It explains that symbols have meanings, and with those meanings they create relations to other words/actions (lion is related to strength). This reading also talks about messages and how they are transmittable. There are three forms: presentational, representational, and mechanical. It states that two images can look almost identical, but because of a simple change (such as a smile to a frown), a different message can be portrayed. From this, words can also have that same effect. Depending upon the receiver, interpretations of a message can be taken differently. EX: From the statement "I didn't eat Grandmother's cake", the receiver could basically interpret the message differently because it interpreted a single word differently. Instead of grandmothers, it could have been Lance's, instead of a cake, it could have been a pie. This part of the reading I really liked. It's something we all do, but don't necessarily always think about. (text messaging & emails can have that same effect).

PROGRESS: GOOD DESIGN IS FOR EVERYONE

These first couple of spreads are a different way of how to treat the title. I like the amount of space it can take up; however, for one like Manitoga, I think the weight is not heavy enough, but I like the visual impact it has...say on the yellow one.



My spreads for crit on Wed 10.28 are below. I began working with color and incorporating it into the design. Also, you may notice that the text color is different. It is not black, but a dark brown. Back home, most of the time designers default to black as the body text color, so since we get to do color pages...I'm not being shy with it. The half title, full title, and copyright pages are all pretty simple, not a lot going on. The contents displays a little more relation between the inner spreads with the interaction between "contents" and the actual articles being the ones pushed out. I'm a little lost of my bibliography page. I'm not sure how to incorporate that sort of effect on that page to show cohesiveness, so instead I alternated the colors so one source doesn't have more of an importance than the other.

INTERACTIVE INTERFACE

For my ideas on the interactive interface I wanted to use the easily recognizable objects from bowling. The first idea is using the pin location graph, and the icons will become useful as far as what is selected and not selected. (with ways such as color/movement for the treatment). Some of the other ideas consist of using the shape of the pin to frame the "viewing area", using the floor boards and use of color to highlight selections and decisions made by the user. Also, using the bowling pin "stripe" and bowling scorecard. All of these factors are "visuals", and there is not so much differentiation with structure yet.

POSTCARD 1

Negative

VISLANG: POSTCARD 1 PROCESS

Below is a series of my paper plate postcard options. I tried to portray both positive and negative uses of a paper plate.

Negative

Positive

It's gold and worth something.

SPREAD THE UPDATES

Below is the concept I will probably be going with for my spreads. My grid consists of one large area devoted to either body copy or images, and I have a smaller column alongside that will house footnotes or images. I designed my pages with a vertical grid and objects may raise or lower based on the need. I really like the way my titles are contrasting and interacting with the actual body copy.














Below is a different series of chapter begin spreads I came up with after class. I like some things about it, but based on Kidwell's feedback, I'm going to try and see if I can work the shapes in as color fill rather than image containment.

The Education of a Graphic Designer

The excerpt begins with two different views about the general education of a graphic designer. The first states academic classes will in the end distract designers and deprive them of what is actually important—studio time. The second view explains the exact opposite. It states that academic education is needed because one will learn to seek and recognize what is currently going on and design for the opposite. Next is the discussion about graphic design becoming a liberal art. History and theory of graphic design are both certainties, but what would also need to be focused on is the integration between design and other academics that deal with communication, expression, interaction, and cognition. My favorite line is "Design should be about meaning and how meaning can be created." When design has meaning, it is effective. This brings us to the last portion of the excerpt which describes rhetoric. It mainly describes the importance and use of persuasiveness. Effective design with meaning and persuasion can be achieved through the intellectual, logical, aesthetic, and emotional areas of rhetoric. Alongside that, other considered emotions can be explored through psychological, physiological, philosophical, and more.

VISLANG: 25

PAPER PLATE (negative)
flimsy
round (sometimes square)
embossed
inexpensive
cheap
layerable
corrugated
bendable
absorbent
textured
patterned
repetitious
lightweight
disposable
thin
dinnerware
flammable
artwork
carry/hold
simple
consistent
useful
useless
feeble
spacious
thready
delicate
weak

FRIDAY'S CRIT

I have to say, it was a bit of relief to finally turn this last project in. I struggled, struggled, and struggled some more. In the end, I can say that I really have grasped a better understanding for the modes of appeal. Oddly enough, I found myself referencing more rhetorical tropes during my brainstorming process for this project, which I thought was weird...but in a good weird way. (If there is such a thing) I thought the overall crit went very well, some more than others of course, but good feedback was stated nonetheless. Suma was very knowledgeable about design, and I am glad to have had her visit critique. It's one thing to have fresh eyes...but it's another to have "designer" fresh eyes.

MODES OF APPEAL: ETHOS

Below: The Original & The New
The original piece titled "Christmas Greetings" was designed by Clarence Coles Phillips for the December 2, 1909 issue of LIFE magazine. It was one of the many Holiday issues this LIFE magazine did. I decided to classify this piece as Pathos because of the following: the body language, the direction she is facing, and the action of placing a letter home for the holidays. All of these allude to the sensitive nature of Christmas time.

As a result of that decision, I had the options of pursuing a Logos or Ethos mode of appeal for my project. With the Logos approach, how I understood it is by using factual information and visual diagrams to describe/show something. For the Ethos appeal, I understood it as explaining/referencing/backing up an idea with a credible source. From these understandings, I favored Logos and wanted to depict a couple factual, very intriguing facts...that even I did not know. (Over 1.76 billion candy canes are made each year). As for Ethos, I also used the facts to drive my ideas in coming up with 2 thoughts. (Christmas trees are an All-American product | An estimated 175,000 Christmas trees are sold via e-commerce each year).



After working through those ideas, I ended up with the Ethos mode of appeal. The concept behind my LIFE magazine cover deals with Holiday shopping and how technology has changed the way we do that action. I use the computer as a credible visual source for using the internet to shop and purchase not only gifts, but other holiday musts (candy canes, Christmas trees, etc) I created the artwork in the browser and showed the action of "adding an item to the cart" for purchase. I then positioned it on my computer and photographed it. From there I brought it into photoshop and applied this green look to it to further insist on the Holiday (red/green) issue. By adding the headline "Digitizing how we do gifting", it references the technological aspect and the action of buying gifts/gift giving.

Below are some older issues I found as well as some other photographs with mine in context with other issues.