Words Have Meaning

Adding words to an image can change the meaning that it has. Without words a picture on its own means that the viewer is left to decided for itself what the meaning or the message behind it could be. Adding word can display the message clearly, intensify the meaning behind the image or could change the meaning of the image altogether.

René Magritte's painting of the pipe is an example of how adding words to an image can change its meaning. Without the caption to Rene's painting the veiwer would simply be looking at a painting of a pipe. However Ceci n'est as une pipe alters the meaning to the painting. Ceci n'est as une pipe which translates to this is not a pipe seems like a contradiction to what the eye is viewing however after the initial thought it becomes obvious that this statement is actually true, this is not a pipe but actually a painting of a pipe.

This idea is also true in Rene's painting of an apple. Rene paints an apple and then captions it with Ceci n'est pas un pomme which translates as this is not an apple. As well as telling the viewer that they are looking at an image of an apple or a pipe, I think that Rene with this caption is trying to say that no matter how hard you try to depict an object accurately that you cannot and that you can only capture an essences of accuracy.

The Same But Different

Sometimes a piece of work is seen as new and original but sometimes the idea and even the image has been seen and used before, sometimes even many times before. However how the piece looks, the design and perhaps even the message can and usually are very different. Many designers have recreated famous images through their own work. This may be because a development in technology or development in time or a different message that wants to be conveyed by the designer.

Hokusia's Wave is probably one of the most, if not the most, famous wood block prints and comes from a series of thirty six views of Mount Fuji it is probably one of the most re-used images.

'The graceful snow-clad mountain stands out unperturbed against the deep blue of the horizon. Yet it is reduced to a tiny hillock compared with the towering strength of the wave which threatens to engulf the struggling boats. Such clever, playful manipulation of the composition is a feature of many of Hokusai's works.' The British Museum
Over the years Hokusia's, The Great Wave has been interpreted many times for different purposes.

Levi recreates the wave for an advert for their jeans. Using the jeans to create the wave.

The Great San Francisco wave

The Street Wave

 Jonathan Wakuda Fischer- The recreation of the great wave in spray paint

Bernard Pras recreates the wave from everyday objects around us

 

Chris Jordan's installation piece using 2.4 million pieces of organic waste to recreate Hokusia's wave

Uprising – Kozyndan

A Hero's Journey

Within a film a hero will go through a journey. This is structured: The departure, The Initiation and then The return. I am going to look at the journey of a hero in the film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone.

Stage One; The Departure

·         The Call To Adventure- Harry receives a letter telling him that he is invited to go to Hogwarts school of witch craft and wizardry

·         Refusal To The Call- Harry’s uncle prevents him from receiving the letter and will not allow him to read. He also says Harry will no be going to Hogwarts

·         Super Natural Aid- Harry is rescued by Rebeus Hagrid who works at Hogwarts and takes him away from his family.

·         The First Threshold- I feel there are 2 thresholds crossed during the film. Harry’s first: crossing into the magical world into Diagon Alley and the second when Harry goes into Hogwarts.

Stage Two; The Initiation

·         The Roads Of Trails- Harry tries to fit in at Hogwarts and cope with magic lessons

·         The Meeting Of The Goddess- Harry doesn’t meet a goddess in this film, but later on in following films Harry falls for Cho Cheung and then ultimately Ginny Weasley

·         Temptation Away From The True Path- Harry becomes distracted by a mirror that allows him to see his parents

·         Apotheosis (God Like)- Harry already has this statues, ‘as the boy who lived’

·         The Ultimate Boon- Harry defeats Voldemort from getting the stone

Stage Three; The Return

·         Refusal Of Return- Harry doesn’t want to return home to his horrible aunt, uncle and cousin

·         The Magical Flight- There are two points of this in the film.The first time Harry rides a broom and although not strickly a flight but equally magical, Harry’s journey on the train

·         Rescue From Without- Harry is saved from evil by his mother’s love

·         Crossing The Return Threshold- Harry leaves the magical world of Hogwarts behind to return to the non magical world

·         Master Of The Two Worlds- Harry continues to be the boy who lived, again

·         Freedom To Live- The magical world believes that Voldemort has been defeated

Am I an Expert?

Where do I rate myself on the novice to expert scale?

Knowledge: I feel that my Knowledge of my area is competent. I have a good knowledge of the practise I have chosen as well as a small understanding of it's history. I also have a competent knowledge of the software I use such as Indesign and photoshop however I think that in softwares I need more experience and practise in order to refine my level of knowledge in these programmes.

Standard Of Work: In all aspects of work I like my standard to be high. I am a perfection and unhappy when things don't look exactly right even if it is just a rough sketch. However this sometimes leads me spend hours on one piece leaving another without enough time for it, for this reason I haven't rated myself an expert.

Autonomy: I am able to take responsible for my own actions and work and others when necessary. I am capable of doing my work and brief without any instruction however I do like to have feedback from tutors which is why I do not feel I'm an expert.

Coping With Complexity: I have rated myself as competent with complexity as sometimes I tend to panic. However I am a good planner and organising which helps me to cope with difficult briefs.

Perception Of Concept: I like to think that I am able to see the bigger picture and concept of my work and how it works in terms of longer goals, however I think that sometimes I think that I don't always think of the bigger picture when I have an idea that I love. Sometimes I forget to think bigger

My Eigth ITAP Lecture

My 5 key principles are:

• A brief history of production
• Essential Milestones
• The Design Workflow
• From Novice To Expert
• The Experts

In this ITAP the idea behind this lecture was focused highly on the history of production and essential milestones that have effected us and how this affects us not only today but possibly into the future as well.

Why Do They Look This Way?

When a character is being designed, whether it is in a book, for a photo, drawing or film every aspect of how they look, talk and behave is a conscious decision by the designer. From the colour of their hair to the clothes they wear, the choices made all have an effect on the viewer. Whether this is conscious or subconscious.

Harry Potter

Appearance:When we first meet Harry Potter he is living in the cupboard under the stairs. Apart from that this his bedroom and obviously no place for a child, Harry's appearance tells us the same tale of neglect and lack of love. Harry is small in size for a boy of 11 and is pale in complexion, which makes you think that he is under fed. His hair is long and messy and the clothes he wears are over sized and worn. This suggests that these aren't Harry's clothes but hand me downs from Harry's cousin Dudley. This gives the impression that Harry has no clothes or belongings of his own and is uncared for by his aunt and uncle. From Harry's appearance we instantly feel sympathetic towards him.

Action and Interaction:

In the beginning of the film Harry lives with his aunt, uncle and cousin Dudley. Harry is bossed around by all he lives with and because of this Harry is not only small in size but small in character. He is quiet, understated and gives the aura of unhappiness and the audience is given the impression that this has been like forever because he does not argue or misbehave. Harry is obedient when being bossed around but the behaviour, quiet and sad facial expressions, around the other characters suggests that he wishes things would change. Again this creates a sympathy towards Harry as well as a dislike towards the aunt, uncle and cousin.
The overall effect of Harry's appearance and behaviour tells the audience that this boy is unwanted and uncared for by those he lives with. He is bullied by his cousin and bossed around by his aunt and uncle. He gives the audience the impression that he wishes things were different but knows that nothing is going to change. The audience feels sadend for this boy who is sad, lonely and unloved.

The Design Process

When it comes to the creation of a piece of work whether it be self iniated or commercial all practitioners will have a process that they will go through in order to create it. Although it may very from practitioner, the initial structure of the design process will be very similar if not exactly the same.

Image Taken From:
http://www.helloari.com/wp-content/uploads/process-explained.jpg

Here is an example of how the design process may be drawn out as a diagram. In the beginning there are lots of lines as your brain thinks of many ideas and does a lot of research, then the lines would become less as some of the ideas are experimented with and prototypes are created. Eventually the lines will become one singular line as the idea is refined into the final experiments and then the final creation.

Although this a very simple version of the design process I think that this will be the basic structure the all designers will use, including myself. For my brief on creating a magazine I also followed a design process, here is the design process I followed.