Sense and Sensibility

I have never seen a film with as much estrogen and crying almost entirely through the whole thing, such as this one. Don't get me wrong it was good, but I found myself laughing through some of it because the crying became so dramatic. Sense and Sensibility, the story of sisters and their mother left to unfortunate circumstances when the father passes away. Not exactly stable monetarily and affected by this when the two oldest begins searching for a husband. This story has romance and heart break leaving the practical Elinor with all that she ever wanted. When watching this movie, I kept thinking about when we talked about the women being constricted by corsets and feeling like weighted down by all of the dresses and of course emotions. It reminded me of the Impressionist era and overall it was a nice film to watch while working on my portfolio :)

Esquire's Iconic Muhammad Ali Cover

Esquire's iconic Muhammad Ali cover (page 398, Meggs) makes a visual comparison between a contemporary controversial figure and a famous image from the history of art. Describe how this approach affects the viewer by conveying a powerful philosophical statement without the use of words. Offer one contemporary example of a similar image and do a quick compare/contrast between it and the Esquire cover. (Campaign 2008 is a good stop).

This image associates Mahamad Ali with St. Sebastian. St. Sebastian as an innocent and saintly person, standing in crucifixion pose. The cover was saying "You are persecuting Mahamad for his race and religion. He is powerless. He is a victim to America, and to you. For the viewer, it is showing us how helpless and innocent he is tied up by the people of the world. All of this I can feel without even a word of text on there. 

On this cover, Janet Jackson is in a very open pose, almost contrastingly accepting the critiques and world views of her. Still, this image similarly is vulnerable and in a way presents Janet as a victim. A victim of judgement and sexual desire. 

Examining Bayer's "Great Ideas" advertisement

Compare Bayer's association of the female image with excess and corruption with contemporary treatments of women in ads. Do we still see this same association? If so, how has it changed? Is it now seen as a good thing or a bad thing? Use at least two contemporary ads.

This advertisement specifically exemplifies corruption and excess identified with the females. This ad is supposed to portray soft living. Partying too much. Female forum and the woman taken as an element expressive idea. Females were popular in Art Noveau and this specific one is embodying an idea and expression. I believe that we still have excess and corruption with contemporary treatments of women in ads. The following two adds are very degrading towards females, regarding them as just an object of sex or just a body. It may not be apparent by the topic of the ad, but the feeling when looking at these ads is that women are considered objects. They are not people but just something. The Burger King ad shows that the woman is being "put in her place" and the portray of soft living because she isn't good for anything else. The Marc Jacobs ad is more of a this girl is only good for showing her legs, because she failed at shopping. It is literally saying she shopped until she dropped, but the idea of soft living is also prevailing throughout this ad. Today, we still see the same association as Bayer's advertisement. I think it is dissappointing and not something to be proud of.

Help Alabama: Inspired by Lester Beall

“A designer…has the true responsibility to give his audiences not what they think they want, for this is almost invariably the usual, the accustomed, the obvious, and hence, the unspontaneous.  Rather, he should provide that quality of thought and intuition which rejects the ineffectual commonplace for effectual originality.”

 – Lester Beall

The Rural Electrification Administration posters of Lester Beall demonstrated visually the use of color, line, photography and design. Above, I created a Beall inspired poster for the Alabama Tornado victims (as a whole) with the eternalized theme of "helping tornado victims participates in the identity of America--that is to say helping these victims, helps the United States. Like Beall, I used red white and blue as my predominant colors throughout the image. Similar to his simple shape use, I created a large blue shape for the background with over a hundred stars fading through out the entire image. These stars not only represent the people of the United States, but more specifically the victims of the tornado. On top of the blue I also incorporated an abstract red and white basic shape to reflect the image of a flag. The stripes, line of font, and lines in the stars project the same decision from Beall as a designer, in using line. Beall also was known for taking black and white photographs and either using a part of an image or  incorporating the image in its entirety within the image. I chose a black and white photograph of the tornado damage specifically at one location. Under the flag (the most forward image) is of a turned over couch. The eternalized message and idea I had behind this photo is, Tornadoes can hit anywhere and affect anyone, it is something that damages people personally and really hits home (hence the furniture from a home). With the stars representing the victims, I wanted a more personal photograph representing an individual or family - something people can relate to. Regarding the text in the poster, I chose "Help Alabama". It is a very simple message similar to Beall's many simple messages through out his design. I Overall I really enjoyed studying Beall's work and replicating a poster with a little bit more of a present time feel. 

The photo I used-

Rural Electric Administration: Designing for America's Future

What is the New Deal? Created in 1935, the New Deal's achievement was bringing electricity to rural areas like the TN valley. Power Companies said that farmers must pay for the energy they use and pay the power company for costs of construction. In order to avoid this... Rural Electric Administration was created.

What is the Rural Electric Admin? Sponsoring cooperatives that received low-cost government loans for developing electric power, The Rural Electrification Administration, a division of the Department of Agriculture, was developed by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It improved the nation’s rural areas as well as  reviving the post-Depression economy by providing jobs.

Why a poster campaign to convince people to have electricity in rural areas? Because the audience for these posters had limited reading skills, these simple but visually dramatic posters express their messages in primarily graphic terms. The bold colors and images made electricity very appealing and showed an improved  quality of life. Electricity would improve the standard of living and the economic competitiveness of the family farm. 

Why is it fruitful to apply techniques to Alabama tornadoes? Simple readable designs that are very powerful may have quite the impact on people and reach a broader audience across the United States. Bright colors including red white and blue exhibit patriotism and "togetherness". 

Poster Project - Original Work: Art Nouveau and the Arts and Crafts Movement

My poster describes my favorite movie at the moment, "Jeux d'enfants" or "Love Me If You Dare". It is a French film, so I thought it would be very appropriate and relative to Art Nouveau. The movie tells the love story of a couple whose relationship is surrounded by a game of truth or dare. For my poster, I decided to incorporate different images of women in very open or sensual poses as if they were saying, "I dare you to love me". Much of my inspiration came from Art Nouveau and Crafts Movement with freeing feeling of the decorative and swirling patterns and images. 

"Love Me If You Dare" is my favorite foreign film.

Here is the trailer to the movie, check out the real deal on Netflix

Quick Description

Art Nouveau: A style of art, architecture, and applied art (especially the decorative arts). This style was most popular during 1890 to 1905. The name Art Nouveau is French for "new art". It was most popular in Europe and the British Islands, but its influence was global. 

Popular Art Nouveau artists

Alphonse Mucha

Gustav Klimt

Charles Rennie Mackintosh

Rene Lalique

Antonio Gaudi

Louis Comfort Tiffany

Arts and Crafts Movement: International design movement that originated in England. It flourished between 1880 and 1910. The movement brought truth to materials and traditional craftsmanship using forms that were simple and sometimes medieval.

Popular Arts and Crafts Movement Inspirations

William Morris

John Ruskin

Components within the design of Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts Movement

1. Bright color pallet: Within my poster there are many floral patterns that incorporate a lot of bright blue and green colors. There is a yellow glow amidst the entire page with hints of purple, orange, and rose pink color decoratively splashed around the work.

2. Organic Elements: There are many organic elements within this work, beginning with the shapes at the top of the page. The spirals and curls flow downward into the circular floral pattern and the nature of the piece. Organic lines are present in this work.

3. Emotion/Creative Response: The emotion and feeling found within the women characters in the poster is desire, promiscuity and carefree fantasy. The film "Love Me If You Dare" has a lot of carefree quality to it in the scenes and the story. I wanted the poster to reflect the game like "come and get me" that is portrayed in the film. 

4. Unifying Pattern: I used a circular pattern and shape repeatedly throughout the poster. For two reasons, one being it was commonly found during this period of art. Another reason I used the circular shape was to represent the ongoing story within the film. Especially the ongoing game in the film. At the end of the movie you realize the dare game that was going on throughout the entire movie never ends, like a circle. 

5. Ornamented Design: This was a very popular ornate style within the Arts and Crafts Movement. The swirls and ornate flower pattern exemplify an ornamented design. Hours spent on designing and completing these patterns. 

6. Symbolism: Just as in the emotional response section, the symbolism of this piece is reflecting upon the film, "Love Me If You Dare". The circles representing the ongoing story and plot line that never really resolves, and the women pieced into the page sultry and daring. 

7. Plants and Flowers: Very popular design. This one is the most predominant in my poster, Originally taken from patterns, or posters, the floral patterns are very ornate, delicate, and colorful. It also brings a natural and organic solution to the poster. 

8. Asymmetrical: Often were the pieces left asymmetrical or not looking completely resolved. This was a part of the "new art" style. Nothing lines up with each other on my page, but every specific shape has its own specific place. The circles are off center and the women are diagonally strewn from each other. 

9. Renaissance Influence: The women in the poster are definitely influenced by the Renaissance with long hair and flowing dresses. They represent a higher power and have some type of authority when looking at them. The thicker outlines around the center woman exemplifies a more rustic and bold approach found in the Renaissance styles. 

10. Flat shape: The flat shapes within the poster are circles and the one rectangle towards the center reading, "Love Me If You Dare". These shapes are very formless on their own but with the floral patterns within them, they are brought to a new life. There is also a rectangle behind the entire project amidst the background. 

My composition included the following: (one not pictured because I couldn't find the actual photo after I had researched it again. By the time I looked for it, I had already erased it off my computer desktop) 

1. Pictured in the bottom circle: It is the floral pattern (blue/greens)

2.

3. 

4. 

5. 

I loved...

This week there was a lot of discussing between groups and with our professor about the 18th and 19th centuries predominately fixed upon the Victorian Age and the Industrial Revolution. I specifically studied the fascination of culture sharing with art between the Japanese, English, and African Americans in the Victorian Age. I also further researched information about the new forms of sciences during the Industrial Revolution.

I chose this photograph because it appears to be statuesque. When you look at it, the photograph can appear hard and soft. The picture is soft and slightly blurred, but the light within the face and clothing is sharp and contrast like. The emotion or lack there of depending on how you view it strikes a chord with me. It is a very beautiful photograph.