Irregular Flow

The soundtrack compliments the serene essence of the video. I feel like the natural aspect of the video reinforces that serenity and purity, as the wind blows and the camera shakes, allowing things to take their natural and untouched course. The colors in the video support that natural feeling, with almost neutral shades of yellow, blue, beige and black.

The progressive build up of movement and flow signifies the cycle of nature and process of growth. As the girl touches the wall, ink starts to grow out of it, which completely draws me in as the ink evolves and continues to spread in the same direction, only growing as the video progresses. I love the natural feeling of the video, and want to experiment with that aspect and flow in future projects.

These are a few of my favorite things…

1. Basketball

Basketball is my number 1 love. I have been playing basketball ever since I was 14, and it has encompassed a huge part of my life and who I am since then. This is the first basketball I bought since I moved here for university, and I love having it around. It’s always there for me when I need it.

2. #4 Necklace

I guess you could say that the number 4 is my lucky number. It’s definitely my favorite. I have it on my jerseys for any sport that I play, usually with soccer and basketball. This necklace was a surprise gift from my mom and I always have it on.

3. Teddy

This is the only teddy I have here with me in Toronto, because she’s the most special one to me. I got her about 4 years ago from my sister and best friends. It’s always there to keep me company and is super soft and cuddly. She’s a basketball player too, so that’s a plus.

4. Ballet Slippers

My ballet slippers are really important to me. I love to dance, and I do different styles, my favorite are hip hop and jazz. It has become a huge part of my life everyday, I’m also on the York Dance Team. I just started ballet about a little over a year ago and have developed a great affection for it.

5. Hammock

I love my mini-hammock. It’s just there to look pretty, I love the colors and patterns. But it comes from a more personal place. I went to Nicaragua last February for a Social justice project and lived with a family for 10 days. While I was there, I got to know the kids in the community and a part of our journey was to educate ourselves about the community we were a part of for the duration. We visited an art community center which taught kids who were abused or abandoned life skills that they could potentially use to make money or support themselves. Some of the classes included dance, painting, and making hammocks. One of the kids made my hammock, and I bought it to raise funds and donate money to the center to be able to maintain these programs to support kids in need.

6. Eat Pray Love (Elizabeth Gilbert)

Eat Pray Love is my favorite book. It makes me so happy. It sucked me in right from the first page. I love life, and everything it has to offer, and that’s what swayed my attention to the book. It portrays a meditation on love in its many forms – love of food, language, humanity, God, and self. Gilbert sets out to examine three different aspects of her nature – pleasure in Italy, devotion in India, and a balance between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence in Bali, Indonesia. My book always stands out on my shelf among all the others on there.

7. Key Chain

I love this key chain. First the pendants, and the purple colors on there. My mom bought it for me when I first moved into my house here in Toronto, so it’s significant to me being away from home in Dubai. It reminds me of my mom, and it’s always there with me wherever I go taking a piece of home.

8. Gold Necklace

This gold necklace was a gift from both my parents for my high school graduation. It came with a matching set of earrings and a bracelet too. I love it and find it really beautiful. I love the pendants on it, and the different colors that go with the gold. It reminds me of high school and being back home.

9. Brasil Sweater

Team Brasil has been my favorite soccer team for as long as I can remember. Every soccer world cup championship my whole family would gather and watch the games and cheer on Brasil. So having said that, I have been looking for a Brasil sweater that I could wear for a long time, and could never find one. My boyfriend bought me this sweater as a surprise, and I absolutely love wearing it. It is extremely important to me because it represents something that I believe in and get excited about, and reminds me of my boyfriend who found me a Brasil sweater that I could never get!

10. Girlfriends

I love this picture frame. This picture is of my best girlfriends from Dubai, we grew up together but now remain closer than ever. We all go to school on this part of the world now and visit each other. This picture was taken on the night of my high school grad party. It will forever remind me of that night and the special friendship we all have, more like sisters. The picture frame is just silly and happy and reminds me of good times!

#1 Candy

I did not want to classify my dog as an object per say. But, Candy her name is an extremely huge and important part of my life, so I had to include her. I miss her a lot when Im at school here in Toronto, but it’s okay because I get to see her every christmas and summer, and she’s keeping my parents company in Dubai while my sister and I aren’t there. We got her 5 years ago, and she’s the happiest dog I’ve ever met. She always has more energy than my whole family combined, and always wants to play. She’s super smart too, and is always there for me.

Diffuse Critique

Sam Dubeau presented her rough cut for project 2 countdown.

The concept and visual content of the countdown creates and interesting dynamic through the medium used, a combination of water and ink to document the manipulation of type through a liquid process.

The diffusion of the ink into the water creates very interesting shapes and movement within the frames. It stresses a breakdown of the individual numbers into their elements through a melting effect. In that way I feel like Sam was successful in her portrayal of this concept in the countdown.

Sam and I discussed possible additions and improvements that may be made to the project. I like the mysterious feel of the footage, and I feel like it could be enhanced with some more ink and water involvement and movements throughout the frames, in addition to the manipulation of the type to create a more chaotic atmosphere.

To complement the video footage, Sam needs to make sure to find an appropriate soundtrack that would emphasize the certain mood she’s trying to portray through the countdown, which I believe is intriguing, mysterious and maybe a little disturbing.

The inclusion of one color into the background would enhance the concept and create more contrast with the dissolving numbers of the countdown. It would visually complete the frames but would be subtle enough to prevent from losing focus.

The position of the numbers in the frame, and the layout of the individual frames works well with the concept and aim of the countdown. They create an interesting visual and maintain the interest and focus of the audience.

Mixed Media List

1. - Watercolor paint
2. - Acrylic Paint
3. - Ink
4. - Ink Pen
5. - Styrofoam blocks
6. - Paint brushes
7. - Toothbrush
8. - Straws

Freehand Creative Brief

1. Title—possible name, working title:

Freehand: Type through the ages

2. Overview—description of concept

I am intrigued with the personal quality and aspect of visual art, which I feel that through the use of paint, pen, ink, block printing and other media, will push forward the creativity through this piece.

I aim to portray the development of typography in conjunction with using the visual arts media through the project 2 countdown. From the number 10 to 2, the typefaces being used are from newest to oldest, from sans serif to serif, and are done from a blank canvas. The typefaces being used are Gill Sans, Futura, Franklin Gothic, Didot, Bodoni, Baskerville, Caslon, Garamond, and Jenson.

3. Audience/context—who is the intended audience and what is the context and how this will be considered in project?

This video is targeted towards an audience who is aware of the traditional SMPTE Leader and understands it in context. Those who are somewhat aware of the art world and the role of typography in our lives. My project is based on the traditional leader, but altered to focus on individuality. I hope to achieve a degree of interest and curiosity when it comes to the reaction of the video, through the immersion of visual arts media with design elements.

4. Key Message—what do you want your audience to learn from your work?

I hope the audience gets something out of the use of personal character in the video, that things don’t always have to be perfect and that aside from the final product, the process is also very interesting. It is almost like documentation of a process, an experiment.

The development and progress of typography is also another important aspect of the video, which does not always depend on the computer. The countdown shows that it can be, a lot of the time, more interesting to manipulate typography without using the computer or any digital technology. That is what I hope the audience will get out of this, that relying on your own creativity and media can produce more captivating results.

5. Content Planning—what content you will include, how will this be generated and how will it will be structured?

A white piece of paper. I will produce everything from scratch with a blank piece of paper and camera that records the process. As shown in the storyboards, I will use different visual arts media such as paint, ink, pen, paintbrush etc in a variety of methods to produce the separate numbers from 10 to 2 in their corresponding typefaces. In that manner I hope to maintain a handmade quality to the work, which is why I will be filming and including most of the footage into the final video. It will then be sped up in order to create an interesting dynamic and show the progress made through experimentation over a shorter amount of time.

6. Bibliography—relevant sources used in work

All the work is original. There might or might not be a soundtrack included.

7. Visual/Conceptual References—images and ideas that inspire your concept

I was inspired by many sources, most of which are included in previous process postings. Refer to Project 2 Process.

Project 2 Storyboard

The countdown summarizes the development of typography throughout history, from serif typefaces beginning with 2, to sans serif ending at 10. The typefaces that I will use are Jenson, Garamond, Caslon, Baskerville, Bodoni, Didot, Franklin Gothic, Futura, and Gill Sans. To portray the development in my video, I will use visual arts media watercolor paints, ink, and block printing.

The countdown begins with water color paint splashes on the page that continue to increase in quantity and frequency, as the paint splatters combine to form the number 10. I will use stenciling to outline the numbers. Paint drips down the page to fill in the number 9, and continues to drip down to disappear off the page. Block printing will be done using Styrofoam to keep the visual arts, sketchy feel. The number 8 is revealed from bottom to top at different stages showing the motion of block printing.

The number is stenciled, and the paint fills the 8. The transition out of the 8 into the 7 involves the invert of the paint in the block printing to fill the background and diffuse out. Watercolor paint diffuses into the page from all directions to completely surround the number 7 and fill the background outlining it and drips down the page to disappear. Watercolor paint using a toothbrush to introduce a different texture and development of the number 6 from top to bottom to fill it in with paint. The process is reversed in a transition out of the number 6.

Block printing is used once again, from bottom to top revealing the paint filled background, and slowly showing the negative space for number 5. The transition out of the frame uses the paint in block printing starting from the number and moving out in all directions off the page. The number 4 is introduced as it is sketched from the top to the bottom with ink pen showing the different strokes, giving an illustration effect. The transition out of the number 4 is a reversal of the illustration as the strokes sequentially fade out.

The number 3 is stenciled and gets filled in with block print, and drips down the page to eventually disappear. Faint watercolor paint will diffuse into the page from every direction to fill the number 2, and the transition out will consist of the paint that fills the number diffusing up the page and progressively disappearing from the number itself. The last frame will include all the paint dripping down the page from the top, different colors at some point filling the page to introduce the end credits.

Ipod Nano Chromatic

I love the simplicity of this advertisement. The focus on color as a new feature is interesting as it only demonstrates one aspect of the iPod. I like the subtle references to different applications and videos through the iPod as they are floating. I am inspired by the minimalist approach, as they all line up and are deduced to their elements of color, as the different hues begin to drip from the iPods.

Process / Experimentation

Inspiration

As I progress into this project, I continuously get inspired by different things, and the video posted above is one of them. I love the personal touch it brings, and the process of illustrating the monsters being shown. It is unique, and no two drawings are the same. My idea shown through my storyboards are attempting to show a more raw and personal feel of visual art showing the evolution and progression of typography through the typeface of the numbers, by using more loose material through the flow of paint, ink and printing. I feel like showing the process of painting out or drawing the numbers in the countdown using different material would bring an interesting feel and point of view, which I am looking into experimenting with.

Found Images

These are some water color, ink and block printing images I found while researching and looking for inspiration to get going on my countdown. They represent a combination of a raw experimental art feel that I am going for.

Heartbeat Critique

Heartbeat from Justin H on Vimeo.

Note: the video posted above is the final version of the project. this critique occurred with a previous version (rough cut).

We like the gentle approach Justin took to this project in comparison to the first exercise he produced entitled “Death From Above”. We have a strong appreciation for both, but the contrast was apparent immediately. We felt a calmness while watching this video based solely on the visuals. As it stands in his rough cut, Justin has yet to add audio, but we would hope that the audio adds to this feeling. By capturing it in still frames, and using the tiny toy robots, he succeeded in developing a quirkiness that speaks louder than an overall message. In short, character is the dominant element of this piece.

That is not to say that a message cannot be speculated. If we were to guess, we would assume that the idea behind this video is something concerned with love or life. There is nothing literally human within this piece, but the way Justin approached the subject matter (the tiny robots), he lent to them a sort of ‘human quality’. They appeared friendly, warm, and happy beings in the natural environment. By use of interesting camera angles, Justin sparked a sense of curiosity from both the perspective of the viewer and the robots. The was a strong sense of exploration, being that it took place outdoors and there were many close-ups involved.

Concept development: Seemed to be well thought-out and constructed in terms of narrative, timing and framing. There appears to be no climax to the piece as of yet, but perhaps this is not part of the story structure. We would recommend perhaps trying to develop one.

Creativity: Use of the toy robots was interesting to establish a subject and narrative. There was a great amount of experimentation involved in terms of camera angles and focus.

Technical and Aesthetic Quality: The still images used in this video beautifully shot in terms of composition, focus, contrast, and colour. There is evidence of a high level of aesthetic understanding and technical skill.