John Maeda is a graphic designer, artist, and computer scientist who's work is known internationally. He is responsible for the development of many innovative, interactive motion graphics seen on the Internet. He has received high honors for his graphic design work in the US, Japan, and Germany. He is currently the president of the Rhode Island School of Design.
In Maeda's book The Laws of Simplicity, he explores the relationship between simplicity and complexity. He lays down ten "laws" to obey when deciding how simple/complex something should be. Some of his explanations were a little confusing to me, but the laws themselves seem very helpful. I found that these laws were the most interesting and insightful:
1. Reduce: The simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reduction
5. Differences: Simplicity and complexity need each other
10. The One: Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious, and adding the meaningful
Links:
Laws of Simplicity
Brief biography on Maeda
TED Talks: John Maeda
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
videos with animated type
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMCdmoJ8Ab4
Great - it has yodleing and sheep. What's not to love? Oh, and the type animation's not half bad, either.
http://vimeo.com/1191402
The transitions and the music really fit the tone of the type.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7086966652454413943&ei=T2HMSemGMJiyqAOnvJGaBQ&q=typographic+animation&hl=en
Really interesting combination of type and film. My favorite parts are when the type is incorporated into the actual environments instead of being off on the side. This video also has a mood that fits what the speaker is saying.
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1203729/typography/
The music, the typefaces used, and the narration all fit together. And you get a quick introduction to typography!
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8jayw_portal-still-alive-typography_creation
Now, I've never played Portal, but this is still pretty hilarious. The images are funny and the plain type treatment fits the song. The only part that doesn't go with the rest is the fiery part. The entire song is in type and simple graphics, why would you stick a realistic image in there?
Great - it has yodleing and sheep. What's not to love? Oh, and the type animation's not half bad, either.
http://vimeo.com/1191402
The transitions and the music really fit the tone of the type.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7086966652454413943&ei=T2HMSemGMJiyqAOnvJGaBQ&q=typographic+animation&hl=en
Really interesting combination of type and film. My favorite parts are when the type is incorporated into the actual environments instead of being off on the side. This video also has a mood that fits what the speaker is saying.
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1203729/typography/
The music, the typefaces used, and the narration all fit together. And you get a quick introduction to typography!
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8jayw_portal-still-alive-typography_creation
Now, I've never played Portal, but this is still pretty hilarious. The images are funny and the plain type treatment fits the song. The only part that doesn't go with the rest is the fiery part. The entire song is in type and simple graphics, why would you stick a realistic image in there?
Type Homework due March 26
The speech I chose to animate is "Address to the Nation on the Berlin Wall" by President Ronald Reagan. I am planning on doing the last section of the speech (approx. -50 seconds) where he focuses on what he saw when visiting Berlin. The speech is important because the destruction of the Berlin Wall symbolized the end of the threat of communism in the Western world in the minds of many Americans. Overall, Reagan sounds fairly calm and collected during the speech. He does put more emphasis on his words toward the end of the speech when he is asking Gorbachev to tear down the Wall. The speech does a good job of persuading his audience to his point of view - he is calm enough to sound rational, but passionate enough to still sound emotionally invested in his topic.
Reagan was born in Illinois in 1911. He got a job as a radio announcer, which latter lead to his career as a movie star. He made appearances in over 50 movies before he retired and became involved in politics. He was drafted into the arm during WWII where he worked on making propaganda films. He was elected governor of California in 1966 and served for two terms. In the 1980 presidential election Ronald Reagan successfully ran against Pres. Jimmy Carter. He was president for two terms. After retiring Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. He died in 2004.
To see a short biography of President Reagan check out http://history1900s.about.com/od/ronaldreagan/p/reagan.htm
For more information on the Berlin Wall, and its fall, check out http://www.newseum.org/berlinwall/
Reagan was born in Illinois in 1911. He got a job as a radio announcer, which latter lead to his career as a movie star. He made appearances in over 50 movies before he retired and became involved in politics. He was drafted into the arm during WWII where he worked on making propaganda films. He was elected governor of California in 1966 and served for two terms. In the 1980 presidential election Ronald Reagan successfully ran against Pres. Jimmy Carter. He was president for two terms. After retiring Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. He died in 2004.
To see a short biography of President Reagan check out http://history1900s.about.com/od/ronaldreagan/p/reagan.htm
For more information on the Berlin Wall, and its fall, check out http://www.newseum.org/berlinwall/
Friday, March 20, 2009
Type 2 (due March 24)
On the Good.is website I mainly focused on watching the videos (what can I say - I'm lazy). My favorites were the "Transparency" series which is " A video exploration of the data that surrounds us." I especialy loved the "State of the Planet." Since all of the videos are just conveying a bunch of statistics, you would expect them to be pretty boring, but they are actually interesting. I liked how each video is stylistically different from the others.
Stop Stealing Sheep & figure out how type works chapter sumeries:
1: Type is everywhere
We all use type to communicate whether it is for street signs, advertizements, forms, or books. Since type is absolutely everywhere, it must be important. And since it is everywhere and important, we should do our best to make sure it is "good" type. Everyone has a chance to use type to improve their communication skils.
2: What is type?
The forms of type have changed in style since it was invented, but fundamentally it reamians the same: a way to communicate. Type has often been influenced by cultural aesthetic choices as well as by technology (hammer and chisel, brush, pen, typewriter, printers, deisplay screens, etc.).
3: Looking at type
Type is obviously not all the same. The ways the letterforms look and are formed has an impact on the way the viewer understands the message.
4: Type with a purpose
Some typefaces are more appropriate in conveying certain messages than others.
5: Type builds character
It's important for the designer to know the ins and outs of his/her concept so an appropriate tone can be created within the design.
6: Types of type
The letterforms of different typefaces are unique. Being able to identify and classify the differences helps the designer by making his/her job easier as well as by creating an effective design.
7: How it works
Adjusting the kerning and the leading in type can help the reader of a design. What is appropriate in a short block of text might be overwhelming and overly strenuous in a longer section.
8: Putting it to work
Just as certain typefaces and letterspacing might work well in some situations, but not in others, the layout is heavily reliant on what the main purpose of the design is meant to be.
9: There is no bad type
Type has evolved over centuries and greatly depended on what was popular at the time. Typefaces that may seem "ugly" or outdated to us now were perfectly legitimate. Use these sometimes unpopular typefaces to your advantage.
Stop Stealing Sheep & figure out how type works chapter sumeries:
1: Type is everywhere
We all use type to communicate whether it is for street signs, advertizements, forms, or books. Since type is absolutely everywhere, it must be important. And since it is everywhere and important, we should do our best to make sure it is "good" type. Everyone has a chance to use type to improve their communication skils.
2: What is type?
The forms of type have changed in style since it was invented, but fundamentally it reamians the same: a way to communicate. Type has often been influenced by cultural aesthetic choices as well as by technology (hammer and chisel, brush, pen, typewriter, printers, deisplay screens, etc.).
3: Looking at type
Type is obviously not all the same. The ways the letterforms look and are formed has an impact on the way the viewer understands the message.
4: Type with a purpose
Some typefaces are more appropriate in conveying certain messages than others.
5: Type builds character
It's important for the designer to know the ins and outs of his/her concept so an appropriate tone can be created within the design.
6: Types of type
The letterforms of different typefaces are unique. Being able to identify and classify the differences helps the designer by making his/her job easier as well as by creating an effective design.
7: How it works
Adjusting the kerning and the leading in type can help the reader of a design. What is appropriate in a short block of text might be overwhelming and overly strenuous in a longer section.
8: Putting it to work
Just as certain typefaces and letterspacing might work well in some situations, but not in others, the layout is heavily reliant on what the main purpose of the design is meant to be.
9: There is no bad type
Type has evolved over centuries and greatly depended on what was popular at the time. Typefaces that may seem "ugly" or outdated to us now were perfectly legitimate. Use these sometimes unpopular typefaces to your advantage.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Straight from the Studio
So on Thursday, March 12 from 11:00 A.M. to 6:30 P.M. there is an exhibition at the Lawrence Arts Center that a drawing of mine is in. All of the work is from a life drawing class taught by Judith McCrea this past fall. The reception (i.e. when there will be free food) is from 4:30-6:30. You should go. It will be super duper.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Type 2 (due March 10)
Animated typography is when you add motion and other effects to letterforms.
Adding sound can really enhance a type animation (well, at least when it's done well). It can help convey a mood or emotion. However, I think when sound is done well it only helps the animation with these things - it shouldn't overpower the rest of the video.
I think the similarity of the videos I watched hurt the overall effect of them. It was like the animators were mainly concerned that their type looked cool and not that the animation style particularly fit the subject matter. Like Saul Bass said in his interview, everything in the video should create a "climate for the story." The animations that I though were more cohesive with their subject were the Hitler speech, the video on euthanasia, and the one near the end on human rights. The transitions, speed, sound, and emphasis on certain portions of the type made these videos stand out to me.
Links:
http://www.adobe.com/type/index.html (quick Adobe how-tos on type animation)
http://people.ku.edu/~herstow/VisualCommunication/videos.html (sample type animations)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UU132IUU_o (Saul Bass interview)
Adding sound can really enhance a type animation (well, at least when it's done well). It can help convey a mood or emotion. However, I think when sound is done well it only helps the animation with these things - it shouldn't overpower the rest of the video.
I think the similarity of the videos I watched hurt the overall effect of them. It was like the animators were mainly concerned that their type looked cool and not that the animation style particularly fit the subject matter. Like Saul Bass said in his interview, everything in the video should create a "climate for the story." The animations that I though were more cohesive with their subject were the Hitler speech, the video on euthanasia, and the one near the end on human rights. The transitions, speed, sound, and emphasis on certain portions of the type made these videos stand out to me.
Links:
http://www.adobe.com/type/index.html (quick Adobe how-tos on type animation)
http://people.ku.edu/~herstow/VisualCommunication/videos.html (sample type animations)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UU132IUU_o (Saul Bass interview)
Monday, March 2, 2009
Type 2 (due March 3)
Reading the "Cult of the Ugly" by Steven Heller and having to do research in order to write an opinionated paper on it has really made me think. When I first heard about the subject of ugly design, I hardly had to pause before I said I hated the very idea. Why on earth would you ever, EVER want to make a design that was "ugly"?! But the more I read about it, from both sides of the argument, I began to realize that there could be some merits to such and unconventional design style (the expressive aspect for example). Some solutions just make more sense if they look horrible. One of the quotes from an article I read said this about so-called ugly design: "The only thing lost was an absolute dedication to minimalist form, which is a completely different issue from rationalist process." That made me think even more. Just because the form is more chaotic, it doesn't mean it was chosen at random.
What is aesthetically pleasing is such a subjective thing and really depends on who is doing the looking. I guess what I got out of the readings was an appreciation for ugly design, even if I couldn't ever get to especially like it. In some cases it does have its merits, and as long as a designer can sufficiently defend his or her use of the ugly style (like the designer should be able to do for any other choice in his or her design), I suppose it is fine to use.
Links:
http://www.highgrounddesign.com/mccoy/km3.htm
http://emigre.com/Editorial.php?sect=1&id=32
http://books.google.com/booksid=31R1Uc1L3u8C&pg=PA165&lpg=PA165&dq=meaning+john+rheinfrank&source=web&ots=cSPNR6lFt5&sig=1KH-pGNXmG6NirX-q4omuQQNzo#PPA170,M1
What is aesthetically pleasing is such a subjective thing and really depends on who is doing the looking. I guess what I got out of the readings was an appreciation for ugly design, even if I couldn't ever get to especially like it. In some cases it does have its merits, and as long as a designer can sufficiently defend his or her use of the ugly style (like the designer should be able to do for any other choice in his or her design), I suppose it is fine to use.
Links:
http://www.highgrounddesign.com/mccoy/km3.htm
http://emigre.com/Editorial.php?sect=1&id=32
http://books.google.com/booksid=31R1Uc1L3u8C&pg=PA165&lpg=PA165&dq=meaning+john+rheinfrank&source=web&ots=cSPNR6lFt5&sig=1KH-pGNXmG6NirX-q4omuQQNzo#PPA170,M1
"No Warning Signs" Poster
This poster, while not the most amazing thing out there, is a pretty good example of using a verbal and visual pun within a design. In the reading a pun was described as a "phenomena that one symbol can have two or more meanings, or that two or more symbols can have similar or identical images
but different meanings." This uses commonly acknowledged symbols that we use on road ways to stand for warnings or cautions. The poster uses simile to compare the human body and a roadway. The lack of traffic signs (or their presence, in this case, to draw attention) are compared to the lack of symptoms suffered by individuals with kidney disease and the danger either case presents-a danger of not knowing you are in danger, I guess.
but different meanings." This uses commonly acknowledged symbols that we use on road ways to stand for warnings or cautions. The poster uses simile to compare the human body and a roadway. The lack of traffic signs (or their presence, in this case, to draw attention) are compared to the lack of symptoms suffered by individuals with kidney disease and the danger either case presents-a danger of not knowing you are in danger, I guess.
Logo for the new School of Design
http://www.people.ku.edu/~mstenzel/flash/index.html
Click on the link above to see the Flash animation of the logo I designed. It's flasherific!
Click on the link above to see the Flash animation of the logo I designed. It's flasherific!
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