SO MANY SYMBOLS & SIGNS!

On my last post, I want to sum up what I have learned in this class- and if VISUAL PROCESS helped me learn anything, it would be to notice things more in my surroundings. I have to say, after taking this class, I walk around the train station very differently than I had back in January. I do not go into a bathroom without checking out the sign on the door- to see if it is the "Helvetica man or woman" (I didn't even know he had this name!) or if it is something different, more- or less creative for that matter. Below, I have incorporated as many symbols as I could find- ones that we studied and ones that we didn't, ones that I see everyday and ones that I don't- some may be repetitive but I find them all interesting because now I know that each and every one have a long history behind them.



So many different computer symbols on our desktops!

















Cannot believe all of the different types of "Helvetica men" there are!














Lots of different symbols that deal a lot with my own religion (that I never knew about)- look at how this ones evolves!














...& hundreds of different arrows...who would have thought?




















Lastly, some of the symbols my classmates researched

WARNING: VISCERAL REACTIONS MAY OCCUR

I was thinking about some of the things we spoke about in class over the past few months and the first thing that came to mind were the discussion about visceral reactions.

A Visceral reaction is "characterized by or proceeding from instinct rather than intellect: a visceral reaction, characterized by or dealing with coarse or base emotions; earthy; crude: a visceral literary style."

Below are some photos that may have this effect on people....VIEWER BEWARE (they are graphic and somewhat sad- I tried to space them out so you would see one photo at a time and be suprized by the ones that follow)

Timeline studies

I am trying to come up with a concept on how to design my timeline....

I found this interesting website with some great designs, check it out

Logos with hidden messages

Before I choose to use the Fleur de Lis for my project, I was looking up interesting symbols. I stumbled upon this site and have been meaning to post it- it really makes you take a CLOSE look at the logos we see everyday.

For example: Did you know there is a hidden arrow in the FEDEX logo? I didn't! Take a look!!!



here is the site

Satan on our dollar bill

My friend Katie C. is researching the Dollar Bill for her assignment and I found this website to be funny- yet very interesting, so I thought I would post it here for her (and everyone else) to take a look at.

http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Evils%20in%20Government/Federal%20Reserve%20Scam/satan_on_our_dollar.htm

Coat of Arms

The Fleur de Lis was used so frequently in family crests and coats of arms.
Here are just a few to look at:


1. By the 12th century the fleur-de-lis had become the heraldic emblem of King Clovis of France

2. Through this propagandist connection to Clovis, the fleur-de-lis has been taken in retrospect to symbolize all the Christian Frankish kings, such as Charlemagne

3. Louie VI & Louie VII & Louis IX

4. Edward III of England

5. King Charles VIII & Joan of Arc's family

6. Today, fleur-de-lis is a national symbol of Bosniaks one of three Bosnian constitutive ethnic groups, the other two being Serbs and Croats.

7. Presently, The fleur-de-lis appears on the Canadian coat of arms, the flags of Quebec and Nova Scotia in Canada. More notably, it is the emblem and symbol of New Orleans and The NFL team, the Saints.

Fleur De Lis

For my booklet assignment, I am studying the Fleur de Lis and following it through history. I am unsure if I should do a time line or not, however it seems like the best choice- I just want to come up with an interesting and creative way to do this!

Anyway, here is some background on the Fleur de Lis:

1. Fleur-de-lis is literally translated from French as "flower of the lily", and is widely thought to be a stylized version of the species Iris pseudacorus. Decorative ornaments that resemble the fleur-de-lis have appeared in the artwork from the earliest civilizations.

2. It has consistently been used as a royal emblem, though different cultures have interpreted its meaning in varying ways. Gaulish coins show the first designs which look similar to modern fleurs-de-lis.

3. The three petals of the heraldic design reflect a widespread association with the Holy Trinity, a tradition going back to 14th century France, added onto the earlier belief that they also represented faith, wisdom and chivalry.

4. Some modern usage of the fleur-de-lis reflects "the continuing presence of heraldry in everyday life", often intentionally, but also when users are not aware that they are "prolonging the life of centuries-old insignia and emblems". - (SYMBOL FOR NEW ORLEANS)

5. "Flower of light" symbolism has sometimes been understood from the archaic variant fleur-de-luce (see Latin lux, luc- = "light"), but the Oxford English Dictionary suggests this arose from the spelling, not from the etymology.

Class Notes Monday April 5

Chermayeff & Geismar Image (Visual Puns):

- Company used text to create an image

1. Taking things apart and putting things back together
2. Designing with type for Aquarium design with fish
3. Symphony (Used G- clef for "S")
4. The Amicus Journal deflated globe image with words below "global tomorrow"
5. "Between the wars" poster with 3 hats of WWI WWII & Winston Churchill
6. Visual pun "War & Remembrance" rose and barbed wire book cover
7. American flag made of pencils (referring to education)
8. "An essay on nature" (cover= leaf from ink holder) - Frederick Woodbridge
9. "Drawing it all together" parks, arts, leisure; pencil tree
10. Pepsi logo cap inside globe stand (known around the world/ drank around the world"
11. Shark on aquarium made from Spanish patterns on side of building



* C & G were known for cutting up images and piecing them back together in murals. When we look at these, we notice all the different parts and the viewer is more engaged for a longer period of time. They also work a lot with grouping and collections

- FOR OUR PROJECT-

Do not use words in actual images; we can imply towards the image in our application possibly

Chermayeff & Geismar

After talking about this great graphic design firm in class, I did some research on them

here is a link to their site:
http://www.cgstudionyc.com/

Here is a recent piece of art they did for the Haiti relief



Also, here are some of the widely recognized identities that they have done:

Examples of visual puns

I found a website that I need to share! It has over 80 entries from people who came up with visual puns for a contest, here it is! (Keep clicking the pages for more visuals)

http://fx.worth1000.com/contests/4476/visual-puns/1#entries

Also, I found the exact definition of a visual pun and a list of places in the entertainment world where they have been used, it is interesting!

1. In The Muppet Movie (1979 film), when Kermit and Fozzie are driving somewhere. Kermit is looking at the map and says they need to turn at the fork in the road. At this point he lowers the map at which point we see a giant fork in the middle of the road.

2. In Spaceballs (1987 film), Dark Helmet orders his troops to comb the desert for the heroes of the film. In the next shot there are a bunch of troopers with giant combs, combing the desert

3. In Super Mario Brothers, when Mario picks up a "fire flower", he becomes fiery. "Fire flower" in Japanese is literally hi-bana; fire-flower, meaning spark, hence he is picking up a "spark".



Also, this short you-tube clip has some of the visual puns from the previous website, but it explains what they are incase you were unsure of a few- check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_ZRJQuUE4E&feature=related

brainstorming....

I am coming up with a list of social issues to use for inspiration for my thumbnails, here is what I have so far:

1.global warming 2. recycles paper 3. forest fires 4. tsunami 5. natural disasters 6. earthquakes 7. volcanoes 8. prostitution 9. assault 10. violence 11. war 12. drugs 13. prescription drug abuse 14. nuclear weapons 15. oceans 16. oil spills 17. dolphins 18. endangered species 19. oil mining 20. drilling 21. health care crisis 22. immigration 23. war n Iraq 24. world peace 25. gun control 26. gambling 26. ethic relations 27. drunk driving 28. death 29. weapons 30. injustice 31. animal rights 32. cloning 33. abortion 34. suicide 35. religion 36. smoking 37. divorce 38. AIDS 39. evolution 40. crime 41. education 42. pollution 43. ozone layer 44. religion

Notes from Class 3/22

Verbal pun- play on words

Visual pun- play on imagery

Examples: Its raining cats and dogs

Feel free to check out the book: "Visual Pun in Graphic Design" by a professor at FIT named Eli Kince

-substitution (all or part) of an image
-combining images
-manipulation (use images from letters) example: cOOl (use wheels as two O's)

A rebus is a kind of work puzzle that uses pictures to represent words...example:



The examples we saw in class consisted of the Old/Young ladies or the Vase/ Face images

CHECK OUT:
-spy magazine (from the 80's)
-Tibor Calman
-Alex Isley
-Chermayeff & Geismar "Designing"

** A Visceral reaction- an "AH!" reaction from a person when they see something such as an iron on a tongue

See Assignment- Next class= visual pun thumbnails

visual puns

I was searching for some visual puns....these are what I found... but I'm not sure if it is exactly what our professor is looking for. Either way they are cool


I had to include this after I found it....too funny!

Emoticons

Trying to think of some ideas for my "theme"

I want to do something with eye I posted before or maybe the fleur de lis.

Was re-reading the assignment and thought I would find some emoticons...thought these were pretty cool (they are used on Windows Vista):

Resume

I am in the process of updating my resume and I found this awsome site with some of the most creative resume designs ever! Check it out:

http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/05/30-artistic-and-creative-resumes/

So inspiring!

the power of advertising- for women!

Such a great website! and so much truth in it...

http://she-conomy.com/category/examples-of-badgood-advertising/

Assignment 2- symbols

Today we learned about Semiotics- signs- and the book "This Means That, That Means This"

It was pretty interesting to look at all of the different signs, so I put some here in this blog. A sign can be anything and everything- from a gesture to a facial expression. It's all about communication!


I was trying to think of what symbol I was going to do...I was thinking one of these three:



I find this Egyptian Eye to be very beautiful, I remember seeing it for the first time in the Broadway show "Aida" but I know it goes way beyond a musical....




I think the fleur de lis is my favorite, I have seen it in so many places- from Pro Football logos to Clothing Company logos- It should be very interesting to research!

Animal Sets

Looking at some animal sets online...found some interesting ones (not your typical park-like sign sets) I thought they might be a nice addition here...




I think the ones below are pretty different because they use an outline of light- and different colors- yet you can still tell they all belong to the same family (probably because of these two elements!)

New York Images

Trying to gather some images that remind me of New York...

I think that these were too funny not to post...

Universal symbols

Found some groups of universal signs to get some ideas for our upcoming assignment.