Experimental mindmaps

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These are the 4 mind maps for my design practice in context 1- TDF1065

Cinema 4D keyframes

In this tutorial I had to create a small animation using keyframes in Cinema 4D. to create an animation in C4D you have to create an object, move the timeline bar across the timeline to wherever you want your animation to start, then hold cmd and click on the little circle next to the axis you have edited. then move the bar again to the end point, if you want to create a looping animation, all you have to is copy your original keyframe point to the end of the timeline to make sure that the object starts and ends in the same place. i repeated this for all of the objects in the video, using different axis forthe cone so that it rotated rather than crabbing across the screen.

Cinema 4D – Materials and lights

This image is of the final outcome from the video tutorial i worked through in my lecture. it is a generic sphere that i have added adding to, using a light and a floor for the shadow to hit. i have also added a ‘bump’ effect to it which gives the sphere craters and pits like a golf ball.

Typography

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This is the result form the workshop i have on a monday morning, we were tasked with designing a typeface using a piece of design from an artist or designers, we were given multiple pieces to look at and were told to select 3. we then had to design a few letters from each of the 3 designs we had selected, i chose pieces of work by wolfgang weinhart, josepth binder and herbert bayer. i then chose the latter to design my alphabet around.

Final Typeface Design

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This is the final typeface design that i created using my hand drawn typeface sketches. I used guides to make sure that all my letters were the same size and used the pen tool to create some of the lines. The majority of the lines and shapes are made up of rectangles and circles, to create some of the shapes, the letters with curves in them, i created full circles and then cut the lines using the scissor tool to remove sections of the circles to create a different shape.

Adobe illustrator- Typography

The image above shows the final outcome of the tutorial where we were told how to create typography using adobe illustrator.

The first thing i did in illustrator was go to Illustrator in the top left corner > Preferences > Guides & Grids.  Which opened up a second window where, under the guides section, i changed the colour to my preference and then set the style to ‘lines’.

After adjusting the setting of my guides, i started to create my guides.

First, i created the “centre line”, using the ruler down the side of the page.  i drew my centre line with the line tool straight across the page inline with the 100mm mark on the ruler.  I then created a Cap line 20mm above and a baseline 20mm below the centre line, i drew a further 2 lines.  one was the mean line 5mm above the centre line and a Descent line a further 20mm below the baseline.  To make the guides, i used the short cut cmd + 5 which changes the line to a guide 0r you can go to View > Guides > Make guides.

The first letter that i designed was an ‘F’ i did this by drawing a straight line from the cap line to the baseline using a stroke weight of 1pt.  i the drew an ellipse from the cap line, holding shift to constrain it to a circle and made it as big as the gap between the centre line and the mean line.  this gave me the image below, to create the curve for the “F” I used the “cut” tool and chose how long i wanted the curve to be, cutting the ellipse in 2 places and then deleting the bottom half. Using the arrow keys i nudged the crescent shape to the left until it lined up with the stem. i used the same tool to cut down the stem to remove the extra piece of line above the curve. i then drew one more line across the mean line to finish off the “F”.

 

 

The second letter i drew was a “C”, i started this by Drawing a second ellipse with a stroke of 20pt, when i drew this i notices that the outline of the circle was outside my guides, so i changed the stroke to be aligned to inside. so that when i edited the object it would remain with a fill, i went to object > path > outline stroke which creates a path around the entire perimeter of the stroke.  Then to create the cut out of the “C” i drew a square, rotated the square by 45 degrees holding down shift to constrain it. I used the Pathfinder tool to create the cut out of the “C”. 

Cinema 4D- Objects and Splines

In this tutorial i was first taught about “fillet”.  this option adds rounded corners to a 3d objects such as the cube depicted above.  you can change the subdivisions of the fillet and the radius which can help give an object a more smoothed appearance when rendered. Along with the Phong tag which allows you to adjust the sharpness of the corners between each subdivision.

changing the number of segments in a sphere will change how smooth it looks.  When rendering, it will still render as a sphere, no matter how many segments you have chosen to use, unless you un tick the “render perfect” option under object properties on the right hand side of the screen.

splines are not visible when you are trying to render, they only become visible when an object has been added to them.

there are many sorts of splines

circle- you can change its appearance under object properties and make it into a ring or an ellipse.  you can also change the plane of the circle.

rectangle- you can edit the width and height of the rectangle in object properties.  you can also add rounding to the corners and adjust how big the rounding is by increasing/decreasing the radius.

Text- when you create a text object you can edit the typeface and use any of the preloaded or ones that you have loaded yourself, change the alignment  and change the text its self under object properties.

bezier spline- these are created using a tool very much like the pen tool in adobe softwares, allowing you to edit the path with bezier handles.

An extrude is another type of spline, and cannot be seen when you are trying to render.  The way you use the extrude is to link it to another spline, such as a circle, when you do this you get a cylindrical shape with squared edges.

you can change the capping of the extrude, the image below shows the capping being off which creates a hollow object.

You can also add a fillet cap, which creates a rounded corner to the object, you can increase the number of steps to create a smoother curve and also adjust the radius which will give a larger curve. this is known as a convex fillet cap

there are many different types of fillet caps, these are shown bellow:

concave fillet cap

half circle fillet cap

engraved fillet cap

2 step fillet cap

concave, half circle, 1 step, 2 step, engraved, linear

 

Sweep-  add a spline and a shape to a sweep subdivision which will create a 3D shape.  A Sweep line is the curve and the section that is spread across the line is either the shape or object you link it to.

You can change the appearance of the sweep by changing the intermediate points to “none” which will make the line more angular.

circle

square

text

text with no intermediate points

Conditional Design- A Manifesto for Artists and Designers

Conditional Design – A manifesto for artists and designers.

Through the influence of the media and technology on our world, our lives are increasingly characterized by speed and constant change. We live in a dynamic, data-driven society that is continually sparking new forms of human interaction and social contexts. Instead of romanticizing the past, we want to adapt our way of working to coincide with these developments, and we want our work to reflect the here and now. We want to embrace the complexity of this landscape, deliver insight into it and show both its beauty and its shortcomings.

Our work focuses on processes rather than products: things that adapt to their environment, emphasize change and show difference.

Instead of operating under the terms of Graphic Design, Interaction Design, Media Art or Sound Design, we want to introduce Conditional Design as a term that refers to our approach rather than our chosen media. We conduct our activities using the methods of philosophers, engineers, inventors and mystics.

Process

The process is the product. 
The most important aspects of a process are time, relationship and change.
The process produces formations rather than forms.
We search for unexpected but correlative, emergent patterns.
Even though a process has the appearance of objectivity, we realize the fact that it stems from subjective intentions.

Logic

Logic is our tool.  Logic is our method for accentuating the ungraspable. 
A clear and logical setting emphasizes that which does not seem to fit within it. We use logic to design the conditions through which the process can take place. 
Design conditions using intelligible rules. 
Avoid arbitrary randomness. 
Difference should have a reason. 
Use rules as constraints. 
Constraints sharpen the perspective on the process and stimulate play within the limitations.

Input


The input is our material.
Input engages logic and activates and influences the process.
Input should come from our external and complex environment: nature, society and its human interactions.

Review

In this review I am going to talk about the “conditional design” manifesto, the general structure of the text and some of the content in the manifesto.  I will relate this to my own practice and current market trends.

One thing that I like about this manifesto is that I can relate my personal practice to many aspects written.  As a university student I feel that I am being taught under the umberella of conditional design.  By this I mean that we are learning many aspects that I would not have thought necessary for my career pathway but I can see that this route would be advantageous to me later in life as I can draw on this knowledge later if necessary.

The term ‘conditional design’ lends itself to graphic design and designing in general in that not being specialized in one area would benefit the industry.  A conditional designer could dip in and out of any aspect of design that benefited them and the task at the time.

The Process paragraph discusses the aspect of time in relation to products.  Products designed at different times will be designed with different parameters as these will be dependent on current environmental factors and trends.

I agree that the world has evolved into an entity that relies on instancy with respects to communication as outlined in line 3.  For example emails and texts have now replaced the ‘old fashioned’ methods of post and telephone conversations.  We are all too busy with social networking such as Facebook, twitter and other such sites that we have not got time for the “romantic past’.  In todays climate we are always adapting and changing our practice to the needs of the ‘here and now’ which is what design is all about.

I feel that the author has written the three steps believing that he is representing everyone and that we should all see things through his eyes.  It comes across to me that he is trying to influence others into his way of thinking rather than them having their own opinions.  However overall I believe he is producing a new way of looking at graphic design, which will be beneficial to many.

Incomplete Manifesto for Growth- Bruce Mau

Incomplete Manifesto for Growth.

 

Allow events to change you.

You have to be willing to grow. Growth is different from something that happens to you. You produce it. You live it. The prerequisites for growth: the openness to experience events and the willingness to be changed by them.

Forget about good.

Good is a known quantity. Good is what we all agree on. Growth is not necessarily good. Growth is an exploration of unlit recesses that may or may not yield to our research. As long as you stick to good you’ll never have real growth.

Process is more important than outcome.

When the outcome drives the process we will only ever go to where we’ve already been. If process drives outcome we may not know where we’re going, but we will know we want to be there.

Love your experiments (as you would an ugly child).

Joy is the engine of growth. Exploit the liberty in casting your work as beautiful experiments, iterations, attempts, trials, and errors. Take the long view and allow yourself the fun of failure every day.

Go deep.

The deeper you go the more likely you will discover something of value.

Capture accidents.

The wrong answer is the right answer in search of a different question. Collect wrong answers as part of the process. Ask different questions.

Study.

A studio is a place of study. Use the necessity of production as an excuse to study. Everyone will benefit.

Drift.

Allow yourself to wander aimlessly. Explore adjacencies. Lack judgment. Postpone criticism.

Begin anywhere.

John Cage tells us that not knowing where to begin is a common form of paralysis. His advice: begin anywhere.

Everyone is a leader.

Growth happens. Whenever it does, allow it to emerge. Learn to follow when it makes sense. Let anyone lead.

Harvest ideas.

Edit applications. Ideas need a dynamic, fluid, generous environment to sustain life. Applications, on the other hand, benefit from critical rigor. Produce a high ratio of ideas to applications.

Keep moving.

The market and its operations have a tendency to reinforce success. Resist it. Allow failure and migration to be part of your practice.

Slow down.

Desynchronize from standard time frames and surprising opportunities may present themselves.

Don’t be cool.

Cool is conservative fear dressed in black. Free yourself from limits of this sort.

Ask stupid questions.

Growth is fueled by desire and innocence. Assess the answer, not the question. Imagine learning throughout your life at the rate of an infant.

Collaborate.

The space between people working together is filled with conflict, friction, strife, exhilaration, delight, and vast creative potential.

____________________.

Intentionally left blank. Allow space for the ideas you haven’t had yet, and for the ideas of others.

Stay up late.

Strange things happen when you’ve gone too far, been up too long, worked too hard, and you’re separated from the rest of the world.

Work the metaphor.

Every object has the capacity to stand for something other than what is apparent. Work on what it stands for.

Be careful to take risks.

Time is genetic. Today is the child of yesterday and the parent of tomorrow. The work you produce today will create your future.

Repeat yourself.

If you like it, do it again. If you don’t like it, do it again.

Make your own tools.

Hybridize your tools in order to build unique things. Even simple tools that are your own can yield entirely new avenues of exploration. Remember, tools amplify our capacities, so even a small tool can make a big difference.

Stand on someone’s shoulders.

You can travel farther carried on the accomplishments of those who came before you. And the view is so much better.

 

Avoid software.

The problem with software is that everyone has it.

Don’t clean your desk.

You might find something in the morning that you can’t see tonight.

Don’t enter awards competitions.

Just don’t. It’s not good for you.

Read only left-hand pages.

Marshall McLuhan did this. By decreasing the amount of information, we leave room for what he called our “noodle.”

Make new words.

Expand the lexicon. The new conditions demand a new way of thinking. The thinking demands new forms of expression. The expression generates new conditions.

Think with your mind.

Forget technology. Creativity is not device-dependent.

Organization = Liberty.

Real innovation in design, or any other field, happens in context. That context is usually some form of cooperatively managed enterprise. Frank Gehry, for instance, is only able to realize Bilbao because his studio can deliver it on budget. The myth of a split between “creatives” and “suits” is what Leonard Cohen calls a ‘charming artifact of the past.’

Don’t borrow money.

Once again, Frank Gehry’s advice. By maintaining financial control, we maintain creative control. It’s not exactly rocket science, but it’s surprising how hard it is to maintain this discipline, and how many have failed.

Listen carefully.

Every collaborator who enters our orbit brings with him or her a world more strange and complex than any we could ever hope to imagine. By listening to the details and the subtlety of their needs, desires, or ambitions, we fold their world onto our own. Neither party will ever be the same.

Take field trips.

The bandwidth of the world is greater than that of your TV set, or the Internet, or even a totally immersive, interactive, dynamically rendered, object-oriented, real-time, computer graphic–simulated environment.

Make mistakes faster.

This isn’t my idea — I borrowed it. I think it belongs to Andy Grove.

 

 

 

Imitate.

Don’t be shy about it. Try to get as close as you can. You’ll never get all the way, and the separation might be truly remarkable. We have only to look to Richard Hamilton and his version of Marcel Duchamp’s large glass to see how rich, discredited, and underused imitation is as a technique.

Scat.

When you forget the words, do what Ella did: make up something else … but not words.

Break it, stretch it, bend it, crush it, crack it, fold it.

Explore the other edge.

Great liberty exists when we avoid trying to run with the technological pack. We can’t find the leading edge because it’s trampled underfoot. Try using old-tech equipment made obsolete by an economic cycle but still rich with potential.

Coffee breaks, cab rides, green rooms.

Real growth often happens outside of where we intend it to, in the interstitial spaces — what Dr. Seuss calls “the waiting place.” Hans Ulrich Obrist once organized a science and art conference with all of the infrastructure of a conference — the parties, chats, lunches, airport arrivals — but with no actual conference. Apparently it was hugely successful and spawned many ongoing collaborations.

Avoid fields.

Jump fences. Disciplinary boundaries and regulatory regimes are attempts to control the wilding of creative life. They are often understandable efforts to order what are manifold, complex, evolutionary processes. Our job is to jump the fences and cross the fields.

Laugh.

People visiting the studio often comment on how much we laugh. Since I’ve become aware of this, I use it as a barometer of how comfortably we are expressing ourselves.

Remember.

Growth is only possible as a product of history. Without memory, innovation is merely novelty. History gives growth a direction. But a memory is never perfect. Every memory is a degraded or composite image of a previous moment or event. That’s what makes us aware of its quality as a past and not a present. It means that every memory is new, a partial construct different from its source, and, as such, a potential for growth itself.

Power to the people.

Play can only happen when people feel they have control over their lives. We can’t be free agents if we’re not free.

 

Review- Incomplete manifesto for growth

In this review I am going to be talking about my opinions of Bruce Mau’s manifesto, the way it is structured and some of its content.

I like the way in which Bruce breaks up the length of his manifesto by giving each paragraph a small title or subheading to slow your reading down.  These titles are also useful because they describe and summarise. what the following paragraph or sentence are to be about, in just a few words.

I also like the way he has written the text, as if it was a set of rules, or do’s and don’ts if you wish about design.  This could also apply in life, helping people to grow both as a designer and as a person.

While reading Mau’s manifesto I came across the paragraph with the subheading that has been left blank, line 72.  I like the way that it is worded to basically say that you must have space, time to think up your own ideas and to take time to listen to the ideas of others.  This seems to be one of the most fundamental and important things to becoming a good designer.

One of the things that I dislike about Mau’s manifesto is that there is nothing to dislike.  This, in terms of writing a review is devastating, making the task of writing very difficult.  I feel like this will make my review inadequate because I can’t give much if any contrast to the brilliant elements of his writing.

Possibly my least favourite lines, or should I say the line that I don’t agree with is line 101, because software is everywhere and it is there to make your live simpler and easier.  Sometimes it can be more of a hindrance than a help but when you get it right you get results that are brilliant.  Another section that I am not too keen on is line 76, “stay up late”.  This might just be because I like my sleep and my bed.

My favourite lines from here is line 104, where Bruce entitles his paragraph as “Don’t clean your desk”, which to me is like a philosophy, if it is said, it shall be done.

Overall this is a highly polished piece of writing and when you read it over and over you pick up on small bits that you possibly didn’t see before giving you something new to think about as you go along.

I am for… Claes Oldenburg manifesto review

I am for… Claes Oldenburg

I am for an art that is political-erotical-mystical, that does something other than sit on its ass in a museum.

I am for an art that grows up not knowing it is art at all, an art given the chance of having a starting point of zero.

I am for an art that embroils itself with the everyday crap and still comes out on top.

I am for an art that imitates the human, that is comic, if necessary, or violent, or whatever is necessary.

I am for all art that takes its form from the lines of life itself, that twists and exte­­­­­­nds and accumulates and spits and drips, and is heavy and coarse and blunt and sweet and stupid as life itself.

I am for an artist who vanishes, turning up in a white cap painting signs or hallways.

I am for art that comes out of a chimney like black hair and scatters in the sky. I am for art that spills out of an old man’s purse when he is bounced off a passing fender.

I am for the art out of a doggie’s mouth, falling five stories from the roof.

I am for the art that a kid licks, after peeling away the wrapper.

I am for an art that joggles like everyone’s knees, when the bus traverses an excavation.

I am for art that is smoked like a cigarette, smells like a pair of shoes.

I am for art that flaps like a flag, or helps blow noses like a handkerchief.

I am for art that is put on and taken off like pants, which develops holes like socks, which is eaten like a piece of pie, or abandoned with great contempt like a piece of shit.

I am for art covered with bandages. I am for art that limps and rolls and runs and jumps.

I am for art that comes in a can or washes up on the shore.

I am for art that coils and grunts like a wrestler. I am for art that sheds hair.

I am for art you can sit on. I am for art you can pick your nose with or stub your toes on.

I am for art from a pocket, from deep channels of the ear, from the edge of a knife, from the corners of the mouth, stuck in the eye or worn on the wrist.

I am for art under the skirts, and the art of pinching cockroaches.

I am for the art of conversation between the sidewalk and a blind man’s metal stick.

I am for the art that grows in a pot, that comes down out of the skies at night, like lightning, that hides in the clouds and growls.

I am for art that is flipped on and off with a switch.

I am for art that unfolds like a map, that you can squeeze, like your sweetie’s arm, or kiss like a pet dog. Which expands and squeaks like an accordion, which you can spill your dinner on like an old tablecloth.

I am for an art that you can hammer with, stitch with, sew with, paste with, file with.

I am for an art that tells you the time of day, or where such and such a street is.

I am for an art that helps old ladies across the street.

I am for the art of the washing machine. I am for the art of a government check. I am for the art of last war’s raincoat.

I am for the art that comes up in fogs from sewer holes in winter. I am for the art that splits when you step on a frozen puddle. I am for the worm’s art inside the apple. I am for the art of sweat that develops between crossed legs.

I am for the art of neck hair and caked teacups, for the art between the tines of restaurant forks, for the odor of boiling dishwater.

I am for the art of sailing on Sunday, and the art of red-and-white gasoline pumps.

I am for the art of bright blue factory columns and blinking biscuit signs. 
I am for the art of cheap plaster and enamel. I am for the art of worn marble and smashed slate. I am for the art of rolling cobblestones and sliding sand. I am for the art of slag and black coal. I am for the art of dead birds. 
I am for the art of scratching in the asphalt, daubing at the walls. I am for the art of bending and kicking metal and breaking glass, and pulling at things to make them fall down.

I am for the art of punching and skinned knees and sat-on bananas. I am for the art of kids’ smells. I am for the art of mama-babble.

I am for the art of bar-babble, tooth-picking, beer-drinking, egg-salting, in-sulting. I am for the art of falling off a barstool.

I am for the art of underwear and the art of taxicabs. I am for the art of ice-cream cones dropped on concrete. I am for the majestic art of dog turds, rising like cathedrals.

I am for the blinking arts, lighting up the night. I am for art falling, splashing, wiggling, jumping, going on and off.

I am for the art of fat truck tires and black eyes.

I am for Kool art, 7UP art, Pepsi art, Sunshine art, 39 cents art, 15 cents art, Vatronol art, Dro-bomb art, Vam art, Menthol art, L&M art, Ex-lax art, Venida art, Heaven Hill art, Pamryl art, San-o-med art, Rx art, 9.99 art, Now art, New art, How art, Fire Sale art, Last Chance art, Only art, Diamond art, Tomorrow art, Franks art, Ducks art, Meat-o-rama art.

I am for the art of bread wet by rain. I am for the rat’s dance between floors. I am for the art of flies walking on a slick pear in the electric light. I am for the art of soggy onions and firm green shoots. I am for the art of clicking among the nuts when the roaches come and go. I am for the brown sad art of rotting apples.

I am for the art of meows and clatter of cats and for the art of their dumb electric eyes. 
I am for the white art of refrigerators and their muscular openings and closings. 
I am for the art of rust and mold. I am for the art of hearts, funeral hearts or sweetheart hearts, full of nougat. I am for the art of worn meat hooks and singing barrels of red, white, blue, and yellow meat.

I am for the art of things lost or thrown away, coming home from school.

I am for the art of cock-and-ball trees and flying cows and the noise of rectangles and squares. I am for the art of crayons and weak, gray pencil lead, and grainy wash and sticky oil paint, and the art of windshield wipers and the art of the finger on a cold window, on dusty steel or in the bubbles on the sides of a bathtub.

I am for the art of teddy bears and guns and decapitated rabbits, exploded umbrellas, raped beds, chairs with their brown bones broken, burning trees, firecracker ends, chicken bones, pigeon bones, and boxes with men sleeping in them.

I am for the art of slightly rotten funeral flowers, hung bloody rabbits and wrinkly yellow chickens, bass drums and tambourines, and plastic phonographs.

I am for the art of abandoned boxes, tied like pharaohs. I am for an art of water tanks and speeding clouds and flapping shades.

I am for US Government Inspected Art, Grade A art, Regular Price art, Yellow Ripe art, Extra Fancy art, Ready-to-Eat art, Best-for-Less art, Ready-to-Cook art, Fully Cleaned art, Spend Less art, Eat Better art, Ham art, pork art, chicken art, tomato art, banana art, apple art, turkey art, cake art, cookie art…

Review

“I am for…” is more of a collection of words in some parts than it is a manifesto.

When reading “I am for” it makes me feel like a child again, listening to those bedtime stories that boggle the mind, make you smile and that influences those dreams that whisk you off to somewhere new.

Like being in a new place, looking up and feeling really small but not in a bad way.  One thing that I don’t like about the way this manifesto is written is that some of the lines don’t really relate to anything from everyday life.

Moving on, I like the way that Claes Oldenburg personifies the art in some of the lines within his manifesto, such as the very first line where he says “…that does something other than sit on its ass in a museum” in this line you can clearly note that he is talking about a piece of art but he has given it an “ass”.  Another line where he does this is line 22 where he describes art as some form of lollipop being licked by a kid, which to me shows some humour and a bit of Claes’ childish side.

Another section of his manifesto that I am not too keen on is where the lines don’t seem to flow or relate to each other, for example, line 78 where he talks about underwear and a taxi cab in the same sentence, which to me is confusing and makes some sections of the text awkward to read.

Some other lines that I like are 41 and 42, to me the sentence about the “conversation of the sidewalk and a blind mans metal stick”, has a somewhat poetic air about it, and it also brings to the line of sight something that you don’t really think about every day.  Another line that I like, 47, well part of a line is where he says “I am for an art that unfolds like a map…”, to me this isn’t so much about the physical unfolding of something in front of your eyes, it is the process your imagination goes through as you notice different sections of a design and start to think about relationships between things that you may have seen the previous day.  One of the sentences that made me smile can be found across lines 78 and 79, because this exact scenario occurred to me when I was out with my parents, I dropped my ice cream which I hadn’t even started to consume yet on the middle of a zebra crossing.

Another group of phrases that I like can be found on lines 105 and 106, where he describes running your finger across different things from a cold window to dusty steel, this makes me think of all the times where you draw in the condensation on a window as a child.

On the whole, this manifesto draws you in and the sections that I have said that I don’t like do sort of dissipate into the rest of the text and don’t jump out at you as much.