Final Project: AIDS Walk New York 2009 Poster

AIDS Walk New York 2009

To describe the New York AIDS Walk, I wanted to bring together several pieces that would visually portray to the audience what the event is about.  I included an asphalt road, a ribbon, a boot print, and a Manhattan skyline.  To make the poster visually stimulating, I used a selective color scheme and kept the amount of type to a minimum.  I only included the text that was needed to grab the viewer’s attention, then they could go onto the website to get more information.  I tried to give the ad a very urban feel because the walk takes place throughout the city and directly benefits many people who live in New York City.

TV Commercial Review: Apple iPod + iTunes Ad

 

As a brand, Apple is known for their simplicity and focus on design as well as function.  Of course, their advertisements are similar.

– There are silhouettes against brightly colored backgrounds, which presents a strong contrast.  The bright colors catch the viewer’s attention.  The shapes of the people are detailed; not only can you tell what they are, but you can see hairs on the people’s heads.

– The energetic dancing along with the song presents the iPod as fun and exciting.

– I like how the people aren’t just randomly dancing, they’re connected to the song.  For example, when the singer says “1, 2, 3,” one of the dancers puts up 1, 2, and 3 fingers.

– The white iPods against the black silhouettes are iconic, and the white iPod buds are easily recognized.  However, the iPod itself is never really shown in the commercial, the viewer only sees the white wires against the black people.

– The commercial relies on some prior knowledge about ipods, computers, and technology, especially since the iPod isn’t actually shown.  The only words shown on the screen are “iPod + iTunes,” “Now for Windows,” and “iTunes.com” with the Apple symbol.

Music Video Review: Stars – Your Ex-Lover Is Dead

This video has a huge amount of artistic elements crammed into four minutes.  Most of the unique elements are achieved through camera angles.  A majority of the video is filmed from directly above the musicians or at the ice skaters’ feet.  Both angles create interesting silhouettes of the darker people laying on lighter-colored ice and the dark shadows moving along the lighter ice rink.  When the camera films from up above, it makes the symmetry more obvious, such as during some of the synchronized skating parts.

I also like how there is a large amount of contrast.  The video is in color, but there are more blacks and whites than grays.  This, along with the camera angles, creates many unique shapes that are similar to a kaleidoscope.

The filming moves well with the music; the camera pans and spins quickly when the song speeds up and moves slower when the song’s tempo slows.

Movie Poster Review: Ocean’s Eleven

 

Ocean's Eleven

 

This poster for Ocean’s Eleven is very well done.  I’ve always been drawn to design that’s more simplistic, whether it’s in relation to color, shape, symmetry, line, etc.

The poster relies on prior knowledge.  It doesn’t actually say “Ocean’s Eleven” anywhere; there is just a large red 11.  However, the famous names in the cast are listed, along with a label for their character.  In this case, the big names are expected to draw in the audience to see this movie.  Yet, by keeping all of the character’s faces hidden, it shows that the ensemble as a whole is more important than one particular person.

There are only four colors used in this movie poster: black, grey, white, and red.  The straightforwardness of this decision has many affects.  It draws attention, explains a bit of the plot (the setting is in a casino, and the colors are similar to those found on playing cards), and shows the “facelessness” of all of the men.

The red 11 initially grabs the viewer’s attention, and then the long lines lead the viewer in.  The red, black, and white all complement and contrast one another; each part stands out individually, but they still fit together.

If I had to change this movie poster, I would have all eleven people visible in some way at the top.  However, I can see how this could make the design not as clean and neat; it could be too cluttered.  The viewer does get the point that the film is about eleven dark-suited men.  I would also add the title of the film in somewhere.  When advertising a movie, it seems that an important element is word of mouth, and knowing the name of the movie is important when discussing it.

Title Sequence Review: Gattaca (1997)

 

Gattaca (1997)

 

Gattaca is a film about genetic manipulation and its consequences in the future.  For someone new to this movie, the title sequence would be foreign and confusing.  However, to someone that is familiar with the film, they’d recognize what is going on.

The title sequence begins with an extremely tight, almost microscopic shot.  The picture and the sound is amplified to exaggerate the hugeness of an object that in reality is very small, such as a fingernail clipping or a hair.  I remember the first time that I saw Gattaca, I thought that the falling skin cells were snow.  Slowly, the camera pans out and the audience recognizes the larger-than-life objects for what they really are.

The entire title sequence is very controlled.  There is a specific, monochromatic color palate; first blue and then yellow-orange.  There is some sort of symmetry or linear movement in each frame.

I also like how the letters C, G, T, and A are bolded in the credits, since these letters represent the four bases that form DNA.  This small detail is still significant.

There really isn’t anything about this title sequence that I would change.  Its purpose is to prepare the audience for what is to come in the movie, and it is successful.

Photoshop: Lyric Booklet

 

Idina Menzel – Still I Can’t Be Still

Photographer’s Body of Work Review: Andy Goldsworthy

 

Andy Goldsworthy

 

Andy Goldsworthy is a nature installation photographer.  His artwork focuses on abstract photography.  In his photos, the visual look matters more than the emotion felt by the viewer.  The objects in his photographs are always found in nature, never manmade.

Goldsworthy pays great attention to detail.  Classic artistic elements such as line, color, shape, space, value, texture, and symmetry are present.  This can be demonstrated in individual photographs from Goldsworthy’s body of work

 

 

 

 

 

This photo wouldn’t be successful without the line in the snow.  It would simply be a picture of snow with a relatively flat color scheme and nothing of interest.  The line leads the viewer’s eye through the photograph.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This photo displays how Goldsworthy uses color.  If the leaves were a similar shade to the rocks and the water, the photograph wouldn’t be as interesting.  The red is a direct complement to the neutral grey rocks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Without the circle of colored stones, this photograph wouldn’t make sense.  The circular shape in the center draws the viewer’s eye into the photo and makes it visually intriguing.

 

 

 

 

 

The negative space is what makes this photograph.  Without the opening in the largest ring, the smaller ring wouldn’t be visible and the photo wouldn’t be as compelling.  However, the photograph is very monochromatic; it could use a bit more contrast between the color of the snow and the color of the sky.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The warm color gradient in this photograph demonstrates how Goldsworthy uses value in his work.  The exact selection and arrangement of leaves creates a seamless gradient.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In comparison to the previous photograph, the gradient of the colors in this one isn’t as gradual, so the texture of the stones is evident.

 

 

 

 

 

The concentric circles in this photograph demonstrate the symmetry in many of Goldsworthy’s works.  In this case, the similar coloring works to make the symmetry more obvious.

Photo Essay: Letters

 

Photo Essay

 

It took me a while to come up with a topic for this assignment.  I wanted something that would look cohesive, but the photos were connected in a more abstract, not-so-obvious way.  At first glance, the subject is not easy to distinguish, but it becomes apparent after looking through all of the photographs.

I walked around campus and my dorm room looking for letters of any kind, and I attempted to capture them in a unique way: from a different angle, zoomed-in, etc.

Photo Review: Dovima with elephants by Richard Avedon

Dovima with elephants, evening dress by Dior, Cirque d'Hiver, August 1955

This photo by Richard Avedon is well-known for a reason.  At the time, the contrast between the dirty elephants and the clean, elegant model was unheard of.  Nowadays, this is not as jarring.  Artists constantly push the boundaries, and society as a whole is not as conservative as we were in the 1950s.

What really makes the photograph unique is the textures: the rough elephant skin and the smooth fabric of the dress.  There is also a contrast between the tones, which is further emphasized because the photo isn’t in color.  The elephants are grey while the model in her dress is black and white.

If I had to reshoot this photo, I would correct two things.  There is a definite balance of symmetry from left to right except for the third elephant on the right side.  Also, I like that the model is imitating the elephants lifting their trunks, but I wish the dress flowed out or she stuck her leg out away from her body or something similar to copy the way the elephants are lifting their right legs.

Ad Review: Orville Redenbacher

Orville Redenbacher Ad

This ad is extremely strong because I can immediately tell what Orville Redenbacher is trying to say: that their hundred calories is much larger and more filling than other hundred calorie foods. Visually, the colors and the sizes of the objects are significant. The neutral popcorn is in direct contrast to the red background, which is also one of Orville Redenbacher’s colors.  The crackers stand out against the background as well, but not as much as the popcorn does.

This ad requires a bit of cultural understanding because the viewer must recognize that this is a play on a Pac-man video game. The popcorn is the Pac-man and the crackers are the Pac-dots. The Pac-man is so much bigger than the Pac-dots, so there’s a lot more popcorn in one hundred calories.

The ad is simplistic; there’s only a single line of text.  The graphics manage to get the point across fairly well, the text is only necessary to explain that the food shown is one hundred calories.  Orville Redenbacher with his box of popcorn is a recognizable logo, so there’s no need to write “ORVILLE REDENBACHER” in large text on the ad.

There really isn’t anything I would change about this ad, I think it’s very well done.  The only problem I have is that it doesn’t make me very hungry; I like my popcorn movie theatre style with butter.