Mechanic Man

Helvetica recap/Assignment

1) The way it's styled is so that it reflects a particular mood. Like scripty fonts can be romantic and stenciled fonts can be strong or military-ish. Serif or sans-serif fonts are considered more neutral. For instance, whenever I see Comic Sans used, I almost always cringe, because it's used incorrectly. I see it as more a little-kid font meant for birthday invitations. But there are many people who think it's acceptable to use on billboards about how drugs are bad. It just doesn't fit the mood.

2) I mostly use Times New Roman, because that's what teachers require for papers. This is because its a serif font and the little feet help the eye to travel along the words. My second most used font would be Orator Std. It's a sans-serif font and I'm very fond of the capitals, which make it ideal for quotes on graphics.

3) It reflects what's popular usually. Like right now I'm seeing a lot of graphics featuring One Direction, The Avengers, and British TV shows (Merlin, Sherlock, Game of Thrones). Politics can effect design because there might be some things that are allowed/not allowed. There will also always be graphics that challenge the government or support certain politics.

4) Well, if Coldwater Creek (my favorite clothes store...) changed it's logo to a more grungy or "fun" font, it would be completely unsuited to what they sell there. Their clothes are more calm and professional. I bet a lot of women wouldn't shop there anymore, because they wouldn't feel as welcomed. It would be trying to look "younger" and that's really not the generation it's intended for.

5) I think I might try using Helvetica sometime. No, just kidding, it's way overdone. I'm going to stick to my lovely Times New Roman and Orator Std. Those are classics and neutral and you don't see them on every street sign.

6) It hasn't really made any changes to how I think about graphics. I already knew a lot of what they talked about in terms of design. I did find the history fascinating, though, and it really did make me notice Helvetica in everyday life.

Ninjas!

Ninjas On A Hill

Currency

10 Pecunium Front

5 Pecunium Front

5 Pecunium Back

1. I included the images of myself and my brother because we had to include pics of people we know, and the textures I used were mainly just textures I had recently downloaded from 99mockingbirds.com and wanted to use. I tried to include a bird in every picture as a freedom symbol or something that would tie it all together, and they all have flowers. There are clocks on the two that are meant to be front and back, so those tie that together. The seal is on all three images. Circles are a common shape that I used and also help tie it all together.
2. I used Shape, in that I focused on having the circles as a common aspect. I also used Color, they fit into my color scheme of blue and gold, with one front being primarily blue, and the other front and the back meant to go with it are primarily gold. 
3. I think I was most successful in my composition and coloring. I tried to arrange my images so there was a clear focal point and the other images and text all supported it. I tried to make my colors vibrant, a personal style preference, and all fit within an overarching color scheme.

Currency Country

Describe the culture/people of your country.

The people in my country are very friendly and inclusive. They are welcoming. But they can also be very intense and full of expression. The culture is very diverse, with many types of foods that are similar to the nearby countries. The clothing style is like that of Renaissance times, but without the powdered wigs and more jeans. There are a lot of parties and festivals and reasons to celebrate life.

What is everyday life like in your country?

You get up very early, like 8 in the morning, and go to work/school. Then, in the middle of the day, around lunch time, when the sun is hottest, you take a siesta like in Spanish speaking countries. When you wake up, around two or three in the afternoon, you have a big lunch, and then continue to work until about 6 at night. Then you have a small dinner. Lunch is the main meal of the day. After that you're free to do whatever you want.

What does your country look like? What colors do you see?

The country is full of very old buildings and narrow streets in the cities. Hardly anyone drives there. The cities are separated into neighborhoods, where everything is within walking distance. if you need to go somewhere else, you would use public transportation, like a train or trolley. Mostly there are a lot of pedestrians. There is a lot of countryside as well, and these people who live out there do get around in cars, since things are more spread out. Its very hilly in most parts, which is used for farmland, and there are some small forests here and there. Colors seen are a lot of vibrant greens, yellows, reds, and blues. 

What does your country sound like?

There are very few industrial noises, since it is a more agriculture centered country. The noises heard are mostly that of people talking, since they all like to talk a mile a minute, or music playing. Many parties are thrown and the people there love to dance.

What does your country smell like?

It smells like food. Like that whiff you get when you walk into a really good restaurant and your mouth starts to water because it smells so good. It smells mostly of fresh baked breads and warm cookies.

What colors are in the flag?

The flag is a golden sun on a cornflower blue sky. Light blue and gold colors are seen in a lot of places because of this.

What is your country's slogan? (for example: In God We Trust, etc)

animus, tripudium et solvo effercio (Life, Joy, Free Stuff)

What does your country's seal/freedom symbol look like?

The seal looks like this (because i was having trouble describing it) The freedom symbol, even though the government is a monarchy, is a heart, which also shows the people's great capacity for love. 

 Name of person in charge of the country and their title.

There is a Queen in charge of the country, the government is a monarchy.  The Queen actually runs the country, the king is just support. This country is very feminist and sees women as being better than men. The current Queen is Queen Alanna (me!).

Denomination Name (you may not use one that is already in existence...)

The denomination name is the Pecunia. Pecunia is what is used for a single dollar, i.e. One pecunia. If used for a higher value, then the noun used would be pecunium, i.e. Five pecunium.

Animation Wrap-Up

1) Well i saw this animation that someone did last year involving game pieces and it worked really well so I wanted to do something with that too. I also had my Bananagrams pieces sitting out and I kept thinking they would be fun to use.

2) My biggest success was probably figuring out how to get the Dominos to fall down.

3) My biggest struggle was trying to find the time to work on it; I'm a bust person and it eats up a lot of time that I didn't have, so I felt very rushed there at the end.

4) I would probably modify my idea so I had more scenes and so I could make the whole thing longer.

5) A sequel would be much like this one, but involving different games.

Nursery Rhyme

So, the image file for my picture was too large, since I animated it, but it is saved to my folder, so that's where you should look to find it.

Title: The Itsy Bitsy Spider

The rhyme is about this spider climbing up a drainpipe (which I couldn't find a good picture for) and then it rains, and the spider is washed away. The sun comes out again and the spider starts climbing again.

The part that stood out for me was the spider, the rain, and the sun. I started out with the spider sitting on its web, and then I animated rain into the photo and then once the rain stops, the animated sun comes out and the spider reappears.