Polygon Animal :: Leon the Black Russian Terrier
Leon is a dog I love, today is his birthday. This isn't him, but it looks like him: 
I made several polygon versions of him... these are my two favorites:
They ended up a little paint-by-numbers (which was my intention) but after looking at the pinterest-people's polygon animals, I wanted to try building one that was more like a low-polygon 3D model from the 90s...
Naturally, I chose a hippo:
does that look like a silent scream or is it just finals week? ;)
HEX :: Cereal Development / Branding & Identity
Album Design :: Talking Heads Retrospective
Virtual Reality :: Actual Reality via Jaron Lanier & Google Cardboard
In the nineteen-eighties, [Jaron] Lanier came to believe that virtual reality—the creation of computer-simulated environments in which real people can interact—would precipitate an extraordinary revolution in art and communication. In an interview with Omni in 1991, he described the allure of programs that would let you feel as if you were wandering at will inside a Moorish temple or through the chambers of a beating heart. In an early paper, Lanier wrote of the ability of some octopuses to express fear or anger by changing color. In a virtual world, he hypothesized, people would be able to communicate in similar ways. Tom Zimmerman, Lanier’s business partner at the time, recalls that Lanier was taken by the idea of hosting virtual-reality parties, where guests would arrive in strange and exotic forms. “I had this feeling of people living in isolated spheres of incredible cognitive and stylistic wealth,” Lanier explained.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/07/11/the-visionary
Jaron Lanier, considered by many to be the father of VR, was visiting from the future when I first saw him speak at the University of Georgia in 2001, I saw him again in 2010 at Town Hall in Seattle and somehow a little of the sparkle had faded. Where was the jetpack I was promised?
Six years later, I'm hearing the familiar rumblings, only this time, it's backed by funding from Google, Amazon, and Microsoft. And I'll be damned if I don't believe (yet again) that the future is nigh.
My sister first showed me her Nintendo 3DS around 2012; I was shocked that the technology existed and that I didn't know about it -- I couldn't figure out why people weren't foaming at the mouth for them, until I realized that perhaps they were like me, and not all that much a part of the Pokemon crowd--which apparently was the only master the technology served.
Fast forward to the arrival of my Google Cardboard (ahem, Google Plastic, I sprung for the "fancy" goggles) today. Yeah, it's clumsy and awkward, it's ill-fitting and uncomfortable, but I'll be damned if it isn't the most fun I've had in my living room since rewatching the Indiana Jones trilogy alone with a pint of ice cream. Now I just need a space big enough to walk around in freely (and blindly)... ask to see my bruises from walking into thing in Real Reality.
...and I need to figure out how I can be a part of the revolution instead of just a consumer...
long ago, in a galaxy far far away :: the SENTIENT GARDEN
What would Ridley Scott do? He'd use theatrical lighting and fill the air with gossamer glitter...
Very long ago, I made a thing that should have been the catalyst for the rest of my life. It's the best thing I've made to date, regrettably it was about 15 years ago.
This thing has become legendary in my mind, a multi-media art installation at the Lyndon House Museum. The project made the first line of this review (which shockingly still lives online):
"There is a certain, unsettling sense of human feeling to the pieces in ''Eclectic Electric: An Exhibit of Electronic and Digital Art." The glittery, synthetic plants of Amanda Hanneld and Coby Cranman's ''Sentient Garden'' whimper and squirm like attentive puppies." -- Mary JESSICA Hames
Forgive me if I don't say "we" -- Coby was a stoner with other priorities and although I was gracious at the time, I don't mind taking full credit for the idea and execution at this point.*
So I'll have to ask you to imagine that it's 2001. We'd recently survived Y2K and 9/11 was still three months in the future...
As part of a class called Interactive Performance Multi-Media taught by mad-scientist Dr. David Zucker Saltz, I began using technology that was considered to be old then, a thing called MIDI, short for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. MIDI is a technical standard that describes a protocol, digital interface and connectors and allows a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers and other related devices to connect and communicate with one another.[1] A single MIDI link can carry up to sixteen channels of information, each of which can be routed to a separate device.)
But MIDI is (was?) more than audio...
From Wikipedia:
Other applications
MIDI has been adopted as a control protocol in a number of non-musical applications. MIDI Show Control uses MIDI commands to direct stage lighting systems and to trigger cued events in theatrical productions. VJs and turntablists use it to cue clips, and to synchronize equipment, and recording systems use it for synchronization andautomation. Apple Motion allows control of animation parameters through MIDI. The 1987 first-person shooter game MIDI Maze and the 1990 Atari ST computer puzzle game Oxyd used MIDI to network computers together, and kits are available that allow MIDI control over home lighting and appliances.[55]
Despite its association with music devices, MIDI can control any device that can read and process a MIDI command. It is therefore possible to send a spacecraft from earth to another destination in space, control home lighting, heating and air conditioning and even sequence traffic light signals all through MIDI commands. The receiving device or object would require a General MIDI processor, however in this instance, the program changes would trigger a function on that device rather than notes from MIDI instrument. Each function can be set to a timer (also controlled by MIDI) or other condition determined by the device's creator.
Which brings us to the Sentient Garden.
Using artificial plants (sprinkled subtly with extra-fine glitter, duh), and a light-controlled environment (ahem, a GIANT cylinder made of black trash bags that had been quilted together with packing tape, kind of like a teepee suspended from the museum ceiling -- large enough to hold 4 adults at one time), I used stage lighting with orange and blue gels to to cast shadows on photo-sensors hidden in the plants, and used MIDI to command servo motors to respond when the photo sensors were activated by a human casting a shadow. I wish I could remember the software used to program the sensors and motors, it'd be good for a laugh if nothing else.
As a human approached the "garden", ferns would tremble, leaves would curl away, stamens would pull inside flowers.
It was a really cool thing that was really difficult to photograph because it was in the dark. But dad, bless him, did his best.
New goal: one-up 20-year-old me and make something really great. It's interesting to watch patterns emerge -- apparently I like interactive/responsive work and 3D environmental design. See also: stage lighting and glitter. Shudder to think of all the time wasted being an admin or project manager.
No spoilers, but some of the work we're doing for New Media might be able to measure up to the Sentient Garden...
Stay tuned. :D
*Coby Cranman DID supply sausage pizza with red onions to feed me while "we" worked -- an ingenious flavor combo that I'd never considered and an ingredient list that would probably kill me now.
Capitol Hill Feature :: Horizon Books
https://vimeo.com/155797380 In an ever-shifting landscape, few landmarks remain steadfast in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. Few things, however, are as timeless and resilient as Horizon Books owner Donald Glover. To the untrained eye of a new Seattle resident, Horizon Books might look like a shipping & receiving truck terminal but what’s hidden beneath the fast changing 10th Avenue street hides a man who loves this community, his books and his whisky.
Don Glover, Horizon Books owner
To say Don Glover has lived an exceptional life would be a dramatic understatement. Younger readers might laugh at the commonality shared between his name and the rapper Childish Gambino; Don readily shares with us a story about how he met Childish Gambino while at Neumos. On stage, our Don proudly displayed his ID to an uproarious crowd and declared that HE is the true Donald Glover. His experiences expand far beyond Seattle through his years in the Peace Corps, traveling across Europe, and having familial roots in the Midwest; the tiny glimpse we were gifted into Don’s life bares an exceptional man.
Don Glover sharing stories, books, and memories with Melody Hirsch
One of Don’s most notable and perhaps most understated character qualities is his natural and genuine interaction with his customers. As we interviewed him, several people—some of whom he knew and others he did not—came into Horizon Books. Don happily fielded their questions, struck up small conversations, and treated everyone as if they were a close personal friend. One interaction in particular fully exemplifies Don: A man brought in a neatly packaged piece of fresh salmon and Don accepted it as partial payment for books the man was buying. No frills, customer appreciative service is what Don effortlessly offers.
the kind of writing that takes you places, allows you to linger in a world so delicately created, then softly recedes as the words fade
The love Don has for the written word is resolute and unaffected. He’s been working in bookstores in some capacity since the 1960s. Don looks natural and at home among the innumerable stacks of boxes and shelves stretching so high you forget you’re underground. In his spare time he writes poems inspired by three unsystematic words proposed to him by anyone lucky enough to be nearby when inspiration hits. His poems are clever, perfectly timed, and typically delivered with a wink; the kind of writing that takes you places, allows you to linger in a world so delicately created, then softly recedes as the words fade. A talent perfectly assigned to Don.
Book of Nails: expressive art piece gifted from a poet
Horizon Books first opened in 1971, has seen several expansions, regressions, and location transformations, but Don remains steady at the helm. We should be so lucky to be counted among his neighbors; Don’s love for Seattle and Capitol Hill thrives regardless of its shifting status. When asked about his life before moving to the Pacific Northwest, Don says plainly “I can’t remember a time before I lived in Seattle”; a statement so bare yet heavy with pride. If you find yourself in search of a good book or story, take the shipping & receiving terminal down to Horizon Books and ask for Don.
Aromas :: Coffee Packaging
I've been a little day-late / dollar-short on this project so far, so I wanted to really dig in and try to knock it out of the park. Here's the assignment:
Aromas is the name of a coffee roastery in Charles City, Iowa. They are a small, family-owned, mom ‘n pop style cafe with a focus on quality coffee for the common person. Since 1996, Bryan and Cara have carefully hand-selected every coffee they roast to ensure their customers are always drinking the finest coffee available in the city.
To celebrate the opening of their second location, Aromas have crafted a blend just for the occasion. It is a 50/50 blend of hand-selected coffee that captures the sensation of new beginnings and a growing coffee family.
Required text for Aromas Coffee Bag (Front Panel Only):
Aromas Dwelling Blend
A 50/50 blend of Colombia Montabella and El Salvador El Manzano
Roasted for you on _____
Dwelling is equal parts cinnamon and ripe stonefruit, with a round, juicy finish that lingers until the very last sip.
105 North Main Street Charles City, Iowa
No artificial colors, flavors or preservatives
Net weight 2 lbs
Project specifications: Final trimmed size: 8.25” tall x 5.5” wide
Colors: You may choose to make your design one color or you may choose to create a multicolored front panel, it is up to you. Images and/or illustrations are permissible.
Design requirements: Create a typographic design that combines 2 typeface families, flourishes & vector elements (lines, dots, patterns, etc.).
Make sure you create a hierarchy of information.
Don’t let the ornamentation overpower the type. Solve the type & ornamentation hierarchy first before you add imagery and/or color.
I started by just dumping the text into IDD and shoving it around. That was the worst false start yielding utterly uninspiring garbage.
With a mood-board that was pure after-thought:
So I sat back down with paper and pencil, and made some hierarchical sketches. I became curious about the real-life coffee shop Jill had mentioned so I did a Google Street View and found that the original location, a turn-of-the-century three-story brick building was really lovely, while the new location was an boring 1970s retail rambler.
I decided to create an homage to the original location to celebrate the opening of the new one by building the architectural storefront in illustrator and using it on the packaging.
I got a little carried away, creating a full color version even when I knew that whatever I used would be monochromatic, likely black or white.
I re-did my mood board with a new palate but the same fonts I'd originally selected.
I tried a lot of different things, including forcing a coffee-colored water color into the background:
Before getting the feedback from prof. Jill Vartenigian that I'd hit the sweet spot with this iteration:
I'll stare at something for so long that I can no longer discern what's working and what's not -- if there's time between working and reviewing for reflection, it's easier, but that's not the schedule we're working on. Peer and prof. feedback are the two most essential things -- I'm so grateful to Wynn, Kenna, and Liz for ALWAYS graciously offering input to help nudge things along when I'm too cross-eyed to see the way forward.
SIENNA :: an adventure in AfterEffects
When last we met, I mentioned an interest in learning motion graphics. I've always been fascinated by movie title sequences but never thought that I would be capable of making them--those were jobs for people better than me. Which brings us to now: I've decided to fake it 'til I make it and set my sights on building as much experience as possible by turning out one million mediocre projects. It's excruciating to produce sub-par work AND to discuss it on the internet. Thankfully, I only have two readers. (Hi Marc! Hi Dad!) In color theory, we were assigned a color at random to research and write a paper on, create a presentation for that included 15+ objects from life and digital sources, and to create a mysterious thing. The mysterious thing could be a cake, a collage, really anything you wanted -- I decided to attempt motion graphics.
Under a tight timeline and with the restrictions of other assignments during midterms, I cranked out a one minute "Sienna" video.
My original intent was to create a homage to the Metropolis title sequence (fast forward to 1:27) with animation that wraps around the letters:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGj66_UC7wo
So I found a YouTube tutorial that looked like it was doing something like I wanted to do (I haven't had AfterEffects in a class yet) and hand key-framed motion paths to send light shooting down:
Only to realize that I'd created some sort of masks rather than shapes and all the Googling in the world couldn't help me figure out how to convert them to animation paths.
Sadly, due to time constraints, I had to move forward with the video without my hat-tip to Metropolis.
https://vimeo.com/154952726
I also may have fallen a little too in love with color dodge (or was it burn?) -- it made the text beautiful but less readable -- I made the call to keep it since I wasn't that crazy about the text I'd written anyway. The video is meant to follow my presentation, which doesn't have much text in it since most of it was spoken, but the general thrust was how widely varied interpretations of the color Sienna are -- raw is ocher-brown, burnt is reddish-brown, and Pantone or spot is a coral-salmon. (WTF, indeed.)
Emperor's New Clothes :: Enlightenment
Sometimes necessity (plus a lack of equipment or know-how) will drive a project in a certain direction. I've heard it said in filmmaking that the true measure of creativity is how you cope when things go horribly wrong. Ironically, while trying to film and edit for the theme "Enlightenment," we were broadcasting from the Dark Ages.
Although the aesthetic was planned to be layered and abstract, the lack of tripod, malfunction of a slider, pouring rain, and inconsistent ambient light helped to drive the look and feel to a not-altogether-intended art-house film place... hit home by Kenna's brilliant suggestion to use French music.
https://vimeo.com/154271049
I want to get good at motion graphics, I'd like to work for R. Greenberg & Associates or Digital Kitchen. I'm delighted to imagine a future that can incorporate my crusty Film Studies Degree. Enlightenment was my first attempt at kinetic type, I know I have a very long way to go--here's my inspiration for the type treatment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2pHk2ln8Q4
All Hail Richard Greenberg!
Q2 :: Life in color
Videography Goal-setting :: A Visit from F-Stop Seattle
SCCA was paid a visit this morning by Jake & James of F-Stop Seattle, a video production house with a wide-array of talents but primarily known for their staggering time-lapse photography. I didn't realize it when I first saw these two unassuming gentlemen, but I already knew their work from BuzzFeed... not only that, but I watched it wide-eyed with wonder and maybe a little dust in my eyes with love for my city.
https://vimeo.com/95766797
They showed off some new technology and emphasized the importance of maintaining a website or blog that highlights the work that you'd like to do more of, even if producing it has to be on your own dime.
*This post was brought to you by the latest release from Odesza, I don't want to spill any cats out of beanbags, but keep your eyes peeled for a collab between the gents at F-Stop & Odesza soonish.
Experimentation :: I made a GIF!
Insipred by Erik Fadiman & Brad Frost:
Color Theory :: Personal Palette
There's something extra-exhausting about projects that require introspection... BEHOLD...an exercise in color theory from the fabulous Robynne Raye.
Personal Color Palette: Understanding personal and psychological aspects of color
Step One: Pick out 3 images/examples that represent you. These images can be printed off websites, taken from magazines, be someone else’s business card, poster or postcard, etc. Take into consideration how color represents you and your personal brand. Take into account the emotional and psychological attributes of color.
Step Two: Pick three words that represent you. These should be concise and descriptive. Try to think deeper about what these words say about you ~ try not to use words like “fun” or “cool”, but instead words like “relentless” or “determined”.
Step Three: Pick 3 colors (could be tints or shades) that match with the images and the words you chose. Don’t pick your favorite color.
Step Four: Match each image/example with one of your words that you chose and use the color for the words. Display them nicely on letter size paper and add to your notebook.
Learning HTML & CSS :: The Voyage to 1994
PLEASE USE:
Rough Cut :: 6x6 // 575
Tasked with creating a very short film: six shots, six seconds each, themed with a haiku... Rather than cleverly finding or writing a haiku, I began with random old iPhone footage hoping to cobble together something clever and abstract... I'm SO VERY CLEVER that all of my super-cool footage was shot vertically.
Not being one to worry too much about quality, I tried to crop/zoom my portrait-oriented footage in Premiere only to realize that doing so was not only out of my skill level, but was beneath even my very low standards.
I desperately wanted to avoid clichés (shots of anything in, near, or around, SCCA -- those overused stairwells! the panning view from the balcony!) alas, time required that I take some shots of the 5th Floor.
Due to a lack of talent (ahem, I mean ACTORS) and budget, I opted for a hand-held first-person aesthetic. I shot random footage in and around SCCA (because really, who goes anywhere else?) before developing a tiny narrative.
These shots were Franken-edited in Premiere, including an awkward bathroom shot (apparently the totally-rad stairwell footage I shot was filmed while the camera was in the 'OFF' position. GO FIG).
Why are we going in the bathroom? What happens in there?
NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW.
I had to YouTube the SAME educational video I used for Neil's class to sort out my audio fade-out, although I did learn SOMEthing from last quarter: I knew the proper terminology to type into Google this time --Constant Gain-- please enjoy this video of Country-Cousin Jason Hoppe:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sWBfI-okQM
Then, in my uncompromising quest to sate my pure artistic vision, I spent no fewer than three hours figuring out how to use the rounded iris transition properly (proper placement & reversing)--it was really a matter of finding the proper effects panel, turning it on and ticking a box. Another three hours well spent.
Without further ado (and with sincerest apologies to Melody Hirsch and Hüsker Dü), I give you my 6x6 // 575
https://vimeo.com/151870408
BRB, off to kern a pygmy hippo.
Print Production :: A Few Basics
Merry Krampus :: Secret Santa
It's a week in to Holiday Break and most of us are stir crazy and sick with missing each other. We went to see Night Before last week and Willie Wonka in Smell-o-Vision this week -- next week it'll be Blade Runner -- finding ways to keep in touch over the break. Local SUPERGENIUS comrade Liz McCarty came up with a design twist on Secret Santa -- we anonymously signed up with a request for a Krampus present that had three qualities outlined by Liz:
FAVORITE DECEMBER THING CAN BE: -a tangible thing: eggnog, plaid -an imaginary thing: kittens wearing mittens -a feeling: snowy solitude, laziness
DESIGN DIRECTION CAN BE: -a principle of gestalt: figure-ground, common fate, proximity, etc -a particular illustrator tool/technique we learned this quarter: offset path, gradient, spiral tool, type on a path, etc -a specific product/genre of design: logo, infographic, typography, icon, poster, etc
THE RULES: -blitzkrieg design sprint! plz spend 2 hours max on this. -make your own request pretty open and manageable. -use our frenemy adobe illustrator in some capacity.
I threw my request for an Ice Princess (in the style of German Expressionism) into the ether and can't wait to see what appears and by whom!)
I was assigned Gabriel Herrin's Krampus wish: a Krampus poster... special thanks to a photo stolen from an Austrian Krampus parade and Google Translate for helping me to butcher the German language.
This ended up more of a greeting card for Gabriel and his wife, Lezel, and I didn't use Illustrator at all but I figure that's ok since I don't know Photoshop either, it was a learning experience anyway.
So grateful to have the privilege to attend school with these wizards of design.
Merry Krampus to you, too!
UPDATE! the ridiculously talented Kaitlyn Castellow has created my German Expressionist Ice Princess -- she's more than I could have imagined -- perfection!
Pitch Reel :: Benjamin Verdoes' EP The One and The Other
https://vimeo.com/148563058 FEATURING:
Talking Heads - (Nothing But) Flowers
Blade Runner
Captain Nemo And The Underwater City
Goldfinger
Hiroshima Mon Amour
Matrix Reloaded
Metropolis
Return to Oz
Star Wars the Phantom Menace
Pirates of the Caribbean
The Smashing Pumpkins - Tonight, Tonight
Burning Man 2014
Ghostbusters 2
Graphic Design History :: Visual Lineage
Art History is like Mushrooms, there's an invisible root system connecting seemingly independent works. They're interdependent and interconnected, linked inextricably if not visibly. Our assignment was to compile over 140 images gleaned from art history from pre-history to present day (and location!) and then find a way to display them -- a book, a deck of cards, view-master slides, or any other idea that could accommodate the number of images and proper citations.
At the beginning of the quarter, we learned about the ancient Buddhist tradition of placing prayer scrolls into small pagoda-shaped containers called Dhāraṇī.
I've created a scroll containing all the images that have influenced my aesthetic sensibilities to date, interspersed with botanical illustrations of mushrooms, and have inserted it into a mushroom-shaped Dhāraṇī.
A reflection of my tastes and styles, the mushrooms are naturalistically colored (rather than opting for the tempting psychedelic palate) but are whimsical in shape and proportion, and, of course, have been dusted cap to base in extra-fine glitter.
I'm not sure how much money I spent on supplies, I don't really want to know--and I can only give you an estimate of the hours invested in these 'shrooms ... measured in episodes of TNG that ran almost continuously in the background while working: approximately 28 x 45-minute episodes, although there was Christmas music sometimes too...
