Milton Glaser/StimuLatté

With a joyously positive attitude, Pauleen, René, Eisen, Isacc and I began our adventure to Hollywood to watch the Milton Glaser film. Traffic was horrible, and we were obviously going to be late. It was about 7:30 pm (movie was suppose to begin at 7) and we were on Sunset about two blocks away. I received a call from Jessica, which wasn't filled with good news. Apparently, the DVD was nowhere to be found and the event was basically cancelled. We quickly looked passed it, and headed out to the StimuLatté which was being held in Silverlake. I guess having two AIGA events in one day had its benefits. It was awesome to see a good amount of familiar faces and new faces.

Apparently, GAUGE will be making some awesome valentine's day cards, thanks to an idea we got at the StimuLatté.

We made a circle (10-14-09)

We made a circle and presented the 10 words/phrases we came up with, which related to a simple image. A lot of people had humorous words to give meaning to their photograph, which was very entertaining. I noticed that adding humor was much more common and easier to do since one must deeply analyze a photograph to give it a very serious and effective meaning.

We also watched a speech given by Sir Ken Robinson. Not only was this man funny, but he was also very right about things.

He spoke about the education system the US provides people with, and according to him, it wasn't the greatest. I must agree. Unfortunately the standards are being lowered, and almost any teenager can graduate from high school without doing much. Even though there are a lot lazy people, we cannot forget there will always be those awesome over-achievers. Even with higher standards, we wouldn't be able to force anyone to want an education. People eager to learn and better themselves will always be present, and those people are the ones who will keep this country motivated.

Adjectives:

1) Cumbersome

2) Assorted

3) Curvy

Simple isn't always just simple. (10-12-09)

On that monday, we had to come into class with 10 simple photos. My images weren't all photos since I thought anything simple would do.... later realizing that Jimmy only wanted photographs. Also, I didn't know what Jimmy would consider as simple. I searched through em' fashion magazines, and all the images were not so simple. I viewed them through a "photographer's perspective" since I kept the lighting conditions and composition in mind. I realized that Jimmy was referring to the photo's content.

So we split up into groups, and analyzed a selected photo. We had to come up with a word of phrase that would fit the image, but greatly change its meaning.

The exercise was very stimulating since it made you think "outside the box". It was also interesting to see what people came up with, and how the photo's meaning was either sabotaged or improved by a simple word.

Jimmy stole my photo of a cool and shinny tomato.

Adjectives:

1) Deranged

2) Combative

3)Divergent

DREAMS by Akira Kurosawa (10-7-09)

The movie "DREAMS" by Akira Kurosawa was one interesting flick. Composed from various dreams, dreamt by various people, it helped to stimulate that brain of mine. Overall, the movie did have some very abstract representations to things, which caused some confusion.

The movie had eight mini-stories which were:

1) Sunshine Through The Rain

2) The Peach Orchard

3) The Blizzard

4) The Tunnel

5) Crows

6) Mt. Fuji In Red

7) The Weeping Demon

8) Village Of The Watermills

Sunshine Through the Rain dealt with a little boy who runs into the woods and sees a sacred dance/ritual which gets him banned from his home, and must search for the "Rainbow Foxes". Being the first story in the movie, it did boggle my mind a little. Since Jimmy didn't say much about the movie, I didn't know what to expect. This first clip broadened my understanding of the movie's concept, which kept me interested.

The Peach Orchard was filled with beautiful imagery, and had a great representation of the concept, which to me was "nostalgia". The boy seems to be upset since the peach trees were chopped down, and his deep feelings toward the orchard allow him a final glimpse at the beauty they once were. This clip was definitely one of the best since it left you with a feeling of sorrow, giving you deeper understanding of the boy's feelings.

The Blizzard was a clip which had a very abstract meaning. The travelers/hikers were obviously being threatened by the raging blizzard, and at one point, compacted within the snow. A ghost-like woman appears to help them, whom has a very interesting dialogue. She says "The snow is warm.... the ice is hot". That portion was very inspirational. This clip can easily symbolize people's fight in life, which becomes easier to manage with a little inspirational assistance.

The Tunnel was a very sad, and interestingly inspirational part of the film. The main person, who was obviously a Commander, encounters his army, which unfortunately died in battle. This "dream" seemed to be more of a nightmare since his obedient, strong-willed army is now dead. The whole concept of "loyalty" really struck me as I watched the film. The one thing I had trouble understanding was the crazy dog's role; a crazy dog appears from the tunnel, with explosives tied down to it's body. Weird.

Crows seemed to have a good amount of humor, luckily enough, since that's what the film was missing. This clip dealt with a man's search for Van Gogh. He finds him and follows him around. Some quotes that were quite fun were "I work myself like a locomotive", "The sun compels me to paint", and " If you look closely, everything can be a painting". This clip seemed to steer into a whole different direction from the other clips since it had information we could actually analyze, seeing that it dealt with a famous artist we all know about. To me, this clip tried to convey the phrase "don't give up".

Mt. Fuji In Red was another clip which seemed to be a nightmare. This clip was not as abstract as some of the other portions of the film since it dealt with something we're dealing with now: the destruction of human-kind by humans themselves. Basically, Mt. Fiji erupts, releasing toxic chemicals, causing the inhabitants to seek refuge in the ocean, causing them to drown. This clip metaphorically portrays human's negative impact on our planet, shown through a very realistic and horrid series of images. This clip was definitely did stick.

The Weeping Demon was a little crazy. The man from some of the previous clips, meets this "demon" who weeps about the destroyed land and its past life. This clip was certainly difficult to understand, and seemed to have many metaphoric references. In my opinion, this was another nightmare.

Village Of the Watermills was definitely the best clip, and could fall under the "the best was saved for last" category. This clip represented a simple life, without technology, filled with natural ways of doing things. The traveler meets an elder, filled with wise words. He comments about life outside the village, "dirty air, dirty water, polluting the hearts of men". This clip can relate to the Mt. Fugi clip, since they both speak of how the natural ways of living have been butchered through the use of technology to "make things better". I liked the message of this clip, since unfortunately, it speaks the truth.

I think to better understand the film, one must watch it a few times. I'm sure something new will come up with every viewing.

Adjectives:

1) Memorable

2) Plain

3) Melodic

Mappin' fun

On monday, we dove into the world of Mind-mapping (aka idea-mapping).

Jimmy put on a slideshow, where the first slide contained this phrase:

"The easiest path for a fresh idea is through an open mind".

What exactly does it mean to have an open mind? In my opinion, it means to free one's self of intellectual bigotry and grow tolerant to new ideas and opinions. With that comes a desire to listen and understand people's stand on things. I try to keep an open mind by hearing someone out, and not rejecting an opinion and/or argument before hearing it, since unfamiliar things tend to automatically land on our "rejected" pile.

Without any restrictions, a mind map can do wonders. Sometimes we tend to feel confused and incapable of keeping our thoughts organized. By ACTUALLY writing them down, we have a reference to our previous thoughts, which is why mind-maps are awesome!

Adjectives:

1. Quaint: attractively unusual or old-fashioned.

2. Erratic: not even or regular in pattern or movement.

3. Cynical: believing that people are motivated by self-interest.

Crazy Wednesday

Wednesday's class was kinda nuts (in a good way). The topics discussed were quite different, but in some crazy way, they seemed to relate to one another, keeping me interested.

A big topic we covered was "time". Interestingly enough, the complex invention of how time is taking place has come up in a good amount of my classes. In most of my "time" related discussions, it is concluded that time is in fact non-existent. I actually agree that the concept of time is manipulated by mankind. Sometimes I seem to believe that time, or something of the sort does in fact exist. Why you ask? Well, if two people arrange a conversation at let's say 4:00 pm, and they in fact call each other at that time, wouldn't it mean there is a way to calculate how quickly things develop, or at what phase things are moving? There's something plausible about the concept of time, but we might just be looking at it incorrectly.

Adjectives:

1. Standard- used or accepted as normal or average.

2. Lugubrious- looking or sounding sad and dismal.

3. Inchoate- not fully formed.

4. Ruddy- having a reddish color.