Water Story ENG 100

by | Jun 1, 2021 | Uncategorized

MY WATER STORY

Recently, I have taken up the hobby of wildlife photography, and more frequently than not this hobby leads me to water. Two weeks ago, I went to Stanley Park to try to get pictures of the goslings and various birds that are in the area currently and set up on a bench with a good view of Beaver Lake. The air was crisp, and the weather overcast so shooting conditions weren’t great, but I was determined to go home with at least one good capture to show for my efforts.

Scanning the area, I noticed a family of geese fishing in the reeds across from where I was sitting and quickly raised my viewfinder to my eye. I knew the photos wouldn’t be anything special, but it was a start, so I focused in and had my finger hovering over the shutter button waiting for the geese to raise their heads. Seconds stretch and feel like minutes, my finger shakes in anticipation, until suddenly, the geese get riled up and start yelling to the heavens. The cacophony of honks is accompanied by the parent geese taking to the air, as if possessed. I sat there confused but still looking through the viewfinder trying to figure out what was happening when a large shape dived the lake sending ribbons of water into the sky right beside the goslings. I lowered the camera so I could get a better look at the situation and saw the geese in pursuit of the culprit, an eagle on the hunt!

The eagle continued to circle the area and dive the goslings, looking for an easy meal, but the parents were on a warpath and were close behind every move it made. The goslings were going crazy, diving under the water, and darting around in the reeds, scared their lives may end before they had a chance to truly start. As the geese chasing the eagle, and the goslings start to tire, the odds looked more and more in the eagle’s favour as the swoops got closer and closer to landing their mark.

As all hope seemed lost, a gaggle of geese came out of the sky and locked their sights on the enemy. The newly arrived geese managed to catch up to the eagle and drive it away from the area. Within seconds the geese were back to grazing in the lake and the water was still. My visit ended with me walking away with no photos, but an experience that will be linked to the lake forever.

Typography infographic

by | Dec 2, 2020 | Uncategorized

TYPE a brief history

This project was a struggle to plan out, I had pages upon pages of ideas and thoughts before I landed on my final design. I knew I wanted to do the whole history of type from its creation to the start of WW2 but other than that I had no idea what to do. The long format made most ideas I had fall flat or look strange but I also didn’t want to do a basic timeline and eventually, I landed on using the letters to show the timeline. The word “history” also happened to have the perfect amount of letters for each era of typography up to the point we were to go to. I decided to spice up my title by throwing it into CMYK and offsetting my lettering so it showed the effect of misaligned print from modern printing.  I did research on a multitude of sites and on each style in particular so I got a good understanding of each and was sad to realize I couldn’t fit all the cool info I had found. Overall this project was rather fun but also extremely time-consuming as the format was MASSIVE and I also had to go and buy a pad of paper that fit the large size. The project did feel at times much like the zine but with a bit less creative freedom but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing as the zine was fun. I would give myself a 9/10 as I learnt a lot from doing the project, followed the brief well, and came out with a piece of work I am proud of and plan to put on my wall.

Sources

https://creativemarket.com/blog/slab-serifs

https://www.britannica.com/technology/typography/History-of-typography

https://www.printmag.com/post/evolution-typography-history

A History of Typeface Styles & Type Classification

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sans-serif#:~:text=Geometric%20sans%2Dserif%20fonts%20were,revivals%20have%20been%20created%20since.

https://medium.com/@jevans67/typeface-history-bodoni-f2ef2d285cfe#:~:text=Bodoni%20typeface%20has%20five%20different,characteristic%20is%20the%20vertical%20axis.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nicolas-Jenson

https://articles.c-a-s-t.com/nicolas-jenson-and-the-success-of-his-roman-type-9f0afeba4103

https://www.fonts.com/content/learning/fontology/level-1/type-anatomy/type-classifications

https://www.sitepoint.com/the-old-style-typeface/#:~:text=Old%20Style%20(occasionally%20referred%20to,15th%20century%2C%20before%20Modern%20typefaces.&text=The%20very%20first%20italic%20letters,fonts%20in%20the%20early%201500s.

Survey 4

by | Oct 20, 2020 | Uncategorized

The start of the French revolution. 1789

geopolitics

The French revolution had quite a few causes but two main ones were an incompetent king and economic struggle. King louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette were hated by the public for living a posh life as they fell into poverty and the lack of help they received. Philosophers like Voltaire and Montesquieu wrote of reform and taking power away from the monarchy, and giving rights to the working class but it was clear the only way to put these ideas into action was a revolution. So a revolution they had!

Art

Although the French revolution would push France into a new era, it would send the artists of the time looking back at the style of the past. At this time, as a sort of reaction against the grandeur and pastel colours of the Rococo period, artists looked to the Neoclassical movement as the next big thing. As Pompeii had been re-discovered, Ancient Greek and roman art and architecture was back on the rise and being used for inspiration. Art from this period is characterized by its use of subject matter from ancient Greece, duller colours, no noticeable brush strokes, and the return of “ideal beauty”.

A notable painter from this period is Jaques-Louis David, Known for such pieces as Death of Socrates and The Death of Marat.

Citations

History.com. “French Revolution.” HISTORY, A&E Television, 2009, www.history.com/topics/france/french-revolution.

Nechvatal, Joseph. “How Artists of the French Revolution Embraced Neoclassical Revivalism.” Hyperallergic, 2019, hyperallergic.com/495416/how-artists-of-the-french-revolution-embraced-neoclassical-revivalism.

Irwin, David. “Neoclassical Art.” Brittanica, www.britannica.com/art/Neoclassicism.

Survey 3: The age of Rococo

by | Oct 14, 2020 | Uncategorized

Colour

One of the key defining features of Rococo art and architecture are the colours. The palletes used in Rococo art often used many pastel colours, golds and whites which paired well with the themes of the art: love, romance, playfulness, and childish innocence. Rococo colours were far different from those of the Baroque period that came before as Baroque had a strong focus of heavy chiaroscuro and deep dark colours.

Architecture

Rococo architecture is an offshoot of Baroque that emerged in the 18th century. This style is categorized by its ornate decorations and asymmetrical stylings. Much like Rococo art, bright pastel colours and a more playful approach were synonymous with the architectural style. This style was a response to the much harsher, far less decorative Baroque architecture and intended to bring a bit more cheerful feel back into buildings. Buildings from this era often had an abundance of curves, arches, and floral reliefs and gold accents that gave rooms and buildings a sense of wonder and draw the eyes in.

Citations

“Rococo and the Elegant Designs of the Late Baroque Period.” ThoughtCo, 2019, www.thoughtco.com/rococo-art-architecture-4147980.

“Rococo.” Encyclopedia Brittanica, 2019, www.britannica.com/art/Rococo.

Yearbook Spread

by | Sep 23, 2020 | IDEA 141, Uncategorized

It took me quite a while to settle on an idea for my yearbook spread and my train of thought was all over the place but eventually it clicked! I was reading my book on RayGun magazine and realized that it was perfect for the project and if done well would perfectly capture who I am. I started researching Chris Ashworth, David Cardson and swiss grit as a whole and what guidelines I waould need to follow (turns out not very many) then I set to work designing a layout. I started by planning rough layouts and spreads on paper and figured out what photos I would need to take or use then once I had a plan I hopped on photoshop to comp together a more meticulously planned work. I spent quite a long time messing with where to place text and my pictures but once I got into the flow work went smoothly. I knew that the lettering on my hand drawn piece would be a bit tricky as Letraset is no longer sold so I went for a hand lettered approach using paint pens and Im pretty happy with the result. I think I would give myself a 9/10 as i fell i replicated the style i was going for to the best of my abilities and ended up with an end product that is recognisable as a Swiss grit inspired work.