Food For Thought: Website

I was excited to get the chance to make the website design for Food For Thought. I tried making the site as simple as possible especially because when students are hungry during class they would need a sight that would load quickly, which would allow for them to order the food they wanted quickly. I liked using just basic elements for this site. For the banner (home, the disguise, etc) there is that figure/ground relationship that gives the impression of that there is more than just this 2D thing going on. I had a little trouble really understanding the use of the grid lines, but with what I had I thought that where everything was positioned on the homepage and the other pages that allowed for that center type feeling, but also that I wanted to make the pages actually look like a page rather than this big white space even though it would have looked nice any other way. So there is a black border around each subject, which lines up with the grid line on the page. After playing around with the site a little more I finally realized what good use the grid lines actually are. The law of simplicity is put in place as well because of the simpleness of the product we wanted to offer on the site. The law of similarity is also used because of the size and use of the yellow lines. I also thought that it would be a good idea to have a mobile website because of our target audience they would be using their cell phones or ipads to order food, so I thought it would be most beneficial to have that cross platform type deal that would allow for anyone to use their laptop, smart phone, or Ipad to get what they needed from our website.

Jurassic Park- Special Effects

One of the greatest aspects of this whole film is the use of an animatronic Tyrannosaurus Rex. Animatronics is the use of mechatronics to make animals less robotic. In order to make the T-Rex so life like the Stan Winston Studio (well-known for their use of animatronics) went to work making sculptures of a full size and miniature sized T-Rex. This is the point where the creators could decide how realistic the dinosaur actually looked. Stan Winston said that you must have to animatronic as real as possible. That is the most important. If people didn't believe the reality of the dinosaur then even with the best acting the dinosaur wouldn't be real at all. When they finished with making the sculptures look as real as possible they mode molds from them and made skins to place over the robotic skeletal structure of the T-Rex. 
Something else that was really amazing about this scene was the fact that they used small 3-D sculptures or animatics for template that the director Steven Spielberg could use. It's a stop motion type thing that allowed for them to understand the naturalistic movements of the dinosaur and to make them look more like animals rather than a scary monster. 
When they shot this scene they did it on a sound stage in California so that they could control the animatronics of the dinosaur. They also wanted to make sure that the interactions with the breaking of the fence and the tearing of the car was as real as possible. The special effects team went over how the fence would rip if a dinosaur had actually bit down on it. 
Fun Fact
The full-sized animatron of the T-Rex weighed about 9,000 pounds and was 40 feet long. During the shooting of the initial T-Rex attack scene in the downpour, the latex that covered the T-Rex puppet absorbed great amounts of water, making it much heavier and harder to control. Technicians worked throughout the night with blow driers trying to dry the latex out. Eventually, they suspended a platform above the T-Rex, out of camera range, to keep the water off the dinosaur during filming.

Composed Frame

I really didn't have time to compose a picture for the assignment, but while I was at work I thought that using the board we use at the radio station would be good to use. To begin the rule of thirds you can see that the headphones are at a point where your eye goes to first, or whereabouts the golden mean is. Your eye then follows the line either to the right or down giving you a little more understanding of what is in the photo.
I tried positioning my camera at an angle to get the diagonal effect of the board. You can see the buttons going out of the frame in a diagonal way. I'm not sure how successful I was at positioning it, but I feel that once you lay your eye on the diagonal buttons then your eye follows that.
I'm also not very sure about doing the vectors right either, but I feel that this has an index vector which if you look at the headphones you notice the cord attached and your eye tends to follow the cord off the frame. At least that is what it mine does.
I know that most people won't feel like this for radio, but whenever I find myself looking at the board in the radio studio I always get so excited. I want to play around, and listen to music. This gives me a sense of fun and excitement. I find that the use of the rule of thirds and the diagonal lines really emphasis the excitement you can get from the radio.

Valentine's Day!!!

I'm not going to lie, I think this is one of the best ideas for valentine's day! I'm a huge nerd, and love Doctor Who so why not have Doctor Who themed Valentine's Day cards to give to friends and loved ones. I think it's a great way to show your love even if you are single.

Design Evaluation! Movie Posters

 MOVIE POSTERS: PRINT

I was looking for something different to do with this assignment and I decided to go the route of movie posters. Movie posters are wonderful because they give an idea of what a movie is about because of the use of an image.

A pretty bad design that I saw was Hope Springs. As you look at the poster you don't know what exactly what the movie is about unless you read the title of the book Meryl Streep is holding. Also, it doesn't make much sense as to why she is in a book store if she is wanting to strengthen her marriage. The book store has nothing to do with the movie. There is the use of the rule of thirds, but still doesn't really help you in determining what is actually going on in the poster.

The next poster I noticed that was actually really well done 

was the movie The Amazing Spiderman. A few things that I noticed

first was the simplicity of the poster. It just has an all around feel of awesome basically. There is symmetrical balance, and the contrast with the light and dark areas of the poster kind of give that essence of 

Spiderman. The lighting also defines the wall and gives it the texture of roughness, as well as we have a vertical line showing the height and the excitement you can get while watching the movie The Amazing Spiderman. Something that I noticed a little later on was our eye goes to the human form first because we are prioritizing our perception and then our eyes moves to similarity of the shadows, but then we realize that it is a shadow of a spider rather than the human form. This could also apply in the opposite way where our eyes go first to the object which is the shadow and then the human form. Either way it works really well with the concept of this poster.

Just Another Day in Paris! (Contrast, Balance, & Harmony)

This photo was taken by Eric Malemanche who is a photographer and the founder of Encre Noire. I was given permission to use this photo because I found it so incredible and beautiful. I noticed a lot of symmetry in this photo, mainly vertical symmetry. The building being the focal point of it, and the window with it's perfectly symmetric shape and the flowers toward the bottom of the picture as well. I also feel if you divide the whole picture in half it is still very symmetrical which adds a familiar feel to the picture. 

I also think the lighting with the window definitely adds to the photo. You see that the top of the window sill is darker than the bottom which if you see the picture a little bigger you would notice the building and the slight texture of it because of the lighting. It is also the same with the flowers. You can notice the softness of the petals because of the position and the lighting coming in through the window. I just love that the picture is brighter giving it a sense that this specific day is going to be Awesome. I feel that if it was made darker then it would give this whole photo a gloomier feel and it would seem like the day just won't go as planned or even maybe something terrible will or has happened. I definitely think the brightness of the black and white adds to the photo. 

I also feel that this picture is very harmonious and well oriented (with the Eiffel Tower being in the background) because of the familiar feel that the picture has overall. I feel that this picture represents what those in Paris see on a daily basis. For me, I feel as if I am there looking at the Eiffel Tower through my own window. It's kind of like another day Paris.

The Essence of Spring (Visceral Response)

 

I took this picture a few years ago in the spring. I just love this picture because 

of the essence of spring. There is one single form (circular) floating down a small 

and simple stream, which is defined by the smooth textural ripples of the water and gives 

the image a simplistic idea of the flowers movement and journey. Also the shadow beneath the 

flower gives a sense of depth between the stream and the flower. There is also some negative 

space around the flower (water), and it seems that your eye wants to 

automatically move toward the flower and focus on it. Also the color 

of the flower gives a contentment type feel to the picture.