Posted on in Time-Based

Production II: Project II: Video Art

Final Video

The focus of my piece was to create a more realistic depiction of a self portrait. It is only human nature to have more than one emotion, and I feel like a depiction of these emotions are inherently more realistic than a single pose.

I tried to portray these emotions by having my actress (Sarah Spreen) sit in a dark location and recreate the original same pose. This pose would then be morphed into a different emotion (happiness, anger, sadness, etc.). I then layered these poses on top of each other and lowered the opacity of the footage. I ensured that the contrast between the model and the background was fairly high so that we can really focus on the portrait.

I then decided to edit this footage in After Effects and create a CRT effect. Though this was not integral to the message of the piece, I believe it created a very enticing visual rhythm that made the piece more enticing to viewers.

To compliment the visual rhythm, I added radio static. I believe this makes the feeling of watching a damage CRT more realistic and created an environment for the audience to be in.

Pre-Production Work

Here I practiced the set up and makeup look that I plan for my model to wear in my video.

I plan on working with a glossy makeup look to highlight the face in contrast to the dark background of the video. I also believe this will intensify the weird effect that I want once I layer the footage.

Posted on in Lectures & Workshops, Non-timebased, Writing

Motion Graphics: The History of Where are the Black Designers Advocacy: The 50 Year History

Yesterday on 8th of February 2021, I was lucky enough to sit through a lecture by Cheryl D. Miller. There, she spoke about her life in the field of graphic design and the history behind representation of black designers.

It’s a bit embarrassing to admit but prior to this presentation, I really was not aware about the movement that has been going on in the field of design over the past 60 years. I am aware of the latter end of the movement that is currently going on social media like Instagram but I didn’t know anything that happened at RISD in 1970 or Miller’s paper Black Designers: Missing in Action.

Over the decades, the most important action taken to elevate the voices of black designers is to just admit they are there and they are being ignored. Prior to any action taken, black designers existed. They didn’t just crop up when they were told they were allowed to be artists. This is clearly shown by the students at RISD when they created Black Artists of Graphic Design and in Miller’s paper. Especially since Miller herself was and is a black designer. From there, the next move is just getting these artists recognized.

In the modern day, the efforts of representation is to post about these people. There are many accounts online who repost works (particularly with credit) and I have found many of them are trying to make sure that the works the post are of a diverse background. This gives a lot of people publicity and a larger following. Though this doesn’t always promise more professional work for them in the future, it can heighten their popularity and worth to a future company.

For the future, I can do a lot to help black designers by showing that I want them in the field. I can support their work through social media and commissions as well as work with companies who have a diverse group of designers. By doing that, those companies and others will hopefully see that it does make a difference and that they need to hire workers who have different experience. Black designers are import for two main reasons:

  1. They are human being like anybody else and each individual deserves a fair chance in the field of design.
  2. A black designer may find solutions to problems in a different way that does not occur to a white designer. Many people have different experiences and exposure due to the cultures they grew up in.

Overall, I am really happy I got hear from someone as influential as Cheryl D. Miller. Seeing her and hearing about her life story makes all of this more real and make me realize just how recent all of this change has been.

Posted on in Non-timebased, Time-Based

Motion Graphics: Animated Logo

Updated Animated Logo

When re-creating my logo, I focused on anticipation, squash and stretch, and follow through. I implied anticipation particularly prior to the logo falling off screen and squash and stretch when the logo was actually falling down. I attempted follow through by adding motion blur to when the logo spins, however I am quite new to this tool so I could have manipulated it better.

In addition, I unintentionally included the principle of solid drawing when I drew different angle of the logo so that I had a more 3D feeling in its space.

Now that I have implemented these concepts into the production of the second logo, I feel as though the shape has a better sense of body and movements are easier to understand.

Animated Logo

Final Logo

Potential Logo Designs

Logo 1
Logo 2

When creating the first 3 logos, I focused on creating something out of the first two letters in my username for my art instagram account (@austereartist). When I did this, I noticed that the letters look like mountains when put together. Though I may not be the most outdoorsy person on earth, I come from an area with a lot of mountains and I feel very connected to them. I tried to mess with a few variations of a mountain landscape because of this.

Logo 3

After creating two variations I really liked, I wanted make another design out of the silhouette. Logo 3 is what came out of that.

Logo 4

I then started to create other designs that we representational of myself. I created a silhouette of my head for logo 4 with two variations. Overall I like a simplistic logo and I know that small details don’t always read well. That is why one version is just the silhouette and the other has a face drawn on it.

Logo 5

For the other representational design, I figured I could try out drawing a logo based on my favorite animal, a tiger. The design shows my current art style, which I do believe is a plus. The reason for the two variations for this logo is also for readability on different medias and the option of colors available.