Logo Design

   
     During this logo creation, a lot of thought was put into place before even starting the sketch. I thought of events and obstacles occurring in my life at the moment and how these things represent who I am or how I want to be seen. Between my upcoming marriage, working toward my degree, my currently challenging job, and my house seeking project, it would seem as if I'm on the verge of insanity. However, thanks to my wonderful fiance, I've managed to keep my cool and continue jumping hoops with ease. We are spiritualists, and two people who admire the nature around us. So I decided to draw our favorite tree with a moonlight sky in the background to resemble my calm nature during dark moments. It was truly an interesting way of promoting my personality and makes me realize how businesses and other organizations create their logos. The most important discovery I made about creating my logo was the colors I chose. Since I chose dark blue and light green, it captured that element of spirituality. If I would of picked yellows and oranges, it would've given off stronger energies and wouldn't have captured the night sky. The most important information i captured from all of the resources given during this module was that it is crucial to understand and know what is the key message you are trying to convey with your logo. You want to make sure the meanings behind certain patterns truly match your advertisement.

The Color Wheel

     When I began to create the value scale, I started with the darkest box and went lighter and lighter. I feel if I would've done it the other way around it would've been a lot easier to do. When I began to do the color wheel, I felt like it wasn't going to work because of the magenta and the cyan. I was so use to the idea of my primaries being red, yellow, and blue that this new idea seemed almost impossible. However, after watching the video first, it was clearer to me now of how red and blue could be considered a secondary color. It was so interesting mixing the colors and watching them change.
     I enjoyed working with the paint more than with the pencil shading because it gave me pleasure to have so many colors to work with. Something I noticed that was very important was how the balances of the primaries had to be just right to get the desired shade. Too much of one shade could change  the color, whether in a lighter or darker tone. When I watched the video, I learned that if you mix red and blue it makes an awkward shade of purple, and if you mix red, blue, and yellow, it didn't really turn black; it looked more like a dark shade of brown. Not that I have all these colors accessible, I think I'm gonna go do some painting!

Elements and Principles Slideshow

http://s304.photobucket.com/user/Suki_Corchete/slideshow/Elements%20and%20Principles%20of%20Art%20and%20Design

 For this project, I faced many new experiences and many obstacles. Before, when I use to take a picture, it was only to capture a memory or to complete a photo shoot for my job. Now, when I point the camera at my target, I will definitely appreciate all the elements and principles that come with it. I'm going to admit, some of these pictures are not so recent due to the terrible weather we have had the past few weeks. However, some of these pictures are from this past fall and were all taken by me and my fiance. I own a Nikon D3000 pro digital camera and take advantage of every moment I have to take awesome pictures of scenery and other events.
     When taking pictures at Allegany National Park, I ventured into many parts of the forest to capture the perfect angles, lighting, and of course, to admire the nature that surrounded me. As I viewed the pictures I chose, I realized that it wasn't me creating these elements, it was natural light, color, lines, and space that created the image. These elements made nature speak for itself; it gave nature a voice.
     Okay, so Delaware Park was the perfect location to capture more elements. The "Live Buffalo" picture had three elements: color, texture, and pattern. It was a true patriotic and vibrant photo that represented the area for what it truly stands (even though right now everyone is dreading Buffalo for its arctic weather).
     I took advantage of my recent mini trip to Florida last weekend to take some more pictures. For balance and rhythm, I could not help but to manipulate certain aspects to represent each principle. Balancing the sword on my head was the perfect literal explanation of balance in a photo. My footsteps on the sand showed rhythm by illustrating a repetitive motion. And there was no better way to represent scale and proportion than to build a snowman this weekend with my lovely partner in crime and stand right next to it! (Okay, there probably is a better way, but this way was the funnest!)
      From this point on, I feel it crucial to take all these elements and principles into consideration. Planning before taking the shot makes you realize what are your main focuses. And don't forget, sometimes these elements are given to us straight from mother nature.

Colors & Their Effect on Emotions

     Color is a function of light, Without light, we would not be able to see color. The color theory started with an experiment created by Sir Isaac Newton. He passed a ray of sunlight into a prism and saw that when light refracted, a "rainbow" of colors came out the other end. Colors absorb most of the light from its surrounding and reflects visual color to our eyes. For instance, when red and yellow absorb light, it reflects the color blue. What mot fascinates me about this action is that even though one color is absorbing light, it reflects a completely different color. Instead of yellow reflecting yellow, it reflects purple when it absorbs light. Another intriguing aspect of color is that our eyes are so dependent on color, we use color to determine what kind of foods we eat! In our textbook, it talks about a study where scientists colored mashed potatoes with green food coloring, and several people could not identify what they were eating. To see for yourself, watch this video from ASAP Science on "The Science Taste Challenge" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXtg-9Q6Iew. Not only is it hilarious and entertaining, you learn how important our sense of sight is when eating or drinking.
     When we look at a color, we don't just think it's "pretty" or "ugly", we feel a certain emotion just from looking at the color. Our emotional responses to color are so strong, we fail to realize that these responses to color are both culturally conditioned and intensely personal. Americans, for example, look at the colors red and green and automatically associate it with Christmas. For some, like German painter Franz Marc, blue is a color of spirituality. I think we as a society can all agree blue is a pretty peaceful color. However, why do so many people say they have "the blues" when they are sad?  It is all how one perceives the color and the personal connections to it. For many, orange may be considered a very powerful color that gives energy, and may not want to be surrounded by the color during a meditation process. I, on the other hand, have a very strong connection with the color orange and can be surrounded by the color any day at anytime. This is due to an emotional attachment to the color from my favorite toy growing up.
     In the video of "color", one of the key points I caught on to was how lighting affected color, also affecting how one feels about the color. When artist June Redfern sketched her canvases in Venice, she was satisfied with how they turned out and how beautiful the colors reflected off the Venetian light. Once she went back home and placed the canvas sketches in her studio, she was not pleased with the results. She stated that "it must have been the lighting." In the video "Emotions and Art", 18th century painters David and Goya depict our feelings toward God and human emotions through their art. The biggest impact this video made on me was how these two artist brought reasoning and logic to religious art in a time where religion and God was the reason why. In medieval times, people suffered poverty and disease because of sin and because that was what God chose for you. David and Goya, through their art, say "no, no, no, we suffer from poverty and disease because of human behaviors, decision, and nature. We feel suffering not because God makes you feel it, but because you as a human feel these emotions from your actions. It really is a radical battle against Biblical ideology.

Art Aesthetics

     For the first video, one of the major key concepts discussed was the beauty of art. They talked about what made art beautiful and the difference between what we consider to be art and everything else in the world. Also, they discussed how art and beauty are two separate things. For example, Picasso's Guerneca was definitely considered art; however, it was not thought about as beautiful. The judgement of beauty is based on a feeling, not a rule.
     Video number two talks about the evolution of art and human's depiction of art from the Homo habilis stage to present day. Also, it brought up points on how art and science interconnect with one another. The key was how does art interfere with the human brain and emotions? The article briefly illustrates all these concepts mentioned and summarizes how we react to art and why certain images give off certain emotions.
      I believe that Kant's theory is important because many people strongly believe that beauty is one certain concept and that everyone thinks the same way about beauty. His theory suggests that beauty is not a rule or concept, rather than a feeling toward a person, place, or object. For instance if I look at a picture of a snake, I would say it's beautiful because I like snakes and don't feel anything negative towards it. However, someone who is deathly afraid of snakes may look at the same picture and say it's grotesque or hideous.
      Ramachandran proposed that the brain reacts to certain forms of art, not in a realistic matter, but understanding that even though it isn't real it still gives off a certain reaction whether it's religious based or any other reason. Changeux, however, discussed about the evolutionary factors of art and how slowly we developed certain brain functions through art. For instance, through art we developed symmetry and depth perception. I feel it was interesting when Ramchandran described the eight laws of art and how art and science both follow certain formats. We use problem solving in both science and art, and through curiosity we begin this problem solving method.
      The videos and the article, I feel, give a little more detailed feed back on the aesthetics of art through real life experiences and ideas. Even though I was not entirely interested with Changeux's presentation, it definitely showed how art and science were both evolutionary and how changes in our environment interfere with our artistic and cognitive development.