Jason Knits

Class is Over

2009-06-15T14:57:43Z

Yay! Spring 2009 session is over. I get to relax for one week before Summer session starts. But it is also kinda sad that it is over. Will I see those faces that I came to know over the past months again?

Here’s the last project that I turned in for the class. A movie poster:

We were to pick from a few movie choices for our posters. James Bond, Sweeney Todd, Blade Runner and Western. The style should follow Saul Bass’ or the International Typographic Style. I am not sure if mine can be considered Saul Bass influenced, but it definitely started there.

Originally I wanted to do simple block shapes (very Saul Bass) to respresent the living spaces of the Sweeney Todd characters. Three floors. Sweeney Todd on the top floor, Mrs. Lovett on the ground floor with the store front and a hot oven in the basement. But simple blocks just seemed too modern, losing that dark, grungy feel of the Sweeney Todd movie. While researching the look of the old Fleet Street I came across some nice illustrations that gave me the idea of just using obvious building shapes to the design. Still keeping them simple. It was actually quite freeing to not to care for details, nice change for a Virgo like me. I also went against recreating a complete street scene, keeping it focused on just a few so that the silhouettes could be as large as possible. I also eliminated the basement element for the same reason. I do have to say though, it looks a bit Psychoish. Someone in the class agreed.

The original colors were not shades of gray and red. I totally forgot to pay attention to the mood of the movie. I started with a golden glow in the windows and started using shades of the gold to color the rest of the buildings. The result was a brownish poster that my professor just did not like. She reminded me of the atmosphere of the movie. DOH! How did I forget that important element?

Our professor had a few retstrictions for almost all of the projects that we did. No gradient, no photography (except for Disney Concert Hall poster), only 3 to 4 colors, no wild font styles. It was really difficult at first, but I finally realized that these rules made me see compositions more clearly, without lots of graphic tricks to cloud things up, keeping the elements simple and well defined. It is more challenging to have less tools to work with, but the designs can turn out direct and powerful.

Note: The font that I used in the poster is called Wood Stamp, found on dafont.com. It worked out really well for my poster. But what really amazed me was how the letters behaved differently when placed next to certain other letters. Look at how E and R work together. Then there are L and E and E and T. I really want to know how this is done, how they code the font set to behave this way. Interesting.

Added 6.15.2009 7:55am, here’s the original color scheme for the poster. Not terrible, but doesn’t represent the atmosphere and style of the movie.

Mock Disney Concert Hall Poster

2009-05-30T16:54:59Z

First, let me say that I was pleasantly surprised at school yesterday. I found my End Censorship poster in the small, small one-day student exhibit on campus. I also found my poem poster in the glass showcase in the hallway. I feel a little embarrassed, but also feel good to be accepted, still somehow lack confidence in myself. Oh well. LOL

Turned in the mock Disney Concert Hall poster this week. We were to introduce Gustavo Dudamel as the new conductor of Los Angeles Philharmonic with a poster in International Typographic Style. I think most of us were really confused by the instructions and material. There seemed to be a bit of conflict between the amount of info and the simple and clean style of the Swiss designers. I emailed the professor my first draft and received a horrible reaction. She then sent out more instructions to the classes, which in my view clarified a lot about what she was expecting. A good exercise in designer and client communication, getting to understanding what clients want.

Anyway, I ended up with 2 designs:

I turned in the first one because its elements have more dynamics.

Project Poem Poster

2009-05-24T18:44:33Z

Another project completed, two more to go. This one really took a lot of time researching poets and poems. Lots of good ones that I wasn’t able to quickly translate into graphics. Maybe the professor’s restrictions made it more challenging? We had to incorporate an image that gives a feel of the subject of the poem, at the same time make creative use of the type. I thought about doing Langston Hughes’ “Cubes”. But with Picasso’s name thrown in there I felt little confidence in making a believable cubist drawing in a short time. So I picked a lighthearted poem, “Madam and the Fortune Teller,” also by Langston Hughes.

Fortune teller looked in my hand.
Fortune teller said,
Madam, It’s just good luck
You ain’t dead.

Fortune teller squeeze my hand.
She squinted up her eyes.
Fortune teller said,
Madam, you ain’t wise.

I said, Please explain to me
What you mean by that?
She said, You must recognize
Where your fortune’s at.

I said, Madam, tell me–
For she was Madam, too-
Where is my fortune at?
I’ll pay some mind to you.

She said, Your fortune, honey,
Lies right in yourself.
You ain’t gonna find it
On nobody else’s shelf.

I said, What man you’re talking ‘bout?
She said, Madam! Be calm–
For one more dollar and a half,
I’ll read your other palm.

My ideas came from those signs selling psychic readings. Using an image of all-seeing-eye to represent the fortune teller, and the palm the madam. The funniest lines are the last two which shows the true intention of the fortune teller. Those words I put on the palm which can seem to be open to giving more money. The rays are sort of hypnotic, no? I turned in the blue one to the professor. But I also like the other two variations that I printed out. One criticism I got from the professor was that the title and author’s name were unnecessary and seemed out of place. If I were to insist on using them, they should be inside the graphic elements, not a separate entity. I agree.

Social or Environmental Poster Project

2009-05-03T18:48:59Z

Due next Friday, but I think it is pretty much done. I experienced a little of aggressive censorship last year when there was a possibility of me staying in China for a long period of time. (Glad that my big sister took over.) At that time the Tibetan protest also broke out. I watched some of the Chinese bloggers/twitterers begin losing access to websites like CNN or YouTube. I also witnessed how distorted personal views can get when truths are being hidden. Using that very limited experience I made this design for the class:

Project Cube – Finished

2009-05-03T18:40:00Z

This was turned more than a week ago. Crazy German was here and life was a little more hectic for a few days.

Oh, and this is my new workspace:

Project Cube, Take Two

2009-04-21T14:35:53Z

I still can’t decide which of the following three to use for the fifth side.

Project Cube

2009-04-19T20:25:43Z

This is the second graded project for the Design Concept class. We are starting to look at typography. The project’s goal is to examine the positive and negative spaces using letterforms by creating sides of a cube following different sets of rules, also treating it as a packaging design, all sides have to relate to each other.

Side 1: Using the chosen letterform once, working the negative space of the letterform to make it visually dominant
Side 2: Using the letterform with a geometric shape, showing both negative and positive space within the letterform
Side 3: Emphasize scale and sizes using multiple instances of the letterform
Side 4: Use the letterform as a texture
Side 5: Create a side that compliments all other sides
Side 6: Reserved for name and color information

Here are some designs that I have created. I like most of them, but will likely keep only a couple and have to come up with new designs. My original idea was to tie the sides together with a prominent letterform “a”. Treating that single element as a logo or merchandise that never changes position, but with other elements of design bringing different treatments. I took them to class, but the instructor was worried that people couldn’t tie them together easily. So, back to the drawing board.

I really like the above design. I used the letterform as texture, I also tried making it look like something else. It worked. The instructor at first thought I was using extra element that wasn’t allowed. Unfortunately it looks too different than the others.

I am leaning toward to making a series of designs in the above direction now.

To the Anti-tax Teabaggers

2009-04-16T15:53:55Z

Let me ask you a question. If you were to move into a gated community that has a management that takes care of the common properties, provides security measures, would you refuse to pay the assoication fee?

If no one pays taxes, where are we going to get the money to support public schools, our military, to help the poor and the sick? Would it be better if we call it mandatory donations?

Hmmm… Did any of you support going to war with Iraq? Or, the building of big walls along our borders to block out illegal immigrants? Who do you think should give money to support your big ideas?

Design Exercise

2009-03-16T13:43:46Z

Design Concept exercise for week four, using shapes to represent elements of a layout, titles, copy, images, graphics, etc. Using only black, gray and one more color.

I was quite nervous about this exercise. It was the first one without using an existing ad as example, meaning it was to come completely from our own creativity. I’ve doing graphic design for years, but without going through proper training. I questioned if my designs would be considered acceptable from an educated point of view. Would I be devastated if they were received negatively? Anyway, without going through details, let’s just say that I got through the experience OK.

The process was actually quite freeing, no employers giving orders, not worrying about a specific set of images and copy, just creative use of space. Here are the three designs that I submitted. Believe it or not, my main concerns were where to place various elements of an ad using shapes and colors to represent them. Every shape has it’s purpose, not just to create a pleasing image. I use only rectangles, circles and lines, thinking in terms of blocks of elements.

It’s My First Yak!

2009-02-28T20:34:57Z

Me sporting a Yak/Merino scarf made by Marianne

OK, it’s actually Yak and Merino, and it is SOOOOO SOFT and light, so warm.

Some time ago (how long was it Marianne?) I volunteered to do the Pay It Forward with Marianne. I had the easy part, she was the payer, I was the payee. Ha! To be honest, I had completely forgotten about it. Plus, I thought I was one of the extra ones that volunteered to do Pay It Forward with Marianne. It was really a bit of surprise to actually receive a package from her. Not that I didn’t think she was serious, mind you. I really just didn’t remember.

It is a loooong scarf knitted with 50% Yak, 50% Merino yarn, Superyak, by Karabella, made in Italy. A simple pattern, but the result is a super luxurious scarf. Possibly the softest knitted fabric that I’ve ever felt. So light and warm. And as you can see in the picture, it drapes really, really well. Thank you so much Marianne! It’s wonderful!