Farewell, Fond Friend!

Time passes by like crazy... I'm almost done my first semester of RTA. That means I'm almost 1/8th into getting a university degree! This is my last blog post for the class, but I hope to continue blogging about RTA-related topics throughout my years of study here at Ryerson. 

As a visual learner I really enjoyed digital media lectures. They were my favourite of the week because there were so many visuals and examples that kept me focused and interested. My professor is a very clear and expressive speaker, which was a great help educationally, as I understood the lectures and did not need to take many notes. Although the lecture size is quite large (consisting of about 150 students) the classes felt intimate and interactive, even compared to my other class lectures with only 40 people! We also had a 2 hour lab for this class. First off, I obviously like the fact that the class sizes were small because it allowed more interaction with the teacher. I liked the way we presented our projects in front of our classes, as critique sessions where we viewed, and commented about our peer's final products. You learn a lot from understanding other's opinions and reactions about your work that can be applied to future projects. I also liked that in the beginning of each class we sat in a group, in front of the teacher's desk to discuss the day's outlines and tutorials. It cleared things up and gave us a head start to our tutorials. 

I wish we had more one-on-one time throughout the week with helpers (the professor or TAs) however being forced to figure out an unfamiliar program really made you learn! It was brutal at times but it all paid off in the end for me! 

So, after the meetings in the front of the room we did the tutorials on our own with our own computers. This is the only aspect of class I didn't like too much of. I don't know about other students, but when I'm left to do something on a computer on my own , I get distracted. However, that's just me and my procrastination at its best. I got most of the tutorials done. Therefore, I kind of wish we all did together, following along with the teacher. Sounds childish, and we usually did this in libraries at my elementary and high school but it worked for me and forced me to get it done. The good thing is, as I crafted my digital media assignments and I couldn't figure out how to do something, it was usually in a tutorial sheet online, so I learned on the way anyways!

This course has made me reflect on my future. Before studying at Ryerson, I had a feeling I'd want to go into TV. To be honest, I didn't know that I was going to take a digital media class. So I haven't experienced EFP or TV courses yet but I think that my career aspirations may involve some strand in tv or digital media. I am thinking of digital media, because I enjoyed all the projects we did, specifically web design and I remember my professor telling us back in the first classes that we are great resources for companies as our generation is very knowledgable of social media. I like that digital media is always growing and changing. Also, as stated before, although I really needed help at some points in the production process of my work, being on my own forced me to learn by myself, which was rewarding in the end. So now I feel more confident with digital software, especially After Effects. I do not know why but I don't feel as confident as I should with photoshop but I think I'll get into it more on my own. 

The most important skill I am taking away from this course at the moment is embracing the social global network and building a positive online identity. Building my online identity involves everything I have learned in this course (after effects = youtube, photoshop = logos + photography portfolio, blogs = growing as an online writer). I have obviously learned so much in this course but the online identity and digital footprint is an aspect that always caught my attention and I can relate it to so much of my freshly acquired knowledge. The digital footprint idea is very relevant int his age and should be considered by everyone.

Well this is my last blog for this class, honestly it makes me sad how fast time goes by but I'm excited for the future. 


Anyways, it's been a blast - thanks for this fantastic 1st semester!

- Karoline

(week 13)

Web Design & Interactivity

There's always been discussion in RTA about the interactivity of storytelling in the modern age.

If you think about it, in the past we only "listened" to stories being told - be it in television, radio, music, paintings, dance, theatre, and so on. Today, however, the division between medium and audience is fading, allowing us to take part in the storytelling! Early interactivity trends started with participatory art, fluxes, and in terms of technology the GUI - Graphics User Interface, the first computer that had graphics! Before this, computers were only used for writing. Introducing graphics into home computers introduced graphic editing, video games, and everything went from there. Then when the internet started in 1993, it opened a new world of possibility and storytelling! I think that interactivity is important because it stimulates and flourishes our creative minds and imagination (which we should have - not only at a young age). Watching is a passive action, you have no control - but when you can DO, you're being active and exercising your mind.

I'm going to talk a little about something I mentioned already: Fluxus. Fluxus was a type of participatory art that relied on the chance encounter between a participant and materials. An example I saw in my lecture was by an artist named Allan Kaprow.
He would place a plate in a public place and attach a note beside it, saying:
" This is a free plate. If you choose to take it, please leave a chalk outline of the plate and write what you plan to do with your new plate. Thanks and enjoy."
It's quite random but that's what makes it intriguing! I'd be interested in seeing the answers from people who took the plates. And that's the beauty of interactivity - people can view, share and react to others and communicate with each other thanks to this form of art.
I experienced a fluxus once in high school. As I sat in my desk I put my hand underneath the desk and noticed something taped underneath the flat writing surface. I forget what the note said exactly, but it was a list of rules relating to my high school written by various anonymous students. They were really random and funny and at the end they included an email for you to add to the list anonymously. They were taped under very few desks every month in the school.

In addition to interactivity flourishing creativity and your mind,  I'd say it also gives us well-being, because bonds are created that weren't there before. For example, some modern forms of interactive storytelling is cross-platform storytelling. This is when a story is told through various forms of media. So if you're a fan of a music group that introduces a cross-platform interactive story, like when Nine Inch Nails were promoting their album Year Zero (check it out! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Zero_(game), this gives the fan a intimidate connection to their group. The fan gets to meet and make friends with other fans in some cases, they could even meet the artists somehow or get closer to them, etc - simply a bunch of things can come out of the interactive story experience that are great, positive things.

Websites are obviously interactive and I have one now and trying to make it the best I can - it's my last assignment. Then it'll be bye-bye digital media (Time goes by fast, eh?!)

- Karoline
(week 12)

Artist Statement - Motion Graphics (Mean Girls Teaser)

So after a few weeks of familiarizing myself with after effects, this is my final project! And as you can see I did a teaser for Mean Girls, one of my all time favourite movies. The tutorials we did in class made the program seem so simple but when I actually had to execute my idea without the tutorials I needed, I'm not going to lie - I was freaking out! I had all my elements ready (audio, photos) and I had this great vision but when I opened up the program I had no clue how to start right. I was so discouraged and thought I wouldn't be able to make look how I want it to. However, after searching online for tutorials and information and after help from my peers in the lab (We were all helping each other out and having a good time - a great reason why I love my program) I DID IT!!!!!

And I am actually happy with it - Which is pretty rare for me!

Now let me tell your hat I wanted to show through this piece in terms of the actual movie. I wanted to tell the story through the 5 seconds the best I can. The first, central doll symbolizes Regina. The next frame is Regina and the 2 other original mean girls, Karen and Gretchen. In the final 2 photos the numbers increase greatly to show how Regina is the nasty popular girl, who is powerful with a growing following of girls who strive to be just like her - that means looking like her and acting like her too. This is shown through the fact that all of the dolls are identical and they are all positioned behind her. They are followers! I used scissor cutting audio for the sequencing to prevent it from becoming boring and I think it goes really well with it!

I made the title into stamps because I just felt like it gave this BANG effect. I used pink since it's a very significant colour in the movie, and I chose hot pink instead of a soft pink to show more power, or at least to me it felt more powerful and had more attitude. Soft pink is too cute. So even though the cutout dolls look cute and angelic, in the end when the girls are laughing (audio) you see the horns growing out, showing that they are not what they seem. The girls in this movie are mean, as you can see through the title. So the horns at the end show how they are fake and simply really rude to each other! I chose to make the photos black and white because they are standard, contrasting colours that are a good base to anything in my opinion.

Overall my project was made pretty simply but it was still a HUGE learning experience! At first it's scary kind of being left to figure out things on your own (that happens in nearly all my classes in RTA) but it's the best way to learned. You are forced to and it's worth it in the end. So, again, it was a simple concept but I think the simplicity worked. 

HOW I DID IT ON AFTER EFFECTS: I knew I wanted to do stop motion because I just love the way it looks, perhaps because I am a photographer. Then I created the title in photoshop using a stamp effect tutorial. Finally, I added in the growing devil horns. The devil horns took me a while to figure out. I left it to the end, after I had the image sequence and stamp title effect. I finally figured out how to do it! I selected the central doll in photoshop, made it a png file and pasted it on top of the original image in after effects. I drew the two devil horns in photo shop and pasted them in after effects too and put them under the duplicated central doll. Then I put a position keyframe so that the devil horns would move out from under and expose themselves to full size. Voila! I was going to add in a devil tail that grew out and wiggled but I was happy the way it looked just with the devil horns - it was subtle but effective in my opinion.

- Karoline

(week 11)

Showing you my motion!

Hey! This is my update to you about how my motion graphics assignment is coming along! So far I have the elements needed to create my motion graphics - that's the photos and my audio. I will need to create some animation but that will be on the program. 

I have the audio I made in class using the sound effects from the iTunes library. I want to upload it on here but I cannot upload mp3 files unfortunately. It's 4 scissor cuts for each photo sequence and then girls laughing until the end, when the devil tail and horns appear on the centred cutout doll. For my title I will try to animate it as if I'm writing it on. I may need to add audio for that so before I render the entire movie I'll edit and add to the audio files to fit the video. 

Those are samples of 2 of the photos I'm going to use. The colouring is faded so I will need to use the burn/dodge tool to increase the contrast. First, a little history behind these photos. Looks like it would be simple to shoot and get the footage but you are wrong. I'm a photographer but for some reason I was having a lot of problems with this part!

So I started off with sequencing 4 photos I took at home. I used a black bristol board and made cutout girl dolls out of white printer paper. The 4 photos were really annoying shoot because I couldn't find my tripod for the first few hours at home so whenever I had to take the next photo, I was always shooting from the wrong angle. After trying for like an hour, I got the 4 photos and it looked cool because the lighting was different ever so slightly, giving a cool stop motion effect, and then.... I accidentally deleted the last one - the most difficult to get right. And I already cleaned up my workplace! I didn't want to spend another few hours to redo it so I really searched for my tripod and I found it.

So I wanted the cutout dolls in the photo to be in the same general area and have the lighting to be different ever so slightly (as stated before) but I realized I could just change the lighting values in photoshop so that didn't concern me. Well, I got the 4 new photos quickly and I was finally happy! I moved the dolls around a very tiny bit in each photo to give it a cool motion graphic effect. I'm happy with the positioning. 

To be honest I'm kind of scared right now. I have my elements but since after effects is new to me I'll have to figure out a lot of stuff on my own - the thing that's concerning me most right now is the animation aspect - the devil tail, horns and the title. You'll see how it goes. It's crazy how by Tuesday it'll be done - I have no idea how the final product will look!

- Karoline

(week 10)

COLOUR

Hey, so this post is about "blogger's choice" so I decided to expand more on colour and its importance. I'll also show you some examples. I had a colour lecture in the beginning of the semester, but I'm also talking about it again in my media tech class, which is why I decided to discuss it once again. I've always loved visual arts and managing colours. Anyhow I'm going to put up 3 cd covers that I believe effectively used colour.

1. MGMT - Time To Pretend

I believe this is an excellent cd cover and the colour is great. There is a focus on pink/red tones with splashes of blues and yellows. Therefore, as you can see, the primary colours are shown in the cover. I like the fact that there's a lot of patterns in which the different shades of these colours are shown. I really like the type used for the title and the fact that it is simply outlined thinly in white. It balances the photo. The position and colours found in the title and the subjects make both elements equally noticeable - not just one over the other.

2. Deep Purple

I personally love posters/covers that include the classic black and white contrast element while adding in colour on just the subject. This is a cool, abstract cd cover and the fireball is the only thing coloured. It's coloured with 3 main colours, that are triads. A triad is 3 equidistant colours on the colour wheel which results in a colourful, yet balanced scheme. In this case, the three colours are yellow/ orange, purple/pink and blue. Overall I also think this is a very balanced cover in terms of placement and colour.



3. SPICE GIRLS

This CD cover has a lot of colours going on, but I can see where the producers wanted the main focus to be. The first focus is in "SPICE", where they use large font and the primary colours in slightly varying shades. The additional first focus is the 5 girls, dressed in many different colours but since the background s white and the girls are small, I think the fact that the girls wear colourful clothing gives the cover a playful feel and the business adds to it. The colours really appeal to a fun, pop-loving audience.


- Karoline
(week 9)

After Effects & My Work

As of a few weeks now, my class moved on from photoshop and started After Effects!
I'm happy to finally be able to work with this program. For years I kept running into ideas for videos and I never had the program to do any of it! (The programs are expensive and I didn't have a good computer for it).

That being said, I'm excited to keep learning. I'm going to apply my knowledge into my own youtube videos, coming soon! So far, it's pretty straight forward. I pity movie-makers who lacked helpful programs like After Effects in the past, since the program is easier than I thought - you mark with your keynotes and After Effects does everything in between.

I'm doing my motion graphics assignment on the classic movie: Mean Girls. From the start, I had a clear idea but it took quite some time to decide on the final idea because I kept thinking of alternate ideas that revolved around the same topic. The topic/idea I'm focusing on is dominance, since these mean girls were obviously dominant.

I'm going to incorporate girl cutouts that grow... you'll see what I mean when the product is finished. At the end, the girl in the centre will grow devil horns and a devil tail to show her evilness. So far I've got my audio and the vision of it in my head. Excited to put everything together and hopefully I won't encounter too many problems!

I'm glad that we were able to pick any movie/show/etc. to promote, since we are familiar with what we choose and probably enjoy it a lot. It was same with our photoshop cd cover/poster assignment. That's a reason why I enjoy this class!

- Karoline
(week 8)

What's Your Type?

AMADEUS.

The typeface in this dvd cover seems to be Times New Roman or something similar. The typeface is formal and elegant, reflecting the setting of the movie and also appealing to the target audience, which are older adults. Older as in probably 30 and up. However, I'm 18 and this is personally one of my favorite movies, probably because I grew up with it. I know many people my age who can never get through the movie without falling asleep!
Back to the topic. The letters are straight and toned down, different and plain compared to some outrageous and curvy movie cover typefaces. However, the typeface is definitely suitable because there is a strong contract of white on black and the type is large, bold and almost centered. The first and last letter are larger than the rest to add that little extra it would have needed. The typeface is consistent throughout the poster, which is good. There are few keywords on top that are small and lead into the huge typeface of the title, creating further contrast.
* got this movie poster from http://ca.movieposter.com/poster/MPW-18717/Amadeus.html - thanks!
 
THE BREAKFAST CLUB.

The typography in this movie poster is meant to look as if it were written by chalk, since it is on top of a chalk board (duh). The font doesn't seem to be written by a teacher since it is casual and curvy and very large. Therefore, the font is most likely meant to be appear student written, which is suitable since the major target audience of this movie are high school students. The typography is effective since it clearly addresses the target audience. Also, the large size of the type across the blackboard provides an appearance of rebellion and dominance, which are themes in this movie. 

* got this movie poster from http://www.amazon.com/Breakfast-Club-Flashback-Emilio-Estevez/dp/B001AEF6BI - thank you!

MOULIN ROUGE.
The typeface in this DVD cover are capital, tall, letters. The letter's color is light yellow, like lights, and there are even vegas-style lights aligning each letter. It's literally an attention-seeking typeface, which works with the themes in the movie. These typeface qualities suggest that the movie may be set in the city, in an entertainment district or venue. The typeface also gives off an energetic feel. I believe that the typography is effective because it clearly clues the audience into the mood, setting, and perhaps plot. The target audience are people over the legal age and perhaps late adulthood since the typeface gives off a feel of nightlife, entertainment, casinos, sex, and so on.

* got this movie poster from http://www.moviegoods.com/movie_poster/moulin_rouge_2001.htm - thanks!

- Karoline
(week 7)

My favorite piece of Motion Graphics!

The Littlest Elf - Loverly Spring

This is a little piece of motion graphics I discovered a while back when I was a preteen and had a celebrity crush on Klaus (Liam Aiken) in the movie: Series of Unfortunate Events. The movie starts with this motion graphics piece where we see a few opening credits. For those of you who haven't watched the movie, it's based on Lemony Snicket's famous children novel series. The series (Series of Unfortunate Events) focuses on the depressing lives of 3 orphan siblings. Therefore, starting the movie with this too-happy, cheery clip added a creative contrast that entertained viewers.

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to have been successful since they stopped re-making the 13-book series into movies after the very first one. It's a shame because despite all the negative qualities in the movies, I believe the aesthetic design elements were great and creative in the movie, as seen through this introduction. I also liked the actors, especially my favourite, Jim Carrey!

I'm not sure if the environment and characters were hand-made or completely animated (maybe both?) but I love how it looks. It's got this warm, arts & craft feel. The characters look like it's been made of some kind of play-dough. I'm thinking of perhaps crafting my stop motion piece in this style if I could.

I love this piece because there are so many cool and vivid elements (music, effects, cool typeface, colors) that blend together and balance very nicely. The successful use of design in all aspects makes this an overall charming and funny piece. This story of the little elf puts a smile on my face everytime and I really get drawn into this little village every time I watch it!

PS I'm sorry my other posts were so long - but I made this one shorter! :)

- Karoline
(week 6)

Artist Statement - CD Cover

This is my album cover!

Before I start, just want to clear up something about the band name. I used the name "Sometime in November" for no reason - it was the first name that came to mind and its the name of my uncle's band*! The cover was NOT inspired by their music. Just a name!

So....
I took this photo this past summer in Wasaga beach (Prom after-party weekend) with a pentax k1000 film camera. Film is my favourite to shoot and the pentax k1000 is amazing. I took it during the day but since the sun was behind my three friends, they all became silhouettes. There was nice contrast that really gave the picture a relaxed, youthful mood. This is why I believed it was a good start for a cd cover.

I scanned the image onto photoshop and cropped it to square, so the three guys are pretty much centred. I selected various parts in the image and adjusted (and feathered) colours.  I picked vibrant pastel colours and tried to pick and blend them together as best as possible.

At first I was going to keep the original hue in the sky but I felt it needed something else. I decided to experiment, so I added the colours. I believe the colours give the image a psychadelic mood. The relaxed stance of the 3 guys, the burst of colours in the background, and the white text all contrast with each other and I hope to have positioned them all well. I also tried to play with lines so I added the strip at the bottom. Basically, I hope that overall it is a well-balanced cover.

TARGET AUDIENCE....
I wanted this kind of cover to reflect a band that plays music in the genres of classic, soft, indie rock, perhaps somewhat electronic - kind of like MGMT, who is quite eclectic. Perhaps songs influenced by classic rock songs, just generally older hits from the 70s. The typeface kind of reflects the electronic aspect - there is a 70's vibe in the photo but the typeface also modernizes it a bit.

As mentioned before, the relaxed posture of the silhouettes and the colours give it an overall mood... these are words that come to mind for me: youth, easy going, 70's vibe, psychedelic, party or post-party, summer nights, chill, friends.

In the critique, one of my classmates said that at first she wasn't sure whether she liked the white line across the album cover, but she then changed her mind. I was the same - I tried it out and I wasn't too sure about whether it fit well, but I decided to go with it anyways and I do like it now.


* Check out my uncle's band, "Sometime in November"
http://www.sometimeinnovember.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/SometimeInNovemberCA

-Karoline
(week 5)

My CBC 75th Anniversary Volunteering Experience!

This Saturday I was granted a volunteer position at the 75th Anniversary CBC Open House - It was an awesome experience!

All volunteers were assigned different areas to work in. My friend and I (Lydia, also a 1st year RTA student) was assigned to work at the News Desk station. Here, guests participated in short mock news broadcasts including news, sports headlines and weather. It went in groups of three. When the next group was up, each person would go to their spot (sports and news at the desk, and weather standing in front of a green screen) and perform their newscasts with teleprompters. It was so professional and the script was actual news from the day before! The crew recording each take and we took the footage and converted the files onto cool CBC-themed usb keys so they could take theirs home and show family and friends. It let guests experience the real thing and everyone had loads of fun. I had a great time meeting people: guests, other volunteers, other CBC workers and featured anchors and news reporters who took part in meet-and-greets with the public. 


Funny story:

I met Odette Gough (photo on the left) one of the presenters of Le Téléjournal, which is considered the French language equivalent of the English CBC's The National. She was so friendly and talked to me and my friends. She told us about her musical career and my friend told her that I sang opera. So... she made me sing opera right on that spot in front of everyone! It was extremely nerve-wracking but it was funny. Odette's friend asked me to join her french choir - which I totally would have but it was too far for me to commute. 

My own footage... I filled in a couple of times when certain groups didn't have three members. It's a lot harder than it looks! Lydia (right) and I (left) jumped in without having looked over the script and we were pretty terrible!

Volunteering for the 75th CBC Anniversary Open House was such an amazing experience. In the media industry it's so important to know people, and I definitely met a lot of people thanks to RTA. Two of my fellow volunteers and I even charmed the lighting director into giving us an all-access tour of the building! We got to climb around the sets for the children's shows, peek in on a live taping of Cover Me Canada, and sit behind the Hockey Night in Canada desk. It was definitely a surreal day and the volunteers were treated so well.


- Karoline
* thanks to http://www.lexpress.to/archives/3790/ for the picture of Odette Gough!

Target Audience

This entry will focus on a thought I developed after my digital media lecture this morning... So far, an important consideration I must make in all of my RTA classes and all productions I create is being aware of TARGET AUDIENCE.

Things to keep in mind when designing: typeface, size, colour, graphics, content. I learned this in week 3 but we talk about target audience in every class. Anyways, the choices you make in these elements will attract a certain target audience/demographic.

Let's see 3 examples... of cd cover designs! (I'm currently in a musical mode).
Let's compare three album covers which all feature a close-up of a female artist.

1. Hole (Courtney Love)

1. Typeface - Album from 1994 but the typeface reminds me of the 70s, retro feel
2. Size - Close up of face expressing happiness, bliss, excitement.
3. Colours - Warm colours - makes me feel happy, fade colours give it an older feel.
4. Graphics - Only focus on courtney love's face - which greatly contributes to target audience. She's wearing a crown, holding flowers, her make-up seems to be smudged. Mouth open hide in joy.
5. Content - Well balanced design.

Personally, through the design of this cover I could see that the target audience is:
teenagers who like to have fun, party, who are or wish to be free spirited. Looks like a party. It looks like her makeup is running - showing intense emotion. A 70's feel attracts a broader audience - people who enjoy older rock hits. It's appropriate that Courtney included these retro elements since many of her songs are inspired by classic rock artists and she puts her on grungy attitude on top of it. Her confidence shines through her photo - her music was quite different among the other music in the 90's, especially since it was coming from a girl. The cover is well-balanced - the graphics are quite extravagant and eye-catching and the title does not clash with t because it's simple with a girly edge that reflects the feminist elements in her music.


2. Taylor Swift

1. Typeface - Delicate, feminine, twirly
2. Size - Again, just her face. Natural makeup, rested facial expression. Typeface is a good size.
3. Colours - Very natural
4. Graphics - Butterflies, background patterning
5. Content - A lot of detail/textures going on but it's pretty balanced. I just don't like the background because her curly hair doesn't blend well with the background - she's clearly put out and pasted on top of it.

All of these elements are very feminine so they will attract that audience. Taylor showcases herself with natural hair and makeup and the overall effect is purity, innocence - therefore, I believe that most of the audience would be young, perhaps in their preteens and early teens. The nature feel in the cover found in the water, earth, butterfly elements and her slight glowing tan reflect her country music genre, attracting country fans. Very innocent. I think it is mainly aimed for girls and teenagers, but it is obviously open for anyone to listen.


3. KE$HA

1. Typeface - Bold, hard, scratchy, edgy.
2. Size - Typeface is also capitalized and in yellow - very noticeable.
3. Colours - Dark elements contrasting yellow/warm colours
4. Graphics - Random touches of lines and specks to add to the edginess
5. Content - Below

Her expression is a lot different compared to taylor swift's innocent smile and courtney love's huge grin. Ke$ha's expression is serious, sexual, and shows power and attitude. It's also edgier than the other two. However, I also see similarities between courtney's and ke$ha's. Kesha and Courtney shows dominance while Taylor seems vulnerable.
Anyways, the combined elements of this cover show that the album is aimed for edgier teenagers who perhaps are also free spirited, independent, want to rebel, and/or enjoy hard partying/clubbing/concerts/etc.

The idea of target audience connects through all of my classes this term - audio production, media writing, english, digital media, media tech theory, and even biology.

-Karoline
(week 4)

CRAP.

THE "CRAP" PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN

(Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, Proximity)

Hey! Today I will be analyzing images that embody certain CRAP principles of design.

1. CONTRAST

One of my favourite movies! I recommend it.

This is the Shallow Hal movie dvd sleeve.  I think this is an awesome example of effective contrast. Contrast is found in the colours used - mainly blue and yellow (primary colours), the font size and width in the title. I'm glad they stayed consistent in the font because it's an uncommon typeface for a movie. The font works for the movie content though. A nice play with lines (horizontal/vertical/diagonal). There is contrast between textures (ex. brick wall vs the rest, smooth). The two featured characters even contrast with each other in shape and colour (clothing, hair). Overall, there is a nice emphasis of contrast elements in the overall design that makes it successful! There is also effective repetition of the typeface and colours used. The paragraph alignment of the words in the description section gives it a humorous feel since it is usual and informal and also draws attention to the humorous image it is working around.

2. REPETITION

I browsed through Abercrombie today at the eaton centre - the first time in years!

This is why I chose Abercrombie to represent "repetition". 

Design is effective when one aspect is repeated throughout the page(s). This can refer to typeface, shape, stroke thickness, colour - anything visual. Throughout the website, the title logo"Abercrombie and Fitch" is placed and hidden everywhere in their website and posters, the font size varying in shape. I know that it's the title and it should be everywhere, but the fact that the size varies and the amount that is shown also varies, shows that it is repeated effectively throughout and ultimately, keeps it interesting. I've got to say that the proximity of the website is great as well. Very easy to navigate. Also, obvious black/white colour repetition and font size bring contrast to the pages. One may argue it is boring but I think the black and white is a classic contrast and it gives the website and brand a classy, high-quality and elegant feel. The makers were probably aiming for this even though a lot of their clothing is casual.

            

3. ALIGNMENT

This is also one of my favourite movies!

It is important to align items on the page appropriately to create visual cohesion. Find a common alignment! Also, typeface should stay consistent. Centre alignment should be avoided. This is because it's more difficult for the reader since new lines start at different areas each time. 

However, I believe that the centre alignment works for this movie poster. The sentences are simple and short. All the lines are around the same length, making it easy to read for the reader. A possible reason as to why this centre alignment was used was to reflect the robot boy's mind. He is like any other young boy... simple and he has the same feelings but is unfortunately trapped in the life of a robot which complicate the plot and evokes many conflicts in the movie. He is so much more than he is perceived to be and experiences strong feelings. Therefore, the simple arrangement may also show what he is perceived to be by others. Anyways, that is up for debate but bottom line, in terms of design, I think the alignment of type is effective and all other elements work together to create this successful poster. I believe the poster is very simple yet intriguing. Great contrast found in the poster, between the font sizes and colour (silver on top of black). I personally find silver on black a bit dull but I believe they chose silver to demonstrate the "metallic" feel of the futuristic setting of the movie.

4. PROXIMITY

Grouping related items together - Promixity. In other words, Organization! Doing this will create overall cohesion and organization between content and the overall design of the poster/image.    

I like this wedding menu. I think it's well balanced and the visual tone is effective. The different font sizes and grouping makes this an easy and pleasent menu to read. I really like the image around the top because I find wedding menus to be quite boring without a pop of colour like in this one. There is one thing I would change though - the typeface isn't consistent. It's not that bad but it kind of bugs me. I also believe that the font used for the food descriptions are too fancy and swirly - It's hard to understand, especially when the font is used a few lines at a time! The message gets lost.

.........................................................................................................................................


The CRAP principles have taught me a lot. I was making some mistakes in the past that I will now know how to fix and I feel confident to go even further with my designs. I believe that the principles ultimately helps you achieve balance. This results in pleasing aesthetics, simple and smooth navigation. These elements should be taken into consideration as the success of designs are crucial in attracting the public. You want the public to remember you!


- Karoline 
(Week 3)

My Digital Footprint!

This week I learned about digital footprints.

A digital footprint is basically one's online identity formed through their digital traces or memory of their time online. The internet is a constant and rapidly growing media - a enormous network filled with accessible data, and because of this accessibility, it allows future employers to determine the apparent type of person you are! They can look you up on google and search through what you have made public: such as various social media networks and your interactions within websites. This could determine whether you get hired somewhere - so shouldn't you be careful?! YES.
This class taught me so much: it made me aware and has motivated me to take action in making my online identity the best it could be! And I'm excited to start!

What I found....

What I liked!
So I looked myself up on google. Luckily, I'm one of the few Karoline/Karolina Podolaks out there so I did find some information about myself. I've found a few articles about a few photography contests I won (not to brag... hehe), a couple youtube videos I made by myself as well as with friends, samples of poetry for a CD I was recorded in. I also found the URL to this blog and credits to my fashion photography. Check it out if you'd like! I also found a few pictures of myself on images thanks to myspace (I totally forgot I even had one...)
Unfortunately, google results vary between Karolina Podolak (Birth name) and Karoline Podolak (What I go with) so employers would most likely only see what I was credited for as "Karoline".

What I didn't like...
I found links to comments I made on facebook groups which were pretty random. So I just wanted to clean them up. I logged on and deleted most of them, especially ones from when I was in grade 9/10, which were pretty obnoxious.
Funny story: I found a pair of parrots in my backyard two years back. I wanted to give them back to their owners because they were gorgeous birds, so I announced a post about these parrots on a regional lost and found pet website. Well, the owners of that website distributed my post to a bunch of other related websites. So when I looked my name up on google about 2 years ago, there were about 10 links to my "FOUND 2 PARROTS" announcement on different websites! People were even discussing about my post! I had to contact each website and ask them to take the posts down because I found their owner long ago!
The original post is on there though... pretty funny actually: http://www.parrotsnow.com/found-2-parrots.html

Anyways, to improve my digital footprint/online identity, I'm going to take these steps:
1) Create a flavors.me portfolio!
2) Create a google profile
3) Buy my own domain name!
4) Start a youtube channel. I'm really excited for this. I'm going to upload classic rock covers (me singing and playing the guitar), vlogs, fun video projects/skits, and some interesting secret talents I have.... (You'll see!)
5) As stated before, delete some of my activity on Facebook so it doesn't show up on google. My activity isn't bad or anything - I could just do without it. I know it's always going to be in Facebook history but at least it'll be off google... at least I hope so.

Considering my decisions and plans, I think we should all take action to create our own positive digital identities. We have the power to do so and who knows, this can help with our careers! You'll look great and plus young adults who are active and knowledgable in social media platforms are great resources for many industries. However, when it comes to opening up about your personal matters - don't do it. And NEVER share rude and negative thoughts and comments - it's offensive anytime and will get you nowhere. Besides that, take this opportunity to flourish your online identity! Leave a good mark.

I feel in control.


- Karoline
(Week 2)

* I got this image from: http://optimizedstrategies.com/publications/how-to-guides/10-steps-powerful-online-digital-footprint/ - Thank you!

Volunteering at the 26th Gemini Awards!

One thing has become very apparent to me since I've started RTA: Donna sends a lot of emails. Some of the emails are about important RTA info and events and a lot of them are amazing volunteer experiences! As soon as I got the e-mail about the Gemini Awards, I replied ASAP - I want all the volunteer experience I can and this sounded fun and it sure was!

So, during the first few days of school, I was already granted a volunteer position for the 26th Gemini Awards as a stand-in and audience intern - It was an amazing experience. I volunteered the 6th and 7th of September (the actual show), therefore, I actually got to join the crowd and watch the show. All that just a few days into the RTA program.. Well, what a great start and taste of the industry I got!

I got to meet a lot of great people: fellow volunteers, CBC workers, guests and even some of the artists. It was my first time inside the CBC building and the set was incredible. I hope to volunteer next year. Honestly, I hope to volunteer and hopefully work for related events as much as I can throughout my studies at Ryerson.

FUNNY STORY: 

All celebrities had a specific seat assigned to them, so the cameramen would know where they were if they won. Therefore, before the show, the seats designated to specific celebrities had a photograph of the celebrity on it. At one point during the day, I was sitting in a regular seat beside one with a picture of Rick Mercer on it. I rested my arm on this chair, so my arm was basically on Mercer's head. I was just in a gaze, daydreaming about something I forget, until I felt someone looking at me. It was Rick Mercer himself, giving me a funny look! I laughed and took my arm off his head (well, the photo) It was a funny moment. He came in early like some guests during the rehearsal process.

another funny story....

During the show, Tom Green was in a room full of cheese worth a total of $7000! At the end guests ate cheese and so did the volunteers! There were so many leftovers that I brought home a block of $200 cheese along with other cheese my family enjoyed. Hey, they had to go somewhere - I didn't want them to throw it in the garbage! 

Anyhow, as you can see, I really enjoyed these few days and I am so thankful!

-Karoline 

http://country94news.blogspot.com/2011/09/its-not-whole-lot-of-info-but-according.html - thanks for the picture of Rick Mercer!

http://ohinternet.com/Tom_Green - thanks for the picture of Tom Green!

Welcome to Digital Media class!

Hey!

I'm Karoline and I'm a first year Radio and Television student at Ryerson. I will be writing posts in my blog every week to further and apply my knowledge gained in my digital media classes in labs and lectures. Though my program is radio and television, one would think that I would only be taking classes specific to RADIO and TV. However, this is a required course since the media industry is also digital: and especially in this age, digital media is growing rapidly.

Before the lecture, I had some vague thoughts about the actual term: "digital media".  Initially I imagined a course that solely focuses on digital design. However, and I say this with a feeling of embarrassment, (considering I'm a media student) I forgot about the connection with the term "media"! As you can see, I didn't know what to expect from this class.

My views did change after class! And though through the weeks I'll learn so much more, for now I've come up with the following. I became more aware of how incredibly relevant digital media is in this age - and that it is growing incredibly rapidly. It is a culture and global society that we are all getting exposed to, especially in the city. The lecture made me more aware that we truly are a global village. Borders between countries and regions are fading during this age of communication. Information is now distributed and communicated to others through the use of various digital platforms. And I was right - design is also important. (I'm  especially excited for my first assignment which involves design) I have begun to view the term: digital media through a larger perspective - as there is also so many other ideas associated with the term such as transmedia, infographics, motion graphics, and so on. And this was only my first day!

Like I said, it's only been a day - but - attending the lecture and understanding the course syllabus proved to me how fortunate RTA students are to be enrolled in this class. The course content changes year to year in order to keep up with the quick growth in this industry. It is great that RTA students are learning material relevant to the world around them, so they could prepare for careers in their future. The course is up to date, based in the present, which is a crucial if one may wish to pursue a career which involves communicating the present.

And I want to learn more about Marshall McLuhan! I found it so interesting that he created so many theories years ago yet as time passes, he is becoming more and more relevant and is truly proving his points. To be honest, I was a bit confused about some of the theories we were introduced to in class today but I'm sure my questions will be clarified throughout the weeks.

Anyways, this is my first blog post EVER, and I'm probably sounding very boring right now... I'll try to get a hang of this!
PS: I am supposed to only write about 3-4 paragraphs but it's hard to keep it at that... I could turn this into 3-4 but they would be fat, boring looking and painful to the eye (at least in my opinion..) so I broke it up into smaller portions.

Thanks for reading & Gone for now!


Karoline
(Week 1)