Kristiana Wright

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Write a very brief introduction for yourself and your work.

I'm a senior at Southern Oregon University majoring in communication studies. This is my first Emerging Media & Digital Arts class. These images represent some of my experiments as a Photoshop beginner.

What are your greatest strengths?

I have a solid grasp of design principles, especially typography and white space. I pay a lot of attention to detail and that tends to result in good work.

What are your goals? Speak in terms of what you learned in this course and how you will apply it but don’t mention the course by name.

My goal is to be an effective organizer of political issue campaigns for transformative social change. Visual media are very important for engaging an online audience. This course has improved my ability to create compelling imagery using Photoshop, which will be helpful for campaigns.

Describe a project from this quarter that related specifically to a career goal or introduced you to something that has become a new interest or path for you. Describe the project in terms that somebody who’s not taken the class can understand.

My final project about the surveillance debate in the U.S. relates to my career as a communications scholar. I made a series of images showcasing the national conversation around the NSA leaks by Edward Snowden. Discourse analysis of political issues is an interest for me as I pursue graduate school opportunities, and this project demonstrates my ability to understand and summarize the dialogue around a complex issue.

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The surveillance debate in the United States

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Fumetti: the story of a DIY jetpack

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Posters

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Uncanny Portrait Reflection

Write about the aspects of this project that you found pleasurable or uncomfortable.

This project got more fun the further I progressed. I'm still new to Photoshop, so there was a big disconnect between the changes I wanted to make and the changes I knew how to make. With each new tool, I spent a lot of time experimenting to get a feel for it. Over time, I gained confidence and was able to create dramatic effects more quickly, which was fun.

Of the two portrait modifications that you did, which felt more uncanny, the one where you made yourself look "better" in accordance with cultural norms of beauty, or the one in which you made yourself look "strange"?

The "strange" portrait feels more uncanny because it distorts my features in a way that is unusual and macabre, like a character from an animated movie by Tim Burton. The "better" portrait is uncanny in its own way because my face looks almost like a doll's face, but it doesn't trigger the same WTF reaction in me.

In school it's not unusual to critique the unrealistically idealized images of men and women we see in the media. What was it like to wrestle with those ideals as you made your own face look "better"? Was it a pleasant experience? Did you feel the force of those ideals of male and female beauty more strongly when you were modifying your own image than if you were critiquing an photoshopped image of a male or female model?

When trying to make myself look "better", I felt frustrated with my asymmetries and blemishes, and with my inability to make myself look as perfect as the models in magazines. I wasn't pleasant, but it wasn't horrible. I felt the pull of beauty ideals more strongly when modifying my own image because I know my own "flaws" much better than those of strangers, so I'm more able to identify the discrepancies between my features and cultural standards of beauty. 

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This is an ad by PETA Asia-Pacific, which is an animal rights advocacy group. It features a human male model on a light gray background with a distressed white border.

The copy in the top left corner is as follows:

WILD ANIMALS DON'T BELONG IN CHAINS

Keep Elephants Out of Zoos

The words are stacked on top of one another. The first phrase is shown in large handwritten letters with a subtle outline a shade lighter than the gray background. The letters are filled with black except for those in "DON'T BELONG", which are filled with a khaki color. The second phrase uses smaller black letters in the same handwritten style.

In the bottom left corner, the copy says:

—Patrick Ribbsaeter

SEE MORE AT PETAAsiaPacific.com

The model's name, Patrick Ribbsaeter, is also printed in the handwritten typeface. The last line uses smaller letters from a sans-serif  and oblique typeface. SEE MORE AT is written in black, whereas PETAAsiaPacific.com is written in white against a solid khaki rectangle. The E in PETA is styled as it is in the PETA logo.

To the right, a male model faces the camera and poses as if he is struggling against the chains wrapped around him. He is tall, nude, and well-muscled with deeply tanned skin, dark and tousled shoulder-length hair, dark eyes, and vaguely European features. His eyebrows are furrowed and lips parted. The upper body tilts toward the viewer's right at about a 60 degree angle from the ground. His right hand is raised to chest level and grips a chain that wraps around his neck and extends beyond the left edge of the frame.

The model's left arm covers his genitals as it grips the chain wrapped around his hips. The chain loops around his hips several times and continues down his right leg, encircling it. The leg extends toward the bottom left corner of the frame at an angle parallel to the upper body, dividing the two sections of copy. The right foot and chain reach beyond the left edge of the frame. His left leg is bent about 100 degrees at the knee toward the viewer's right, with the toes of the foot on the ground and the heel in the air as if he is pulling the chains taut.

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EMDA 201 final project proposal

For my final project, I plan to modify World War II propaganda posters. I'll add elements of modernity and change the messages to say things that are politically subversive.

Adding modernity will involve incorporating images of modern technology and iconography. The messages will criticize and satirize mass surveillance and the military-industrial complex.

The posters I choose will depend on which high-resolution images I can find. The project will be an interesting study of the power of symbol modification to reappropriate political messages.

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Ethical analysis

The situation

On Reddit, which is a website devoted to user-generated content, self-described troll Violentacrez maintained subreddits (i.e. forums) featuring sexualized photos of non-consenting women and girls, including /r/creepshots for photos of adult women and /r/jailbait for photos of underage girls.

Gawker's Adrian Chen uncovered Violentacrez's real name, Michael Brutsch, and published his personal information for the world to see. In hacker terms, outing someone in this way is known as "doxxing." Because his identity was revealed, Brutsch was fired from his job. He also deleted his Reddit account.

The ethical conflict

The ethical conflict centers on whether it's acceptable to post sexualized images of non-consenting women and girls, and whether it's appropriate to reveal the poster's personal information in retaliation. In other words, the question is whether Internet pseudonymity is a right or a privilege.

Chen argued that posting such photos without the consent of the subjects is unethical, and that it's appropriate for Brutsch to face consequences for his actions. In this frame, the act of posting the photos represents an abuse of power by Brutsch against the women, and Chen's doxxing is a power equalizer.

Others argued that, regardless of whether it was ethical to post the photos, it is never okay to reveal an Internet poster's identity without their consent, and Chen had no right to decide that Brutsch should face consequences for legal behavior. In this frame, Chen abused his journalistic power by revealing Brutsch's identity.

My position

Was it ethical for Brutsch to post sexualized pictures of non-consenting women and underage girls?

Absolutely not. Although the women and girls were in public, they did not consent to having their pictures taken, or to having their faces and bodies published online for use as masturbatory aids. Doing so was an abuse of power that objectified the women and girls involved.

Was it ethical for Chen to publish Brutsch's identity without his consent?

Yes, I think it was. Thanks to Chen, /r/creepshots and /r/jailbait are now banned, which I think is a good result. Brutsch argued the photos were taken in public and thus acceptable to post. He violated the privacy of the women and girls while hiding behind a pseudonym, so the revelation of his identity seems like poetic justice to me.

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Reflections on Walter Benjamin and the aura

What was lost when you took one of your photos of an artwork? Were there aspects of your experience your photograph could not convey? What aspects of that experience?

The photos don't convey the dimensions of the artwork, how fine details like brushstrokes add texture and depth, or how the artwork looks from different angles and distances. The color balance of the photos seems off as well. Further, the photos depict each piece in isolation, whereas an exhibit setting allows the observer to experience all the pieces together and recognize patterns and themes.

Conversely, what kinds of things can your image do that the pieces sitting in the museum can't do? How might they inspire people who see them on your Tumblr, for instance? What sense might be added to the piece when people see it in terms of their own experience and cultural context? What sense, for instance, might a young person in Tokyo make of it? In a contested part of Afghanistan? In a remote African village?

Unlike the pieces in the exhibit, my photo is digital. I can store tends of thousand of photos on a device small enough to carry in my pocket, and I can transmit them to people all over the world. This technology allows the artwork to reach a much wider audience than it would otherwise. People who see the artwork online will interpret it using their own cultural contexts and experiences.

Not knowing much about the perspectives of people in Tokyo, contested parts of Afghanistan, or rural Africa, it is hard to say how they would interpret the particular works of art I photographed. I do know that some cultures attach different meanings to colors, numbers, shapes, and other things that show up in art. For example, in the US, the color white has a cultural association of purity and innocence, whereas other cultures don't make that association. For art that uses that color, the cultural association may elicit different reactions from US and non-US audiences. A similar concept applies to more complex symbols like national flags. In the US, the American flag is often seen as a symbol of patriotism and freedom. People in countries negatively affected by US policies may not see the flag the same way.

Personal experiences also inform the way we interpret abstract art. A person in a rural area may see an animal or plant in the shapes. A person from an urban area may see a building or something else entirely.

Historical events, too, shape the way we understand art. I used to have a poster of the New York City skyline in which the World Trade Center towers were prominent. After the towers were destroyed in 2001, that poster took on a different meaning.

What is a form of technology (such as a video game, cell phone, twitter, instagram, Facebook, or something else) that has created a new form of social experience that you participate in? Are there things that you and people with whom you interact using this technology could not have done, or done in this way, in the past?

Search engines, particularly Google, have made it dramatically easier to find information about people. As more and more of our lives are documented online, search engines have made it trivially easy to find a person's pictures, comment history, criminal record, and a variety of other information that used to be much more difficult to obtain.

This availability of personal information has upsides and downsides. On the upside, it is now much easier to keep in touch with friends and family, and to check up on potential employees or dates. On the downside, it means mistakes and embarrassing moments are preserved indefinitely, which can have negative social consequences. The technology is still relatively new, so the social norms are shifting. It's possible that when the children of today are adults, many people will have embarrassing information on the Internet, and fewer people will be judgmental about it.

[reevesr]

Klean Kanteen

Sales pitch by Susan Burnette, Nelly Delmatoff, Richard Martinez, Roger Reeves, and Kristiana Wright

The Brand:

Klean Kanteen is a brand that understands today’s youthful and active communities. They develop products that are convenient, easy to use, and environmentally safe. With bottles made of stainless steel, they are reusable, manufactured in a “clean” way, and contribute to a general shift to responsible consumers.

Target Market:

Klean Kanteen targets mostly the active and environmentally conscious consumer. In addition, they target those who fall into the “metal bottle” fad, whether or not they are active or environmentally conscious. This mostly consists of teenagers and young adults who feel the need to fit into this group.

The Product:

With a focus on being convenient, large enough for the necessary amount of water, and capable of keeping cold drinks cold for hours, the bottles target the active because they provide an all-in-one solution to the runner, the cyclist, or any other active individual. This is also effective for the environmentally conscious because it cuts down on waste, and serves multiple roles as there are attachments that allow it to work with coffee and hot drinks.

The Team:

We’ve assembled a team of creatives to help us build the ad campaign:

Copywriter: Brandi Herrera

Site: http://www.brandikatherineherrera.com/

Experience and reasoning: Brandi Herrera has experience with athletic clubs, postal service, additional experience with other industries. Her experience with athletic work will help in our print ad.  She also has worked on “green living” products and campaigns.

Photographers: Pete Stone and Chris Ryan

Sites: http://www.petestone.com/, http://www.chrisryanphoto.com/

Experience and reasoning: Pete Stone is a more experienced and professional photographer who has worked for many major international corporations and large ad campaigns, however, he is inexperienced in motion and activity photography. Therefore, we bring Chris Ryan in as a secondary as his experience is more in that direction, to have both photographers bring their experience and talent to the product.

Videographer: Jared Cruce

Site: http://jaredcruce.com/

Experience and reasoning: Jared Cruce is an experienced photographer and videographer who has worked for several national clients. While doing mostly outdoor photography, he does videography work with clients mostly for outdoor and activity based companies.

The Message:

We’re sending the message that Klean Kanteen understands its target market and has crafted its products specifically for them. Therefore, we have three proposed marketing objectives.

First, we’d like to run a print ad that features the product backed by a park scene with active individuals going about their business and some text describing Klean Kanteen’s commitment to an active population and the environment.

Second, we’d like to run a video ad which features multiple active individuals passing each other, each with a bottle, and finally ending with the first individual meeting the last at the end of the loop with a backing of modern music.

Finally, we’d like to propose a design for the company website which features a streamlined layout, but also a wealth of information and transaction systems similar to web merchants.

The Goal:

This campaign will increase awareness of the brand and drive additional sales. What we’d like to do is help make Klean Kanteen a household name and do our best to keep people aware of its benefits well into the future.

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I found these works of art inside SOU’s Art Building on 29 October 2013.

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With leaves in shades of red, orange, yellow, and yellow-green, these autumn trees display an analogous color palette. The clear blue sky provides a complementary backdrop. The base color is sky blue, and the accent color is the bright yellow of the leaves.

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The Perfect Font: Raunchy R

This is a whimsical, raunchy R. Its intricacy tells us it belongs to a display typeface. Its stem is a dancing pole with a flared base that forms a serif. A leg dressed in a fishnet stocking emerges from the top of the stem to form the shoulder and tail of the R. The leg meets the stem below the vertical midpoint, which suggests a small x-height and a large cap height. The counter is angled where the knee bends. The tail's terminal is a stiletto-heeled shoe.

Here's an R from the display typeface Desdemona. It has a similar aspect ratio, cap height, stem with a serif at the base, angled counter, and black outline with white fill. The Desdemona R has a flatter shoulder, a more steeply sloped tail, and a simpler terminal than the raunchy R.

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Here are some experiments with type in Photoshop. I feel like a kindergartner making crayon drawings.

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Amy is a first-year student at Southern Oregon University. Here she is sitting outside the art building on the first day of school. Look at that happy smile!