Friday, March 30, 2007

AGIDEAS 2007 Assignment




Nigel Swinn (Enterprise IG)
Nigel Swinn (DesignWorks)

Head of DesignWorks, Enterprise IGs strategic services, Nigel works as a brand consultant to a number of Australian and New Zealand businesses working closely with the senior executives of companies as diverse as Westpac and Tabcorp to Camp Quality and Wesley Mission.

Previously a marketing manager at Tourism New Zealand, Nigel has facilitated business and design strategies for large and small brands, ranging from corporates such as AGL and Rio Tinto to small and entrepreneurial brands like the award-winning BEE eco products range, the Cape York Indigenous Enterprise community and Taronga Zoo.




Mike Staniford (Landor)

As Executive Creative Director of Landor Sydney, Mike is responsible for establishing and maintaining the overall creative vision of the company.

Mikes career began in London, working with several small design companies before starting his own business. He successfully ran his consultancy for 12 years until 1994, when he was approached by a well-established design firm in Sydney to be their creative director. The firm grew and was acquired by Landor Associates, the worlds pre-eminent design and branding agency, with offices in 22 cities around the world.

Mikes strengths include a thorough understanding of consumer and corporate branding, with its implications and advantages to marketers, combined with a unique design flair. He has created branding programmes for Nescaf, Fuji Xerox, Diageo, The Australian Stock Exchange and Mirvac.

Working closely with clients, he seeks to bring a new perspective to the business of branding, and believes that design is pivotal in bringing brand and organisational strategy to life in a powerful and compelling manner. His experience is multi-disciplinary and includes environments as well as corporate and packaging.

Mike now travels extensively across Asia with his work. He is fascinated by the rise of the Chinese economy and the human endeavour that exists on every street corner from Jakarta to Seoul, Hong Kong to Tokyo.

He has won numerous design awards around the world, including the prestigious Clio Awards in New York.




Paula Scher (Pentagram)


For over three decades Paula Scher has been at the forefront of graphic design Iconic, smart and unabashedly populist, her images have entered into the American vernacular.

Scher has been a principal in the New York office of the distinguished international design consultancy Pentagram since 1991. She began her career as an art director in the 1970s and early 80s, when her eclectic approach to typography became highly influential. In the mid-1990s her landmark identity for The Public Theater fused high and low into a wholly new symbology for cultural institutions, and her recent architectural collaborations have re-imagined the urban landscape as a dynamic environment of dimensional graphic design. Her graphic identities for Citibank and Tiffany & Co have become case studies for the contemporary regeneration of classic American brands.

Scher has developed identity and branding systems, promotional materials, environmental graphics, packaging and publication designs for a broad range of clients that includes, among others, Bloomberg, Coca-Cola, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Opera, the New York Botanical Garden, and The Daily Show With Jon Stewart.

During the course of her career, Scher has been the recipient of hundreds of industry honors and awards, including the AIGA Medal in 2001 and the Type Directors Club Medal in 2006. She is a member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale. Her work is represented in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, New York; the Library of Congress, Washington, DC; the Museum fr Gestaltung, Zrich; the Denver Art Museum; and the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris.

Scher has authored numerous articles on design-related subjects for the AIGA Journal of Graphic Design, Print, Graphis, and other publications, and in 2002 Princeton Architectural Press published her career monograph, Make It Bigger.

References:
www.enterpriseig.com/
www.designworks.com.au/
www.landor.com/
www.agideas.net/2007

Day one:

Paul Davies:
Interesting apporach - professional speaker - well rehearsed and targetted - bit glib at times: too many things like 'in Brazil or New York' or I sold this for 500 quid why? - good work anyway

Glue Society:
Didn't really understand no clients only projects deal? Interesting approach, but a stunted presentation

Tim Kanda - not sure how his presentation fits in the scheme of things, maybe appeasement - and what about this remark: "to design you have to be creative"???

Material by Product: obviously very clever stuff - bit over my head and again wondering if the organisers are covering too many disciplines.

David Dare Parker - same again good stuff , but not sure how this fits in with pulling rabbits out of hats.

Nick Rennie - did not like - his why am i here attitude and hurried presentation and internal mumblings - not impressed.

Soundfirm - glossy presentation. entertaining - but to much reliance only lengthy film clips and little practical examples.

Steve Stamatiadis - difficult to understand at times - thought he missed golden opportunity to present himself in the way of a game - instead got a boring powerpoint display.

Daviv Tartakover - grear work, but way way too much stuff presented - also difficult to tune in to his politial passion when not familiar with his world. Liked his 'hands on' approach - photocopying of coloured paper (maybe work a bit repetetive).

John Thompson - brilliant, no glibness here - a true craftsman and good stuff about career ups and downs.

Wooden Toy - not my cup of tea - but like their graphic style

Imaginary Forces - polished presentation, ummmm I thought again too much emphasis on video clips and not enough on how the end result was achieved - would have liked to seen one/two projects , more behind rthe scenes stuff and and rejected stuff.

Massey Uni - a bit of cultural cringe here?

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Promotional Design Project 03 - Stage 01

Follow-up email to Melbourne Water

Hi, below is copy of an email I sent about two weeks ago. I appreciate your feedback as I'm to present my proposal shortly. If Melbourne Water is not able to assist me, can you make suggestions of any other organisations that may be able to help.

Kind regards,


Additional Reference Sites:
Apple for the Teacher
City West Water

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Drawing Techniques - Cubism

The very name Cubism came from this Braque painting 'House at L'Estaque'. When the critic Vauxcelles saw the painting he said the houses "look like a bunch of little cubes." He meant the comment to be insulting but the name Cubism stuck.

Georges Braque - House at L'Estaque 1908

But in reality cubism was born of two parents: primitive art and Cezanne.

Paul Cezanne - Rocky Landscape 1903

The movement went from 1907 to 1920's and began in Paris, France. It soon became one of the most influentional arts of all time. Famous cubist painters included Pablo Picasso and Juan Gris of Spain and Georges Braque, Paul Cezanne, Robert Delaunay, Fernand Leger, Albert Gleizes, Francis Picabia, Marcel Duchamp and Roger de la Fresnage of France.
There were three basic types of cubism; primitive cubism, analytical cubism and synthetic cubism.

PRIMITIVE CUBISM

Primitive cubism began in 1907 and went until 1908.
The painting D'Avignon Young Ladies by Pablo Picasso painted in 1907, really kicked off the cubist movement.

Pablo Picasso - Les Demoiselles d'Avignon 1907

Paul Cezanne's doctrine of cubism during this time defined what cubism was made of. "Every thing in nature takes it's form from the sphere, cone or cylinder." This quote was the basis of painting for seven years. Paul Cezanne's influence was most noted in Georges Braque's work Road near L'Estaque.

The Vase, Bowl, Lemon by Picasso in 1907 is another example.

Pablo Picasso - The Vase, Bowl, Lemon 1907

ANALYTICAL CUBISM

Analytical cubism went from approximately 1908 to 1912.
In this period, cubists explored the pure form of subjects. To do this, the artists mentally broke the subject into flat planes and arranged them in complex, overlapping relationships. Artists used only grays, browns, dark greens, ochre, dark yellows and monochrome in the works to maintain an emotionless scene. Picasso's Ma Jolie from 1912 is a classic example of this technique.

Pablo Picasso - Ma jolie 1912


SYNTHETIC CUBISM

Synthetic cubism began in 1912 through the 1920's.

During this time, artists felt freer to use more colors.The pictures were more realistic looking but still were based on geometric shapes. Artists instead, showed many view that would not be possible in real life. Yellows, reds, greens and other bright colors were being used. Artsits like Fernand Leger really came out.

Fernand Leger - Life with a beer mug 1921


Fernand Leger - Three women 1921

Geometric objects were being mixed with regular forms in bright colors. The Guitar by Juan Gris painted in 1913 is a good example of this mix.

Juan Gris - The Guitar 1913

Other examples of synthetic cubism


Robert Delaunay - The Red Tower 1911


Pablo Picasso - Harlequin with Violin 1918

A simpe example of cubist drawing technique.


Reference sites and images:
http://www.angelfire.com/co/artgeometry/
http://www.artchive.com/artchive/B/braque/housesle.jpg.html
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~matc/math5.geometry/unit16/unit16.html#Cubism

Thursday, March 8, 2007

Promotional Design Project - Stage 01


8 March 2007

THE CONCEPT:

To quantify use or mis-use of water in an average household, and looking at practical solutions to save water.

TARGET AUDIENCE:

Not yet defined - Primary School level, possible between years 3-5.

GAME OUTLINE:
The aim of game would be that by quantifying personal water use the children take ownership of the water shortage problem, and rather than thinking that they are powerless to do anything they can actively contribute to save water.

For instance.... how much water do you waste if you leave the tap running when you brush your teeth.... and, how much would that be if the whole family did the same, and what if every family in the school did the same.... and so on. No doubt there are many other examples that can be used!


ACTION:

Email to Melbourne Water - 8 March 2007

Hi Melbourne Water,

I got this email address from your website, and I was hoping you may be able to assist me with my project.

I'm a student at Box Hill TAFE currently studying for an Advanced Diploma in Multimedia. One of our projects over the course of this year will be to develop a computer based educational interactive game, and it's target audience will be primary school students.

We have been asked to develop an idea for a game, and I thought that as water usage, and/or misuse, is a much debated topic at the moment, it would be a great idea to create a game to help students to quantify their use of water.

For instance.... how much water do you waste if you leave the tap running when you brush your teeth.... and, how much would that be if the whole family did the same, and what if every family in the school did the same.... and so on. No doubt there are many other examples that can be used.

The aim of game would be that by quantifying personal water use the children may take ownership of the water shortage problem, and rather than thinking that they are powerless to do anything they can actively contribute to save water, and who knows, maybe they could even educate their parents!

I need help with my research, and I was wondering that if the project got underway Melbourne Water would be able to supply facts and figures on water usage, and assist with other materials that may be incorporated in the project. Of course any materials that you would supply will be appropriately acknowledged, and will be used with the understanding that it is a for student project only.

I'm very keen to develop this idea, and I look forward to hearing from you.


Kind regards,



Hans Eijdenberg


NEXT STEPS

Contact additional local water utilities to provide quantitative
information on water usage, and perhaps get them involved in the project

Conduct research into the perceived target audience's education level in relation to understanding of maths and language.

Research Reference Sites

Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority
Human Computer Interaction Lab
Kindergarten Educational Software
Squigly Playhouse
Fun School Kaboose
SuperKids
South East Water


These reference site were collected as part of a group brainstorming session on how and where to find relevant reference material!

Photo reference: http://www.pulsephotonics.com/gallery/originals/Water%20-%20transparent.jpeg

Monday, February 26, 2007

Video Studio 03 - Lighting Requirements











LIGHT COLOURS:

Sunlight: Blue
Fluorescent: Green
Purpose lights: Yellow
Tungsten: Orange
Daylight: Blue

TYPES OF LIGHTING EQUIPMENT

There are two types of light that can be used on the scene - practical lights: i.e lamps on scene, or purpose lights.

Purpose lights:

These are often referred to as Red Head or Blondie lights.


The lamps can be set into three positions, and the reflector can be adjusted from the rear to widen (flood) or narrow (spot) the beam of the light. The lights are usually equipped with barn doors - a device fitted on the front of the device which has two big doors, plus two little doors to block the edge of the light's beam.

Safety Issues:
Purpose lights will get very hot, and due care should be taken to avoid accidents, including burns and/or fire. It is good practice to loop the cable through the legs of the stand, avoiding possible toppling of the light. The use of shot bags is also recommended.

CABLING

Ensure cabling is not coiled to avoid heat build-up, and possible interference to audio cabling, caused by higher induction levels. After the shoot the cabling should be coiled correctly to avoid knots, and to allow for speedy uncoiling the next time the cable is used.


THREE POINT LIGHTING

Three point lighting consists out of back, key and fill lights. The back and key lights are usually hard focussed, and will cut a sharp shadow, whereas the fill light will be soft focussed. As the name infers, the back light is placed behind the subject - the fill light is placed closely behind the camera, and the key light is set at an 45° angle from the camera and subject.

The set-up order is as follows:
1. do close-up focus of subject - ensure camera is set a appropriate height - usually level with subject.
2. turn off all other lights
3. set up back light
4. set up key light with back light switched off
5. set up fill light with back and key lights switched on


THE FOUR 'F's

FILTER

F-STOP

Reference from Photos by Richard Website:

'A number that indicates the size of the lens opening. Some common f-stops on 35mm cameras are f2, f2.8, f4, f5.6, f8, f11, f16. The larger the f-stop, the smaller the lens opening, f16 is the smallest in the above series. Smaller openings (like f16) have greater depth of field.'







website: http://www.photosbyrichard.ca/glossary.php
photo reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-number

FOCUS

History:

Reference: Wikipedia

The camera obscura (Lat. dark chamber) was an optical device used in drawing, and one of the ancestral threads leading to the invention of photography. Photographic devices today are still known as "cameras".

The principle of the camera obscura can be demonstrated with a rudimentary type, just a box (which may be room-size) with a hole in one side, (see pinhole camera for construction details). Light from only one part of a scene will pass through the hole and strike a specific part of the back wall. The projection is made on paper on which an artist can then copy the image. The advantage of this technique is that the perspective is right, thus greatly increasing the realism of the image (correct perspective in drawing can also be achieved by looking through a wire mesh and copying the view onto a canvas with a corresponding grid on it).
With this simple do-it-yourself apparatus, the image is always upside-down. By using mirrors, as in the 18th century overhead version illustrated in the Discovery and Origins section, it is also possible to project a right-side-up image. Another more portable type, is a box with an angled mirror projecting onto tracing paper placed on the glass top, the image upright as viewed from the back.

website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camera_obscura
photo reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camera_obscura


The Iris is the mechanism that controls the aperture opening in the camera lens. Aperature size is measured in f-stops.

References from Shuttermap:

'Aperture – A small circular opening in a camera lens through which light passes to expose the film (or camera sensor in digital cameras). The size of the aperture can be changed to create different exposures. The aperture diameter is expressed in f-stops - the lower the number, the larger the aperture, which means a longer exposure on the film. For example, an f-stop of 2.8 (large aperture) would mean that the film is exposed to more light as opposed to an f-stop of 11 (small aperture). So if the sun is shining brightly, a higher f-stop is needed to create the right exposure.'










photo reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aperture



'Depth of field


The amount of distance between the nearest and farthest objects that appear in acceptably sharp focus in a photograph. Depth of field depends on the size of the aperture, the distance of the camera from the subject, and the focal length of the lens. The bigger the aperture, the greater the depth of field. If the camera focuses on a distant subject, the depth of field will be greater than if it was focused on a near subject; and if you fit a wide-angle lens to your camera, it will give you greater depth of field than a normal lens.'

photo reference: http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/depth-of-field.htm


'Shutter speed – The length of time the shutter remains open to let light pass through the lens to strike the image sensor/film. The slower the shutter speed, the longer the exposure time. A shutter speed set at 1/60 or simply 60 means that the shutter will be open for exactly 1/60th of one second. A shot taken at night (low lighting conditions) would require a slower shutter speed to expose the film. Faster shutter speeds are good for action sequences, as it freezes the subject in motion.'

web site: http://shuttermap.com/article-5.html


FRAMING & RULE OF THIRDS

Framing:

Framing matrix: 4:3 & 16:9

Take care not to frame through joints (elbows, wrist, knees/

Rule of Thirds:

Reference from Wikepedia Web Site:

'The rule of thirds is a compositional rule of thumb in photography.

The rule states that an image can be divided into nine equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines. The four points formed by the intersections of these lines can be used to align features in the photograph. Proponents of this technique claim that aligning a photograph with these points creates more tension, energy and interest in the photo than simply centering the feature would.

The photograph below demonstrates the application of the rule of thirds. The horizon sits at the horizontal line dividing the lower third of the photo from the upper two-thirds. The tree sits at the intersection of two lines, sometimes called a power point. Points of interest in the photo don't have to actually touch one of these lines to take advantage of the rule of thirds. For example, the brightest part of the sky near the horizon where the sun recently set does not fall directly on one of the lines, but does fall near the intersection of two of the lines, close enough to take advantage of the rule.



The application of the rule of thirds to photographs is considered by many to make them more aesthetically pleasing and professional-looking. The rule of thirds can be applied by lining up subjects with the guiding lines, placing the horizon on the top or bottom line instead of the center, or allowing linear features in the photograph to flow from section to section. In addition, many photographers recommend treating any "rule" of composition as more of a guideline, since pleasing photographs can often be made while ignoring one or more such rules.'

web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds

Aurora Australis photo reference: www.teara.govt.nz/. ../Standard/3/en

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Digitising Sound 02 - Foley Sound Reference

http://www.marblehead.net/foley/specifics.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foley_artist
http://www.newtonsapple.tv/TeacherGuide.php?id=1300
http://sfx.davelab.com/
http://www.old-time.com/sfx.html
http://www.radiohour.wrek.org/links/uscolosfx.html
http://www.whitsend.org/littletheatre/soundeffects.cfm