Vis Com Blog 2020/21

Year 3

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Space Race TED Talk

Link for the TED Talk, which was really the trigger point to base my project on the Space Race, very early on in my research:

https://www.ted.com/talks/jeff_steers_who_won_the_space_race/transcript?language=en

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Transparency Flattener Preset Fix

The tutorial which Ben sent me in order to fix the misprinting of colours on some pages of my editorial.

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Victor Moscoso

Victor Moscoso is a Spanish artist best known for producing psychedelic rock posters, advertisements, and underground comix in San Francisco during the 1960s and 1970s. He was the first of the rock poster artists of the 1960s era with formal academic training and experience. He was the first of the rock poster artists to use photographic collage in many of his posters.

Moscoso’s use of vibrating colors was influenced by painter Josef Albers, one of his teachers at Yale.

Professional success came in the form of the psychedelic rock and roll poster art created for San Francisco’s dance halls and clubs. Moscoso’s posters for the Family Dog dance-concerts at the Avalon Ballroom and his Neon Rose posters for the Matrix resulted in international attention during the 1967 Summer of Love. Moscoso’s poster work includes album covers for musicians such as Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Herbie Hancock, Jed Davis, and David Grisman.

By 1968, Moscoso was doing work for underground comix, for such titles as Yellow Dog, Jiz Comics, Snatch Comics, El Perfecto Comics, and Zap Comix. As one of the Zap artists, his psychedelic work once again received international attention. His comics appeared in every issue of Zap from 1968 until the title’s final issue in 2014; he also illustrated the covers for Zap #s 4, 10, and 13. Moscoso’s comix work is notable for its repetitive framing and reliance on an eight-panel grid. The subjects of his comics in Zap are often classic characters like Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Krazy Kat, Mr. Peanut, Bugs Bunny and Winsor McCay’s Little Nemo. [1]

[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Moscoso

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Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol was an American artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationship between artistic expression, advertising, and celebrity culture that flourished by the 1960s, and span a variety of media, including painting, silkscreening, photography, film, and sculpture. Some of his best known works include the silkscreen paintings Campbell’s Soup Cans (1962) and Marilyn Diptych (1962), the experimental films Empire (1964) and Chelsea Girls (1966), and the multimedia events known as the Exploding Plastic Inevitable (1966–67).

It was during the 1960s that Warhol began to make paintings of iconic American objects such as dollar bills, mushroom clouds, electric chairs, Campbell’s Soup Cans, Coca-Cola bottles, celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Marlon Brando, Troy Donahue, Muhammad Ali, and Elizabeth Taylor, as well as newspaper headlines or photographs of police dogs attacking African-American protesters during the Birmingham campaign in the civil rights movement. During these years, he founded his studio, “The Factory” and gathered about him a wide range of artists, writers, musicians, and underground celebrities. His work became popular and controversial.

By the beginning of the 1960s, pop art was an experimental form that several artists were independently adopting; some of these pioneers, such as Roy Lichtenstein, would later become synonymous with the movement. Warhol, who would become famous as the “Pope of Pop”, turned to this new style, where popular subjects could be part of the artist’s palette. His early paintings show images taken from cartoons and advertisements, hand-painted with paint drips. [1]

[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Warhol

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Tutorial 6

Came into this tutorial off the back of a pretty rough week, but was still happy with how the project was developing. The 1to1 tutorial, for me was really beneficial, as it gave me a lot of insight in what I needed to be doing next, and also calmed me down a little bit, and stop overthinking things.

In summary, it was agreed that some of the pages were just becoming over complicated, and that I should put more focus into the propaganda styled imagery. This didn’t mean that every page with imagery needed to have its own propaganda style created for it, but I just didn’t need to include these big black line/red rectangles on every page, because, as I said, they were making the pages look very cramped, and in some cases, they were just unnecessary.

It was also said that I need to start putting in the actual content I have gathered, because I could be creating unnecessary spreads right now that may not even end up being needed, which could be time spent making spread that it turns out I need more space for.

The final point made was to start working on the USA editorial alongside, or at least start to really hone in on how I wanted the spreads to look like, just so it wasnt rushed and weird looking when it comes to actually producing them. As much as I want to produce them in a contemporary style solely, Im not sure if this will work anymore, because the link between the two books being from the different sides during the 60s may be lost, with one in a Soviet 60s style, but then the other in a US 00s/10s/20s style (I don’t know if that made any sense but I hope it did). Ultimately, I need to do some research into American propaganda/posters from the 60s/70s (maybe have a look back at the mod prints/other parts of my early research, or something completely new), to try and find a style that will make sense to base the editorial on.

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Tutorial 5

This was the first tutorial in which I presented my finalised idea, and got to show the route in which I was taking it. The last time I had spoken with the tutors, I was still firmly on the track of producing something relating to the modern side of space travel, and still looking at the mod prints, so this was quite a drastic change.

In terms of feedback, it was very useful, as it was suggested that I try and make the editorial more historic. Whilst I was using the Soviet propaganda as my design inspiration, I could probably do more of a job at making it look like a historical document, or something of the sort. From this, I researched into some Soviet documents, to try and gain some new inspiration for layouts.

The idea of producing a dos-à-dos was put into the mix, as it may be a good way to present both of the books that I produce, showing that they are one in the same, but also, at the same time, different.

It was also mentioned to just completely drop the possibility of including a ‘Future’ section onto the end of each editorial, as it didn’t fit with what I was doing anymore, and I agreed with this. I realised I was just trying to spearhead it into the work as I had already done the research.

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Tutorial 4

The experiments were as much as I could manage to produce for this weeks tutorial, as I have decided to pursue entering ISTD 2021, and needed to put the majority of my focus into that this week. With that being said, the tutorial was still helpful, as it gave me ideas to further explore aspects which could make up the content for my final piece, which was still yet to be decided. It was recommended to look into the modern side of space travel, specifically the commercialisation of  aspect of it, such as companies like Space X and Virgin Galactic. On top of this, it was also said, that I should not be limiting myself at this point to a specific design style, as I have been with the mod print inspired designs. Due to this, I will take a different approach to what I produce for the enxt tutorial.

By this point to, as much as it was not a solidified idea, I was firmly under the impression that I wanted to produce some sort of editorial piece, as I had enjoyed doing it during the first unit of Level 6. As a result of this, I thought now would be a good time to explore different layout styles that appealed to me, so will make sure to do some research into them.

In terms of the content for my final piece, I understood by this point that the Space Race was definitely something I wanted to explore. After conducting my research into Spaceflight as a whole, it just wasnt inspiring me as much as I thought it would, which then would mean I would be limiting myself going forward. What does interest me though, which I completely overlooked, as mentioned in the tutorial, was the future of commercialisation of Space Travel and colonization of space as a whole. There are so many questions that can be asked; Whos laws would we take if we end up inhabiting Mars? How far off is it from being a reality? What is the limit? How far can we go?

From these questions, the idea of producing, possibly, two separate editorials, which go hand in hand with one another, on both of the Space Race’s - the one of the 1960’s and the modern events.

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United States Editorial Content References

[1] https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/john-f-kennedy/

[2] https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/john-f-kennedy

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy

[4] https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/national/president-john-f-kennedys-we-choose-to-go-to-the-moon-speech/2017/10/09/881ac 76e-ad1d-11e7-9b93-b97043e57a22_video.html#:~:text=07%20AM%20PDT-,President%20John%20F.,said%20to%20a%20cheering%20crowd.

[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_choose_to_go_to_the_Moon

[6] https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/lyndon-b-johnson/

[7] https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lyndon-B-Johnson

[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyndon_B._Johnson

[9] https://www.historynet.com/sputnik-1957.htm

[10] https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/richard-m-nixon/

[11] https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/richard-m-nixon

[12] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon

[13] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury-Redstone_2

[14] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury-Redstone_3

[15] https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mercury/missions/freedom7.html

[16] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_1

[17] https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo1.html

[18] https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo11.html

[19] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11

[20] https://www.paolacasoli.com/2014/12/space-race-propaganda-usa-vs-urss-a-matter-of-posters/

[21] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_War

[22] https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/space-race

[23] https://history.state.gov/milestones/1953-1960/sputnik

[24] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_Space_Treaty

[25] https://nationalinterest.org/feature/how-the-space-race-changed-the-great-power-rivalry-forever-21690

[26] https://www.airspacemag.com/space/apollo-soyuz-cold-war-thawed-little-180975321/

[27] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo%E2%80%93Soyuz

[28] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Space_Station

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Soviet Editorial Content References

[1] www.history.com/topics/cold-war/nikita-sergeyevich-khrushchev

[2] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_will_bury_you

[3] medium.com/exploring-history/we-will-bury-you-how-a-mistranslation-almost-started-ww3-4a285162e2b9

[4] https://www.britannica.com/biography/Leonid- Ilich-Brezhnev

[5] www.historylearningsite.co.uk/modern-world-history-1918-to-1980/the-cold-war/leonid-brezhnev/

[6] www.britannica.com/biography/Sergei-Korolev

[7] www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_924.html

[8] www.britannica.com/technology/Sputnik

[9] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_1

[10] www.britannica.com/biography/Yuri-Gagarin

[11] www.space.com/16159-first-man-in-space.html

[12] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vostok_1

[13] spacesafetymagazine.com/space-disasters/soyuz-1/

[14] medium.com/the-vintage-space/how-vladimir-komarov-died-on-soyuz-1-4c695f77f278

[15] nasa.gov/topics/history/features/komarov.html

[16] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zond_5

[17] www.paolacasoli.com/2014/12/space-race-propaganda-usa-vs-urss-a-matter-of-posters/

[18] www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-34281621

[19] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_War

[20] www.history.com/topics/cold-war/space-race

[21] history.state.gov/milestones/1953-1960/sputnik

[22] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_Space_Treaty

[23] nationalinterest.org/feature/how-the-space-race-changed-the-great-power-rivalry-forever-21690

[24] www.airspacemag.com/space/apollo-soyuz-cold-war-thawed-little-180975321/

[25] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo%E2%80%93Soyuz

[26] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Space_Station

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Stamp/Printed Effect Tutorial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrS7bCO-020&t=489s&ab_channel=SatoriGraphicsSatoriGraphics

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Soviet Propaganda Tutorial

Video for the tutorial I followed to produce my Soviet Propaganda experiment for the Brehznev page:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN8-D_7Llno&ab_channel=TBPhotoshopTutorials

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Starship Failed Test Flight

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av-embeds/55564448/vpid/p090z7s8

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Flat Earth Theory

“Members of the Flat Earth Society claim to believe the Earth is flat. Walking around on the planet’s surface, it looks and feels flat, so they deem all evidence to the contrary, such as satellite photos of Earth as a sphere, to be fabrications of a “round Earth conspiracy” orchestrated by NASA and other government agencies.

The belief that the Earth is flat has been described as the ultimate conspiracy theory. According to the Flat Earth Society’s leadership, its ranks have grown by 200 people (mostly Americans and Britons) per year since 2009. Judging by the exhaustive effort flat-earthers have invested in fleshing out the theory on their website, as well as the staunch defenses of their views they offer in media interviews and on Twitter, it would seem that these people genuinely believe the Earth is flat.

The leading flat-earther theory holds that Earth is a disc with the Arctic Circle in the center and Antarctica, a 150-foot-tall wall of ice, around the rim. NASA employees, they say, guard this ice wall to prevent people from climbing over and falling off the disc.” 

https://www.livescience.com/24310-flat-earth-belief.html

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The Reptilian Elite

“They are among us. Blood-drinking, flesh-eating, shape-shifting extraterrestrial reptilian humanoids with only one objective in their cold-blooded little heads: to enslave the human race. They are our leaders, our corporate executives, our beloved Oscar-winning actors and Grammy-winning singers, and they’re responsible for the Holocaust, the Oklahoma City bombings and the 9/11 attacks ... at least according to former BBC sports reporter David Icke, who became the poster human for the theory in 1998 after publishing his first book, The Biggest Secret, which contained interviews with two Brits who claimed members of the royal family are nothing more than reptiles with crowns. (Picture Dracula meets Swamp Thing).

The conspiracy theorist and New Age philosopher, who wore only turquoise for a time and insisted on being called Son of God-Head, says these “Annunaki” (the reptiles) have controlled humankind since ancient times; they count among their number Queen Elizabeth, George W. Bush, Henry Kissinger, Bill and Hillary Clinton and Bob Hope. Encroaching on other conspiracy theorists’ territory, Icke even claims that the lizards are behind secret societies like the Freemasons and the Illuminati. Since earning the dubious title of “paranoid of the decade” in the late 1990s, Icke has written several books on the topic, including his latest work, The David Icke Guide to the Global Conspiracy, while operating his own website — complete with merchandise and advertisements.” 

http://content.time.com/time/specials/packagesarticle/0,28804,186 0871_1860876_1861029,00.html

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9/11 Cover up

“While videos and photographs of the two planes striking the World Trade Center towers are famous around the world, the sheer profusion of documentary evidence has only provided even more fodder for conspiracy theories.

A May 2006 Zogby poll found that 42% of Americans believed that the government and the 9/11 commission “concealed or refused to investigate critical evidence that contradicts their official explanation of the September 11th attacks.” Why had the military failed to intercept the hijacked planes? Had the government issued a “stand down” order, to minimize interference with a secret plan to destroy the buildings and blame it on Islamic terrorists? In 2005, Popular Mechanics published a massive investigation of similar claims and responses to them. The reporting team found that the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) did not have a history of having fighter jets prepped and ready to intercept aircraft that had gone off route. And while the team found no evidence that the government had planned the attacks, lack of proof has rarely stopped conspiracy theorists before.” 

http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1860871_1860876_1861013,00.html

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JFK Assassination

“This much we can stipulate: President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963, struck by two bullets — one in the head, one in the neck — while riding in an open-topped limo through Dealey Plaza in Dallas. Lee Harvey Oswald was charged with killing him, and a presidential commission headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren found that Oswald acted alone.

That conclusion hasn’t passed muster with the public. A 2003 ABC News poll found that 70% of Americans believe Kennedy’s death was the result of a broader plot. The trajectory of the bullets, some say, didn’t square with Oswald’s perch on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository. Others suggest a second gunman — perhaps on the grassy knoll of Dealey Plaza — participated in the shooting. Others believe in an even broader conspiracy. Was Kennedy killed by CIA agents acting either out of anger over the Bay of Pigs or at the behest of Vice President Lyndon Johnson? By KGB operatives? Mobsters mad at Kennedy’s brother for initiating the prosecution of organized crime rings? Speculation over one of history’s most famous political assassinations is such a popular parlor game that most people have taken the rumors to heart: just 32% of those polled by ABC believe Oswald carried out the killing on his own.” 

http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,18608711860876_1861003,00.html

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Mount St. Helens Eruption

“On May 18, 1980, an earthquake struck below the north face of Mount St. Helens in Washington state, triggering the largest landslide in recorded history and a major volcanic eruption that scattered ash across a dozen states. The sudden lateral blast—heard hundreds of miles away—removed 1,300 feet off the top of the volcano, sending shock waves and pyroclastic flows across the surrounding landscape, flattening forests, melting snow and ice, and generating massive mudflows. A total of 57 people lost their lives in the disaster. [1]

The lateral blast devastated an area nearly 30 km (19 mi) from west to east and more than 20 km (12.5 mi) northward from the former summit. In an inner zone extending nearly 10 km (6 mi) from the summit, virtually no trees remained of what was once dense forest. Just beyond this area, all standing trees were blown to the ground, and at the blast’s outer limit, the remaining trees were thoroughly seared. The 600 km2(230 mi2) devastated area was blanketed by a deposit of hot debris carried by the blast.” [2]

[1] - https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2015/05/the-eruption-of-mount-st-helens-in-1980/393557/

[2] - https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/mount-st-helens/1980-cataclysmic-eruption?qt-science_support_page_related_con=2#qt-science_support_page_related_con