Collaborative Design | KlariNova

My job for the collaborative design project was to create a brochure for our product, KlariNova: an electric clarinet.
I was placed in a group a little late in the game, so I have a unique perspective when it comes to this assignment. I didn't have a whole lot of say in the decisions about the logo, color, font, product, etc. I was placed in an environment where mostly everything was decided upon and I was asked to create an artifact based on what other people wanted their brand/product to represent/look like. I feel fortunate to have experienced this assignment this way, actually, because a situation like this closely resembles how a graphic designer works when he or she works for a company designing their artifacts. They are told what to do, and they execute the duty sought after by the company--not themselves.
At first I thought a brochure would be easy, but it turns out I had a tough time with this one. I realize how hard it is to stick with a "style guide." It's so easy to run off to graphic design Neverland, but without designers that have self-control, branding would cease to exist.

Here is the brochure I created based off the style guide/our collaboration:

With any written material for a company, I believe verbiage is very important. Many companies value this, but the ones that come to my mind most are car manufactures. Toyota doesn't call it "maintenance", they call it "care" because of their free 2-year service contract, ToyotaCare. They don't call it "white", they call it "Blizzard Pearl." These distinctions are what set their company apart from other brands.
In my brochure, I made it a point to use the phrase "the device", instead I used "KlariNova" as a form of repetition in hopes to engrain the product name into the customer's minds.
I also used contrast in colors to differentiate the panels and to make it more visually appealing.
All in all, this project was interesting and took me out of my comfort zone. I'm not sure if a career in graphic design is for me, considering how difficult it is to remain objective about something that's completely subjective--everyone has a different opinion about how things should look. This truly was a collaboration.

Style Guide

Logo

KlariNova KlariNova

KlariNova KariNova

Colors

FONTS

Tangerine Headings

Baskerville SUB HEADINGS / body

Personas

Anne is 27, and has just completed her Bachelors degree in her hometown. Anne is single and has recently moved to Seattle to begin work on her Masters program.  She started playing the clarinet at the age of 8.  She played in the concert band during her high school and undergraduate career. Since she was living in the same city with the same crowd, she felt as though she was stuck with the same old tunes.  She is now ready to explore her new city of residence by expanding the possibilities of her talent and make her clarinet sing a whole new tune. Looking to fit into the Seattle grunge music scene, Anne feels left out because she can only play the clarinet and has no way to fit into non-classical style of music.   

George is 30 and is lawyer at a prestigious law firm in New York City. He is married with 2 kids, ages 5 and 3. George is a professional jazz musician, and together with three of his college friends, they have a combo called “American Beauty”. They play almost every weekend at local coffee shops and jazz clubs. Due to his busy schedule and juggling a career, family and the fact he lives in New York, George is looking for equipment that is easy to move, fast to set up, and easily stored to protect his equipment from his kids.  

Mark is 34, single, and owns his own real estate business in Atlanta. He is a member of a band called “3560”. Its popularity has allowed them to play up and down the eastern United States. Mark plays many solos on the clarinet and has experienced difficulty with the sound getting lost in the background due to his bandmates only using electric instruments because of cost and portability. Mark is tired of lugging around microphones, stands and chords with him and is looking for a more convenient way to create the needed volume.    

Communication Objectives

• Bridge the gap between acoustic and electric sound
• Ease and portability
• Small Item – Big Sound – Infinite possibilities

Mis-en-Scene

Director of Photography - Emily

My job in the group was the Director of Photography. The Director of Photography in a film is responsible to contribute to the overall feel of the scene by determining the lighting, framing, selecting film stock and moving the camera.

Overall, this scene is action-packed and humorous. The Director of Photography’s goal was to make a dangerous situation humorous, which is not uncommon for a Pirates of the Caribbean movie. It seems to be a recurring theme that shows up in the screenplay as well as in the DOP’s work. The Director of Photography in the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest was Dariusz Wolski.

-0:12: Lighting: The scene as a whole uses mostly natural light. However, here, how the faces closest to the opening are most highlighted and the faces toward the back are so dark in contrast. This gives the illusion that the cave extends backward really far. This makes it more realistic and was a deliberate move taken by the DOP.

-0:24: 
Moving the camera: When Jack jumps from one cliff to another, the camera pans across the space with him, making our eyes move horizontally across the screen and amplifying the distance.

-0:53: Framing: Jack is framed artistically here. We can’t see his entire body. He is cut at the torso and his right hand is out of the frame. He’s very asymmetrical. Also, he’s not exactly centered between the two mountain peaks. This makes this frame much easier on the eyes and interesting than if he were perfectly centered in the shot and we could see his entire body.

-1:12: Framing: How the bamboo pole fell right next to Jack’s face. Depp has such an animated face and his humorous expressions are often highlighted. This was deliberate work of the DOP. You can find this type of thing in many parts of this scene, but to me, this was the most pronounced and dramatic example.

-1:23: Selecting film stock: Greenish/blue tint to the scenes on and near the ship. This makes it feel more wet and ocean-y.

-2:01: Framing: Running sequence. DOP used different frames and angles in order to make it more interesting and more drawn out.

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Makeup and Wardrobe - Sabryna 

1. 0:36 seconds- Shows a close up of Jack Sparrows face. Now to most people you see the paint and think "oh he has paint on his face." But if you look close you can see that the green on his nose really catches your attention. That helps to bring focus to his face. He wears mostly dark colors so when you see something out of the ordinary on him, it really stands out. Once you take your focus off of the green you see the white eyes and you really start to see him as more than just a pirate. More as if he was apart of the tribe. I thought the make up artist did a great job portraying almost a change of character just through the make up. It really helped to make it not only entertaining but easier to follow.

2. 0:44-0:55 seconds- This is when Jack Sparrow falls backwards off the cliff and is unraveling the rope that binds him to this bamboo stick. I think that the choice of costume really helped to show his speed. His locks from his hair were whipping around and his loose clothing was flapping in the wind. This helped to show movement. If the costume would have been tight with short hair I don't think the scene would have been as enjoyable. You are definitely able to tell he is falling just by what is happening with his clothing.

3. 1:31 seconds- This scene shows the crew worker who lost his eye ball and is on the ground searching for it. I loved the way his clothing and hair are. The missing eye ball helps to tie together his costume also. It shows he is lower class. His greasy hair and dirty skin help to give a sense he works on the ship but the dark clothing and the way it is designed for his body just really make you believe he is a pirate. It isn't just his costume but his just fits his character. Almost like each costume is designed for the character in mind not the costumed designed and then just thrown on the actor. I think this helps to give a sense of realism.

4. 2:17 seconds- This scene shows the tribe chasing after Jack and I love the costumes for this tribe because of this scene. When you stop the scene exactly on the second mark you can see that their costumes are made for running. They have no restrictions they are free to move and be quick about it. Barely any clothing gives me a sense they are hunters. I enjoyed the costumes because you can pretty much tell what type of person their character will be, it just helped to tie the movie together. I also like the make up in this scene. The dark colors give a sense of strength so with the movement showing speed and the costumes showing hunters and the make up showing strength the whole outfit ties together telling you these people are bad asses and you probably don't want to mess with them.

5. 2:20 seconds- This shows Jack Sparrow running away from the tribe. Just like a said before the loose clothes and hair shows movement which is nice because it enhances the scene. What I really noticed was the jingling coming from his costume. I think it is jewelry but costumes are just about the looks you were able to hear it too. I liked that because it made me feel like I was really there being able to hear every single detail.

It is easy to say that Costume and Make up play a HUGE role in any production. Without those two components you would have a really hard time defining the character and that to me isn't very entertaining. I like being able to say a characters name and the image I get is not of the actor but the character in costume and all. It isn't an easy job though. Lots of time and effort goes into making every single costume and to have the creativity to design each one differently takes a lot of skill. No one did it alone that is for sure. And even though Penny Rose is the only costume designer listed, she even admits that without the people who help her she would not be able to accomplish what she has done.

There are make up artists. In fact there are over a hundred. Here are a few titles to those who helped on set:
Silicone Prosthetic Supervisor
Make Up Artist (there are TONS of those)
Hair Stylist (ALOT of these too)
Dental Special Effects
Tattoo Make Up Artist
Foam Latex Supervisor

Good | Bad Design

For this assignment, I decided to evaluate fan-made posters for AMC's popular series Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead, otherwise known as my go-to shows when I feel like binge watching Netflix and eating my weight in junk food.

The Good

The law of closure states that objects grouped together are seen as a whole. The law of closure was not used by accident in this poster for Breaking Bad. The small faces/bits of methamphetamine beneath Walter White are grouped together and seen as either a composite of either one large piece of crystal, or a composite of Walter White, whichever the viewer prefers. This also plays with the psychological context of the storyline of the show. Muy bueno! 

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This poster for The Walking Dead proves to be a good example of the manipulation of figure/ground relationships. What’s the background? What’s the foreground? The artist manipulated this relationship by placing the figure in a ground that is also a figure. (Whoah—what?). Suppose there was negative space around Rick rather than a zombie’s head. Would this have the same effect? I think not. Also, look at Rick’s placement: right where his bullet needs to go in order to kill the thing for good. This is another good example of how design can also comment on the emotional/psychological context of the series. A quick word on the use of color: while it’s very monochromatic and some might argue is boring, I think it works here because of the other elements going on in the piece. Design and contrast are not always about color!

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The Bad

To me, this is a bad example because of the lack of color and context. While this example does include the main logo and actor’s names (typically a good thing for branding and such), it falls short because it’s very busy and doesn’t give the viewer a direction to go. In design, everything should be done with a purpose. What is the point of the gradation on the left hand side of the poster? Rolling hills, maybe? The lack of contrast in font color and background color also don’t help this poster catch your eye. To someone who’s never seen this show before, I think he or she would look at it and go, “OK…So now what?”

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It’s extremely obvious that this design was done by an amateur. As I stated above, everything in design should be done with purpose. The placement of the zombies on the figure’s body are scattered, and because there are an even number it looks really bad. In interior design, a good rule of thumb is to avoid even numbers because people will want to count them. Also, while the arms coming out of the left hand side balance the weight of the poster, they come off very elementary looking.

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Some more fun designs:

Contrast | Balance | Harmony

I painted this a few years back. It's a mix of oils and acrylics on canvas. Ignore the white frame I have it in (sorry).

Contrast is present here in texture, color, shape and line. I wanted to make the texture of the back ground (speckled, rough and earthy) contrast with the smoothness of the curved lines and circles. I used a number of different brushes for the back ground and for the gray circles I used a fan brush to make them look smooth. Contrast in color is apparent in the earthy tones that make up the background versus the stark white and deep black in the abstract shapes. Also, black and white are complete opposites. In the back ground there are subtle lines that bleed from the top to the bottom and vis versa. This directs the eye to the center of the frame where the abstract black and white lines lead the eye inward toward the circles.

The painting is balanced asymmetrically. Balance exists here in the single circle on the far right because it's directly on an intersection line following the rule of thirds. The black line on the left hand side balances the objects by moving the eye upward and making the shapes more dynamic.

This painting is harmonious because it conveys movement and energy using contrasting elements such as color and texture.

Michelangelo's "Creation of Adam" was my inspiration for the piece. Specifically the hand portion:

On an unrelated note, my husband pointed out that if hung vertically instead of it's intended orientation, my rendition resembles a dancer. (Because of his realization, we keep flipping it back and forth and can't agree on how it should be hung).

Visceral

This assignment has made me realize quite a few nit-picky things about myself. For starters, while at first I thought there were many things I could share that were truly stupefying, I was wrong. I had all these ideas in my head and I thought to myself, "How the hell am I going to pick just one thing to share on my blog?!" When I started looking up different clips, photographs, typography and other media related to design, I found myself horribly disappointed in all of my ideas. Maybe I thought too much about it; or I thought maybe too much about what other's responses would be because this is a public blog. Who knows. Maybe I was so critical because I am judging all this "meaningful-to-me" material for a class and I have to evaluate why I thought it was beautiful to me in the first place, when I'm not so sure an individual can relive that first "Wow!" moment. Sometimes you just can't explain or evaluate exactly why you got that feeling in the pit of your stomach.

In the end, I chose the scream scene from one of my favorite films, Garden State. This scene will always be perfectly beautiful to me. In class, Eric talked about the importance of contrast. I personally think contrast is the most important element in design. Whether it's as in-your-face as irony or subtle to the point where only your subconscious notices, the dramatic effect is the most moving. Simon and Garfunkel's "The Only Living Boy in New York" against a dirty, rainy day makes me nostalgic for some sort of sweet melancholy that I can't quite describe or put my finger on.

I guess the whole movie is just that--sweet melancholy. The most stupefying films in my eyes are those that are made up mostly of grit and drama. When I saw Garden State, I was in middle school. It changed my life. Thanks, Braff.

I was deciding between this clip from Garden State or another one from 21 Grams (highly recommend this if you haven't already seen it.) I also considered some of the design in the ending credits of Blue Valentine, which is also a great film.

Introduction

I'm Emily! The end.