Not so Microagression - GD resurfaces bad memories

I haven't had too many instances of microagression, maybe because I don't like to talk to people, but I've had one instance of microagression, one that turned into flat-out agression, which is probably why I don't like talking to people. So I was about twelve when this happened, and there was this man on the elevator with me, and it was just us two. This man, out of nowhere, just asked "How long have you been here?" See, I thought he meant how long have you been in this building, what I didn't know was the racist intent hiding in that question. I was born in and lived in the U.S. all my life, so that's why I thought he meant the building, so I answered "ten," because I wasn't sure if I lived in that building when I was a newborn, so ten would've been the best estimate. His next comment really surprised and confused me. This man, who I've never met before in my life, told me, "go back to where you came from," which took me aback because, ya know, I thought he meant how long have you been in this building. It was his floor, so he got off, and I just stood there confused about what he just said. Then I kinda got pissed at him because he's some dude who's at the end of his life who ain't got no business telling me how to live mine. So that's my microagression story (macroagression?). Thanks Ms. Lee. For making me remember that bad stuff in life.

Update (8/5/15): I got kinda bored tonight so I decided to go through some old stuff and I remembered this existed (sorry Ms. Lee). But yeah, it's been like what? 2? 4? 5 months? I don't even know anymore. Anyway, I just reread this post and it made me think about how long I've really lived in this building. I'm pretty sure I've stayed in this one building all my life. Yeah. That's all I wanted to say. Peace.

Book Covers

First task, think of one of your favorite books of all time (after middle school) and find the book cover online. 

This is the cover for the first novel in The Walking Dead novel series, and I think that the cover properly captures the mood of the book. When a person reads the book, one will find that it is primarily about three characters who attempt to survive a barren world overrun by the walking dead. The cover's darker shades conveys how the book speaks of the darker tones of humanity, morals, and survival.

Second task, go to  http://bookcoverarchive.com/  It has hundreds of book covers

I like this cover because of the motion blur effect of the text. It creates a focal point in the center since the text looks like it's diverging from the middle. There seems to be some alignment and proximity incorporated into it, but not too much. The author and the title a separated, but that's about it. There aren't any images incorporated into it.

 This cover was eye-catching to me in another way. Another way as in I don't really think it fits the idea of the book. I read the Iliad, and I know it is about the Trojan War, and not the invasion of Normandy, so the use of a photo depicting the latter is very questionable. There might be an effect to it, but it is very misleading, so I don't think it's good in terms of displaying a first impression of the book.

I thought this was eye-catching because the image seems to help convey the general idea of the title: Reason Not To Join The Military. The image of a soldier without his limbs would absolutely convince me that the military is not a place I would want to be since I would be appalled by the idea of the same happening to me.

So I said that I really liked this book cover, so it's no surprise that it catches my eye. It does that because it has an incredibly dark background, both literally, and thematically. There's also 3 silhouettes of people, which creates a sort of mystery to them, and makes you wonder who they are and why they're there.

I also found this one eye-catching because of the font the title is written in. The font looks as if it was written by a person because of the inconsistency and lack of order, which makes me think about what the overall message of the book will be about. It seems to have a very dark tone primarily because of the way the word "dead" is written in. It looks rather depressing.

One thing all these book covers have in common is that they make use of images and font type to help convey the meaning of the book, and give off a first impression of what the book will be about. In some cases, the image and the text will compliment each other and will further emphasize the meaning of the book.

Before and After

Logo Reflection

I think the greatest challenge of this project was trying to keep the design as simple as possible, but still having it display the meaning behind the club. If I included too much, it would be too complex to be a logo, but if I didn't include much at all, the logo would barely represent the club at all. The difficulty was finding the balance between both. I broke this challenge by using simple images of chess pieces and their positions to convey a sense of importance in the game. I recognized that all pieces were important, but their positions were determined by what others said were the most vital and powerful. These few images and positions in the logo helped me solve the problem of balancing simplicity with representation.

My logo:

Logo Presentation Board:

I'd say one of the most successful aspects about my design was how I was able to create a compact design that allowed my to convey the club well. I also think that the blur effect was a successful aspect of the logo because it helps create a focal point, which helps show importance of certain pieces.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that one of the biggest challenges was illustrator itself. It apparently doesn't like me very much, but that's okay because the feeling is mutual. Unless I need it.

Stuff n' Thangs over Break

This is the visual embodiment of what I did over the Mid-Winter break for 90% of the time: absolutely nothing. Doing nothing is surprisingly easier siad than done. You would think it's fun to do nothing especially after doing work and such, but it is not. It kills you. It drives you nuts. At some point of doing nothing, even working seems to be appealing. You try to look for something to do, but you have nothing. That is when you sit on your bed and stare at the ceiling for hours on end, stopping (or starting) only to eat, sleep, and use the bathroom. It is not fun. Your mind goes blank, and you eventually become apart of the bed since you've sat lied there for so long.

I mean it's not like that's all I did. It was what I did for the first 7 days. I did hang out with friends and family for the other two days - for the 1%. After days of doing nothing you could imagine how relieved I was. I could do stuff at last... thangs. I tried to make those two days count and did a lot; I watched a movie, went bowling, which nearly took my thumb off, and just talked with friends and family.

(If you didn't get the reference)

An Exhibit I MET (GD hw)

 

One exhibit I saw at the Metropolitan Museum of art that evoked some sort of reaction from me was this (the bottom revolver):

Colt Single-Action Army Revolver; "Peacemaker"

 

When one sees a gun, they don't really see it as art. And neither do I, but this particular piece of craftsmanship is the exception. I just love the design of this firearm. I feel that the color of the steel compliments the color of the wooden grip. The length of the barrel is also proportionally pleasing to the size of the entire revolver. The geometry of the firearm just makes me happy for some reason. I found this piece in the Arms and Armor Department of the Museum, and this piece was surrounded by different types of firearms and weaponry dating from the Renaissance to the late 1800's. Observing all these weapons made me think about how big of a jump warfare took when gunpowder was introduced. Even so, weapons took a long time to load, but the revolver takes substantially less time to load, aim and fire. It's just incredible how a single piece of incredible engineering can change the world forever (and look incredibly good while doing so).