Class is Over but the Learning and the Work are not!

Okay class is over.  In general the presentations were very good and very much to the point, good job.

Here are the numbers of entries in your Visual Diaries

Rainbow Cheng 13
Wendy Cho 7
Iga Fung 18
Hugo Ghiglia 6
Veronica Jin 17
Katy Liu 13
Casper Mardahl 12
Lucie Neubergova 0 - found no link
Henry Ng 0 - found no link
Arne Stokholm 14
Bonnie Tam 13
Simon Tran 0 - found no link
Terence Tsang 0 - no subscription
Sara Wong 16
Windy Wong 4
Graham Wong 5
Careen Wong 43
Zoyo Zhao 28
Christy Chan 15
Ding Ding Chan 0 - found no link
Chan Fly Chan 15
Sandy Cheng 14
Kevin Cheung 0 - found no link
Eddie Choi 15
Candy Chow 0 - no subscription
Sharon Keung16
Calvin Ho 18
KaHei Kwok 19
Janet Kwok 16
Tim Lai 15
Chak Chak Lam 18
Celesty Lee 19
Helena Li 12
Cindy Lo 15
Kitty Ng 10
Cuttle Ng 15
Bryan Tsui 21
Ester Wong 16
Laura Xue 13

I will look more closely at your posts and their spread across the semester to determine a grade.

If you have a question, send me a link or send me an email or comment to this post.  I am glad to clear up any confusion.

See you next year,

Dr. Williams

Period Posters - link to syllabus

Period Posters are due on 5 December and Your Visual Diaries will be complete on 25 November.

Here is an example of a Period Poster from Last Year:

Your choice of themes are Breast Milk 100% Safe or Second Hand Smoke is No Joke

Go to the online syllabus to get the exact requirements for the assignment: Period Poster

Good Luck on your Presentations this week and next week.  Be sure to come a little Early to get set up.

Design Ancestor Example

Here are two very simple examples of Design Ancestors:

This is the design for which I am seeking ancestors.

Here is Ancestor 1:

This one is directly related as it provides the visual and the concept for the later work.  This is a poster for the original movie "Endless Summer" that was made in 1964 or thereabouts (you need to be more accurate).  The movie is about a group of guys traveling the world in search of the perfect wave.  Thus we have a great deal of the content in the modern design shown above.  

But the new design shows some changes and here is a possible ancestor:

This is the sign on the southern edge of Las Vegas that has become a trademark of the city.  It demonstrates strong use of the diamond shape which is the added element in the modern work above.  It also has strong associations with the 1960s which connects its use in the final poster as well, "Searching since '64."

Here is a second example of design ancestors:

I am hoping that at least one of the ancestors for this piece is obvious to you already so here it is:

Andy Warhol did a number of these silk screen repetitive pieces of famous people.  This is a clear predecessor to the work above with added notion that Photoshop made the modern piece a lot easier to do.

Now here is a second possible ancestor to the modern work above:

It might have been possible to choose any portrait as an ancestor of the modern work but this photograph is particularly relevant because it has the feeling of a self-shot self portrait of a photographer and it includes the camera in the shot.  So there is a logical connection between this photo which pre-dates the work shown above.

In your presentation you will need to give specific information about each image, the modern and the historical.  

Your images and their ancestors do not have to come from anything shown in class.

You will not have a lot time so you need to show us the modern work, then show us two works that you believe have the possibility of being ancestors to that work.  They may have provided some ideas or inspiration.  You need to make a few logical arguments for their connection even though the relationship may be obvious.

Be sure to post your questions as comments to this post and know the schedule below.  Attendance will be taken on both days so you are expected to come to class and support your fellow students.

Design Ancestor Presentation Schedule

Design Ancestor Presentations

18 November 2009

9: 35 Laura Xue

9: 42 Bonnie Tam

9: 49 Chak Chak Lam

9: 56 Cindy Lo

10: 03 Veronica Jin

10: 10 Candy Chow

10: 17 Casper Mardahl

10: 24 Zoyo Zhao

10: 31 Katy Liu

10: 38 Hugo Ghiglia

10: 45 Bryan Tsui

10: 52 Celesty Lee

10: 59 Lucie Neubergova

11: 06 Henry Ng

11: 13 Iga Fung

11: 20 Helena Li

11: 27 KaHei Kwok

11: 34 Kitty Ng

25 November 2009

9: 35 Wendy Cho

9: 42 Christy Chan

9: 49 Careen Wong

9: 56 Sharon Keung

10: 03 Eddie Choi

10: 10 Sandy Cheng

10: 17 ChanFly Chan

10: 24 DingDing Chan

10: 31 Calvin Ho

10: 38 Rainbow Cheng

10: 45 Windy Wong

10: 52 Graham Wong

10: 59 Simon Tran

11: 06 Ester Wong

11: 13 Arnbjorn Stokholm

11: 20 Tim Lai

11: 27 Janet Kwok

11: 34 Terence Tsang

11: 41 Kevin Cheung

11: 48 Cuttle Ng

11: 55 Sara Wong

Make your presentations no more than 6 minutes

1 minute to introduce your chosen modern design

2 minutes to introduce an ancestor and say why it is an ancestor

2 minutes to introduce another ancestor and say why it is an ancestor

1 minute of buffer time in case you run into a problem

Time will be short so please arrive early to upload your presentation on the classroom computer and check to make sure everything is okay.

You need to remember that powerpoint does not carry fonts with it so any font you use must be available in the classroom computer or it will not appear correctly.  If you use Flash this will not be an issue.

4 November 2009

All of the lectures are complete.

Today I wanted you to see that there is more to the communication design history of the PRC than just Cultural Revolution woodcuts.  There is a variety of work which has been done in a variety of media and since the 80s there has been a great deal more freedom in design practice which has led to some very interesting work.  All of these designers have a stake in the propaganda which was created under a great deal more political stress than is felt right now.  As you look at the various pieces of design it is interesting that you can get a real sense of the mood in China from the types of works that were created.  Whether this is a matter of actual mood or strategic public relations planning is beyond my knowledge, but it has appeared to become a more planned activity in the years since the Cultural Revolution.

You must always remember to be a good example to you juniors just as Lei Feng was a good example to you and the nation!

We will come back to the Universal Principles as you work your way through DGC or take future DGC courses.

Always remember Harry Beck and the London Subway Map.  It is the communication design model for the world.  So, it is also not bad to have some British influence in your historical heritage.   They did start a great subway system and modeled the information design on the example set by Beck in London.


More than 20 minutes late to class:
Rainbow
Wendy
Iga
Bonnie
Terence
Sara
Graham
Zoyo
Christy
Cindy
Ester

Absent:
Kevin
Calvin

Notes for the Final EXAM

DGC 1180 Final EXAM – Study Guide

11 November 2009

The exam will have two parts.  Part 1 is worth 70 points and Part 2 is worth 30 points. 

You will be able to bring to the exam one sheet of A4 paper filled with notes. 

You will need to be able to recall the following:

            The basic elements of the AIM model for communication

            The precepts and laws of Gestalt perception

            The impact of culture on various aspects of communication design

            The six basic categories of type described in class

            The methods for handling color using digital tools

            Five technological developments that changed and/or expanded communication design

You will need to be able to do the following:

            Define communication design according to the AIM model

            Describe the difference between type categories

            Identify your favorite designer from those in the class materials and justify your choice

            Identify your favorite design period, style or movement and justify your choice

            Explain why Harry Beck is important to communication design

            Explain why Sergei Eisenstein is important in the history of film

            Identify classic films and the subsequent films they inspired

            Discuss the impact of technological changes in communication design

You will need to choose 3 designs from those presented in class for analysis on the test:

All three must have been made since the year 1890. 

One must have been made since the year 1960. 

One must be of Chinese origin.

One must be of Western origin (Europe, U.S., Cuba, Australia).

One can be from anywhere (Japan, Europe, U.S., Cuba, Australia, China).

For EACH you will need to:

Give the year, designer and associated school, period or movement of the design

Write a detailed description of the design. 

Analyze the design according to a range of factors discussed in class

            Please bring a black and white copy of each design with you for the test.

            I will supply you with a booklet for writing your answers for the exam.

            Please post any question you have on this blog!

28 October 2009

Here is a list of what we were actually able to view over the past two classes:

Muybridge Sequential Photography

Glenroy

The Gardiner

The Kiss

Seminary Girls

The Whole Dam Family

Ben Hur, Book to Play to Film, Film, Epic

Voyage to the Moon

Great Train Robbery

San Fran earthquake

Little Nemo

Birth of a Nation

GWTW

Chaplin

Odessa Steps:

Eisenstein,

DePalma,

Woody Allen

Laurel and Hardy

Duck Soup

Bananas

Blazing Saddles

Ace Ventura

My Cousin Vinny

Metropolis – Young Frankenstein

Metropolis – Blade Runner

Snow White to Enchanted

Oz

Singin in the Rain

Life of Brian

Moulin Rouge

Hairspray

GWTW

Dirty Harry

Jaws

The Shining Johnny

The Shining Twins

Shawshank

Das Boot

Apocalypse

La Dolce Vita

Notting Hill

Deeds

Psycho

Bonds

Once Upon a Time in China

Fist of Fury sign break

Game of Death

Kill Bill

Shaolin soccer

Beauty and the Beast

Run Lola Run

Here is what is important about that viewing:

Muybridge set the precedent for creating motion pictures through his photographic sequences of animals and people in motion.  Yes, he did answer the question of whether a horse completely leaves the ground when it runs, it does.

Themes that exist in motion pictures have existed since its earliest days.  Plays, short comedy sketches and story telling existed long before the ability to record them and these are the traditions that underpin the content of motion pictures, in the early days and in the present.

The first motion picture story was a guy getting tricked by someone he knew and then delivering revenge to his tormentor.  The Lumiere Brothers created this story about the Gardener and it looks a lot like something we might see on a  Funny Video show or on YouTube today.

Sergei Eisentein created a distinctive grammar for storytelling with motion pictures.  His classic scene the Odessa steps has been homaged in many other movies, seriously and humorously.

Much of the comedy we enjoy today has not changed a great deal from the earliest days.

Fritz Lang  in Metropolis created a visual treat.  The shots are beautifully composed and interconnected.  Much of the acting is overdone and the story is very simplistic but the film is beautiful and has inspired many films after it.

Ultimately there are many ways to shoot many kinds of stories and all of them have not yet been tried.  One of the most interesting trends in the past twenty years has been film-makers manipulating the timeline in films.  The one piece I was able to show you, Run Lola Run or Lola Rennt, is a truly original film for its depiction of time and its mix of media that even includes sequential still photography.

Until the next time....

21 October 2009 - X Minutes of Film History

Here is the list of clips we have seen and we are going to be seeing.  As you can see we didn't get very far today so next week will be lots of great bits and pieces from film history...  The gray bits are clips I don't have yet.  I will have some by next week but our plate is full regardless.

X minutes of Film History

The Open – The Meaning of Life – Monty Python

Sequenced Still Images

1887 - Eadweard Muybeard-Sequential Still Images-“Animal Locomotion”

            Horse

            Cat

            Women Meeting

            Man

            Woman

Early Short Films

1894 – Glenroy Brothers Comic Boxing – Thomas Edison

1895 – The Gardener – Lumiere Brothers

1896 – The Kiss – Thomas Edison

1897 – Seminary Girls – Thomas Edison

The Evolution of Ben Hur

1899 – Ben Hur – The Play

1907 – Ben Hur – The First Movie

1925 – Ben Hur – The Silent Movie – Fred Niblo

1959 – Ben Hur – The Epic Movie – William Wyler

1902 – The Voyage to the Moon – George Melies

1903 – The Great Train Robbery – Edwin Porter

1905 – The Whole Dam Family – Thomas Edison

1906 – Aftermath of the San Francisco Earthquake – American Biograph

1911 – Little Nemo – Winsor McCay

Reliving the Civil War

1915 – Birth of a Nation – DW Griffith

1939 – Gone with the Wind – George Cukor & Victor Fleming

1915 – Charlie Chaplin

1925 – Stachka (Strike) - Sergei Eisenstein

The Odessa Steps

1925 – Battleship Potemkin - Sergei Eisenstein

1987 – Untouchables – Brian DePalma

1971 – Bananas – Woody Allen

Physical Comedy

1927 – Laurel and Hardy – Hal Roach producer, Leo McCarey supervising director

1933 – Duck Soup – Leo MaCarey with Marx Brothers

1971 – Bananas – Woody Allen

1994 – Ace Ventura – Tom Shadyac with Jim Carrey

Verbal Comedy

1933 – Duck Soup – Marx Brothers

1971 – Bananas – Woody Allen

1992 – My Cousin Vinny – Jonathan Lynn with Joe Pesci & Marisa Tomei

The Mad Scientist and Visions of the Future

1927 – Metropolis – Fritz Lang

1931 – Frankenstein – James Whale

1974 – Young Frankenstein – Mel Brooks

1982 – Blade Runner – Ridley Scott (produced with Run Run Shaw)

1977 – Star Wars: Episode IV

Romantic Comedy

1934 – It Happened One Night – Frank Capra with Clark Gable & Claudette Colbert

1995 – French Kiss – Lawrence Kasdan

1999 – Notting Hill - Roger Michelle with Julie Roberts & Hugh Grant

Princess Power

1937 – Snow White –David Hand Supervising Director

2007 – Enchanted – Kevin Lima

Movie Musicals

1939 – The Wizard of Oz – Victor Fleming & King Vidor(Kansas)

1952 – Singing in the Rain – Stanley Donen with Gene Kelly & Donald O’Connor

1979 – The Life of Brian – Monty Python’s Flying Circus

2001 – Moulin Rouge – Baz Luhrmann

2007 – Hairspray – Adam Shankman

Great Lines

1939 – Gone with the Wind – George Cukor & Victor Fleming

1971 – Dirty Harry – Don Siegel with Clint Eastwood

1975 – Jaws – Steven Spielberg with Roy Scheider

1976 – Outlaw Josey Wales – Clint Eastwood

1980 – The Shining – Stanley Kubrick with Jack Nicholson

1987 – Predator – John McTiernan with Arnold Schwarzenegger

True Classics

1941 – Citizen Kane – Orson Welles

1946 – It’s a Wonderful Life – Frank Capra with Jimmy Stewart & Donna Reed

2003 – Bruce Almighty – Tom Shadyac with Jim Carrey

            Bert & Ernie

1979 – Apocalypse Now – Francis Ford Coppola with Robert Duvall

1981 – Das Boot – Wolfgang Petersen

The Master

1954 – Seven Samurai – Akira Kurosawa

1960 – The Magnificent Seven – John Sturges

1966 – The Good, The Bad and The Ugly – Sergio Leone

1957 – Throne of Blood – Akira Kurosawa

1989 – Henry V – Kenneth Brannagh

1999 – Titus – Julie Taymor

Paprazzi

1960 – La Dolce Vita – Federico Fellini

1999 – Notting Hill – Roger Michelle with Julie Roberts & Hugh Grant

2002 – Deeds – Steven Brill with Adam Sandler and John McEnroe

1960 – Psycho – Alfred Hitchcock

The Bonds

1962 – Bond: Sean Connery

1967 – Bond: David Niven

1969 – Bond: George Lazenby

1979 – Bond: Roger Moore

1987 – Bond: Timothy Dalton

2002 – Bond: Pierce Brosnan

2006 – Bond: Daniel Craig

Venus emerging from the sea

1962 – Bond: Ursula Andress

2002 – Bond: Hallie Berrie

2006 – Bond: Daniel Craig

Wong Fei Hung

1991 – Once Upon A Time in China – Tsui Hark with Jet Li

1992 – Once Upon A Time in China – Tsui Hark with Jet Li

Bruce Lee

1971 – Fist of Fury – Lo Wei with Bruce Lee

1994 – Fist of Legend – Gordon Chan with Jet Li

1999 – The Matrix – Andy & Larry Wachowski

1973 - Enter the Dragon – Robert Clouse with Bruce Lee

1978 – Game of Death – Bruce Lee

2001 – Shaolin Soccer - Stephen Chow

1962 – To Kill A Mockingbird – Robert Mulligan with Gregory Peck

The Evil Computer

1968 – 2001: A space odyssey - Stanley Kubrick

2008 – Wall-e – Andrew Stanton

The Godfather

1972 – The Godfather - Francis Ford Coppola

1974 – The Godfather, Part 2 – - Francis Ford Coppola

Steven Spielberg

1975 – Jaws – Steven Spielberg

1993 – Jurassic Park – Steven Spielberg

2007 – Transformers – Michael Bay – Steven Spielberg, executive producer

Sinking Ships

1997 – Titanic – James Cameron

1979 – The Black Stallion - Francis Ford Coppola

Riding in Circles

1979 – The Black Stallion - Francis Ford Coppola

2005 – Dreamer – John Gatins

2003 – Seabiscuit – Gary Ross

1979 – Breaking Away – Peter Yates

Stephen King

1980 – The Shining - Stanley Kubrick

1994 – Shawshank Redemption – Frank Darabont

The Opening Scene

1981 – Road Warrior – George Miller

1960 – La Dolce Vita – Federico Fellini

1981 – Raiders of the Lost Ark – Steven Spielberg & George Lucas

Australian Action

1981 – Road Warrior – George Miller

1982 – The Man from Snowy River – George Miller

Budget Matters

1984 – Terminator 1 – James Cameron

1991 – Terminator 2 – James Cameron

And Now for Something Completely Different…

1983 – Meaning of Life – Monty Python’s Flying Circus

Locked in the 80s

1986 – Ferris Bueller – John Hughes with Matthew Broderick

Royalty: Real & Imagined

1987 – The Last Emperor – Bernardo Bertolucci

1987 – The Princess Bride – Rob Reiner

1988 – Die Hard –John McTiernan with Bruce Willis

Choices

1989 – Do The Right Thing – Spike Lee

1989 – The Last Crusade – Steven Spielberg

Digital Animation

1991 – Beauty and the Beast – Gary Trousdale & Kirk Wise

1995 – Toy Story 1 – John Lasseter

1999 – Toy Story 2 – Lee Unkrich

1992 – Waynes World – Penelope Spheeris

1991 – Chung King Express – Wong Kar Wai

Time Matters

1994 – Pulp Fiction – Quentin Tarantino

1991 – Run Lola Run – Tom Tykwer

1993 – Groundhog Day – Harold Ramis

2000 – Memento – Christopher Nolan

Hong Kong moves West

1997 – Face/Off – John Woo

2002 – Infernal Affairs – Lau Wai Keung & Alan Mak

2006 – The Departed – Martin Scorsese

2003 – Pirates of the Caribbean – Gore Verbinski

2005 – Sin City – Robert Rodriguez & Frank Miller

2008 – Cloverfield – Matt Reeves

2008 – Slumdog Millionaire – Danny Boyle

The END

1983 – The Meaning of Life – Monty Python’s Flying Circus

until then...  be sure to get blogging and stay up with your blogs.

Absences:

Sara Wong

Calvin Ho

More than 15 minutes late:

Kevin Cheung

7 October 2009

Lots of ground covered from the 16th century to the 21st century in typography.

Here's what you need to take away:

The anatomy of type.

The classification of type.

You should never mix different typefaces from the same category of type in a single document.  It will look like a small mistake and that is a big mistake.  You can use multiple fonts within a single design but be sure that they do not come from the same category.

Also at the more practical end of typography be sure to remember that computerized bold, italic and underlining are based on mathematical calculations and not aesthetic needs of the font.  These can be fine for use in a letter or an academic paper but professional design requires professionally designed font families and the variations which are based on the character of the font.

In the history we once again saw the development of typography as a profession, a reversion to what appear to be more traditional renderings of words and letters in the 19th century and then, with Lewis Carroll, the embracing of letterforms as actual visual elements within communication design.  The words themselves became a part of visual design.  Typographers and graphic designers created memorable designs long before the advent of the computer.  With the coming of the computer the opportunity to become a typographer is available to nearly everyone.  What has also come with the advent of the computer is the need to find ways to startle and grab attention as exemplified by Stefan Sagmeister carving the words into his own flesh and then taking a picture of himself in 2000.

Some names to remember are:
     Caxton
     Durer
     Tory
     Caslon
     Bodoni
     Carroll
     El Litsitsky
     Sandberg
     Sagmeister

Some work to remember is:
    The type guides
    The William Blake Poem
    The Lewis Carroll Poem
    The Japanese Forest
    The Go Out Ad

I will be posting the images with names in the next day.  When it is posted I will make the title of this blog a link to the flash movie.

Attendance:
More than 15 minutes late to class:
     Henry
     Bonnie
     ChanFly
     Kevin
     Eddie
     Calvin
     Ester
     ChakChak
Absent:
    Rainbow
    Windy
    Graham
    Christy
    Candy

30 September 2009

Things to take away from today's class:

Culture:

Remember that communicating is more than words and pictures, it involves understanding the culture of the people you want to reach.

People in Chinese culture and People in Western cultures learn to read in completely different ways.  For people in the West it is all about starting from the left and moving to the right.  For Chinese people a text can start at the top on the left or on the right and it can move vertically or horizontally.  Thus, western people are more likely to read an image from the left to the right while Chinese people will understand and read an image differently.  You will need to experiment exactly what that way is and you will need to have a good sense of how direct people's attention around an information space.

The same applies to how you use color, how you use objects and shapes and how you use language.  Every aspect of a person's cultural experience impacts how they design communication and how they respond to communication design.  Look into the notes for the various factors.

Early History

There is strong evidence that language in China and the West developed on a very similar though completely independent path.  There are fewer artifacts from early Chinese pictograms and writing because of the materials used and the various climates in the country.  The use of stone and clay in the Fertile Crescent and the dry climate have preserved many more artifacts in this part of the world.

Language developed from pictures, pictures led to pictograms (e.g. hieroglyphics) and pictograms led letterforms and letterforms were refined over time.  In the West this led to an array of  abstracted alphabetic written languages.  In China this led to a complex character-based written language which has been essentially intact for more than 2000 years.

Earliest writing was done on stone, clay, bones, and turtle shells.  In China bamboo became the medium for writing text.  In Egypt reeds were the basis of papyrus sheets for writing.  In Egypt and elsewhere animal skins were used for parchment which was an extremely expensive medium but has been preserved quite well.  With the invention of paper in China printing became viable.  With the arrival of paper in the West printing also became more viable.

Pi Sheng invented moveable type but the nature of the Chinese language and the use of wood made it a bit impractical.  Metal moveable type was then invented in Korea where an alphabetic language and the use of metal were much more practical.  Finally, Gutenberg invented moveable metal type in the West and the potential for mass publication became a reality.  With printing simplified verbal literacy became a possibility and a necessity.  Printing also made the access to information available for everyone where it had been primarily available to the rich and priests previously.  Printing technologies for images also improved in the era of moveable type.  While China stayed with wood block printing Copper Plate Etching and very detailed images became possible in the West.

Technologies and recording media have always played an important part in communication design.  The technologies and media present the limitations and possibilities for image making, type setting and distribution.  When a new technology or recording medium expands the possibility for characters, letterforms and images there is an expansion of creative communication design.  When a new technology or recording medium expands the opportunity for message distribution there is an increased demand for creative communication design.

so:
          pictures
                              pictograms
                                                               characters & letterforms

and:
          stone & clay & bones & shells
                              papyrus & parchment & bamboo
                                                                                 paper
then:
          handwriting
                                cut forms
                                                         moveable type
as well as:
          drawing & painting
                              woodcut printing

                                                                plate etching

Moveable type then created the possibility for the development and creation of varied letterforms for myriad printed materials.

audiences for communication design were made up of:

          royal & priestly

                              wealthy & scholarly

                                                                everyone

and verbal literacy went from:

          non-existent

                                       limited

                                                                necessary

Remember:

There are no new ideas in communication design there are only new combinations and the synthesis of old ideas.  Even an ancient piece of work can inspire what you do now and understanding the technological limitations of its creation can inspire you even more.

until next time...

23 September 2009

You now have the basis for a more systematic understanding of communication design.  We will be applying some of these psychological theories to the work of famous designers and the work in various movements.  You will need to get a good handle on these concepts as it is an important part of developing your understanding and abilities in Communication Design and you will be using some of these concepts and principles in the course exam.

Alan Chan v. Tommy Li

To compare two different identities for the same company checkout:

http://www.alanchandesign.com/acd/main.html

click on portfolio > total branding solutions > one2free

THEN

http://www.tommylidesign.com/

click on portfolio > 01. branding and visual identity > one2free

Also compare their work for Maxim's

Alan Chan: MX

Tommy Li: Maxims Cakes, Qian Shao Bai Wei, Simply Bread

In the morning I will talk a bit about the MX logo

16 September 2009

There was a good set of presentations today.  You all did well with a limited set of instructions and I think most of you understood to focus on the audience represented by the advertisements.  The concern with the quality, composition and elements of the advertisements were only important when these factors told us something about the audience for the advertisement.

Here are my comments based on stations covered:

Choi Hung
Excellent presentation, well organized and delivered, and well designed.  Giving the percentage of ads in a particular category is an excellent basis for comparison and the pie chart was definitely a strong method for presenting the information.  Your analysis was good.  I understand why you did the analyses of the individual ads and you did a good job of it but it was really unnecessary for the  assignment and it made your presentation run too long.

Sham Shui Po
You did a different but appropriate approach to the assignment.  You were brave to follow the first presentation because it was very well done.  Your method of presenting the target audiences and then showing the ads which fit the category was a good one.  It places your analysis directly into the presentation of your information.  It was an appropriate level of analysis for first year students, but it could have been a bit more detailed in why you fit particular ads in particular categories.

Causeway Bay
You did a good job in spite of the fact that you are unfamiliar with the products and advertising in Hong Kong and you don't read traditional Chinese.  Your humour helped cover any gaps in details and was well received by the audience.  You saw the amount of repetition and did your best to avoid it which means you were aware and focused on the task.

Kowloon Tong
Extremely well organized analysis.  I particularly like the fact that you provided a detailed description of the neighborhood in which the station is located.  You laid out all of your information well visually and verbally.  Your conclusions were well presented and supported by the content of your presentation.  I was wondering if the Jean Luc Goddard Poster or the Il Divo Poster were seen by you or other students in other MTR stations?


Mong Kok
The images in your presentation were good.  You showed us many different ads and you analyzed them aesthetically but overall you provided too little discussion of the possible audiences for these ads.  The visual is really what we all know best but we all have to try and dig deeper to understand why the aesthetic choices were made and what audience(s) are being targeted with the advertisements.

Central
It is good that you focused on the unique ads within the station.  You definitely portrayed a distinctly different audience than we saw in the presentations from the other stations and I think you identified it correctly.  I do think that you made a bit of a mistake by leaving out the beauty and fitness ads because those would also be direct appeals to upwardly mobile office-girls and office-boys.  I think you also hit on a unique feature with the Qantas and Emirates and the travel agency but you do have to remember that Central is connected to the IFC, the Tung Chung line and the Airport Express.  This means that people in the station may want to travel, have the means or money to travel and that they may already be traveling and are going through Central to get to the Airport.  This was a very good presentation and you had a strong analysis.

Kowloon Bay
As I said in class I was a bit surprised by the upscale ads you found in this station alongside lower income advertisements, but when you consider the changing nature of the neighborhood and the presence of two major shopping centers it makes sense.  I am not really sure that the large scale Chinese restaurants are really that expensive as they make their money on the large number of people they can accommodate, but you rightly identify the people in the station as primarily local through the presence of these ads.  You did seem to find a lot more food ads than found in other stations.  You did good work coming up with your conclusions.

Tsim Sha Tsui
You did a very detailed job of describing the various target audiences by listing the 8 characteristics of each from the description of audience in the AIM lecture.  This is an extremely strong demonstration of understanding the nature of the assignment.  It was about the people passing through the station as indicated by the advertisements that are in the station.  Visually you could have designed your presentation slides better so that we could see the text and the advertisement clearly.  You have the content down which is the most important part but you need to work a bit more on the presentation of your solid findings.

Wong Tai Sin
Excellent presentation in terms of content and visuals.  You pursued the information is a clear and logical manner and you presented it in a concise way.  It was very smart to do comparisons with other stations as this highlights the uniqueness of the advertising in the Wong Tai Sin station.  Your conclusions were clear, concise and well supported.  They also make sense from the neighborhood that surrounds the station.  Overall this was the best presentation of the day.

Shek Kip Mei
Overall I think you understand the Shek Kip Mei and the station very well and you presented that to the class.  You gave a good overview of the people that pass through the station but when you showed us the individual ads you discussed more of the look, aesthetics, than the audience for that particular ad.  I like that you used flash for your presentation but when you use a group of images on your main screen and not a linear progression in the presentation then you need to be sure all of your team members know where the location of each of the images they will need.  You did, however, do a good job addressing my question which may have thrown off the plan for your presentation.

Prince Edward
It is not always good to go last because then it becomes harder to talk about things other people have already presented.  You did, however, draw strong conclusions from the evidence you showed, generally and specifically.  Using the specific ad to break down the analysis of the audience was a good technique to support your more general discussion of who passes through the station according to the advertising.  You do need to be sure that all of your team members are up to speed on the presentation and have previously seen the slides and/or images you will be showing.


We have lost of bit of time but we will catch up over the next few weeks.  Next week we will discuss psychological theories related to communication design with a specific emphasis on the Gestalt theory of perception.  Thank you for your diligence and creativity in the presentations today.  Not everyone did it the same but that shows that there are different ways to effectively approach a given assignment.

Also next week I will bring in some good and bad examples and discuss the Lexicon a bit more so that everyone understands exactly where we are going with it.

Please Remember:
Each one of you needs to start a blog and subscribe to this blog.  In setting up your blog please use a picture of yourself that will help me identify you with your name.  I will start following your blogs this week.

Absences of the Week: (if I am incorrect please let me know)
Windy Wong (first)
Zoyo Zhao (first)
Wong Kwun Ho (second)

Fine Tuning the Media Dimensions

I have made an adjustment in the dimensions and media forms.  I will show it in class tomorrow.  The change is that:


    You start with space (3 dimensions) and get discrete media forms,

     you add the sequence dimension and you get textual media forms,

     you add the synergy dimension and you get integrated media forms,

     you add the time dimension and you get temporal media forms,

     you add the control dimension and you interactive media forms,

     you add the intelligence dimension and you get representational analogical media forms,

     you add the distance dimension and you get connected media forms, and

     you add the presence dimension and you get un-mediated virtual forms.


I have also added research as one of the intentions for communication design.  This can be academic research which is for the pursuit of knowledge, applied research which is for the improvement of processes or commercial research which is for the measure of audiences and financial success or the substantiation of a technique or content or the improvement of content for the purpose of making money.


Thus the intentions are:
information
connection
attention
research
persuasion
entertainment
expression

I am looking forward to your presentations.

The Grail, Your Exercise and Media Forms

Everyone needs to be sure to start their own blog and use it to create a visual diary.  There need to be entries for each week of class.  You should include sketches, inspirations, images, clips and thoughts about these objects.  I need to get your blog addresses so that I can attach them to the course site and so that I can sign up as a follower of your blog.

The HOLY GRAIL of AUDIENCE is that products of communication design should reflect the people who use the product ... or ... if you know the profile of the audience then you should be able to choose the design they would use, read, watch or listen too.  It might not be life or a hideous face-melting death but a communication designer must develop the ability to "Choose Wisely" more times than not.

Your exercise for next week:

Go to your chosen MTR station (you do not have to go into the paid area of the station) and shoot pictures of all the advertisements within the space.  This can be posters, light boxes, ads stuck on pillars, ads on the floor, wherever and whatever.  You should also shoot pictures of the retail shops around the station.

Taking all of these images of advertisements and retail outlets determine if there is an audience which connects them together.  The more pieces you can connect the stronger the advertisers feel about the people who move through the station.  Many of the ads are for general audiences, hoping to hit interested people with the shear volume of traffic, but you will need to spend time thinking and talking as a team to find a thread that connects at least some of the ads and outlets.

When you find even the smallest thread then create an archetype character, a person who embodies the features of the audience advertisers are trying to reach in that train station.  Give his or her age range, first language (and if the person has a second language), hometown, home district, education level, income level, job situation, area of residence and then go beyond demographics and round out the person or character with values, attitudes and interests.  Create these audience attributes by looking back at the thread(s) in the business content of the station.

Come to class with your pictures and ideas.  Put them together in a PowerPoint or a Flash presentation.  You will give a short presentation of your ideas and by showing your images it will be possible for the other class members and the professor to offer their thoughts on the focus of the advertising within the station.

We will then complete the description of audience and move on to Psychological Theories behind Communication Design.

Some points on MEDIA FORMS:

1.  Each form is made up of a particular set of dimensions.

2. As you add a dimension you change the form and creative possibilities of the medium.

3. You start with space (3 dimensions) and get discrete media forms,

     you add the sequence dimension and you get textual media forms,

     you add the synergy dimension and you get integrated media forms,

     you add the time dimension and you get temporal media forms,

     you add the control dimension and you interactive media forms,

     you add the intelligence dimension and you get representational media forms,

     you add the distance dimension and you get connected media forms, and

     you add the presence dimension and you get un-mediated forms.

4. Each dimension builds on the foundation of the previous media form.  E.G., to fully exploit the possibilities of representational media forms requires an understanding of discrete, textual, integrated and textual media forms.  You may stop adding dimensions to your work and become expert at a particular media form but your success in adding dimensions depends on your mastery of the media forms that act as the foundation for the added dimension.  Design teams can be built around the idea of expertise in a particular media form and working through the various dimensions will at least provide the communication designer with the ability to work with people specializing in a variety of media forms.

5. The thing that changes with each media form is how the content is experienced.  Looking at poster does not provide the same experience as watching a moving, reading a book does not provide the same experience as playing a computer game, having a face-to-face conversation does not provide the same experience as posting to your wall on FaceBook...

We will talk more about this in the coming week...

Please post your questions.

The Audience Grail

This is a video I will show you and explain in class.  It is a large file so we will have to see what happens with the available technology.

I have updated the calendar and the student list on the class website.  Check it out if you want to see the small changes.

Here also is a great design website: http://www.tommylidesign.com/

Tommy is a great designer and a good guy.  DGC graduates Javin Mo and Wilson Tang, Milkxhake, made the website for him.

Here is the address for Milkxhake: http://www.milkxhake.org/

Have a nice day.

2 September 2009

The first day of class is done.  The students seem to be energetic and interesting in learning the variety of things we are going to cover in class.  We went over the syllabus in detail, everyone knows exactly what is on it.

Changed the self introduction portion of the class.  Gave the students about 15 minutes to write about themselves and then I read it out to the class.  I learned a lot about the students and the objective is for them to learn about each other as well.  The process of my reading took longer than anticipated so it will flow over to the next class.  I try to use the introductions of students as a way to introduce concepts that they touch on in their stories.  We will need to take more time to finish up the last few next week.

We did not get to the "What is Communication Design?" slide show so I will do that at the beginning of the next class.  Use this to make sure everyone gets the breadth of the field we are introducing to them through DGC.

Next week we will then jump into the AIM lecture and then send out students with the AIM exercise.

Until the next time...

Eric Tan's Blog

I really like this style of art.  Eric is very introspective about his work and you can learn a great deal from his thoughts on his own and others works.  He also has lots of great connections to sites by other designers, illustrators, animators, etc.

This is the blog for the DGC 1180 class at Hong Kong Baptist University.  Each week after class I will write a review of the day's activities and give everyone a feel for where we are.  I will also post when I find interesting sites on the web related to communication design history and theory.

So keep your eyes peeled...