La Vida Loca

Blog #3-Group Member #3

For this design, our group redesigned La Vida Loca Restaurant and Cantina. We chose well photographed Mexican food and drinks to accompany the logo. The font is clear and easy to read. We chose the pictures because well photographed food can draw people in. It is appealing visually and it also appeals to the senses. The clear font was chosen because when something is easy to read, people are more likely to read the flyer. Distracting fonts will cause the viewer to jump to the next one. We kept the colors simple. For the header Green. Red. Tequila. are in green, red and yellow to play on the words. It makes it more appealing to the audience. The description is in a neutral color for clarity as well.

The tone that is created is fun, easy going. It is a welcoming and inviting atmosphere. I think that it is very effective in what we are trying to create. If I saw this flyer, I would want to try this place out.

--Sage

La Vida Loca

#4

Our alignment is all left flushed. It creates a standard and consistency. However, the address at the bottom is centered, and that creates contrast to the rest of the flyer. We used the same color of purple from the original logo in the copy so that we can have repetition in our design. By restating "tequilas" and having "La Vida Loca" appear twice, we are showing consistency to solidify the idea and message of the restaurant--that it's a fun place to eat and drink. By repeating the tequilas part, we are arguing that we have the best tequilas in the city, and that is one reason why the person who looks at the flyer should go there.

Group Design #2 - NMDOT

Journal 3/30 - In Class - Visual Argument Response

Dan Guglielmo
Journal Entry 3/30/09
Visual Argument – Response


Author: Sasha Quintana
Picture: Final Four Tournament bracket

Summary: Sasha’s argument is a lively one around my household, she chose to represent the NCAA 2009 FinalFour bracket – with her version of predictions on the tournament’s winners and losers. She suggests that the Final Four will include the UConn Huskies, Michigan St. Spartans, the Villanova Wildcats, and the UNC Tar Heels. The Argument goes on to suggest that the Tar heels will win the entire tournament.

Visual Argument: Anyone familiar with college basketball will immediately recognize the bracket arrangement on the page. College basketball enthusiasts will be drawn to it more quickly because the schools that are being shown are all done via mascot representation. If you didn’t know the mascot, you wouldn’t know the team.

Her use of color is great, each team is well depicted, and there is a giant orange basketball as the baskground image. The tournament bracket lines are strong and bold, and the argument of who she thinks will win – UNC – is upfront and clear. This argument is well done, and done in good taste. Tis the season for March Madness and her argument, done visually, is again – done well.

Journal 3/27 - Visual Argument

Can You Figure This One Out?

The image we decided to use was the Eiffel Tower at night time. We decided to use triangles and squares when recreating it because we saw those shapes more prominent in the design of the building. Plus, those shapes give it a more rigid, more slender, and more chic look. Since the tower has spaces and isn’t solid, we decided the abstract gluing of the squares and triangles depicted it best. The other group responded to ours by guessing it, but after careful consideration. One said a rock concert, which I could see. I think, if we had another chance, we would make it bigger, that way it has more of a tower feel. We just made the tower too big for the paper we were using! All in all, though, I think we did a good job of accomplishing the Eiffel Tower with construction paper and shapes.

~Michelle

Blog #6 Part 2 - An Existing Picture

Blog #6 Part 1 - An Emotion

Millionaire Matchmaker - Reality TV

Sadly I admit I watch an obscene amount of reality tv these days.  In my moments of respite from the demanding and often infuriating world around me, I recluse myself to my den alone watching one piece of reality trash most - The Millionaire Matchmaker.  This show is aired on the Bravo! network and in turn is mostly catering to a female audience.  The premise - a thirty something Jewish New Yorker hits Los Angeles and starts a successful business that pairs millionaire men and women with beautiful and exotic dates.  It's a show that portrays American gluttony for capitalism and breast implants.  Again, sadly, I watch this show.

In the particular episode I chose for this class, the millionaire man was named Bruce, a 45 year old stock broker who's net worth was in excess of $45 million.  His ideas of a perfect woman was a 19-25 year old who loves to travel, have children, and wishes to share his 35,000 sq. ft Malibu home with him.  The matchmaker then made a modest attempt at psychotherapy, telling Bruce that he was dreaming and that a woman that young would never hold his attention and that she would eventually leave him.  Her half hearted maxims are aimed at lending another emotion to the show other than SEX SEX SEX, MONEY MONEY MONEY!  Eventually, the matchmaker collects 10-15 girls and arranges a cocktail party where the "audition"/auction is held.  Bruce picks 2 mini dates that consist of 10 min, and then has to pick one for a real date on a later episode.  Bruce indeed chose a twenty something, blonde, with visible plastic surgery.  

This episode was thematic in that it is a Romance based show.  The relationship expert is trying to lend her advice to bring about "true love" as she calls it, yet her hollow reality she lives in doesn't create the right ethos.  As a viewer, I found myself practically smiling and giggling at the superficiality that was rampant.  It's obvious true love cannot be found under the pretense of "Millionaire Matchmaker".  As each of the girls were picture perfect and all with above average talents - the show was making the argument that millionaires all deserve "perfect women", no matter the looks or personality of the man himself.  In this case, Bruce was a charming fellow after all, however not all of the Millionaires are.  

Reality TV this is not, comical and entertaining television with vivid sexual overtones - yes!  That, after all, is why I watch this show.  To laugh at life, while it's whizzing on without me, for those brief moment at least.

Dan Guglielmo

Love and Be Loved

By Michelle Dyer

Blog #5 Movie Poster

Battle of the Animals:

Who is the brightest?

-Sage

Who is the Good fella?

Goodfellas, a Martin Scorsese film, my favorite. An American gangster film original...
by Dan Guglielmo

Springsteen Ethos and Argument...

3. With regard to the recent Springsteen cover story on Rolling Stone, the appeal may be to the read on a popular culture level - but it is the resounding and amazing career of Springsteen himself that sets his music apart from other popular artists of today. It is the character of Springsteen that drives this article - an idea of patriotism and independence that has carried him throughout his long and storied career.

Throughout the article, the author and Springsteen alike are trying to tell the long and arduous journey that has been his career. The 3rd photo of his spread shows him at this mountain home, relaxing on his couch - seemingly "one of us". This sense of one-ness, with the audience and readership - is what draws us to his latest album and to his tour as well. Through creating ethos in this article the authors and artist recount the blue collar struggle and the journey that has made his career. They shy away from his fame and his fortune, rather they aim at the emotional attachment that Springsteen shares with his fans. It is his charismatic, patriotic, and unrelenting style - both artistically and photographically - that makes him such an appealing artist.

Ethos surrounds itself with the credibility of both source and author. Rolling Stone, an established and cutting edge publication in regards to music and film, that their word is written as stone in terms of news. Releases and announcements made in the magazine are considered truth - and the magazine has built itself a reputation for timely news and honest portrayals of artists off the record. This reputation, in conjunction with the humble and earnest photos given in the spread, offer the reader and audience a glimpse into the human side to an artist often considered larger than life. And, as the article so aptly states, life's struggles are no stranger to even the super famous and super talented.

4. The argument of this article, in terms of its visual content, is that Springsteen - no matter how long he has been touring, no matter what successes he has relsihed - is still the hard working, American, proud musician he has always been. In order to relate to his audience, the spread is tame in tone - choosing to focus on the basic life that the megastar leads. His quiet retreats offer the readers a small glimpse into the demure and off-the-clock musician. The portrait shots of Springsteen are stoic, in that they lack action. They are not chaotic. They allow the black and whites to connect with the reader, and lets the eye focus on the artist himself. The color shots of his home and his hobbies, are meant to show that in fact the artist is MOST alive when not on stage, not in the studio - being himself.

The articel argues that no matter what age of fan is reading the magazine, the elements of American music and an American icon are timeless. It offers a rare and refreshing thought that even superstars of years past still have passion for the genre that has made them larger than life, and that even Bruce Springsteen can reflect on his trials and triumphs, enough so to create a 3rd album in 10 years and one that speaks to his humanity. The article makes Springsteen human. Enough so, that his readers don't feel alienated. Enough so, that they buy his record and attend his show. Job well done.

Dan Guglielmo

Bringing it all Back Home

We chose an article from Rolling Stone magazine called “Bringing it all Back Home” by David Fricke. This is the cover story about Bruce Springsteen and a close up into his dream. Briefly, this article is about his start into music, his first band, his first single, etc… It also goes on to tell about where his he is today with his third album. We chose this magazine because it was on the shelf and it appealed to Michelle when she was at the store. The general audience for this magazine is musical entwined people. More in depth, he or she can be of any age and any gender. However, it is not just any musical audience, it appeals to the people that want to go deeper with the musicians; they want to know what is going on in their lives, things about them that you may not be able to google, and what they are all about. This audience wants comments from the musician and not close friends or sources. They want direct comments. This particular issue can also appeal to Bruce Springsteen fans that want to know more about him than just his music. This overall audience is about more than the music.

-Sage

#1 Household cleaner
#2 Scholarly Journal/newspaper
#3 Broadway
#4 60’s Outlet
#5 Ransom letter

When looking at the created fonts, we decided what each one looks like to us. I think that #3 is more appropriate for Broadway because Broadway is a classy, high class event. It’s where people dress for the occasion and attend with proper manor. No shirts go untucked, all dresses come in with dressy shoes, white gloves are brought even if they are not used, no sneakers, jeans, or revealing tops. It is a place of beauty where people actors and actresses fight to get and stay at the top with their talent. This font is more appropriate as apposed to #4 because the 60’s where all about flower power and piece. The only what you would see this font is if it were the title of a production on Broadway. This #3 is more appropriate than #1 because Broadway is more than the common household cleaner. It is anything but common. It is unique and one of a kind. Broadway is not an “As Sold on TV” item. It is advertised on the highest of the high billboards. When something is not common and of higher class, it can not be advertised as just another one of these products. It needs a font that makes it unique and stands out.

--Sage

Spoof Ad

(All images can be found at http://www.google.com)

Transportation Advertisment

Print based advertisements speak to viewers through either perceived or concrete imagery. However no imagery is perhaps as powerful as the iconic images of death. Nothing scares people more – than the prospect of losing their life. Imagery of this kind either connects an image with its viewer on a hypothetical level or it deals directly with personal experiences with death. Both interactions have potentially powerful outcomes. The most potent reactions come when the viewer can see for themselves the grotesque outcome of irresponsibility. This ad deals with both.

As a logos driven argument, the New Zealand Dept. of Transport came up with a series of advertisements that were aimed directly at the parents of youths and teenagers. The country saw the success of other countries in preventing accidents on their highways and roads by educating and affecting the younger generations earlier in their driving experiences and careers. This tactic of tough love grew out of shocking numbers of driving fatalities due to common violations of Road Law – speeding and seatbelts. This specific ad deals with the seatbelt issue and its possible fatal outcome directly. Parents and young drivers alike can relate to the ad; the fact that one boy is alive and the other dead – the difference being a seat belt. The contrast is stark and morose. The implications and safety hazards are clear. Seatbelts save lives, and the viewer can easily connect the two points.

In terms of logic, logos rather, this piece of print persuasion aligns itself with the innate knowledge that death is bad, final. The idea of losing our life, for perhaps something as simple as a seatbelt, is driven home with this piece of print media. The facts are highlighted in a simple and direct way. There is no difficult dialogue to dissect, or intellectual jargon to sift through – logic speaks for itself; something almost every driver can relate to.

On multiple levels, New Zealand’s Transport department confronted a deadly situation with deadly imagery – inciting personal and furvent reactions within its viewers making its point very, very clear – where your seat belt.

New Zealand Dept. of Transportation

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Apple Inc. had gone through some hard times. In 1985, CEO Steve Jobs left Apple, and their sales--as well as their image--plummeted. However, when Jobs returned to Apple after his interregnum, he came back with a bang. In late 1997, Apple reinvented their slogan and ad campaign: thus, the Think Different ad was born.

Its claim is Apple products are different from the other computer companies at the time because of their deviation from that generation's popular consumer technology, and by being different, they are therefore superior.

The above ad is one of many in the series (in their other campaigns, they've used other iconic creative thinkers, such as John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Jim Hensen, Ghandi, etc). Albert Einstein, a man notable for his genius mind and his thinking outside of the box concerning things like science and creativity, is more than just a poster child for this ad. He's the physical embodiment of what Apple is saying (their ethos): they're inventive, they're unique, they're not accepted by the norm, and, according some enthusiasts, they are genius in their design and nature. The stark contrast with the black and white portrait juxtaposed with the bright, rainbow-colored Apple logo is shouting Apple's appeal to themselves as standing out of the crowd, as thinking and being different from the rest of the market. It should be noted that, although it is grammatically incorrect to say "think different," as it should be "differently," the slogan is most certainly done intentionally as a way to convey it as a relative noun than an adverb.

(Posted by Michelle Dyer)