I find ethics to be quite a tricky thing. We can argue them all day long but it will inevitably lead us to a conversation on morals, and that seems to be something none of us can agree on. [The whole "what's right for you is right for you" argument is terribly weak yet continues to prevail. It's a bit of a monotonous cycle.] That being said, I am sure that there are some ethics that the "good people" can agree on. For instance, the whole Disny scandal. Many people still hold a grudge about Disney's subliminal sexual animated antics. While I do agree that Disney should be responsible for all of the content in their movies [honestly, the production time takes years and the animators should be held to a code after all their work is for the viewing of impressionable young children], they cannot be expected to take all of the blame for the small things. Accidents happen, and the screeners are human [i.e. not perfect]. Problems like these beg the question: Exactly how aware and responsible should a company be?
For starters, ethics must begin with the consumer. In a capitalistic society, they only make what you will buy. So if we insist on cheap clothes, then it is more than likely going to come at the cost of child labour SOMEWHERE. If overt sexuality is a right and a part of "adult" pop-culture, then how can we expect that they won't produce something containing "offensive" material. It might be for kids and families, but kids and families aren't the ones making the films, shows, and merchandise. So it's nice to see people taking a stand for what they believe in. For instance, a friend of mine from University is trying to get the student population to come together and force the campus bookstore to be a sweat-free shop [no paraphernalia made in sweatshops or child labour shops]. He's started a group and calling the students to come together and actually stand for something instead of just whining about it now and then.
As much as I applaud the consumer for stepping up, I do think companies need to come forward. Know what your company stands for and just do it, don't flaunt it. Ethics should never be a selling point. They should be a standard. Continue to treat something as special and prized and it will remain so. Make employees sign contracts with ethics and responsibility clauses. My high school made every student sign a behavioral contract when they joined the school stating that all of our behavior reflected on the intsitution regardless of when or where it was committed and that we would abide by school rules and expectations at all time. This isn't to say that no one will slip up, but when people continue to make deliberate offenses they can be held responsible.
One company I find to be stand-up is Lush. Originally its founder worked for The Body Shop but found that the company just wasn't doing enough to stand by itsethics. So Lush products are NEVER tested on animals, they are made fresh and mostly vegan/vegetarian, and each product has a sticker with the expiration date and the name and the face of the employee who made it. They also take part in a number of charitable things... but these events are never part of ad campaigns. Ethics isn't something they do, it is what they are. I plan to only work in an environment like that of Lush. If I don't agree with the ethics, or the company standard, then I won't work there. Should I decide to start my own business, ethics won't just be some charity we support. It will come right down to the quality and the content of our work and even the clients we choose to work with.
Wednesday 25 February 2009
Tuesday 24 February 2009
Re-Arrange Us
Right then. So last Thursday we [as students] decided to come together and discuss our projects. Being as I tend to have anti-social tendencies, I was mildly surprised to find that the input I received was far more intuitive then I had expected and got me re-thinking my layout plans. As such, I have been able to really edit my work. I started with 30 pages for layout and am now down to 15. [Less is more, especially in design.] One of the suggestions for creating the book was to actually each design and stack them like discs on a holder. I had thought of something literal like that before but dismissed it rather quickly. What I failed to realize was that I can be literal without being literal. So I am considering doing an actual cd insert. What if I created a list of "lyrics"? Then I could create an insert with a playlist, "lyrics" and the whole design and background would contain the creative content. It may sound a bit abstract and confusing, but I think that perhaps something beyond jsut a basic book is in order here. After all, my subject isn't exactly basic book content.
Tuesday 17 February 2009
She's So Animated!
Right, so about animation. I have to say that I have always found it a bit interesting. When I was younger, I was beyond amazed to discover that The Lion King was actually over thousands and THOUSANDS of pages meticulously drawn and filmed. I was even more shocked to find that different people contributed by each doing their own characters and scenes... [Although I ahve to admit it made much more sense than one person sitting about and etching for days on end.] When I found out that full-length features took a couple years I was just amazed at the amount of dedication it took to create one 90 minute movie. Crazy!
I had always noticed animation and special effects. In older movies they used them to create the opening credits. [Quite fancy for the times.] I also watched Animaiacs after school. I always hated anime [not a fan of the Japanese lined eyes and huge tear drop to show stress... just didn't do it for me.] My first real Disney movie was Aladdin, so I never saw the classics until I was older. I never knew I was missing anything. I have an artist friend who makes a joke of the animation of The Lion King versus Bambi. "Simba... everything before you is poorly animated and based on Bamabi." Loathed as I am to admit it... so true!
Walt Disney was the first to use a new type of animation that required different cells. Panoramic scenes would be layered. So the camera could actually zoom through the layers giving the scene much more depth and movement. Amazing! So while Bambi is full of color, shades, and depth... The Lion King is full of brightness, line, and relies heavily on fantastic characters singing and moving to Sir Elton John's musical genius.
I can't say that I know much about animation. It has always fascinated me, but I've never really looked at it in depth. Looking back from where we've come from the thaumatrope all the way to Pixar's beautiful 3-d animation features. To be honest, I'm nto quite sure how far we'll go with animation. I think the most recent step forward has been work like that of the recent film Beowulf. Realtime and animation have been combined before such as the Alice Comedies, Walt Disney's early work before Mickey. It puts real characters in a fictitious world and vice versa. But Beowulf was first filmed in realtime then finshed with animation. I can't possibly fathom going any further with animation, but then again I'm not at the forefront of animation.
With advent of computers and the amazing things they've done for production and animation, I would think that the next step would really just be combining some of the best attributes of different forms of film and production. Granted there is "digital enhancement" for classic animation, but my hope is that animation will not continue to reinvent itself by becoming more complex. I think it would be quite an interesting turn to see an amalgamation of different forms of animation. For instance, using Walt Disney's technique of layering with 3-d animations to create more vivid and deep scenes giving the characters more life while allowing the background and scene to be just as full of motion and vibrance.
They say that necessity is the mother of invention, but I am willing to bet that in the cse of animation, the next step forward will be the child of boundless creativity.
I had always noticed animation and special effects. In older movies they used them to create the opening credits. [Quite fancy for the times.] I also watched Animaiacs after school. I always hated anime [not a fan of the Japanese lined eyes and huge tear drop to show stress... just didn't do it for me.] My first real Disney movie was Aladdin, so I never saw the classics until I was older. I never knew I was missing anything. I have an artist friend who makes a joke of the animation of The Lion King versus Bambi. "Simba... everything before you is poorly animated and based on Bamabi." Loathed as I am to admit it... so true!
Walt Disney was the first to use a new type of animation that required different cells. Panoramic scenes would be layered. So the camera could actually zoom through the layers giving the scene much more depth and movement. Amazing! So while Bambi is full of color, shades, and depth... The Lion King is full of brightness, line, and relies heavily on fantastic characters singing and moving to Sir Elton John's musical genius.
I can't say that I know much about animation. It has always fascinated me, but I've never really looked at it in depth. Looking back from where we've come from the thaumatrope all the way to Pixar's beautiful 3-d animation features. To be honest, I'm nto quite sure how far we'll go with animation. I think the most recent step forward has been work like that of the recent film Beowulf. Realtime and animation have been combined before such as the Alice Comedies, Walt Disney's early work before Mickey. It puts real characters in a fictitious world and vice versa. But Beowulf was first filmed in realtime then finshed with animation. I can't possibly fathom going any further with animation, but then again I'm not at the forefront of animation.
With advent of computers and the amazing things they've done for production and animation, I would think that the next step would really just be combining some of the best attributes of different forms of film and production. Granted there is "digital enhancement" for classic animation, but my hope is that animation will not continue to reinvent itself by becoming more complex. I think it would be quite an interesting turn to see an amalgamation of different forms of animation. For instance, using Walt Disney's technique of layering with 3-d animations to create more vivid and deep scenes giving the characters more life while allowing the background and scene to be just as full of motion and vibrance.
They say that necessity is the mother of invention, but I am willing to bet that in the cse of animation, the next step forward will be the child of boundless creativity.
Wednesday 4 February 2009
Tacky Typefaces
Right, so I've made some A3 collages of storefronts/facades. Each of them has a name or something to say. If you see it, then great! If not... then hopefully you see something else. Enjoy!
Bits and Pieces
Bob Pace Matches Cox and Power
Shady Duck
Palm Beach
The Natural Kitchen, Agnis B!!!
Agnis B. Matches Coco Momo Of Course
The Sunny Steps of Machu Picchu
Bits and Pieces
Bob Pace Matches Cox and Power
Shady Duck
Palm Beach
The Natural Kitchen, Agnis B!!!
Agnis B. Matches Coco Momo Of Course
The Sunny Steps of Machu Picchu
Finding Your Way
So in terms of wayfinding, what could be more perfect than traffic signs? Seeing as America was made for driving, I have spent many a silent moment gazing out a car window pondering the origins of highway signs. Why are directional signs on highways white and green? Why do construction zones hog up all of the orange, and why are Yield and Stop signs both red? And exactly who thought black and white was a good idea for signs that have important information like... Wrong Way? [You would think that earned a nice bright juicy color like red or orange. It's a pretty big deal.] Interstingly enough, traffic signs were not really an issue until the invention of... you guessed it, automobiles!That does however beg the question why didn't they have anything more than markings for railroads, mile markers, and town names?
The official history of traffic signs and signals began in the early 1900's in America. This was due to the advent of the automobile and the danger it posed to the public with higher amounts of automotive traffic. [Thank you industry, and progress.] The first centerline painted on the road appeared in Michigan in 1911. The first redcorded stop sign was in 1915 in Detroit, Michigan. It had black letters on a white background. By 1922, the sign was used so often that it became clear that rules, regulations, and order needed to be set. For example, the first traffic light was actually in London. It was traffic signal using colored lights installed in December of 1868 at the intersection of George and Bridge Streets near the Houses of Parliament to protect members of parliament and pedestrians in the heavily trafficed area. The result was that by the 1930's over 10 versions of traffic lights and towers. Some required electricity, worked on timers, or had to be manually operated.
In 1924, the first National Conference on Street and Highway Safety (NCSHS) was held. They debated and decided on color coding as well as shape design of signs. Originally, yellow was chosen for Stop signs for daya nd night visibilty [this was before fade resistant red paints and glass-bead retroreflectorization had been invented]. Shapes and colors were given a hierarchy beased on the danger value of the infor
mation being displayed.
Circle: railroad crossing [and also the most dangerous at the time]
Octagon: the need for stopping at intersections
Diamonds: ordinary conditions that may present danger
Recatangles: regulatory and direcitonal information
What resulted was the Manual for Uniformity of Traffic Control Devices [MUTCD]. Requirements and regulations evolved with the needs of each era in America. In 1942, regulations were mandated for blackout ready signs in case of wartime blackouts. In 1948, corrections and ammendments to the MUTCD addressed better organization to obtained during peacetime. By 1954, the Stop sign was officially changed to red with white letters. [It had been changed to yellow with red letters in 1935.] Also regulations began to focus on guide sign s and directions... not just danger warnings. The MUTCD has continued to change and develop based on current and future needs of traffic and the safety of the public. Essentially it is a constantly evolving wayfinding system.
In terms of design, the MUTCD orginally focused on shape and color. The theory was that people would recognize shape and color while ignoring wordings. In 1948, they became more corncerned with readability and instituted a rounded letter alphabet. Sign conten
t was reduced. For example, Wrong Way signs used to say "Stop. You are going the wrong way." It's no wonder that people would ignore wording. Driving requires multi-tasking perceiving and using different pieces of information simultaneously. So content has to be minimal and straight forward for a driver.
In 1971, the MUTCD went under a complete rewrite. It included concrete definitions on "should" "may", and "shall." It also included school area markings and ground markings such as centerlines, words in lanes, and painted curbs. In general, the MUTCD has stood behind it's shape and color theory allowing states a bit of room to add their own shapes and colorings for specific information relating only to that state. Background colors have been set to a specific set of 6 pantone colors. Flourescent signs have no set pantone color.
Brown - 469 [recreational information]
Red - 187 [stop, yield, highly important restrictions]
Yellow - 116 [warnings, cautionary]
Green - 342 [guide, directional information]
Blue - 294 [interstate name/information]
Orange - 152 [construction]
Black and white signs are reserved for basic traffic information such as one way streets, and lane directions.
It seems like such a simple system. Red means stop, green means go, follow the arrows, etc. But for something so mainplace it is a meticullously designed system and highly critical to every day life. It's so easy to miss it because it's just about everywhere, but it is easily the one wayfinding system that absolutely affects every person's life whether they use it or not. Content is minimized and the typeface is designed for maximum readability of capital letters. Colors and basic geometric shapes have clear, consistent, and definite meanings. Traffic signals and signs inform, guide, direct, and protect. This system must be applauded for its ability to simplyify such an intricate and complicated system as the traffic of millions in one area.
By the way, the green and white highway signs in America were adopted into the MUTCD in 1954. Now I know. :)
The official history of traffic signs and signals began in the early 1900's in America. This was due to the advent of the automobile and the danger it posed to the public with higher amounts of automotive traffic. [Thank you industry, and progress.] The first centerline painted on the road appeared in Michigan in 1911. The first redcorded stop sign was in 1915 in Detroit, Michigan. It had black letters on a white background. By 1922, the sign was used so often that it became clear that rules, regulations, and order needed to be set. For example, the first traffic light was actually in London. It was traffic signal using colored lights installed in December of 1868 at the intersection of George and Bridge Streets near the Houses of Parliament to protect members of parliament and pedestrians in the heavily trafficed area. The result was that by the 1930's over 10 versions of traffic lights and towers. Some required electricity, worked on timers, or had to be manually operated.
In 1924, the first National Conference on Street and Highway Safety (NCSHS) was held. They debated and decided on color coding as well as shape design of signs. Originally, yellow was chosen for Stop signs for daya nd night visibilty [this was before fade resistant red paints and glass-bead retroreflectorization had been invented]. Shapes and colors were given a hierarchy beased on the danger value of the infor
mation being displayed.Circle: railroad crossing [and also the most dangerous at the time]
Octagon: the need for stopping at intersections
Diamonds: ordinary conditions that may present danger
Recatangles: regulatory and direcitonal information
What resulted was the Manual for Uniformity of Traffic Control Devices [MUTCD]. Requirements and regulations evolved with the needs of each era in America. In 1942, regulations were mandated for blackout ready signs in case of wartime blackouts. In 1948, corrections and ammendments to the MUTCD addressed better organization to obtained during peacetime. By 1954, the Stop sign was officially changed to red with white letters. [It had been changed to yellow with red letters in 1935.] Also regulations began to focus on guide sign s and directions... not just danger warnings. The MUTCD has continued to change and develop based on current and future needs of traffic and the safety of the public. Essentially it is a constantly evolving wayfinding system.
In terms of design, the MUTCD orginally focused on shape and color. The theory was that people would recognize shape and color while ignoring wordings. In 1948, they became more corncerned with readability and instituted a rounded letter alphabet. Sign conten
t was reduced. For example, Wrong Way signs used to say "Stop. You are going the wrong way." It's no wonder that people would ignore wording. Driving requires multi-tasking perceiving and using different pieces of information simultaneously. So content has to be minimal and straight forward for a driver.In 1971, the MUTCD went under a complete rewrite. It included concrete definitions on "should" "may", and "shall." It also included school area markings and ground markings such as centerlines, words in lanes, and painted curbs. In general, the MUTCD has stood behind it's shape and color theory allowing states a bit of room to add their own shapes and colorings for specific information relating only to that state. Background colors have been set to a specific set of 6 pantone colors. Flourescent signs have no set pantone color.
Brown - 469 [recreational information]
Red - 187 [stop, yield, highly important restrictions]
Yellow - 116 [warnings, cautionary]
Green - 342 [guide, directional information]
Blue - 294 [interstate name/information]
Orange - 152 [construction]
Black and white signs are reserved for basic traffic information such as one way streets, and lane directions.
It seems like such a simple system. Red means stop, green means go, follow the arrows, etc. But for something so mainplace it is a meticullously designed system and highly critical to every day life. It's so easy to miss it because it's just about everywhere, but it is easily the one wayfinding system that absolutely affects every person's life whether they use it or not. Content is minimized and the typeface is designed for maximum readability of capital letters. Colors and basic geometric shapes have clear, consistent, and definite meanings. Traffic signals and signs inform, guide, direct, and protect. This system must be applauded for its ability to simplyify such an intricate and complicated system as the traffic of millions in one area.
By the way, the green and white highway signs in America were adopted into the MUTCD in 1954. Now I know. :)
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