Kinetic Typography 2

For this session of process and production with Sarah, the task was to create a 10 second animation, focusing on typography once again. However, this time, the focus was to use the 'z space', which allows for a 3D look to be created.

I decided that I would use the quote from the Harry Potter character Albus Dumbledore "Happiness can be found in the darkest of times when one remembers to turn on the light."

As I created this, I decided that it would look better if the quote ended in a block of text, however in order to make this look more visually appealing, I changed the size and weights of the words in order to create this.

I used a template for where I wanted the text to end up at the end of the animation.

In order to create the animation that can be seen below, I used the camera feature on Adobe After Effects, and then made the text editable in 3D. This allowed me to change where the text was placed in the z axis, which therefore gave the look that the text was moving from different locations.

I created the animation backwards, setting the keyframes for where I wanted the text to end first. However the template was needed in order to re-arrange the text once it had been moved around due to the use of the z axis.

I used a paper texture from online for the background, however edited it in photoshop, by adding a grey transparent layer on top, as well as darkening the edges. I believe that this helped to add extra depth to the animation, and the viewers eyes are drawn to the centre of the screen where it is a ligher shade of grey.


HARRY POTTER QUOTE from Jack Pomfret on Vimeo.

Overall I am happy with the outcome of this session of process and production, and believe that I have learnt a new skill that is easy to use, and creates interesting and aesthetically pleasing results.

Reviewing the Essay

In this seminar we had a look at our essays, looking at what was good, bad and could be improved. We focused on the opening paragraph to the essay, but the things that were discussed could help to improve the whole thing. 

We firstly looked at how it began. We were told not to start he essay with "In this essay i will talk about" as this is not a very interesting way to open an essay, where an abstract would be much better suited, and be more interesting for the reader. 

We also looked at the length of the sentences. For the opening of the essay the sentences should not be too long, as you do not want to give away too much information on the topics that are going to be covered later on in the piece of writing. Short and medium sentences are good, as this will give enough information needed in the abstract, however still leaving unanswered question that may help to lead the reader to read on. 

I think that looking into brand/anti-brand for my essay was a good topic, as branding has become such a missive part of our society. We were told that we should always read the paragraph back and ask ourselves if it made sense, and informed the reader about everything that you wanted to put across. I think that i managed to explain branding and anti-branding thoroughly in my introduction.  

Typographic Transcription: Tasks 1 - 3

Task 1: Shapes to make letterforms 

For process and production, we were instructed to create the letters ANESG in our own typefaces. 

I went for a geometric look, and focused on incorporating thin lines to the typeface on the first design. I am happy with the result however believe that they could be refined further. 

I attempted to create a chaotic looking typeface for my second design. I did this through adding lots of lines inside of the letters which then formed random shapes.

For my final typeface design, i wanted to be as minimalistic as possible. This used very basic shapes in order to create the letters.

Task 2: Three Rough Alphabet

I created an alphabet for each of the three styles that I originally created. However, I refined the first one which I intend to bring forward for the final alphabet. 

Out of each style, the shapes within the letters is my least favourite. I think that the chaotic look does not work very well as a font, and could become confusing if it was used. 

I like the simplistic alphabet, however, this could also become hard to read of put into a sentence.

Out off all of the styles, I decided to bring forward the first style which has been refined for task 3.

Task 3: Finalise alphabet and sentence

I am happy with the typeface i have created. The shapes are very interesting within the type, and it is still very easily read. I do not believe that the other two designs would have been as easy to read, therefore i think i made the right choice bringing this typeface design forward. 

Photoshop creative workflow

Photoshop is a program that i am familiar with, and have used more than programs such as InDesign. It is one of the programs that i used when first becoming interested in graphic design, and was able to use the program through high school and college. Unlike Illustrator, which is a vector based program which means that the elements of the things you make are made up of lines, therefore the image will not pixilate however far you zoom in, Photoshop is a bitmap based program. This means that the work that is created though photoshop can pixilate as it is made up of pixels. However, it is a very powerful program, and should be primarily used for editing photos.

The first thing that we did in the session was explore the different colour modes of pictures. In order to do this i first selected an image on my computer as shown below.

In order to change the colour mode i selected the image drop down menu and clicked mode, which then gives an assortment of options that can be used to edit the image. I chose the greyscale option.

After applying the grey scale to the image. I then selected the duotone in the image and adjustments. This allows 2-4 colours to be added to the image in the place of regular black and white. After messing around with different combinations of colours, i came to the end result shown below. 

The second task we were set was to none destructively edit a selfie. I chose a selfie to use from Facebook for this task, and changed it from colour to black and white. 

In order to add an effect on without destroying the image, i duplicated the image. This allowed me to place a mountain/forest landscape between the two selfie layers. 

I then used a very soft eraser tool in order to take away some of the top layer, which allowed the landscape to show through. I changed the opacity to 50% so that the landscape was not to harsh on the face and helped it to blend in. I also used the polygonal lasso tool. I created a path around the tie, and then used the eraser inside this path to create a clean and crisp look. This made sure that none of the selfie was erased outside of the tie.

This is my final outcome for the none destructive selfie edit. I am happy with the way it has turned out, and think that the tie was a nice extra to add the landscape image onto. I enjoy using photoshop, and am sure that this program will come in useful for my graphic design practice in years to come. 

Kinetic Typography One

For this session of process and production we looked at animating typography. I decided to create an animation with the use of kinetic typography, on the font "proxima nova". As seen below, I used techniques using the 3D feature, which allowed me to animate the type using both the x and z axis. This allowed me to create some nice transitions between the different weights of the font.

Proxima Nova Animation from Jack Pomfret on Vimeo.

I am pleased with the result of this animation. The use of type in this way has interested me, and I intend to look further into the concept in a future project.

Prequel / Sequel

In this lecture we looked at prequel and sequel. This was looking at the fact that nothing is original, and the different designs that we see are usually inspired by other pieces of deign through history. People can still be creative and original work for themselves, it does not mean that people practically copy others work. however they guide their creative process in the direction that others have previously done, therefore being inspired by past pieces of work.

"Those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing." - Salvador Dali

This quote speaks volumes. And helped to lead on to looking at internet memes. These are a perfect example of a prequel / sequel as they are completely unoriginal. People still love internet memes because they are funny, but they have no value.

Finally, to conclude the lecture, we watch a video called "Everything is a remix". This was very interesting and was defiantly my favourite part of the lecture as i am into music in general, and it was interesting to see the creativity of music explained in depth. The documentary looked at how artists have used different sample beats that have been used before in other songs to create their own. It also explained the laws and regulations about using the beats. From this i took that legal remixing is fine, however illegal copying is not.

Visualisation of sound

For the first theory lecture back in the second term, we looked at the visualisation of sound which is the second project. Each week we will have a piece of music to respond to, which can be approached in a variety of different ways. We were encouraged to go beyond the means of just digital work, as this project has a lot of scope for more traditional practices in both print and animation.

There are at least 3 possible outputs covering both static and motion based responses. These include; notation, interpretation and experimentation.

We were introduced to graphic notation. This could be an interesting way to visualise sound, as graphic notation refers to any kind of music notation that uses pictures, symbols or illustrations, instead of or in addition to regular notation. 

Jacob Thompson-Bell said that:musical scores can be just as satisfying to look at as they are to listen to. This got me thinking of the different things that could possibly be used for notation. Could anything be used from ordinary everyday things if their was just a key to it? This is an interesting thought. However complicated the notation my become, there must be many ways of notating music for someone to play.

Jacob Thompson-Bell said also stated that visual art can be a powerful improvisers seeking musical parallels to the shapes and imagery of different creative mediums. 

This is the oldest form of notation, which is in cuneiform writing inscribed on a clay tablet. This is a form of logographic writing which dates back as far as 2000BC. The song is known as Hurrian Hymn No. 6, which apparently dates back to 1400 B.C.E. The piece was discovered in syria in the 1950's and was interpreted by Dr. Richard Dumbrill. The piece was performed by the very talented musician Michael Levy on solo lyre.

We then looked at various other ways that sound could be represented in a visual and aesthetically pleasing way. We looked at various different visuals, some looking into more abstract design. However one that stood out for me was a piece by Ligeti, G (1958).

This specific piece stood out to me as looking at it logically, i can kind of make out what is going on. With the other visual music scores that where exhibited, i did not understand how they could possibly be read. I myself can read notation to some extent for treble clef and bass clef, as well as drum notation also, therefore i can appreciate musical scores.

We then looked at some animations. One that stood out for me was the lyric video. I think that this would be a fun thing to create, and would allow me to improve my skills on after effects. 

We discussed that 2 experiments should be carrier out each week in order to complete the requirement of 8 experiments by the end of the project. These should be as experimental as possible, and can be either/both digital/ non-digital. 

Overall, the lecture gave me some ideas to think about, and i look forward to the coming project.