Amazindesign

Journal #5

amazindesign — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:50:51 +0000

In writing my business proposal I struggled first to find a topic to make a business about. Then on the weekend I was hanging out with a friend of mine, who is a professional dancer. She started to ask question that pertained to graphic design, like designing her logo. She also asked me if I can use Photoshop to touch up on some of her headshots. Then she started telling me how I would help a lot of people like her if I started my own business. The business proposal project immediately came to mind. So I decided to research the possibility of running a graphic design company that helps dancers and dance companies in better branding and marketing themselves. I found out through talking to her that a lot of dancers are striving very hard perfecting their style, but at the same time lack professional representation. She showed me some examples of dance companies’ websites along with brochures and invitations for dance shows. From my prospective as a designer they looked really bad and unprofessional. Most dancers don’t really earn a lot of money to start with, so it would be very hard for them to spend the money to better represent them. I thought of making a company that takes the time to personalize with dancers/ dance companies in developing a very strong identity. In my proposal I go through the process of how the company is going to be implemented from grounds up. I also talked about my mission statement. And I concluded with my budget which came out to be a lot more than what I have expected. It was about $300.000. And the name of the comapany is Design for Dancers.

Journal #4

amazindesign — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 13:28:07 +0000

Andy Goldsworthy is the artist I have chosen to do my critical evaluation on. Goldsworthy is one the most interesting artists I have enjoyed looking at his work. As a person and an artist he seems at peace at what he is working on. He said that whenever he doesn’t work for more than a week he doesn’t feel like he is being him self any more. He is someone else. And when he doesn’t for more three weeks at a time and has to give a lecture, he feels that he talking about someone else. Goldsworthy likes to be alone; he says he enjoys being alone. He likes to push his artwork to a near collapse point, and there is a very beautiful balance in that state. At some point in a video I am looking at for my evaluation, he was building a spider web piece, hanging from a tree. The piece looked very beautiful and almost complete, but a minute later it collapses to the ground. It made me realize how beautiful decay sometimes is. His work appears simple, which gives it this surreal feeling. With his pieces he feels as if he has touched the heart of the place, he said part of understanding the beauty of the working is seeing things you haven’t seen before. Goldsworthy’s piece at the National gallery of Art titles Roof is very interesting. Half circular rounded shapes made out of stone appear to be in absolute harmony with the landscape around it. You look at through a glass case, which gives the feeling that its being protected. The stones are really well put together, but I witnessed what Goldsworthy talked about in the video about pushing the artwork close the point of collapsing. For some reason I felt that the stones would slide out of place at any moment, but they didn’t. And that’s the beauty; it’s the risk the artist is taking in his work. In my evaluation I will be using two of his books “Collaboration with Nature” and “Time” which includes some of his very important pieces. Goldsworthy is one artist that took all his work outdoors and created a new feel to sculpture. His works appears to be one with nature, in terms of using materials from the landscape he is around. Most importantly not disturbing the landscape.

journal #3

amazindesign — Fri, 29 May 2009 21:13:52 +0000

I am having a really hard timetrying to explain myself to others. Graphic design is a very technical field when it comes to explaining your work, especially in an artistic manner. I find it very easy to explain my design to people when having a normal conversation, but when it comes down to writing those thoughts down on paper, it’s a different story. I could speak about my process and what I do when starting a new project. However most viewers aren’t really interested in that information. No one wants to know how I adjust my kerning or my leading. All they can probably say about my work is: “oh that’s cool or how long did something like this take”. I like to use very big letters and a lot of different popping colors. My design appears to have a vintage quality that keeps my audience locked in to the piece. I discuss daily life issues in my pieces. Every semester I like to try new techniques depending on the class I am taking. I don’t have a final destination as what I would like to do when I graduate because the design field is so big. You can almost peruse any kind of media possible, because everything needs to be designed. From websites, posters, brochures, magazines, campaign ads, movie trailers, to the logo on the computer you’re reading this on. In the mean time I have started an internship with USA TODAY as a designer. My job is very exciting. I am designing the daily “snapshots”; info graphics on daily issues. I have designed three so far. It gives me such gratitude to see my name on a paper that’s distributed worldwide. Hopefully my experience with them can help me find what I would like to do as a Graphic Designer.

Journal # 2

amazindesign — Wed, 27 May 2009 11:55:14 +0000

John Cage in one of his interviews stated: “if you look at anything long enough, you would start to develop some sort of a connection with it. If you don’t within five minutes, try 10. And if you failed at 20, try 30 etc…” Jeanette Winterson shares the same ideals, but only with Art. Her love and devotion for Art comes through in her writing. In the beginning she didn’t care too much for paintings, but as she exposed her self to only more paintings she fell in love. However Art takes time as she said, until you find something, anything that keeps you coming back for more. Winterson then explains the pain that comes with experiencing a painting for an hour. The first form is increasing discomfort, looking at anything for such long time generates some sort of discomfort. One of the very first things you will notice about your self doing is, you aren’t very good at the act of looking. Increasing distraction, where your mind wanders. Increasing invention, where you make up things that aren’t even related to the painting. Increasing irritation, one of the symptoms I experienced the most when I decided to take the challenge. I found myself asking a lot of questions of the painting. I started to say the painting is boring and it needs to do something to appeal more interesting. In her second article Winterson poses the question, what is art for? If you want to enjoy art, she suggests that you withdraw your self from the world. In other words eliminate all the distractions around you. The outcome she says: “the artwork begins to reach you with energies of its own – very different energies to the getting and spending going on all around.” A very interesting point that came across, art can’t change your life. You can’t expect art to do so between a night and day. But it cant inspire you to become a better person. No quick fixes, it takes time and devotion. Art sometimes is confrontational, difficult; it asks too many questions of us. It brings hidden issues to the surface, issues we’d rather not talk about, or discuss in public. That’s why in my opinion art will never die. Because there will also be a reason for us to make art, always something talk about through art. which is why Art matters.

Journal #1

amazindesign — Tue, 19 May 2009 00:22:09 +0000

After reading “ A Field Guide to Getting Lost” by Rebecca Solnit, I was astonished. Her description capabilities are amazing. She made me feel as if I was standing there in every setting she described. I aspire now that one day, I can achieve such level. One of her quotes that moved me the most was: “To lose your self: a voluptuous surrender, lost in your arm, lost to the world, utterly immersed in what is present so that its surroundings fade away”. As an artist I have always found it very hard to come out and describe how I feel about my art to people. Even if I do, it is a struggle to express my self, or get my point across clearly. Part of it has to do with the fact that I am a Graphic design major. It is difficult for me to make my audience as passionate as I am about technical things in design. I feel that people always would like to see the finished product, rather than the process as to how it was made. Not everyone is interested in things like “ typography, leading, kerning, widows, bleed, canyons, and gutters etc… unless of course we share the same feelings. So I thought meticulously about the quote that kept on pulling me for some reason. I’ve always thought of my self as an artist, but am I? a questions that arose after finishing the reading. I feel like I am missing out in finding who I am as an artist, but at the same time I don’t want find out; because that would be the end for me. I’ve always had a very realistic look at my work. I never gave myself the chance to get “lost”. Experiment, fail, trip, and fall. I’ve always wanted an easy way out; I’ve always wanted to succeed. In other words if I had given myself the chance, I would’ve reached different outcomes. In conclusion I don’t think there is a perfect guide to getting lost to find out whom you really are. There aren’t set rules to follow, to reach a certain destination. You just have to experience and live every moment to its best potential to learn something about your self. Solnit’s: “ A Field Guide to Getting Lost” was very refreshing and inspiring, it made me decide to get lost in my own way hoping I can learn from my experiences. May be in the least it would help me explain myself better.