Goodbye Ruby Tuesday

Still Monday...

On the seventh day, He rested.

Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting

Friday the 27th Part 7: Sketchy's Revenge

Ugly Scan Thursday

Wōden's Day

Cropping Exercise

We were asked to crop six photos and then answer these questions for each image.


1. How successfully does each crop work?
2. How is cropping an improvement to the original?
3. What unnecessary components in the original have been eliminated through cropping?
4. How has the focal point in each photo changes or been improved?
5. Are the cropped images compositionally well balanced?

Image 1
The crop of the first image successfully shifts the focus from the shelves, to a specific set of books.

The crop doesn't necessarily improve over the original, it just shifts the focal point.

If the focus is to be on the blue books, the unnecessary books and shelving surrounding  these books have been removed.

Again, the focal point has shifted from shelving to the blue books.

I feel that the image is compositionally well balanced, allowing for some breathing room around the front and top of the books.

Image 2
I think the crop of the bicycle rack is less interesting than the original image, however, it does draw the eye to the young man at the end of the rack more effectively.


The crop improves the focus on the young man in the background.

Some of the flashier bikes have been cropped out, allowing the eye to move along the length of the rack to the young man at the end.  The crop also removes the vibrant green of the vegetation which draws the eye away from the young man.

The focal point has shifted from the red bicycle to the young man at the end of the bike rack.

I think the composition balances nicely between the bicycles that are seen in the foreground with the young man in the background.  The eye is lead to him along the line of the bike rack.

Image 3
The crop successfully identifies a focal point to the image.  The original image lacked a strong focus.

The cropped image is stronger compositionally by providing a focal point.

The crop removes some of the flowers in the background which were distracting.

No strong focal point existed in the original photo.  The crop creates one.

The composition is not necessarily dynamic, but is classically framed and appealing.


Image 4
The crop successfully brings focus onto the archway.  Before, focus was less clear.

Cropping shifts the image from a horizontal photo into a a vertical image, providing a more monumental feeling to the archway.

The crop removes the rest of the building and the fencing which detract from the grandeur of the archway.

The focal point in each image is the archway.  However, the crop removes all else from the image leaving only the archway.

The cropped image appears well balanced with room for the arch to breathe at its peak, without so much room as to create a sense of smallness in the archway.


Image 5
The crop of the gate successfully removes the building and other distractions in the background.

Cropping cleans up the image by removing extraneous information from the original image.

The unneccessary components of the building and other gate in the background have been removed.

The focal point remains the same, but distractions have been removed.

I think the image is well balanced and visually interesting.


Image 6
The crop shifts the image from that of a building, to an image of a monumental facade.

The crop creates more uplift in the image, giving a stronger thrust of verticality.

Other components of the building's architecture have been removed to emphasize the vertical front facade.

The focal point has shifted from the building as a whole onto the vertical front facade.

The composition is well balanced, creating a visual dynamism to the piece that draws the viewer's eye upward.

It creeps and leaps and glides and slides across the floor

Sombody's got a case of the Mondays.

Organic Energy Drinks

This exercise required us to develop a concept for an affordable, organic energy drink for well-off twenty-somethings.  I began by developing ideas through the process of brain mapping.  This process creates a hierarchical brainstorming diagram.  As I do not always know which ideas will end up as main themes or dead ends, I found this process inefficient and unhelpful.  While it may well serve as a good method of organizing ideas already recorded through simple brainstorming, it does not work for me as an initial idea recording scheme.

Following the brain mapping exercise, we developed thumbnail sketches of packaging designs.  I tried not to limit my concepts by practicality or cost.  While these out of bounds ideas cannot actually be produced, they do help me to generate ideas that can be scaled down or adapted into feasible packaging.

 I took three of these ideas and scaled them up for more detailed sketches.  While these ideas need further refinement and exploration, I created three products: PURE energy, EVERGREEN ENERGY, and element.

PURE energy plays the idea of the guilty pleasure associated with the flask against the idea of the purity of an organic product.  Energy drinks, like alcohol, sometimes have a stigma built into them.  There are questions of health and wholesomeness associated with both.  This packaging touches on the rebellious nature of these young adults that continues from their youth mixed with new ideas of sensibility that they are beginning to discover.  The tag line of, "Need a kick? Don't worry, it's ORGANIC."  allows the consumer the hint of rebellion with the safety net of a pure, organic product.

The container will be produced out of stamped aluminum, allowing a cost effective packaging that still provides an impactful design.  It will have a screw top.  The labeling will be screened on in white with the remaining container bare aluminum.

EVERGREEN ENERGY focuses on the idea of a natural product that provides a long-lasting boost of energy.  With a bottle designed in the shape of a tree, consumers think of clean, pure nature.

The product will be bottled in injection molded, green plastic bottles.  This packaging is distinctive and still economical to produce.

element is a trendy, singly named product.  There is not necessarily a large push stating the organic nature of the product in the title.  It is hinted at with the notion of an elemental, simplicity to the product's design and branding.  The full purity of the energy drink's organic nature will be stated in the copy of advertising, but the main thrust of the design is a cool factor.  Those consumers in the know will be aware of the organic nature of the product, creating an elite image and word of mouth within the community.

The product will be packaged in tall glass cylindrical bottles, allowing the bottle a high quality feel.  Recycling and the idea of green packaging will be a part of the elite image of the product.

SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY!

Saturday night, Saturday night

It's Friday, Friday.

Here is a little abstract art.  I think I will be doing more of this in future posts.

1/19/12

Pirates be here. 

Test pictures

Here we go!  Blogging has begun.