Digital Design

Aesthetics 2

In this task the students need to take five images and carefully describe his images and give reason for choosing the image.

Image 1

This is an image taken using  a camera. It is a image of fruits from a palm. The fruits of the palm are small in size and are all connected to each other from a branch. In this image one can see a single red fruit in the mist of other green fruits. This depicts the fact that no matter how someone may be different from the people around them they are all connected hence the topic I give to this image is unity.

Image 2

This second image is an image of wrist beads from my traditional setting. They are made from wood plastic and shells and are carefully carved in with symbols. These beads are worn for various purposes some maybe for fashion and others as good luck or protection charms. Since these beads however depict culture I would give it the title culture.

Image 3

This third image is an image of two old modeled Mercedes Benzes. In this images you can see a contrast of black and white colors. This effect is to give the old cars a new and nicer look from their actual appearances. Also since these type of cars are very classy even though they are old the effect is to blend both its classy and old looks. I would like to title this image as the old new.

Image 4

Image four shows a a table and two benches made from wood. These images were taken with a camera. This a meeting place on my hostel's compound where people sit together to talk after a stressful day. Also it is a spot where couples sometimes sit to chat. This image is a strong image as compared to the others. The chosen title for this image is let's come together.

Image 5

This final image is of a fruitful palm. Its red fruits show how ripe and fertile and fruitful the palm is. The image was taken by a camera. This palm is found around my hostel. The bright colored fruits of them palm are a complete contrast of the main palm, you can compare this by looking at the stem of the palm on your right. This shows that no matter how ugly a situation or thing might look you can still have beautiful endings if you push on, like the palm which has gone through different weather conditions but still produces bright red attractive fruits. Due to this fact I would like to give the title beautiful endings to this beautiful image.

Museum Gallery and Heritage

In this week students and lecturer took a trip to two museums , The National Museum in Kuala Lumpur and The International Islamic Museum in the same location. At these two museums we were able to see and analyse two different displays of history.

The National Museum.

Over one would notice that the artifacts here display the history and life style or culture of Malaysians. Also it depicts how they evolved from one state to a complete state of civilization.
Surprisingly however I noticed how some of their culture as in musical instruments, games and craftsmanship have resemblance to my culture.

The International Islamic Museum.

Now in this museum even from the magnificent architectural design can easily tell what to expect. This museum does not only exhibit Islamic history in Malaysia but all over the world. The artifacts here range from architectural models of some great mosques to weapons, and other crafts. The artifacts here are very unique and very different as compared to those in the National Museum.

Reflection

In my reflection I would have to admit that this was a very educative process for me as well a chance to dig into the culture a heritage of the people of Malaysia and a platform for making necessary comparisons with my own culture.
I also was able to find more about Islam and that was very enlightening since I was able to see ancient scrolls, beautiful architecture and good craftsmanship.

Museum Gallery and Heritage

What is a Museum?

A museum is basically a room or building or space where historical artifacts are often displayed to the public. These artifacts are carefully selected according to specific dates and times as well as events, they are also undergo some preservation methods to avoid them getting destroyed.
In the past a museum was known as the cabinet of curiosity and it served almost the same purpose as today.

What is the purpose of a Museum?

Museums have so many purposes these purposes are what makes a museum so important.
A museum helps preserve the history of a group of people living at a particular time in a particular area.
It also helps to keep detailed records of events which occurred at a specific time.
Another contribution of museums is that they help people acknowledge civilization and also serves as grounds for academic source of information.

What is a Gallery?

A gallery is a collection of various arts at a specific location. Museums and galleries seem to be alike but have difference. Work in a gallery are not historical also galleries are not in a fixed location.

What is the purpose of a gallery?

A gallery unlike the museum has different purposes and these purposes may differ from the person displaying their work.
One main purpose of a gallery is for money hence making it more commercial than museums.
Another is that it is to publicize the artist or to make him popular.
Also galleries display a particular type of art.

Who is a Curator?

A curator is an individual is the one in charge of the preservation of an institutions collection of works be it a museum, a gallery or even a library.

Reflection.

It is necessary to know these things because as a designer/artist you would want to display your work some day and so this would help you know what you are doing and the purpose of doing it.

Digital Design

Aesthetics

These are series of work which were developed using modern mix media concept. Some of the images were photographed whikes others were derived from magazines.

Image One
This image shows faces on a tree brunch mixed with its fruits. It also show a church and mosque underneath the tree with a big sky on top. This image is to show that no matter our difference like a tree we need each other to develop. It sends out the message of unity even if we have different religious backgrounds and how necessary it is for us to live as one.

Image Two
This image shows the integration of musical instruments. It is clear to see development in music from this image. For instance the mixer in the rear part of the image shows how music is enhanced to produce sound in this modern time. There musical instruments both old and new in this image. The hand shows development as it is a human part.

Image Three
This is an image of a face which has been split into four segments to show an inner darker face. This image shows the human nature and how people often on the inside are not what they seem to be on the outside.

Image Four
This image shows infrastructural development in our modern era. How buildings are put up and how different they are from those of the past. It also depicts a futuristic idea when vehicles would ride in the air.

Digital Design

The Prestige

Synopsis

This movie was directed by Christopher Nolan. The idea was inspired by a screen play taken up by him and his brother,Jonathan Nolan based on a World Fantasy Award winning novel by Christopher Priest in 1995 which had the same name.
The story shows two London magicians once friends but now rivals, Robert Angier and Alfred Borden, at the end of the nineteenth century. These magicians after a tragic event begin to despise themselves and compete with each other to produce the best stage magical illusion which leads result in tragic happenings, from injuries to loss of lives.

Plot

Magic is performed in three parts, the Pledge, this is when an object is presented to the audience, the Turn, this is where the object is turned into something extraordinary and the Prestige, this is the finishing act where the initial object is brought back.
Angier and Borden were apprentices of a "Milton the Magician" at the start of their career.They worked with Julia ( Angier's wife ) and John Cutter an ingenieur.
Julia drowns in a tank during a magic act, an accident which seemed to be Borden's fault. This results in the end of their master's career, and the beginning of  the competitive one-upmanship between the two assistants, hence the beginning of their career.
For a long period of time the two rivals try to discredit each others magic tricks. Borden gets an idea for a new trick where he uses his twin brother no one knows of to create the illusion of disappearing from on point to another. This baffles Angier since it seemed impossible and drew to Borden a lot of crowd. After countless efforts to imitate this trick with the same originality as Borden's, Angier goes to seek for the help of an inventor, Nikola Tesla who invents a cloning machine which produces a perfect double of any object but only works with a specific distance.
Though Angier wins the crowd with this he still has no satisfaction with his work and still thirsts for Borden's secret. Borden ends up in jail after he sneaks backstage to find out the trick behind his rivals trick and is framed for drowning Angier's double.
Olivia brings to Angier the diary of Borden which seems useless because the encryption could not be translated. Fallon, Borden's brother is kidnapped so Borden reveals his secrets. Meanwhile Lord Caldlow, who is actually Angier's real name but hid it to save his family the shame of his chosen career, visits Borden in jail. Borden discovers that the Lord and his rival were the same people and decides not to give out his secrets. The Lord promises to take good care of his daughter after he realizes the diary was useless and Borden was due to be hanged in no time.
Borden urges Fallon to live for them both. The Lord buys all of Angier's tricks. On hearing this Cutter confronts the Lord to destroy the Tesla machine, only to find out the Lord and Angier were the same people.
Fallon shows himself to Angier when he tries getting rid of the Tesla machine and explains to him how a true magician is always ready to take risks and make sacrifices. Angier at this point realizes his rival was a twin and shared his life with his brother. Fallon shoots Angier, but before dying Angier explains how difficult it was for him to perform his tricks with the Tesla machine and how unsatisfied he was because he always envied Borden.
Cutter is left performing magic tricks for Jess, Borden's daughter. Borden then appears to claim his daughter.

Characters

Hugh Jackman as Robert Angier
Christian Bale as Alfred Borden
Michael Caine as John Cutter
Piper Perabo as Julia McCullough
Rebecca Hall as Sarah Borden
Scarlet Johansson as Olivia Wenscombe
David Bowie as Nikola Tesla
Andy Serkis as Mr. Alley
Ricky Jay as " Milton the Magician"
Roger Rees as Owens
W. Morgan Sheppard as Merrit
Daniel Davis as the judge

Icon

The main icons of this movie are a black cat which was the first animal to be cloned by the Tesla machine.
The magician's hat.
The red ball used by Borden.
Julia, Angier's wife
The double created after cloning
The Tesla machine.

Metaphor 

The Tesla machine is represented with a light bulb, because the both use electricity and are related.
The cat, black and white to show the element of a double.
The magician's hat to represent magic.

Idea Development

1. The first idea for the poster shows a hand reaching for a ball and a bow tie. The bow tie is a symbol representing prestige. The hand shows is the hand of the magician and the red ball is the main icon. This idea can be developed to give the message of the movie out though it seems not to be filled with enough content.

                                                                         fig. 1
2. The second idea for the poster is the cat. The cat has a magician's hat on to represent magic. It also has its face divided, black and white to show cloning or a double. The cat is also in a bow tie to represent prestige. This idea if developed will be a suitable idea since it depicts the double idea or cloning as related to the movie.

                                                                         fig. 2
3. The third idea for the poster shows a hand holding cards with double images of a head on it. The cards represent the magician since it is common to see magicians performing card tricks. The double images of the element of doubles. The hand is obviously the hand of the magician. This idea might give a different message drifted away from the movie to its audience hence not suitable.

                                                                             fig. 3
4. The fourth idea for the poster is that of a woman in a ball divided into black and white.The woman represents Julia in the story. The ball depicts the red ball. The dividing colors represent the element of doubles. The image of the woman in the middle of the ball also depicts separation or two opposite sides since she was the cause of the rivalry between the two magicians. This is not a suitable idea because it lacks a lot of content.

                                                                         fig. 4
5. The last idea shows a light bulb coming out of a hat. The light bulb represents electricity in relation to the Tesla machine and the hat represents the magician. This not a suitable idea however though it says a lot because it does not talk  about the actual idea of the movie.

                                                                            fig. 5

The Final Work

After carefully analyzing and assessing my ideas I decided to merge a few icons from these ideas to produce my final work.
First I took the red ball from idea one, this is because it is the symbol which represents the character Borden as it is seen in the movie many times before he performs a magic act.
Also I took the two faced cat in the hat from idea two. This cat in the hat represents Angier and are the first two objects which went into the Tesla machine, with the hat being his personal property. Also the cat shows two different faces but with same features on the same head  hence the idea of cloning. It also shows how two people who worked as friends together have become as strangers to themselves. The red ball also depicts danger and how dangerous unhealthy competition and envy can be.
In my final work I used the type face poor Richard. This is a simple font style and easy to read.
I also used a quote " are you watching closely ?" this is a quote in the movie said before a magic act.
Now since we are in a changing world I made my poster in 3D to make it more interesting and appealing.
One advantage of this work is in its simplicity it sends a unique message and engages it's audience aside its 3D modern poster feature.

fig.6

Contemporary Design Issues

Critical Awareness
This can also be referred to as critical thinking. This is the ability to systematically think of ideas and how to solve them. These ideas have relation to society. It is there a means of finding how the public relate to some products and ideas.
For instance, Samsung realized that their customers often complain about the body of their phones, how fragile their screens are and also how their phones have battery issues. Taking these into consideration the new Samsung Galaxy s6 has been made with a sleek body which isn't made from plastic but an advanced metal which is used to make airplanes. They have also been able to boost battery power and also made it impossible to take the battery out of the phone to help maintain the effectiveness of their batteries. They also used gorilla glass four to protect their screens. At the end of the day after critically thinking of their past problems and how the public reacted to their past phones, they have been able to put smiles on the faces of their customers with their new invention.

In a nut shell a designer must take into consideration the reaction of the public to his or her ideas. This serves as a from of criticism which would help you solve these problems effectively.

Contemporary Design Issues

Analysis

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, analysis is the careful study of something to learn about the parts, what they do and how they are related to each other. Also it is given another definition which is the explanation of the nature and meaning of something.

As a designer it is necessary to make analysis of  of how particular products or ideas work. You should be able to find out the relationship it has with your environment and society and the effects it leaves on them.

For instance, designers of Samsung analysed how phones are now an essential part of the society. They went further to analyse some of their old phones and that of other companies. After their analysis they were able to attain information on how they could make their phones more interactive than the previous ones. They now designed new solutions and carefully analysed how they are supposed to work in order to achieve their set goal. At the end of the day though not released yet invented the Samsung Galaxy s6. With astonishing features and extra additions they were able to solve problems and achieve their goals.

Analysis is necessary as a designer because it helps you determine what to make and how to make it to help solve issues.                                                                                                                                 

In conclusion it is necessary for every designer to have the ability to make good analysis of what he sees. To help him know what to make and how to make it and to make sure he or she understands how to relate ideas.                                                                                                                                                           

Contemporary Design Issues

Week 1

Introduction To Contemporary Design Issues.

Contemporary means occurring in present time, hence contemporary design issues refers to present day problems associated with design.
This course module is designed to provide students with clear mind on how to analyse these design problems and how to critically apply themselves in solving these problems.
In the seminar students were brought to light on some terms and their origins. Terms associated with contemporary design issues were explained into detail as well.
Students were also taught the relationship between the author(creator of communication) and the audience(anyone who receives the communication) , and their purposes.
Also students were made to understand that there are two ways of passing or creating communication, active and passive.
With the aid of Harvard Referencing, students are required to build an argument on some known contemporary design issues. The argument is to follow a particular pattern which was presented to students. Also students are required to find information on their topic for argument by implementing primary and secondary researching skills. The arguments going to be presented must be well organised students are to make good referencing but at the same time provide their own possible solutions to the various design issues.
In conclusion this course is designed to provide students with the necessary skills to build arguments relating to their work and how build a reliable and viable defense for their work.