Monday, August 31, 2009
Research IV
So I'm doing more research in the hope that I can come across some more inspiration for the poster design. It's interesting that as you delve into things like immigrants from Ireland, bluegrass music and cowboys and indians and study these subjects that you start to see character traits that could potentially be bent and twisted with icons and rhetorical tropes to create images that speak volumes! This is getting exciting. I have a few videos that I'll post up later on the above subjects.
These are images of hillbillys, the plains, camp fires, violin, guitar, cowboy and indian, immigrants, struggle, fighting, civil war, cherokee, horse, cowboy hat, speed, license plate, house on the prairie, green, divide, celtic cross and farming.
These are images of hillbillys, the plains, camp fires, violin, guitar, cowboy and indian, immigrants, struggle, fighting, civil war, cherokee, horse, cowboy hat, speed, license plate, house on the prairie, green, divide, celtic cross and farming.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Research III
Mark O'Connor's Hot Swing Trio have an album called Live in New York. It's amazing. I just bought three tracks - Fidler Going Home, Gypsy Fantastic and Cherokee. This is really good inspiration. Listening to the music of the trio and even soaking in the meaning behind the titles of the tracks gives me a lot more depth to the research. I find when I mind map to let my heart do the talking... what is this making me feel like or think of? What does it stir in me?
Mind Mapping II
So I'm trying some more to 'feel' through Mark's music. I downloaded three of his songs and his music is taking me to new places. I'll write more later. You can see by this mind map some of the things it makes me think of...
Semiotics on the headings:
FIDDLE - icon
AMERICANA - index
BLUE GRASS - index
STRUGGLE - symbol
IRELAND - icon
COWBOY's & INDIANS - icon
Semiotics on the headings:
FIDDLE - icon
AMERICANA - index
BLUE GRASS - index
STRUGGLE - symbol
IRELAND - icon
COWBOY's & INDIANS - icon
Researching Bodoni
Bodoni is the name given to a series of serif typefaces first designed by Giambattista Bodoni (1740–1813) in 1798. The typeface is classified as didone modern. Didone is a typeface classification recognized by the Association Typographique Internationale (AtypI). It is characterized by slab-like serifs without brackets, vertical orientation of weight axes, strong contrast between thick and thin lines, and an unornamented, "modern" appearance.
Bodoni followed the ideas of John Baskerville, as found in the printing type Baskerville, that of increased stroke contrast and a more vertical, slightly condensed, upper case, but taking them to a more extreme conclusion. Bodoni's typeface has a narrower underlying structure with flat, unbracketed serifs. The face has extreme contrast between thick and thin strokes, and an overall geometric construction.
Bodoni came from a printmaking background, his father and grandfather both being in that trade. He worked for a time as an apprentice in the Vatican's Propaganda Fide printing house in Rome. There, it was said he impressed his superiors so much with his eagerness to learn, studiousness in mastery of ancient languages and types, and energy of effort, that he was allowed to place his own name on his first books, a Coptic Missal and a version of the Tibetan alphabet.
Bodoni admired the work of John Baskerville and studied in detail the designs of French type founders Pierre Simon Fournier and Firmin Didot. Although he drew inspiration from the work of these designers, above all from Didot, no doubt Bodoni found his own style for his typefaces, which deservedly gained worldwide acceptance among printers.
After a bout of malaria put Bodoni out of commission, he was hired by the Duke Ferdinand of Bourbon-Parma to organize a printing house in Parma to be bankrolled by the Duke, with an eye to create one of the great houses of Italy, to be called la Stamperia Reale. Bodoni got to work publicizing the house with the creation of specimen books, which were very received amongst the upper classes of European capitals. Soon, fine editions of classical and respected works followed, such as Homer's works and Gerusalemme Liberata of Torquato Tasso. Eventually his success was such that he was permitted to open a printing house under his own name, Officina Bodoni.
Bodoni achieved an unprecedented level of technical refinement, allowing him to faithfully reproduce letterforms with very thin "hairlines", standing in sharp contrast to the thicker lines constituting the main stems of the characters. His printing reflected an aesthetic of plain, unadorned style, combined with purity of materials. This style attracted many admirers and imitators, surpassing the popularity of French typographers such as Philippe Grandjean and Pierre Simon Fournier.
Unflagged by his famous rivalry with Didot, in his life Bodoni designed and personally engraved 298 typefaces, and the various printing houses he managed produced roughly 1,200 fine editions.
The Bodoni Museum, named for the artisan, was opened in Parma in 1963.
Text courtesy of Wikipedia.
There are many styles within the family of Bodoni including regular, medium, italic, condensed, bold and black. The one above is regular.
Bodoni's typefaces were often highly styled editions some considered more apt "to be admired for typeface and layout, not to be studied or read."
Bodoni in use. Really looks nice at large sizes.
Bodoni followed the ideas of John Baskerville, as found in the printing type Baskerville, that of increased stroke contrast and a more vertical, slightly condensed, upper case, but taking them to a more extreme conclusion. Bodoni's typeface has a narrower underlying structure with flat, unbracketed serifs. The face has extreme contrast between thick and thin strokes, and an overall geometric construction.
Bodoni came from a printmaking background, his father and grandfather both being in that trade. He worked for a time as an apprentice in the Vatican's Propaganda Fide printing house in Rome. There, it was said he impressed his superiors so much with his eagerness to learn, studiousness in mastery of ancient languages and types, and energy of effort, that he was allowed to place his own name on his first books, a Coptic Missal and a version of the Tibetan alphabet.
Bodoni admired the work of John Baskerville and studied in detail the designs of French type founders Pierre Simon Fournier and Firmin Didot. Although he drew inspiration from the work of these designers, above all from Didot, no doubt Bodoni found his own style for his typefaces, which deservedly gained worldwide acceptance among printers.
After a bout of malaria put Bodoni out of commission, he was hired by the Duke Ferdinand of Bourbon-Parma to organize a printing house in Parma to be bankrolled by the Duke, with an eye to create one of the great houses of Italy, to be called la Stamperia Reale. Bodoni got to work publicizing the house with the creation of specimen books, which were very received amongst the upper classes of European capitals. Soon, fine editions of classical and respected works followed, such as Homer's works and Gerusalemme Liberata of Torquato Tasso. Eventually his success was such that he was permitted to open a printing house under his own name, Officina Bodoni.
Bodoni achieved an unprecedented level of technical refinement, allowing him to faithfully reproduce letterforms with very thin "hairlines", standing in sharp contrast to the thicker lines constituting the main stems of the characters. His printing reflected an aesthetic of plain, unadorned style, combined with purity of materials. This style attracted many admirers and imitators, surpassing the popularity of French typographers such as Philippe Grandjean and Pierre Simon Fournier.
Unflagged by his famous rivalry with Didot, in his life Bodoni designed and personally engraved 298 typefaces, and the various printing houses he managed produced roughly 1,200 fine editions.
The Bodoni Museum, named for the artisan, was opened in Parma in 1963.
Text courtesy of Wikipedia.
There are many styles within the family of Bodoni including regular, medium, italic, condensed, bold and black. The one above is regular.
Bodoni's typefaces were often highly styled editions some considered more apt "to be admired for typeface and layout, not to be studied or read."
Bodoni in use. Really looks nice at large sizes.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Mind Mapping
Semiotics taken from the Mind Map:
Icons: violin, strings, gypsy, wagon, Mississippi delta, home, American flag, guitar, amplifier, Kansas City, southern American states, saxophone
Indexes: 1940's, toe tappin, lonesome echoes of bluegrass, room response, confluence
Symbols: American fiddling, classical music, bluegrass, folk, folk music, acoustics, improv
Mark O'Connor's Hot Swing Trio
An unusual jazz ensemble. Violin is not often seen in jazz bands. Mark O'Connor is an American violinist trained classically and in Flamenco. His hot swing trio is a tribute to his great friend and mentor the late french jazz master Stephan Grappelli and includes Frank Vignola and Julian Lage both on guitar. Genre: acoustic string jazz.
Mark's other influences include Benny Thomasson: American Fidling
Mark brings American history to life using his violin. The word to describe his musical style is 'Americana'.
Mark's other influences include Benny Thomasson: American Fidling
Mark brings American history to life using his violin. The word to describe his musical style is 'Americana'.
The Use of Rhetoric in Graphic Design
Originally I thought this was the end of a sewer pipe but it's actually a can of paint. The idea is that a single tin can pollute millions of liters of water. The poster design is for WWF Spain.
I think there's some hyperbole here in that they've made the tin so large to get across the idea of the scale of damage that a single tin can do. Is there some allegory here too in that a paint tin turned on its side does look like the end of a sewer? A tin of paint literally turned on its side does spill and therefore make a mess: allegory used to symbolize a principle.
From a collection of adverts at guardian.co.uk
I think there's some hyperbole here in that they've made the tin so large to get across the idea of the scale of damage that a single tin can do. Is there some allegory here too in that a paint tin turned on its side does look like the end of a sewer? A tin of paint literally turned on its side does spill and therefore make a mess: allegory used to symbolize a principle.
From a collection of adverts at guardian.co.uk
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Narrative in Sound & Motion: Developing a Visual Sequence
So I've narrowed down the gardening idea to the germination and death of a seed. This is an interesting cycle to narrate using sound and motion. Below are two points of view: first person and third person. Below that are renderings of one event: the seed in the ground.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Narrative in Sound & Motion: Choosing a Subject
Gardening is my choice of activity. I keep a small plot and I know a few other people who do it too. I'm not sure if it will totally work because it is coming up to fall but then, there are plenty of things that you do in the garden even when winter is coming. If it should be tied down to a specific action then I could choose the process of growing from seed germination to fruit picking - that could be rendered without having to take live images.
Research II
An unusual jazz ensemble. Mark O'Connor is an American violinist trained classically and in Flamenco. His hot swing trio is a tribute to his great friend and mentor the late french jazz master Stephan Grappelli and includes Frank Vignola and Julian Lage both on guitar. The genre is acoustic string jazz.
Mark brings American history to life using his violin. The word to describe his musical style is 'Americana'.
O'Connor has been following the sound of American music and finding his own ways of adding to the expression of that sound.
Mark says, "it's a very natural thing for me to combine music and styles to create American music. The way I kind of look at it is, I have three pillars of musical influence and training," he said. "The pillars are western classical music, American folk music, and jazz."
O'Connor has always approached classical music as American music, drawing on the forms and vocabulary in musical conversation with the sounds of the Mississippi Delta, the high lonesome echoes of bluegrass, and the intersections of the sounds of the borderlands with Mexico and Canada. "It's the harmony of the American landscape," he said.
Since ending his session career he's recorded two folk and country albums, two children's records, more than half a dozen classical records, several soundtracks, as well as composed work for choral groups and string ensembles, all the while maintaining a touring schedule with both Appalachia Waltz and Hot Swing ensembles of which Hot Swing Trio is one.
Some of Mark's influences include bluegrass and country star Ricky Skaggs and folk fiddler and innovator Benny Thomasson who created the modern era of American fiddling in the 1940's.
Visual inspiration includes the classic americana look and feel.
Mark brings American history to life using his violin. The word to describe his musical style is 'Americana'.
O'Connor has been following the sound of American music and finding his own ways of adding to the expression of that sound.
Mark says, "it's a very natural thing for me to combine music and styles to create American music. The way I kind of look at it is, I have three pillars of musical influence and training," he said. "The pillars are western classical music, American folk music, and jazz."
O'Connor has always approached classical music as American music, drawing on the forms and vocabulary in musical conversation with the sounds of the Mississippi Delta, the high lonesome echoes of bluegrass, and the intersections of the sounds of the borderlands with Mexico and Canada. "It's the harmony of the American landscape," he said.
Since ending his session career he's recorded two folk and country albums, two children's records, more than half a dozen classical records, several soundtracks, as well as composed work for choral groups and string ensembles, all the while maintaining a touring schedule with both Appalachia Waltz and Hot Swing ensembles of which Hot Swing Trio is one.
Some of Mark's influences include bluegrass and country star Ricky Skaggs and folk fiddler and innovator Benny Thomasson who created the modern era of American fiddling in the 1940's.
Visual inspiration includes the classic americana look and feel.
Research
An unusual jazz ensemble. Mark O'Connor is an American violinist trained classically and in Flamenco. His hot swing trio is a tribute to his great friend and mentor the late french jazz master Stephan Grappelli and includes Frank Vignola and Julian Lage both on guitar. The genre is acoustic string jazz.
Mark brings American history to life using his violin. The word to describe his musical style is 'Americana'.
O'Connor has been following the sound of American music and finding his own ways of adding to the expression of that sound.
His journey began with classical guitar lessons while he was growing up in Seattle, but when O'Connor went to compete in a classical guitar contest, he decided to play a flamenco piece, a genre he'd been learning on the side. O'Connor doesn't remember if he placed first or second in the contest, but in the top two, anyway. The other musicians were all college students; O'Connor was 10 years old.
By the time he graduated from high school, he had recorded four albums for Rounder. These were mainly traditional American folk music, but as Mark says, "I got way into jazz when I was 13 and 14."
He auditioned as a guitarist to join the David Grisman Quintet to fill the place left by Tony Rice, one of O'Connor's own guitar heroes. Grisman's acoustic mix of bluegrass with Gypsy jazz was, and still is, a unique and groundbreaking style, one that was especially hot at the time O'Connor auditioned, a few months after his high school graduation in 1979.
When it came time to move on, O'Connor joined the jazz-rock fusion group Dixie Dregs and moved to Atlanta. He has appeared in the credits of hundreds of country recording projects.
Mark says, "it's a very natural thing for me to combine music and styles to create American music. The way I kind of look at it is, I have three pillars of musical influence and training," he said. "The pillars are western classical music, American folk music, and jazz."
Since ending his session career he's recorded two folk and country albums, two children's records, more than half a dozen classical records, several soundtracks, as well as composed work for choral groups and string ensembles, all the while maintaining a touring schedule with both Appalachia Waltz and Hot Swing ensembles of which Hot Swing Trio is one.
O'Connor has always approached classical music as American music, drawing on the forms and vocabulary in musical conversation with the sounds of the Mississippi Delta, the high lonesome echoes of bluegrass, and the intersections of the sounds of the borderlands with Mexico and Canada. "It's the harmony of the American landscape," he said.
Some of Mark's influences include bluegrass and country star Ricky Skaggs and folk fiddler and innovator Benny Thomasson who created the modern era of American fiddling in the 1940's.
Mark brings American history to life using his violin. The word to describe his musical style is 'Americana'.
O'Connor has been following the sound of American music and finding his own ways of adding to the expression of that sound.
His journey began with classical guitar lessons while he was growing up in Seattle, but when O'Connor went to compete in a classical guitar contest, he decided to play a flamenco piece, a genre he'd been learning on the side. O'Connor doesn't remember if he placed first or second in the contest, but in the top two, anyway. The other musicians were all college students; O'Connor was 10 years old.
By the time he graduated from high school, he had recorded four albums for Rounder. These were mainly traditional American folk music, but as Mark says, "I got way into jazz when I was 13 and 14."
He auditioned as a guitarist to join the David Grisman Quintet to fill the place left by Tony Rice, one of O'Connor's own guitar heroes. Grisman's acoustic mix of bluegrass with Gypsy jazz was, and still is, a unique and groundbreaking style, one that was especially hot at the time O'Connor auditioned, a few months after his high school graduation in 1979.
When it came time to move on, O'Connor joined the jazz-rock fusion group Dixie Dregs and moved to Atlanta. He has appeared in the credits of hundreds of country recording projects.
Mark says, "it's a very natural thing for me to combine music and styles to create American music. The way I kind of look at it is, I have three pillars of musical influence and training," he said. "The pillars are western classical music, American folk music, and jazz."
Since ending his session career he's recorded two folk and country albums, two children's records, more than half a dozen classical records, several soundtracks, as well as composed work for choral groups and string ensembles, all the while maintaining a touring schedule with both Appalachia Waltz and Hot Swing ensembles of which Hot Swing Trio is one.
O'Connor has always approached classical music as American music, drawing on the forms and vocabulary in musical conversation with the sounds of the Mississippi Delta, the high lonesome echoes of bluegrass, and the intersections of the sounds of the borderlands with Mexico and Canada. "It's the harmony of the American landscape," he said.
Some of Mark's influences include bluegrass and country star Ricky Skaggs and folk fiddler and innovator Benny Thomasson who created the modern era of American fiddling in the 1940's.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Researching Gutenberg
Maybe people just think of the printing press when the name Gutenberg is mentioned but he was much more than just that.
His father was in engineering which I'm sure jump started his own skills in building things. He was also a 'merchant' which helped him in the business side of things talking to those venture capitalists who were key to the success of his great plan. He was also an interlectual and so he probably had a big heart for the reading community. This side of his expertise probably gave him a unique ability to meet the needs of his peers.
Perhaps the side of him that I like the most is his 'inventor' side. I can picture Gutenberg now sat in the scriptorium (the place where monks copied and duplicated scripture) all those hundreds of years ago having a blinding flash of inspiration to create a marvelous machine to do the work that was to humans so painstaking and laborius.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Offf 2010
Next years Offf Digital Design Festival will be held in Paris, France :) I heartily recommend going to anyone interested in graphic design, film and animation.
The festival this year in Lisbon was my first and I’m sure not my last. I really enjoyed it. Speakers came from all over the world; Paula Scher, Robert L. Peters, Neville Brody and Stefan Sagmeister to name but a few. They presented some amazing work and some very interesting ideas. Perhaps the piece that stood out to me the most was Neville’s recent poster campaign Free Me From Freedom.
The festival this year in Lisbon was my first and I’m sure not my last. I really enjoyed it. Speakers came from all over the world; Paula Scher, Robert L. Peters, Neville Brody and Stefan Sagmeister to name but a few. They presented some amazing work and some very interesting ideas. Perhaps the piece that stood out to me the most was Neville’s recent poster campaign Free Me From Freedom.
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