Bibliography

Semiotics Referance

Chandler, D., (1994).  Semiotics for Beginners. [online].  Wales: Aber. Available from http://users.aber.ac.uk/dgc/Documents/S4B/sem02.html [Accessed on 22nd November 2012, at 12.00].

Paula Scher

AIGA,. (2012). Paula Scher Biography. [online]. AIGA. Available from http://www.aiga.org/medalist-paulascher/ [Accessed on 13^th of December 2012]

Ways of seeing

(2003). Las Meninas. [online]. Wikipedia. Available from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Meninas [Accessed on 13/10/2012}

Research/Blogging

What is Research?
Research is looking into a subject in depth, trying to pull and ideas or concepts out that you can use, as well as looking for inspiration on something your already working. Can help to give a better understanding of the chosen subject.

How is Research organised in these blogs?
Blogs are generically organised into posts or updates that start with newest first going back to first post.

How do you find Ideas?
I generally use design tumblr's, preferable ones with just image, I find these useful as there is no definative subject so anything and everthing can be seen on there with no preconception or idea of what im looking for.

How might you save them?
Typically you could just save the images into labelled folders, whether it be by artist, genre or movement. I find just trying to produce something in that style can help whether it take 2 minutes or 2 hours.

How can you play with you have learnt in Contextual Practices?
Perhaps applying some of the topics or research gained from contextual into our Graphic Design briefs, as well as personal projects, you often stumble across something interesting whether it be the entire subject or a small detail thats part of it.

How Might You Collect Words, Quotes, Notes, Thoughts, Images, Sounds And Video?
There are several formats, Tumblr, wordpress, blogger, etc. I chose blogger as it works better with text and images as well as the format being a bit more digestable.

How Can You Put Inspiring Ideas Together On The Page To See New Opportunities for Combinations That Can Form New Ideas?
I would say you have to experiment with the combinations before you could form any new ideas.

How Does Text Work Against Image and Vice Versa?
Depending on your choice really, if your doing a more text based blog I would say Blogger is best as its format generally favours text, whereas tumblr I'd say favours images and looks best with more image over text, or best with no text.

How Can You Share Your Ideas With Others?
Blogger, Tumblr and other blogs are great for sharing, as long as the public they can be sent to anyone with an internet connection. 

Some of the ones I use:
http://designdust.tumblr.com/
http://typographie.tumblr.com/
http://blog.leviathansociety.com/

Stanley Donwood/Paula Scher Presentation

Presentation - http://reddotonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/PDF-of-presentation.pdf

In small groups we were asked to produce a 5 minute presentation on a chosen subject as long it was a subject covered in lesson. Our group chose to do Stanley Donwood as he had done some unique mapping, we also compared his maps to Paula Scher's.

Creating Maps

In small groups we were asked to produce a map of any area in plymouth in any style, whether it be in a traditional political format or a pictorial or diagram format. We chose traditional.











We chose to draw a map of the Barbican as it has a lot of history. Firstly we printed off a map of the barbican and then we traced it. Once traced we gathered some info on barbican and drew it onto the map.

Mapping In Context: Paula Scher

"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."

Paula Scher's maps are often massive in scale and very colourful, she has mapped Paris, India, China, South America as well as USA and some states individually. Paula's maps are striking and grab your attention immediately, she uses pattern and texture to create her pieces as well as text which makes the maps seem intense and chaotic but I think adds a layered structure.

Her maps are political, this can be seen as she names the places she maps as well sometimes adding her own perspectative to them, which is where the colour of each piece comes from, her own view on that place is reflected in the vibrancy or darkness of the colour.

The map on the left is China, it has been depicted as soft, natural, welcoming colours, alot of light purple used, also Paula uses round edges alot, hardly ever uses sharp lines, I think she does this to add a bubbly lighter tone to whatever map she is doing. The map on the right is of the Tsunami and areas affected, in this map the colours are noticeable different very strong bold, moody colours have been used here to reflect a more emotional response. Paula also uses the text to create the idea of Tsunami in this map by having the words radiate through out the piece.

Semiotics

Signifier – A signifier is an object, phrase or imagery that someone extracts and emotion or a meaning from which could be an intended one or more natural response. A red flashing light over a door will indicate danger, or a non-smoking sigh on a bus tells people not to smoke in certain areas, its not the actual object or image that is warning us but the meaning we associate with that imagery.

Signified – The signified is the concept or meaning that is taken from the signifier. When stopped at a traffic light, we wait for the green light to show so we can go but the green light doesn’t universally mean go just in that situation we know that red is stop and green is go. So when we pull up to a traffic light our brain has already interpreted the red light as stop, but for go its more of conscious decision because your focused on the light waiting for it to turn. This could be because the colour red is such strong imagery for danger in our culture that we don’t need to consciously interpret it.

Sign – The sign is the signifier and the signified, sign’s can have a very direct literal meaning such as Men and Women signs on toilets to subtle logo’s such as the new BP one which tries to communicate environmentally friendly and safe to use.

Martin Parr

 In groups of 3 we were asked to chose a photo in the exhibition and analysis it.

What is it?
A photograph taken by Martin Parr.

What does it look like?
A candid photo of woman eating in a manner she would not like to photographed doing.

When and Where was it taken?
2004, Art fair Miami, Florida.

How was it made?
Using a camera, probably a small print.

Why was it made?
The exhibition subject was luxury. He was looking at the "elite classes" and how they live, interact, eat, walk, dress and other aspects.

Who would this interest?
Anyone interested in the higher social classes and there daily lifes.

Ways of Seeing

For this lecture we were shown a famous painting called Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez, the painting is known for unusual composition and 3 focal points, as well as it being a self portrait of the artist himself or of the Infanta Margaret Theresa.

The mirror just left of the centre that reflects King Phillip IV and Mariana of Austria also adds to the confusion as it looks like they are standing in the viewers position with all the figures of the painting looking towards them including the painter, but the painter is painting the image we see now and not a portrait of the king. As time passed it became a mystery and has gained much attention for it, many artists/painters have try to replicate it and imitate it such as Picasso, who himself attempted to capture the same mystery 58 times.

Whilst you can see the Las Meninas influence upon the composition is obvious, Picasso incorporates his unique and indentifiable style to it which I think adds another perspectative as the piece seems so different but its not. I really like the colours and tone in the blue piece.