Process and Production - Geometric Shape Animation

The first thing that i experimented with was shape morphing. I had never done this before on after effects, so i was excited to learn some new skills. I did this by changing the shapes into bezier paths, which enabled me to take keyframes from different shapes and add them after another shapes path in the timeline. This resulted in the shape morphing from one shape into another.

I decided to have my initials in the middle of one of the frames as this allowed me to have a nice centre point for the boxes to explode out of. 

I then looked into covering type with a shape in order to create the effect that the line made the text appear. I liked this effect and think it fits well with the animation. I used an "alpha TrkMat" on the shape in order to create this mask like effect on the rectangle that covers the type. 

Geometric Animation from Jack Pomfret on Vimeo.

This is the final piece I created using the different experimental methods. I added a soundtrack from freemusicarchive.org. 

Overall i am happy with the way this piece turned out. I learnt some new techniques in adobe after effects and am keen to get a more in depth knowledge of this powerful program and improve my motion skills more.

Business Lecture - Buyer behaviour and Business issues

We started the lecture by looking at buyer behaviour and the steps that are taken before a purchase. This starts buy the customer recognising they need something and then searching for something that meets the criteria of what they are looking for. They will then carry out a pre-purchase evaluation which is when they compare a product to another product that they already have experience with. The next stage is the purchase. You would think that after the purchase, this would be the end of the process, however the next step is consumption where they will have either a good or bad experience. Finally a post-purchase evaluation can be carried out where they will decide if the product was good, okay, try and justify the purchase and would buy again, or in bad instances, bad or vile.  

Understanding communication and promotion:

If you have a good understanding of who you are talking to, you can design based on what they would like. 

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs:

5. Self-Actualisation - Inflict personal values on others... 
4. Esteem and Status - A form of respect, power and worth
3. Beloningness - Trying to get a relationship, friends, a 'home', sex...
2. Safety - Gain shelter and defence.
1. Physiological - Need food and water.

It is important to think where people are situated on this hierarchy in order to design. You would always need stages 1 and 2 if you wanted to achieve stage 3 and 3 to achieve 4 etc. 

Pareto principle:

This is a principle that olds am 80:20 rule. This means that only 20% of people want the stress of making decisions. This results in 20% of people owning 80% of wealth and 80% of people owning 20% of wealth.

This is shown through the diagram. A small number of businesses all own multiple smaller ones. Even though this is not plain to see usually, it is happening. And the 80:20 principle is evidenced.

Communication Issues.

Sender > Message > Encode > Transmit > Decode > Receive

We spoke about messages being encoded and how this can effect how someone interprets the message we are sending. When sending a message there is often some disruption half way through which is referred to as noise or interference. In order to make sure the message is perceived clearly, a good thing to do is send it in multiple different forms therefore if one encryption does not make it past the interference, then another might and the message will be understood. If the message is received and understood, it will be accepted or rejected. 

Growing up - mental and physical alterations:

We looked at how as we grow up, the way we think changes. And this is down to society and how we get used to the social norms and conventions of the world we live in. As a baby through to 14, we learn through experimentation. However as we get older, 14-30, our social independence increases. This social independence increases the most we we become old as the physical decay that we suffer makes us rely on society in order for us to have the first 2 stages of Maslow's hierarchy of needs and in good cases, stage 3. 

Light and dark colour perception:

Peter went on to talk bout light and dark colour perception. This made me think about the way in which i design, and how i should always think about what environment the design will be situated and when people will see it. For example, if the design is going to be seen at night, it is important to think about the lighting, as the colours can be lost to the naked eye when no light is reflecting off them. The digram is an excellent indicator of this. 

Process and Production - Zine

In this session of process and production with Nick, our task was to create an single paper 8 page zine. A zine is a cheaply made, cheaply priced publication, often in black and white, which is mass-produced via a photocopier They are commonly known to be used for people making small publications based on a tv show or game as a fanzine.

We were given 8 words to illustrate in a zine. These where:
- Emoticon
- Off
- Share
- Live
- Dream
- Minimise
- Like
- Update

Out if all of the pages that I created, I have to say that my favourites are the emoticon page as well as the share page. I enjoyed creating the zine as it was nice to get off the computer and do something hand made. 

Process and Production - Typesetting

For the first Process and Production with Aiden Nolan,we looked at type setting.

This began by looking at the basic layout of typography. We have been taught this before, looking at the tails, defenders and ascenders etc. However it was a nice recap, and got me thinking about typography as an actual design and not just text.


Kerning

We then moved onto kerning. Kerning is the process of altering the space between each individual characters within a word. As you can see below er experimented with the words Windows and Claws. I found that kerning with the word "claws" was harder as the "A" and the "W" can make it hard to do by eye.

Tracking

After kerning we moved onto tracking which is the process of a;tiring the spacing of a whole word, or a line of text. 

We were asked to experiment on the words Jupiter and Jawwal. This was my experiments shown above. It is a lot easier using tracking as it is done automatically to look even. However kerning is essential in some instances where the letter forms do not look right on the eye, even if they are numerically correct. 

Leading 

We the experimented with leading which allows the user to create different densities in the text. This can be a good way to help fill a block of text, or make the words easier to read. 

This was my experimentation with leading. As you can see, there are different densities throughout the block of paragraphs. This is easy tool to use, and can make all the difference when designing a publication. 

Cropping

We then looked at cropping. Type does not always have to be concerned with legibility and communication, you can use it for decoration, pattern, texture and many creative opportunities. I experimented with this concept and this is what the result was:

Choosing suitable typefaces

Choosing the correct typeface for a word can mean all the difference between good and bad design. I experimented with this in the session. These are some examples:

Dynamic Type 

The next task we had was to make the word represent itself. These are some of the things i came up with: 

Overall I enjoyed the session. My favourite part was the last task as this let me get more creative. However I believe that the start of the workshop was the most important. Type setting and presentation is very important in design and looking at kerning, tracking, leading and cropping is an essential in order to improve as a designer and is something i will be thinking about in my projects. 

Cybernetics: Research 6 (Typeface)

Typeface: 

Memphis:

I saw this font through a an email promoting Revolution Bars Plc, and liked what I saw. I used the website "Whatthefont.com" in order to find out what the font was. It turned out to be Memphis. I am going to use this font for headers. I chose this particular typeface because of the block printed style that i am going with. I think the sharp corners and the blocky style will work very well with this visual. 

Cybernetics: Research 5 (Fold MockUp)

I decided to create a small mockup of the folded booklet in order to get a sense of where each page will be situated when it is folded, as well as how i needed to set out the design work in order for the booklet to be printed correctly. 

The inside of the booklet

The inside will just be designed as one long piece of art. I added the letters in order to see where the other panels would be when folded.

This is how it will be folded

After folding the mockup, i realised that the D panel on the back would be situated next to the C panel on the front. This made me think about what design I would put on this panel. 

The main reason for the mockup was to see where the panels where situated on the back. It became clear that i would have to design the back from right to left instead of left to right. 

I am glad that i created the mock up as it has helped to get a clearer idea of how to layout the design. 

Cybernetics: Research 4 (Feedback 2)

New process idea:

When looking into the facts about technology and the effects on children, it came to the conclusion that instead of creating the the net based print that would have shown the decisions made by a person and how technology effects those decisions, i have now decided to go down another route.

I am now going to create a type of timeline that will outline the pros/cons and looking at a neural aspect of how technology is effecting people. This will be presented on a roll fold booklet, as i think this will give me a nice area to work on, allowing me to utilise the full work area and create some nice layout solutions.

Roll Fold Dimensions

Design idea:

In order to make the visual look more aesthetically pleasing to the eye, my intention is to create a digital version of wood block printing. This, with a vintage texture and a selected colour pallet in my opinion will allow me to create a beautiful visual, which will help me outline my concept in a visual way. 

Wood Block Effect

Texture

Jonny's Feedback:

— Got a few good starting points, you need to really think about your pro/against/neutral stance on social medias effect on our idea of social reality vs digital social network. You've talked today about the scary prospect of digital/social taking over more and more of our lives, the next thing you need to consider is whether this is good or bad and whether this affects people differently. Does living in a virtual social network—that may appear fake to outsiders—outweigh a more conventional network like family meals etc. Should we encourage children to embrace an even faster social network and communication network, or discourage them (either way they will probably opt in). Should we be attempting to speed up ahead of the curve or continue to exist in an outdate mode.

Network Ego
Your ego, disseminated through a network – virtual and real. What is being said and what is being hidden as we endlessly curate and control the media perimeters of our lives. How has the acceleration and integration of social media affected the perception of ourselves and our egos? 

The question the piece will make the person ask themselves:

How does the network ego effect the self? 

Looking at the positives/negatives/neutral
positive - escapism.
negative - lost in virtual world - loosing grip of reality.