My responsibility was the creation of packaging for our product, the KlariNova. The packaging was a challenge because I wanted a simple and uniquely designed quality package small enough to fit into a clarinet case, yet large enough to provide protection for the product. The design needed to be simple for a couple of reasons: First, the products sold to musicians generally do not have a whole lot of design in them (most are just a white with the logo). This means that some crazy design/packaging may not be favorably accepted within our target audience. Next, this product is outside of the musical norm. I wanted to capture the innovation, simplicity and traditional musical aspect in the package design. This is the front of the package:
What I like most about this design is the purple highlights. The highlights on the box represent stage lights bending, which will create a rainbow effect on the keys when watching a staged performance. Our vision was to use the same idea but with our company colors.
The Law of Continuity is at play here. Everything looks very smooth and flows to the vertical rod on the left side of the box and is countered by the logo asymmetrically placed on the other side - balancing out the design.
This picture is an increased size of the side of the box; attempting to make the words easier to read so that our concept will be understood. The Klarinova is a new concept, which we felt marketing would benefit from a little explanation and also a small sales pitch. (Especially if someone walks into the music store unaware of the product.) We wanted the package to sell itself.
The Law of Closure is at play here; most of the space is black but the outline of a clarinet is clearly seen.
The Law of Simplicity can be seen as you view the full design. I see straight lines most the time where - if you were to look at each line - but a few of the words are actually not in a straight line.
The logo will go on small ends of the box on each side. Why the ends? The box will open up - the top pulls off from the bottom (which is standard among music products because of the ease of getting to the item). Because of how the box is opened, the logo will always be seen when opening the package and holding the box. The other benefit is the location of the store bar code. (I can't tell you how many times I have seen the bar code placed over the logo or other important details.) By placing the logo on the small ends of the box, the bar code will not likely end up covering the logo. This adds increased visibility because of the unreliable way music stores typically place bar codes. We left the side of the box blank in order to save room for QR codes and the pesky bar codes for each store.
Each member of my group blogs will be copied below mine for
your reading pleasure and so ya'll know what we were up too.
We did Pirates of The Caribbean
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xe9YBJt0x14
This are the Real Art Directors for the film
Derek R. Hill
Michael Powels
James E. Tocci
Donald B. Woodruff
Now time for my analysis of the film!
My group chose Pirates of the Caribbean; I am the art
director. Much is happening in this film as related to the jungle scene. We
selected the jungle scene because of its great landscape, but more importantly
because of its parallel to Captain Jack Sparrow’s personality. Sparrow's ability to make others feel like a
friend although no one really knows anything about him, is just like the
jungle. His charismatic personal personality follows the jungle in how both he
and the jungle demand attention. Both
are beguiling - charming or enchant -someone - often times sometimes in a
deceptive way. Both are also beautiful but if given a moment of relaxation they
can be deadly.
I have two favorite artistic moments. First is when we see
Jack tied to bamboo and fruit bookends both sides. The second is when he falls
through the old bridges - akin to every other action movie were they jump out a
window and go through window shades - landing safely at the bottom.
During the boat scene, it appears to be CGI or at the very
least cut and paste process. Early in the film when the Black Pearl is beached
is another CGI. (I am assuming that to be the case as well near the end of our
clip - still in the process of looking for its confirmation.)
The last disappointment is a failure on the art director’s
part. Towards the end of the scene - as the crew heads back to the beach - we
see in the sand many tracks of footprints running back to the boat. I Wish
someone would have taken the excess footprints out with CGI or at least grated
over the sand between each take.
My job in the group was the Director of Photography. The
Director of Photography in a film is responsible to contribute to the overall
feel of the scene by determining the lighting, framing, selecting film stock
and moving the camera.
Overall, this scene is action-packed and humorous. The
Director of Photography’s goal was to make a dangerous situation humorous,
which is not uncommon for a Pirates of the Caribbean movie. It seems to be a
recurring theme that shows up in the screenplay as well as in the DOP’s work.
The Director of Photography in the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
was Dariusz Wolski.
-0:12: Lighting: The scene as a whole uses mostly natural
light. However, here, how the faces closest to the opening are most highlighted
and the faces toward the back are so dark in contrast. This gives the illusion
that the cave extends backward really far. This makes it more realistic and was
a deliberate move taken by the DOP.
-0:24: Moving the camera: When Jack jumps from one cliff to
another, the camera pans across the space with him, making our eyes move
horizontally across the screen and amplifying the distance.
-0:53: Framing: Jack is framed artistically here. We can’t
see his entire body. He is cut at the torso and his right hand is out of the
frame. He’s very asymmetrical. Also, he’s not exactly centered between the two
mountain peaks. This makes this frame much easier on the eyes and interesting
than if he were perfectly centered in the shot and we could see his entire
body.
-1:12: Framing: How the bamboo pole fell right next to
Jack’s face. Depp has such an animated face and his humorous expressions are
often highlighted. This was deliberate work of the DOP. You can find this type
of thing in many parts of this scene, but to me, this was the most pronounced
and dramatic example.
-1:23: Selecting film stock: Greenish/blue tint to the
scenes on and near the ship. This makes it feel more wet and ocean-y.
-2:01: Framing: Running sequence. DOP used different frames
and angles in order to make it more interesting and more drawn out.
1. 0:36 seconds- Shows a close up of Jack Sparrows face. Now
to most people you see the paint and think "oh he has paint on his
face." But if you look close you can see that the green on his nose really
catches your attention. That helps to bring focus to his face. He wears mostly
dark colors so when you see something out of the ordinary on him, it really
stands out. Once you take your focus off of the green you see the white eyes
and you really start to see him as more than just a pirate. More as if he was
apart of the tribe. I thought the make up artist did a great job portraying
almost a change of character just through the make up. It really helped to make
it not only entertaining but easier to follow.
2. 0:44-0:55 seconds- This is when Jack Sparrow falls
backwards off the cliff and is unraveling the rope that binds him to this
bamboo stick. I think that the choice of costume really helped to show his
speed. His locks from his hair were whipping around and his loose clothing was
flapping in the wind. This helped to show movement. If the costume would have
been tight with short hair I don't think the scene would have been as
enjoyable. You are definitely able to tell he is falling just by what is
happening with his clothing.
3. 1:31 seconds- This scene shows the crew worker who lost
his eye ball and is on the ground searching for it. I loved the way his
clothing and hair are. The missing eye ball helps to tie together his costume
also. It shows he is lower class. His greasy hair and dirty skin help to give a
sense he works on the ship but the dark clothing and the way it is designed for
his body just really make you believe he is a pirate. It isn't just his costume
but his just fits his character. Almost like each costume is designed for the
character in mind not the costumed designed and then just thrown on the actor.
I think this helps to give a sense of realism.
4. 2:17 seconds- This scene shows the tribe chasing after
Jack and I love the costumes for this tribe because of this scene. When you
stop the scene exactly on the second mark you can see that their costumes are
made for running. They have no restrictions they are free to move and be quick
about it. Barely any clothing gives me a sense they are hunters. I enjoyed the
costumes because you can pretty much tell what type of person their character
will be, it just helped to tie the movie together. I also like the make up in
this scene. The dark colors give a sense of strength so with the movement
showing speed and the costumes showing hunters and the make up showing strength
the whole outfit ties together telling you these people are bad asses and you
probably don't want to mess with them.
5. 2:20 seconds- This shows Jack Sparrow running away from
the tribe. Just like a said before the loose clothes and hair shows movement
which is nice because it enhances the scene. What I really noticed was the
jingling coming from his costume. I think it is jewelry but costumes are just
about the looks you were able to hear it too. I liked that because it made me
feel like I was really there being able to hear every single detail.
It is easy to say that Costume and Make up play a HUGE role
in any production. Without those two components you would have a really hard
time defining the character and that to me isn't very entertaining. I like
being able to say a characters name and the image I get is not of the actor but
the character in costume and all. It isn't an easy job though. Lots of time and
effort goes into making every single costume and to have the creativity to
design each one differently takes a lot of skill. No one did it alone that is
for sure. And even though Penny Rose is the only costume designer listed, she
even admits that without the people who help her she would not be able to
accomplish what she has done.
There are make up artists. In fact there are over a hundred.
Here are a few titles to those who helped on set:
Our group decided to do Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead
Man's Chest. I decided to do the role of
the production designer. In Pirates of
the Caribbean Rick Heinrichs was the production designer.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xe9YBJt0x14
The production
designer is responsible for the overall look of a filmed event. They have one of the key creative roles in
the creation of motions pictures and television. They work directly with the producer and
director. They must select the settings
and style to visually tell the story.
1:01-
Jack falling through the wood bridge with the man standing
on it
1:06
All the fruit falling from the sky, landing on the bridge
1:16
Jack finally falls on the land. The stick falls next to him, then the fruit
follows. The ground s covered in various
plants.
2:39
Jack finally gets on the ship, is hanging on to a rope and
water splashes into his face.
Parker Cracroft - The stewardship of the Director is to approve everything. He is the final decision. As a director, they focus on continuity, sound, and camera teams. Similar to football, a director will break down footage with his cast and crew to get things just as they need to be. I'm sure this film was difficult to direct for Gore Verbinksi because of its fast pace and multiple angles which require precision but at the same time it's goofy/fun mentality would make it comfortably creative. What I mean by comfortably creative is a director, working with someone like Johnny Depp would be so fun because of his creativity and ad lib capability.
The metaphor I will use for the director is that of an artist and his paint brush. The director is the artist and the paint brush is his talent. He always has a hold on his talent and works so closely to them to make sure they are productively carrying out the image/picture he has in his head.
Gore Verbinski worked with numerous types of cameras throughout the film and a list of them are:
In the clip that we chose, art director, production design, director of photography, and wardrobe mesh very well. This being said, the director is the one who makes it mesh. He is very particular in the way each reel is shot. For example, the artist and his painting. He has to have a certain kind of brush to create the detail he wants in his painting. Same goes for each shoot. He has this image in his head but has to have the right tools (camera, ward robe, set, etc) to make sure it turns out perfectly.
The first photo is the primary photo I will discuss but I did uploaded a few more because I learned something else while trying to take a picture for this project. All my photo's follow what we talked about in class, but I will only discuss the first one because it is my favorite from the group.
This first photo follows the rules of thirds well. One of the fret markers on the guitar in one of the intersections and the players hand near another intersection.
The diagonal line of the guitar fret board gives me the feeling that the musician's hand is moving up and down the frets as he plays his melody.
I think there are a few vectors in this image. The most prominent to me are the strings. As the strings draw your eyes up the neck of the instrument and down to where we know his strumming hand and the body of the guitar must be.
Why did I post this three other photos?
Once you scroll down you'll see the images are basically the same but the backgrounds are different. Because of the slight change in backgrounds, each photo tells an amazingly different story. I will let you decide what each one means.
I will analyze two ice cream companies: Breyers and
Dreyer's. Both ice cream products are in the same price range and market
demographics. Ice cream folklore claims that Dreyer’s picked their name solely
to compete with Breyers.
I will analyze the two designs using the Gestalt principles
of Continuity and Similarity.
The Law of Continuity states that lines are seen as
following the smoothest path. From a
pure design standpoint Dreyer's wins this round. Their circle container is most
defiantly the smoothest path. Comparing
quantity of ice cream, the oblong shape of Breyers is just not as easy to hold.
I can easily picture myself curling up on the couch and eating right out of the
Dreyer’s carton as the Breyers container leaves me wondering where to lead my
hands to grab hold.
The Law of Similarity - To better show this law I have
inserted several pictures of a variety of ice cream competing in the same market.
Setting the cartons side by side, which one stands out? While Breyers has one of the
most unique containers, standing out in this case is not the best idea because it matches two of the cheapest ice creams on the market. They
are attempting to take a more luxurious approach to marketing in their price
range, but they just seemed to get buried in the freezer section of the grocery
store. Breyers missed the mark when it comes to family consumer pricing; seeming
to market to a different consumer Who may not even look at the ice cream
because it’s not a premium. Items that
look similar tend to be grouped together; Breyers may be end up becoming an
outlier.
The vertical lines on the Dreyer’s package not only make the
container look larger but seem to point to the lid begging to be opened creating
a fun filled ice cream eating atmosphere while the Breyers lid gets lost in all
the darkness. The Breyers black
background and vanilla ice cream looks sharp when you put it together but the
moment you place a chocolate based flavor (see top) on their label it no longer looks
crisp but dirty. Dreyer’s hits the mark as the background color corresponds to
the flavor in the package. This keeps each flavor looking just as fresh as the
next.
Saturday, September 13, 2014
I love how the building
just seems come out of the ground.
Please excuse my Google earth image of the surface image of the water fixture in front of the Eccels. For some reason the staff and faculty did not want me on the roof of the building.
Here I see the Law of Pragnanz.
I walk past this fountain every day and have always seen it as a triangle - a simple form - or maybe even as a diagonal line; but as I was taking pictures for this project I wondered what it looks like from the top?
Maybe it is just me, but if you stare at this image it starts to look like a music note.
As the ceiling panels cascade smaller and smaller, I see The Law of Continuity
The Law of Proximity is in play here. The announcement boards are all grouped together.
Law of Similarity: all the practice rooms and offices are all grouped together throughout the building.
In the band room there is a great example of the Law of Closure. The white beam appears as one beam the entire way around the room.
I took this picture while in stride, hiking down to the Narrows in Zion National Park via the Riverside Walk. My parents were going through my photos and discovered this shot; loved the image and decided to print and frame it - so I decided to analyze this image. I know it’s not perfect but I see a lot of contrast, balance and harmony.
Contrast - I love the
contrast between the dark rock walls - as they funnel in toward the soft blue
sky. The clouds provide softness, resembling a cotton ball. These forms of clouds
have many small cloud pieces floating around the larger, as if once joined together;
making the cloud look like a large cloud being pulled apart and a simple touch
could make the whole thing vaporize. The flowing water with the still grass and
trees around the Virgin River shows just how every piece of nature is intertwined
with other aspects. If you look closely at the bottom right you can see were
human attempts were made to keep the bank at bay. At first glance I was disappointed
that I allowed the wire to be in the shot - I did not like seeing it because of
a clear violation of such beautiful natural scenery - but I have learned to appreciate
the contrast of man struggling with nature to attempt to control the banks so
that access to visitors of the park can enjoy the contrast of a “permanent”
structure fighting against the ever changing landscape.
Balance - The picture is asymmetrical, yet filled with symmetry
as well. The rock walls - on both sides
- provide imperfect balance as the jagged tops do not line up with each other
perfectly until the two walls seem to become one. The river also provides balance
as it flows from left to right and curves back left becoming narrower as well,
leading your eyes to the majestic split canyon. Two large trees on each side provided
balance with just a little “dull” bark color in view amongst the more vivid
colors of nature.
Harmony - Going back to the grated bank of the river (lower
right) is where I find the most harmony. As humans explore try to gain easy access to an
area, when everything goes well the harmony and unmatched beauty of natural
landscape is impossible to compare. Even
when flashfloods or other natural events wipe out or change any area, the
harmony of wiping away the old with the contrast of the forming of a new environment
gives to life’s harmonies of balance.
-to be filled with wonder, amazement and emotional ahh;
-something so beautiful it makes you cry.
I need to start this post by stating that I have collected nutcrackers for as long as I can remember. I love how these simple tools - with only the single purpose of cracking nuts - are designed into beautiful wooden sculptures of toy soldiers and local villagers of Germany. The intricate, yet simplistic, detail of each one - generally carved from one piece of wood - is astounding. The simplicity of the noses of those in my collection are of particular interest to me. I have found the toy makers that try to create a realistic nose, fall short of creating an engaging sculpture (even when the nose job is something a Kardashian would be proud to display) when compared to the “standard” crescent-shaped nose. A simple tool should be just that; simple. The straight line connected to the slightly curved half triangle seems to lead my eyes directly into the eyes of the wooden toy. It’s as if the toy is peering into my soul, waiting to serve me by cracking whatever I place into its jaw.
What makes this nutcracker so stupefying to me is that I feel the same feeling as designer Richard Seymour describes when he is shown the picture of the particular flower and butterfly (as seen on the “Ted Talk”). My showpiece is one made for me by my little sister - despite being a junior at the local high school - who has become a very skilled carver using only her pocket knife. As I look her creation I see a gift of love, time and joy she put into her masterpiece.
Its color is the same as a faded blue beach house; with close examination one can see the vertical grains of the wood. The ability to see the wood grains makes this nutcracker more unique than others in my collection. I love her choice in color, although blue is not a normal color for these little toys – usually they tend to be bright and vibrant. The surface and the color gives it an organic feel which modern technology cannot reproduce. The not so perfect finish creates a nice contrast to the soft cloth used to tie his coat. This nutcracker is one the most stupefying pieces I own; making my collection feel complete.
