FINAL MUSINGS

I remember hearing the word ‘aesthetics’ for the first time when I was in my Higher secondary school. The concept was introduced to me in a course of “Film Appreciation”. The teacher then spoke of the importance of aesthetics in cinema, and in art as a whole. In fact aesthetics is at the core of art – the very thing on which art hinges on. Ever since then I have seen lots of artistic works and gradually been also involved in the production of art. However I must confess that I never really learned the principles of art and aesthetics the way it has been put forward to me in the iMedia Course of Visual Aesthetics. So in that way the Course was a great eye-opener for me.

Earlier aesthetics were mentioned in a passing manner, or with a summarized reference, whenever I had done a short course of training in audio-visual media. However this time this course has been much more detailed and focused as to what Aesthetics in art really means, and what its underlying principles are. The connection between traditional forms of artistic expression and the modern electronic artistic expression have been also stressed to add clarity to my understanding.

It is very important to give attention to visual aesthetics ever more in today’s world. Before the digital media of communication came into prevalence people were used only to traditional modes of artistic expression and its consumption. The products of art had less chance of being widely circulated. People as a whole had less opportunity to interact with arts from world over. However with the advent of the electronic media the whole wide world comes into your drawing room. Today a person gets a lot more exposure to art products from different parts of the world than a person who lived just a few decades ago. This person’s communication has also become very interactive. In other words his openness and experience of art and aesthetics has changed dramatically. Therefore it is essential more than ever to give great importance to visual aesthetics while creating interactive artifacts today. I realize that I, as a media “prosumer”, have to give bigger priority to this in my professional life.

During this semester apart from the theory/theories of art it was possible to come to know and learn about professionals who have made a mark in the field of art and design – through documentaries and writings. The assignments given in class were also very great learning experiences for me: be it photographic, graphic, motion graphic or product design. In this context I must say that the final Project was a great challenge for me since I had to design a product the like of which I had never used, or even held in my hands – the iPhone.

Besides these, the course was also a learning experience with regard to the necessity of Planning, – conceptually and graphically. Without a clear plan it is difficult to execute a good artistic work. Another very valuable learning point was the necessity to give attention to details: for precsion and beauty, as well as for the sake of professionalism.

Here after in my career I hope to be engaged in the production of artistic works, especially in the field of the Internet and audiovisuals. I am sure that the learning and experience gained in this course is going to be of immense help in being a true professional.

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STITCH BITCH

“Stitch Bitch” by Shelley Jackson from “Rethinking Media Change” was an interesting piece of reading. From all the comments I heard and read about I thought it was really going to be a pain in the butt having to read this chapter. But I must confess that it was indeed an interesting read. Jackson’s “essay”,(though the author may not like to call it that, being so traditional a term) was a roller coaster.

Right at the outset I got a feeling that there was something schizophrenic about the whole thing. But as I read through it became clear to me that there was more anarchy than just schizofreny there. In fact I would think of hypertext as anarchic writing than “normal” prose. Jackson makes no bones about that in the essay. She states that boldly when she says: “Hypertext is non-linear almost by default”, and “Write about anything that interests you, no matter how sniffy the world gets.” I read in between the lines that there is no need to respect the feelings of other people, but just express yourself. Self-expression, therefore is the maxim, the ultimate goal. I find it difficult to accept that – may be because I tend to be a self-disciplined person, living within the boundaries, wanting to live in a disciplined world. Is that limiting myself? Not really! It is not that I don’t value self-expression, but what I mean to say is that it should not come at the expense of hurting people. Jackson sounds provocative, and anarchic, to say the least.

My thinking was confirmed when I came across the lines: “Hypertext is schizophrenic: you can’t tell what is original and what’s the reference” But to me it looks like that the form is schizophrenic and the content is anarchic. In this essay Jackson does give us a very good picture of what hypertext is. She says further that good writing is clear and orderly; bad writing inspires the same kind of distaste that bad grooming does, while experimental novels are not just hard to read, they’re anti-social.” And many would consider hypertext to be bad writing. I get a feeling that the section “Writing Mutt” kind of gives you a mug shot of who Shelley Jackson is, or what she is doing while promotes hypertext with “Stitch Bitch”.

Jackson is very precise when she says that hypertext is fuzzy, you can’t figure out what is important and what is not in hypertext. “Normally when you read you can orient yourself by a few important facts and let the details fall where they may.” But not with hypertext. She hits home in describing hypertext, and the comparison she makes with the “normal text” when she says: “There’s no question that hypertext will lose or never acquire those readers for whom a fated slalom toward the finish line is the defining literary experience; hypertext’s not built for that.”

Jackson is an advocate for freedom of expression, flights of fancy. And that is beautifully expressed when she ays that she finds delight in texts that loiter, dawdle, tease, pass notes. She prefers texts that resist the linear, and even pervert it. Further, she says “Language is the Great Unruly, and alphabetical order is a contradiction in terms.” She seems to be like a little kid who has just received the first packet of crayons, and wants to express herself with that no matter where, and not matter what the expression is.

Hypertext apparently is quite anarchic. Jackson further confirms that by saying where her interests lie: “I am interested in writing that verges on nonsense, where nonsense is not the absence of sense, but the superfluity of it. I would like to sneak as close to that limit as possible without reaching it.” However there is good news there in what she says. She hopes and expects to see beauty in hypertextual writing. “Art forms take shape around our ability to perceive beauty, but our ability to perceive beauty also takes shape around what forms become possible. Hypertext is making possible a new kind of beauty, and creating the senses to perceive it with.” May be more reading of hypertext will help me one day to perceive beauty in it. And will I ever start writing hypertext? But I don’t really want to inebriate myself with hypertextual concoctions: “A beaker of imaginal secretions makes us all desire’s monsters, which is what we ought to be”, concluded Jackson. That is not what I want to be!

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STORY OF STUFF

The story of stuff is a great educational site. Watching the series I found that their “documentaries”are very effective tools for education, conscientization, social awareness etc. Rather than commenting on the content of the “documentaries”, which are eminently valuable, I wish to comment on the other communication elements that are used here.

One sees that all the various elements of communication media are used in an effective manner. Take for example the Narration: It is very visual, clear, logical and very convincingly presented. The anchor person has either a clear background or just the visualization of what she is narrating. The effect is little of distractions and a lot of clarity and focus. The style is also very persuasive.

The Animations are superb. They are very simple animated figures, but their message is crystal clear. Because they are line drawings, again, they do not distract the viewer with other non-essential details. The style can appear to be a little childish – but we need to remember that these are highly effective with kids and those in growing stages. Oh, well they are not unlikeable for adults too. The animations are also fast and often with a lot of humorous element. This makes the documentary interesting.

The music used is very functional. It is used minimally, just when and where it is required. In fact one tends not to notice the music at all, because it is used in a pleasing and blending manner.

The graphics are again excellently utilized here. The Fonts are calligraphic, but very legible and friendly. It blends well with the animation. Use of hand-written font gives to the movie a very educational touch. It stay off from an attitude of being pedantic. There are instances when the graphic recalls a powerpoint, or to some it can remind one of a blackboard. However the function is educational – making the ideas clear and helping to commit them to memory.

The Story of Stuff site is also helpful with followup. You have links to act on what you have seen and heard, and also take necessary action so that the message of the documentary can be actualized – or at least, one can cooperate with many like-minded persons in realizing the message.

What I liked about Story of Stuff is, apart from the valuable lessons one can learn, that it is technically speaking very fast paced, and interesting – in short, a very effective communication. Over all, the Story of Stuff is inspiring not only for the message, but also for the Medium. Therefore may be it could be said here that “The medium is the Message”, as Marshal McLuhan puts it.

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HILLMAN CURTIS

Hilllman Curtis’ “Deposition Espirito Santo” is a very watchable short movie. The work of Iran do Esprito Santo is about the sense of “void”, and empty spaces. Void can be considered not only visually but also audibly. From both the perspective the short movie blends with the theme of the movie very artistically. The slow-motion technique utilized by Hillman is very effective in rendering the idea of timelessness, and void. The music is also very supportive and creates a mood for internalizing the theme. The shots taken of the artist are mostly from behind it give you a sense of mystery and thus enhances the theme. Over all it is a very pleasing movie to watch and helps you to get a better grasp of visual aesthetics and design.

The movie on David Carson appears to be giving a chaotic concept – and in that way it is consistent with the theme of the movie. The works of Carson seems chaotic, because it is out of the ordinary. In fact Carson affirms the role of self-indulgence in his works. It is self-indulgence that paves way for creativity. Carson proves that out of self-indulgent chaos you can bring out beauty and meaning. Carson speaks of the need to move from who you are as a person and put that into work, if you really want to be effective as a designer. That is indeed a valuable lesson for me.

It is interesting to note that Carson was a graphic designer working with magazines. He was trying to express the written articles in an meaningful way with graphics. And we see that he takes a lot of liberty in using fonts and texts. He is evidently one who breaks rules in order to create new ones. The designs of Carson helps me to understand how to interpret writing and portray that visually in a meaningful way.

Movie on Lawrence Weiner is also very inspiring. The music and the voice add a lot elegance to it. It begins with the deep-throated voice of Weiner off-screen and it does create an impact. Thereafter the visuals of the artist himself is very mesmeric. There is a sense of respect and reverence. Should I say that he looks quite like an ancient prophet? I think it is the voice and the mellowness of the short that gives a very aesthetic value to the movie.

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Lists Are Good

As I sit here writing this blog (which was supposed to be due by midnight last night) I’m very aware of the design process as a whole (especially since I just pulled an all-nighter to finish a project for this class…which I haven’t done since Junior year in college for my studio art classes) and would like to take this time to reflect on that.

Lists, are good! Although I’ve had experience with the process of creating artwork or in general with the creative process, the process of design for functionality is a whole different animal. When dealing with process of design for functionality, lists are oh so good. At this point in the game (or up until I’m a design wizard) it seems impossible to design without having my lists in front of me.

So what goes on these lists? Well first there’s LATCH. I think I may have written LATCH on every single assignment sheet we were given this year. I think those letters might be burned into my brain. Next on the list, Gestalt. Although I wrote this down to constantly remind myself to try to use Gestalt I bring it up more because I now notice it everywhere. That FedEx arrow still gets me…sheesh that’s good! Lastly, I think I wrote the word “clean” on my “things to remember in design” to-do list and then made it my mantra. I would keep saying it to myself and asking myself, “Is this clean or not?” and that was my check to be sure I wasn’t cluttering up my design.

To-Do lists are also rather helpful. Especially for grad school. Especially when you’re assigned big projects that take a really long time to do and can easily get you stuck if you “design yourself into a corner” as one of my profs would say. The sketching process has become more important than ever in this program. It’s so easy to get caught up in the nit-picky technicality aspects while using some of the design programs and it was nice to design without such heavy constraints and then get finicky later when it’s time to turn on the grid view!

I’ve realized now more than ever just how important the process phase of this all is, especially when the ideas you have might be availalbe for all the world to see! I’m going to need a new sketch book for the spring!

Learning more about visual design has impacted my daily life. I’m constantly viewing the world differently in light of what I’ve learned in this course. It’s also made me rather critical of the visual culture around me…um kearning! I think I’ll attempt to take the most important things I’ve learned (some stuff I’ve mentioned above) and remember not to design in a vacum, to try to gain inspiration from those who came before and kicked butt.

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BROADCAST DESIGN

HARRY MARKS

Harry Marks

Good type matters because type speaks to you. You can explore type in the most infinite ways, because the possibility of scale is infinite.  It’s very important to know the rules because once you know them you can break them. Marks feel in love with book publishing when he received a job offer from his teacher to become an apprentice designer at Oxford University Press.  He noted how they even made their own paper. They had such an enormous supply of typography from all of Europe and the world and they allowed him to go loose there.  He absolutely loves typography and can fond over the perfect “G”. By using the proper choice of type, the proper choice of leading, the proper size of page, margins, heads, etc. to organize it into an enjoyable readable document.

 

DALE HERIGSTAD

Dale Herigstad

We’re really focused on improving the interface between corporate America and people. The experience should be as exciting to people, as the content should be. It’s a completely different world when you’re making things interactive. The web is such a huge thing, and Herigstad comes at it from a different approach than most.  You should always think in a way that is new and fresh, when working on new projects you should take all of the stereotypes away and look at it from a different way.

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JOURNALISM IN THE AGE OF DATA

The best way to learn about visualization is to make them, the same way that people learned about typography and desktop publishing. The results where not that good in the beginning but now people have gotten good at it.  With visualization you take boring and dry information and make sense out of it so that it’s easier to understand and for people to gain an interest in it. It’s a different way of conveying information and grabbing people’s attention.  The example is of the data software created by Aaron Koblin showing the flight patterns of planes, it’s one thing to say that there are 140,000 planes in the air above us, but to see it is another thing.

We have a significant data problem and that’s not going away. In media, the New York Times is always pushing the envelope when it comes to data visualization.  People may not think of charts as data visualization but they are really the first infographs. You have about four to five seconds to capture the attention of your audience so you have to make sure that your data visualization is on point.

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Toward an Aesthetics of Transition

Maybe some of these “doomsayers” are correct; maybe the digital revolution will mean the death of the book. More and more now we can download just about any book we want. Also, look at what the digital revolution has done for movie rental stores like Blockbuster Video. Now that we can download movies with the click of our mouse, we never have to leave home. Also, if we take into account what the revolution has done for the media industry, television stations closing their doors.  Who ever would have thought that the news media would be in the situation that they are in today? Now, that you can get your news on the go, people have stopped purchasing newspapers as well. Is the digital revolution creating better lives for people or destroying them? What does this mean for our future? It seems as thought Thorburn and Jenkins believe that the cream will rise to the top, in other words, it’s the survival of the fittest.  Only time will tell.

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essays on design

Michael Bierut looks at design through several different lenses.  When he wrote about Nabokav’s novel as being a well-designed piece of literature, it made me think of one of the designer interviews that I watched earlier in the semester.  One of the writer’s for pixar talked about how design and storytelling are very similar artforms.  Both need structure and both focus on communicating a point.   This perspective of design as storytelling is also used by Bierut to describe Nabokav’s novel.

Bierut’s essay about the Garamond font was too much for me.  I can appreciate how a designer must have a very strong attention to detail, but if you can’t get past the details to appreciate something much greater that the detail, you have a problem.  On the other hand, I guess this is also an important reality for people behind design to be aware of.  If you want your content to be seen and appreciated, you better design it well.

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Musings

This semester I have learned about the importance of visual aesthetics in information design.  In studying the subject matter, I have become much more aware of all of the design that I see every day.  Because we are exposed to so much in an age of information overload, the importance of presentation is becoming stronger and stronger.  I think that this is even more important when dealing with interactive design.  If people don’t like what they see, something better is just a click away.  Coming up with a good design will give the content more of a chance of being taken in by the viewer.

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