Jen's Blog

Design Rant

jenima — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 21:12:40 +0000

I have been reading A LOT of design blogs in my spare time and have a ton of opinion on these so called “informational” blogs. First off, they’re not informational, they’re just sewage from people that don’t know what they’re talking about. Such as people that like to call themselves designers when they have absolutely no knowledge or background in art, let alone design. Being able to make a clipping path doesn’t constitute a designer. I take a lot of pride in being a professional Graphic Designer, yet everyone thinks they are one. This sickens me especially knowing all the time and effort I put into my work, and the history I have spent on mastering it.

I remember a discussion in class about whether you need an art background to be a designer. Hell YES you need a background in art, how will you know how the eye and mind functions when viewing a piece of art? How will you know where it all came from? I will use the Egyptian Hieroglyphics as an example not only because I am fascinated with their beliefs and history but because it is a valid statement; Dingbats have a close relation, no? Both are pictures used to represent a letter, sound or idea. That is a small example of how history has influenced Graphic Design, but knowing where all the modern ideas came from is extremely important.

I will talk again about these people that think they are designers, or can learn/do what I do in a matter of a few days. Listen people, I have been learning about design since I was 12, and I still don’t know everything there is to know and neither does any Designer. True Designers will be humble enough to admit, even with 25 years experience that they don’t know it all. The great thing about this field is that it is constantly changing to the point where we have to keep up with it to remain strong. To me, that’s fun and keeps it fresh and interesting.

Next are blogs that I’ve read saying that being able to draw extremely detailed pieces of everything is a necessity to being a successful Graphic Designer. I agree to an extent; I do think you need to have artistic talent and that you need to have a sketchbook handy to draw out your ideas before moving forward. But I do not think that you need to have extremely immaculate skills in drawing to be a success. I tend to draw better on the computer than on a piece of paper. Plus being a Graphic Designer isn’t just about print materials anymore. You can see a Craigslist ad that says, “NEED GRAPHIC DESIGNER FOR HIGH END JOB” click on it, and they want a web designer that can add media to their website from time to time. The title of Graphic Designer is so many things rolled into one: Print, Web, Animation, 3D and Video are all responsibilities. Of course you will never find one person that can do all those flawlessly but you have to be the right designer for the right job.

Lastly, people that think that being a Graphic Designer isn’t even a job. Then let me ask you…what am I and thousands of other people getting money to do? Why are there constant requests needing people like me? There will ALWAYS be a need for designers as long as there is life on Earth. Advertising will never go away, and no the computer is not what does the work it is merely a tool or medium as is a paintbrush or a camera. WE are telling THE COMPUTER what to do, not the other way around. If the computer sat there, would it be able to create ads that belong in Times Square? I mean, let’s be reasonable here…whoever believes that is completely ignorant or a lawyer or doctor. These people have no idea how hard it truly is when you’re actually on the job and asked to create something brand new and fresh everyday of your life. It’s not like I studied a bunch of manuals and history books and my knowledge is based on what I can or cannot remember from them. It’s based on my actual artistic talent, eye and creativity, what’s inside of me and my brain.

I could go on for a long time about this stuff but these are the main points I wanted to make because they are very important in my life.

Production Statement

jenima — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:13:04 +0000

Technologies I would use for my thesis would be mostly blogging/web, but in general there are a lot of things I would use but am sort of worried about.

As you know, I am doing my thesis on the new socialization especially in future children and young teens. These kids will soon have no idea what a book is, they will not be able to hold one in their hand and that worries me. And I don’t know about you, but looking at a screen all day really isn’t helping my eyes. I love the idea of up and coming innovators, but making everything digital I don’t think is necessary. It may make things a bit easier but I think it is hurting peoples skills as a human being to just communicate to one another. It will make us lazy and introverted in my opinion. I am studying the other side of the coin, for my thesis which I can definitely agree with on some level. But mostly I’m worried that things will change so drastically that no one will ever want to leave their house.

Interesting Links

jenima — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:54:17 +0000

I was looking around on the internet the other day, and I found a couple of really cool design pages. This one called Abduzeedo is great, they have an inspiration link that shows a whole lot of posts from bloggers about different artists. All kinds of art from hand drawn to photo manipulation.

http://abduzeedo.com/

This link is to Vladimir Tomin’s website, just thought it was a good simple design for a portfolio site, and his work is incredible. He’s so young too!

http://www.space-jump.com/

This link I found when looking for advice and jobs. It’s a great site that gives you lots of information about how to look for jobs, lists of jobs in your area etc.

http://www.allgraphicdesign.com/

I figured I would post some inspiring sites, being as I have been lacking some lately. After I looked at some of the art on Abduzeedo, I starting coming up with some great ideas for personal projects I want to do, and have been working on them since. I actually get excited to work on them, which is a big difference from being so frustrated that I didn’t want to do anything. I’m still disappointed, but this is giving me some motivation to put more projects on my site that are my style, and were made for the hell of it you know?

So I hope you guys enjoy these as much as I did.

Links for 10-13

jenima — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:03:37 +0000

A series of what the future of learning could be.

Augmented Reality…more already existing 3D modeling.

And it already works with the iPhone…

And has been developed for a Nissan Cube brochure

Who needs to pay a mechanic for knowing anything anymore?

Paper #1-Modern Communication

jenima — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:02:41 +0000

Jennifer McCarthy

Paper #1-Due September 29, 2009

In the history of cultures and communication with each other, there has been a huge leap in what is now acceptable as social behaviors. In today’s world, hand letter writing, mailing and even books are a waste of time and effort. Nowadays there is emailing, a plethora of information on the internet and literature that can be read via a PDF file or even in the latest news, downloaded to a device where the book is displayed on a portable screen. These ways of communicating are the only ways that young children know of since some have never even sent a letter. In addition there are many games and websites that cater to those that aren’t so social, for example Second Life or World of Warcraft. These games are mostly about networking and pretending to be someone else.

Video games have become a very popular means of communication when played online with other players. The most comforting thing seems to be that someone knows that whoever else is in the game with them, shares a common interest of that video game and that no one has to hear or see them. Individuals can’t judge others based on looks, race, nationality or gender and that is a pertinent part of gaming. On the other hand there are video games such as Second Life where one is able to create their own character to look however they wish. Whether they wish to make them look like mythical creatures, or realistic, it is still a false portrayal of oneself. It seems that if these people were put in real social situations where they had to speak in front of a large group of people, they wouldn’t be able to do it or would feel extremely uncomfortable. The video below is an episode from MTV’s True Life: I Live Another Life On The Internet. It fully displays and proves the social networking of people who are afraid to show themselves to someone.

True Life – MTV Shows

There was a horrific video that was about a young man who committed suicide live on his computer camera (webcam), while individuals who were watching, encouraged him. Here is the link to more details about what happened: http://www.pearlswindow.com/2008/11/boy-kills-himself-on-webcam-while.html. The internet has turned into a place where people can literally do whatever they want and people can watch like it’s a TV show. This shows another example of how the internet can ruin people’s perceptions of what reality truly is.

Viewing this type of communication in a different light, shows that a lot of people think that playing video games online and contacting through the internet makes people more social. Some claim that because some people are so shy or anti-social, they feel more willing to speak out and be heard when they can’t be targeted. This website, which is a persons blog, talks about how people that play video games are always initially thought to be close-minded when according to him, they’re not. http://utterinsanity.wordpress.com/2008/04/22/new-research-non-gamers-are-more-anti-social/

These are some of the benefits in his blog: “They develop problem solving skills, RPGs help develop critical thinking and sequential reasoning ability, Memory skills are developed: all those maps, mazes and puzzles – and even more is all the objects placed within 3D space, Spatial reasoning, Provide lessons in cultural anthropology. Some games incorporate foreign languages and some have the translations, Some games have artistic appeal, Vocabulary building, Real-world geography, Literary references, Moral issues, Springboard for discussion of all kinds.”

In a way it seems as though these new ways of networking make it easier for people to get or keep in touch with one another. Of course there is the legendary Myspace and Facebook websites, which everyone seems to have. It is easier to find lost old friends there than to try to find them through a phone book. Anyone from any part of the world is able to connect to you instantly and that is the appeal of the internet, social websites and webcams. A business can run smoother and faster with live chats with other business partners all over the world.

Of course there will always be the positives and negatives of internet and viral communications but it’s a wonder as to whether some aspects of it are too much. The internet was looked at as a source of information like a library from places all over the world. One can get an answer in 5 seconds by going to a search engine like Google and researching the topic. When students need references for information for term papers, online is the easiest way to do that. Knowing someone with a library card that actually uses it in today’s age is extremely rare. Is this type of communication ruining our ability to be socially unaware of how to deal with live people? The future will decide depending on what other inventions are concocted.

Second Week Links

jenima — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:03:33 +0000

I was watching this show on the Science Channel, and it’s called, “PopSci’s Future Of (whatever the topic is)” so here is the link to all the shows they have had thus far

http://science.discovery.com/tv/pop-sci/episodes/episodes.html

This link is what people are calling the future of gaming…a sort of wall which is able to create real 3D images (holograms), so people can see a model of a car without being at the dealership, or it maybe could be used in education for young children one day.

This one is about holograms as well, but they are interactive with your movements.

This holographic device is a lot bigger than the wall, but could be used for a large display of something for a group of people

This is an amazing concept idea

And this explains an idea of how to make that video come to life

First Weeks Links

jenima — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 22:56:44 +0000

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.cyberjournalist.net/images/vodafonewatch.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.cyberjournalist.net/news/000959.php&usg=__nm0dVjYk6v89DsLIuyU_dlcrC7A=&h=308&w=426&sz=16&hl=en&start=9&um=1&tbnid=HaKFPuy-KPdd1M:&tbnh=91&tbnw=126&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dfuture%2Btechnology%2Bdevices%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26sa%3DX%26um%3D1

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://petitinvention.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/future_search4-1_petitinvention.jpg&imgrefurl=http://petitinvention.wordpress.com/2008/05/14/future-of-mobile-search-for-diet/&usg=__3ycGiSpoAnupkGy4AbWvKMTtiLw=&h=500&w=500&sz=154&hl=en&start=2&um=1&tbnid=kyFZktFDcONqEM:&tbnh=130&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dfuture%2Btechnology%2Bdevices%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/file.html%3Fid%3D543%26file%3Dflex1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/jacek-wojciechowskis-forum-nokia-blog/2007/08/01/how-future-displays-for-mobiles-may-look-like&usg=__H5cpGrjXMB0OFS-gb6A-ywRYgpQ=&h=450&w=318&sz=19&hl=en&start=4&um=1&tbnid=74K6VXm7uw-

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20081015/a1773_4347.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20081015/Feature1.asp&usg=__hwCIKYaITrqEcBTwV2CB9EuyZmo=&h=333&w=445&sz=26&hl=en&start=16&um=1&tbnid=qZiupSjMan9EjM:&tbnh=95&tbnw=127&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dfuture%2Btechnology%2Bdevices%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1