[usernames-scare-me]

FINISHED ZINE (Ask Me Anything!)

I was going to wait to upload these until I got all my posts up in chronological order, but I figure I may as well get this up and start fresh afterwards. I know, what a mess. Can you feel my struggle through the screen? Thank you next Miss ‘Rona, I will not miss you next semester. 

Now to discuss the actual Zine… 

In choosing a significant and influential figure in design, I chose none other than THE David Hockney. His contributions to art and design have always been a huge source of inspiration from me, especially his never ending curiosity into the next best thing (eg. the obsession with digital art and the use of technology in advancing art). However, I didn’t want to just interview Hockney as himself because he is still a living artist, and he can therefore speak for himself. I chose to look through some of his older work, as I was also interested in art pop. I remembered his “Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)” from 1972 and looked into the ideas behind the portrait. Turns out, the painting is packed full with insight to a time nearing the end of Pop Art, and a commentary on the difference between his upbringing in England and the decadence of California’s lifestyle. I thought this was really poignant, and despite its fun and playful personality, left a lot unsaid within the painting itself. 

I then decided I would interview the figure from the painting to add another layer to the understanding of the piece. I wanted to give the figure some of their humanity back, and explore the way Pop Art was experienced for a young person at the time. I aimed to centre the figure on a life that honours Hockney’s (such as his sexuality, his affinity for America and the mediums he used to express these things), and discuss the attraction of the figure to Pop Art through their experiences in California. The metaphor of the swimming pool being a world of luxury and experience that the figure had yet to ever ‘dive’ into was the idea behind the whole project, which I think is communicated in the interview. 

Aside from taking a million days to research what the actual hell a zine *is*, I can honestly say that this might be one! I guess we’ll find out when the grades come in. This assignment was sooo fun that I think I made like three copies just to muck around before settling on this one. I’m actually really proud of this work (hell, I’m proud I even have something to hand in), I think for someone who was so confused and doubtful about this assignment its a wild success. Maybe I should refrain from using the word “success” until someone else tells me it’s successful. Oh well. 

[usernames-scare-me]

Reposting for the sake of keeping a chronological order SORRY GUYS

[acesvg]

I love this so much idk it feels like I’m personally having this conversation with the figure haha. And I love how you blocked out the figures and manipulated them to serve another purpose for the zine. Everything just ties in together so well!!

[acesvg]

I FINSIHED MY ZINE!!!!!!!!

So I did mine on Bauhaus. More specifically Walter Gropius and the ideas behind the building or art! I feel like I haven’t written much information but also I favour the story written by illustrations ya know? I didn’t want the reader to be bored but rather engaged through the design.

I think my favourite page is the “why build in dessau” one.. just for the design aspect hehe

I strayed away from the rules of Bauhaus when designing this zine BUT I kept the colour scheme. As I was gathering information I kept coming across the decision of colours in this movement. Here’s a few notes I took.

So this gave me the idea to use colour as my main connection to Bauhaus for this zine.. the straight rigid lines just BORED me .. It needed some.. oomph?

There are some things that I didn’t like. For example the page on “what’s unique about Bauhaus” .. it feels like a children’s book and I don’t know how to .. fix(?) .. it. I like the left side but yeah I think I’m just all burnt out LOL.

I also made the front and back page greyscale as sort of a tribute to Walter Gropius himself.. and you also get a burst of colour as a surprise if you were to have a physical print but yeah

Overall I’m really proud of myself .. at the beginning of this course I had NO idea how to use indesign (or what it even was lol) and l made a freaking zine !! Never doubt yourself!!

Also I feel like I used a post/anti- modernistic style on a modernistic movement .. the irony

[rafaelkfouri]

[acesvg]

This is a really good example of design activism. It’s relevant. It’s controversial (somehow). It gets straight to the point. I assume this was inspired by the black squares of #blackouttuesday !

[emilyvictoriawyatt]

I love the typeface used for the Sex Pistols. It has no definition or reason. I love that they use various typefaces in each word and that they move between upper case and lower case with zero reason.

Source: https://typetastingnews.com/2013/10/24/how-punk-changed-graphic-design/

[acesvg]

seeing this made me realise what made this text so familiar! the burn book cover in mean girls!! it was made in the 2000′s so the post-modernistic style makes sense

source: https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/54324739242495267/ 

[acesvg]

week 11 (WRKSHP) - nm u?

this class was a little different. Karen looked through our work for a bit while Andy gave a lil tutorial on in design. Probably should’ve gave him a heads up to record it the first time.. whoops. They switched back before Karen finished giving us feedback on our progress, so Andy went over mine. 

this is where I’m at

some notes from my feedback 

the blocks make it hard to read the text - don’t overdo it

try to make the zine intriguing as Gropius seems.. a little.. boring. lol 

don’t write too much.. its a design course 

don’t forget to source your images! i have here but the text might be a little small so.. note taken

[theonlinereflectivejournal]

Collage Activity. 

1st - Using cutouts from 70s Australian home and garden magazines. Focusing on colour combos and perspective. Trying to be clever with my combinations such as cutting a slit in the door. I particularly like the copy, ‘Please send me free coloured literature on cast iron baths’.

2nd - Attempting mixed media with markers. This was the logical conclusion of me agonising over the paper and getting antsy.

3rd - A photo of scrap paper found on the floor (not intentional). Viewed through my magnifying lamp

4th - Décollage of an art forum magazine

[acesvg]

the 3rd photo is so cool i didn't even notice it was scraps.. Bauhaus vibes!

[acesvg]

week 11 (LECT) - the future of design

we started off with something very interesting - the Ireland project - technology that allows immobile people to create art with eye movements. this is is so innovative and gives people who cannot physically draw hope to never give up on their passions. anything is possible!

next it discussed the hybrid state of digital and a physical realms in design. Jason Salavon was interesting! He created artwork by layering photos using the blur effect in Photoshop of Playboy centrefolds over the years. Essentially he was looking for a repetition and found that there was a shift in skin tones - they were going lighter! I have never seen anything like this and it seems like a good way to see patterns throughout the years. 

next was movie barcodes which intrigued me. this is on a children's movie so it makes sense for it to be very colourful. Andy mentioned the shift in colours. He said it starts off with bright happy colours. As we get to the middle the colours become sort of purple and muted, which can suggest “change and transformation”. This totally makes sense because usually the something negative happens around this stage of movies, maybe heartbreak as we get closer to the movies climax point. never heard of this before either.. very cool!

i think the scariest thing or the thing that makes me weary the most is the thispersondoesnotexist.com website.. mainly because people have actually found lookalikes of themselves there.. weird! 

take this lady for example..

????????? i cant even look her straight in the eye without feeling weird LOL

nevertheless, i applaud the stage that artificial intelligence is at. to make a human face that wouldn't make you question its existence (not including the weird glitched ones.. now thats scary lol) is absolutely mind-blowing! 

can it be dangerous though? stuff like deepfake where you can add another persons face and voice to yours in a video is very ominous.. the videos are just weird and have an odd vibe BECAUSE THEY LOOK AND SOUND SO REAL

anyways..

It’s amazing how far technology has come. What will the future hold.. and is there any risks..?

[aintknow]

Led Zeppelin concert poster / Tokyo, Japan / October 2 & 3, 1972

[fillystick]

this design symbolizes the post modernism/ counter-culture aesthetic. The bold fonts, the icons surrounding the hero image, the stencil-like image in the middle, and the choice of the background color; these elements make this poster seem somewhat rebellious and unique, making it the perfect example of a product influenced by the Punk era.

[acesvg]

[acesvg]

[acesvg]

week 10 (LECT) - design activism

ok this lecture was long and i did have to rewind a few times because i got distracted BUT it did have important information on how designers could advocate for a movement, or how a certain company like benton would speak on topics that were almost forbidden or feared to be discussed. An example can be their take on

Equality 

crazy to think that this image could cause an uproar.. ^

^this one was interesting. Andy mentioned it could mean that as humans we are all bound together... i think its a pretty unique take on racism. 

Another one would be adbuster magazines. they went against social norms and used collages or certain tools to draw attention to the issue. mass production and distribution allowed for a larger engagement on the issue. The use of appropriating another design to scribble over it was striking.. it has a larger affect than just writing words. 

another thing was the use of visual language and colours. in this photo they designer used a bright colour scheme and specifically chose the words “sport” for a dangerous activity such as train surfing. 

the layout of the text as well as appropriation wasn't common an in fact inspired contemporary design. As Trump declared to build a wall between north America and Mexico, a group of designers made this: 

I thought this was pretty cool and actually hilarious.. i love when designers add humour to the pieces.. it makes it more memorable. 

IKEA for example did this too, however their take was a little different. They made an instructional manual on how to build the wall and went, hey! if you want to build it so badly just buy it from us and build it yourself!

a lot of the times we learn to not appropriate other peoples work but i was never taught that we could collage them to give a different message.. this opens a window of possibilities!

[acesvg]

week 9 and 10 (WRKSHP) - collage

In week 9 we focused on collages! week 9 not many people had magazines so we just went through famous designers. We learnt about Moholy-Nagy, who created combinations of objects with photography plates. Use of negative space is interesting. A lot of collage work focuses on the relationship of images and creating a new message. 

We looked at Sergei Sviatchenko’s collage work. These were my favourites

^In this one for example, he uses an image with a strong background and the adds on top of it. my take from this collage is that our ancestors history can be drawn from our image. or that a photo is a still image that can hold many memories and emotions.. stuff like that idk. 

In week 10 we took magazines or anything that could be manipulated into a letterform (Andy mentioned something along the lines that designers should be able to use whatever materials they’ve got), and we made.. well.. letters! I had to do some digging to find a magazine but alas i prevailed! lol 

collaging is in fact post-modernistic. it doesn't follow any rules but rather it encourages the use of exisiting art to create a different message.. or to enhance a message. 

We were put into breakout groups to choose a positive word and start making! i did the letter H from a photo i found of drew barrymore. 

Andy said my cut out seemed forced so i tried to follow the natural elements of the picture. 

my group made the word HAPPY

it was interesting, our different takes on the task. the second P especially. the letter was cut out not the other way around like i did for example.. i cut away the background but in this case the background was essential.. though that was pretty cool 

here are the other groups work!

i really liked the colours in the CALM one.. also the C was really cool. It didn't follow the natural curve of the letter but rather the image itself. 

the R in FREE - i like how w the letter flowed with the image. Doesn’t seemed forced like my first attempt at the H. 

It’s all about exploring. Some designers like a copy paste scenario on digital application whereas others like to look at the physical texture and form and work with that. @mr_cutandstick on instagram is a good example of this! Here is one of my favourite works of his!

[acesvg]

week 9 (LECT) - post modernism

This lecture focused on punk rock culture. it was basically anti-modernism. it didn't care about the harmonious aspects of design. It’s chaotic. Much like Black metal, that was discussed in a previous lecture, post-modernism, is basically breaking the rules of design. Compared to modernism, which is the notion of an ideological pathway of design. 

Post-modernism was heavily influenced by punk rock culture. A good example would be the sex pistols album cover. The colours aren't harmonious. There’s no care for the type case. The typography did not follow the grid layout. It felt more.. authentic.. unpolished..it was designed for quick manufacturing. They had NO intention of following rules. It was a movement. 

the lecture also mentioned Neville Brody,  who created heavily inspirational magazine covers. none of the colours and texts are textbook harmonious.. but it works. 

Anyways.. the last thing that was interesting was the influence of computers in the 80′s on designers and artists. They were suddenly available to create their own work, and see its progress, instead of working with specialists. They were able to able to work with graphic and text as a duo.. it was a.. a cultural reset. Artists like Andy Warhol were seen using it. It was a chance for them to experiment with their style. 

Personally i love the modernistic take in Bauhaus for example.. but post-modernism work just feels more genuine. I think my music taste influences my art appreciation. Lately I’ve been listening to more of the 70′s - 90′s and have become more appreciative of post-modernistic art, design and fashion. 

[acesvg]

week 8 (WRKSHP) - lo-fi

this class was pretty chill. we just went though each of our chosen interviewees and where we were at. I do feel like I’m falling behind but it did help to see where everyone was at. Originally i had just thought OK.. I’m gonna do Bauhaus, but I think i need to focus on a specific designer. I’ve been researching Walter Gropius though so thats a start. (:

stuff i found through research:

he opened the first school in Germany because everyone was worried after Hitler was elected. 

the study had some focus on materials and durability so it influenced industrial design. 

geometric shapes were a theme

the form of products and architectures were closely related to its function rather than aesthetic purposes (this was interesting because i do find bauhaus work to be incredibly aesthetically pleasing.. i think its because we see it more and more in todays society - it has influenced us in many ways) 

[acesvg]

week 8 (LECT) - futurists..?

this lecture was interesting. there was a lot of stuff i never hear about before. like futurists? Marinetti was the leader of these futurists. oh well first of all whats a futurist? someone who wants to break the rules! i think the funniest thing ive ever heard is that they wanted to get rid of pasta because it was old fashioned. imagine that.. i know i couldn't live without pasta. that is a STAPLE in my house. 

Futurists had a strong political agenda. The group was male dominated, not shocking in those times. The video of Marinetti’s publication scared at the beginning not gonna lie.. it took me off guard LOL.. BUT the video shows his publication of Movement within text. It was interesting.. it gave the text a personality almost. It had character.. you know?  Almost gave it a voice. 

oh and in the beginning there was note of the notion of using speed in painting. its supposed to free the medium so you see it through the lens of an eye not a camera. the artist that was mentioned was Luigi Russolo who painted the dynamism of a car. the colours were AMAZING. the first thing i thought of was diamonds.. felt like thats how you would perceive the world if you looked through that. 

[bauhaus-movement]

‪🎉🎂🙏HAPPY BIRTHDAY WALTER GROPIUS (1883-1969). Founder of Bauhaus Movement.

[acesvg]

Interesting .. 18/5. That makes him a Taurus. Don’t really rely on horoscopes but I do like to look into them.. they can be fun.

Taurus men are said to be successful and famous.. I mean he DID open the first Bauhaus school 👀

[acesvg]

week 7 (WRKSHP) - shapeshifting!

Logged into canvas a little late today.. are we surprised though lol. The class had been sharing their ideas and discussing the questions they chose. Need to stop staying up late.. it used to fun but now i’m just annoying myself LOL quarantine has DRASTICALLY altered my sleep schedule. 

Anyways.. we did a shapeshifting activity. Basically we cut out some shapes from paper - watching a tutorial first of course - and made some letters!! We were put into breakout groups to try and finish the alphabet through teamwork and communication. 

At first i could not cut the pieces properly for the life of me.. but i got it at the end.. It was probably me still trying to wake up lmao. I’ll attach some pictures of our masterpieces. Ciao