Interactive: Drugs are Bad for You!

Interactive: Drugs are Bad for You!

As part of our latest project for Interactive we have to create an advert that lasted around 10 to 20 seconds that is based around a subject our lecturer has given us.

Some examples of these are:

"Phones shouldn't be used in class"
"Time keeping is important"
"Keeping safe on the web"
"Don't take food and drink into the classroom"

And many more, but based on the title of this post you have probably realised by now that the one I was given is "Drugs are bad for you".

Personally I agree with this statement, even tough some drugs aren't that 'bad' or you, they still effect you in some way, shape or form, that could range from health-related issues or things like money issues.

With some drugs, you apparently have a 'high' point and then a really 'low' point - my question is: "is it really worth it?"

So my idea for this animation... I'm sure people are aware with the saying "Throwing your money down the drain", right?

That is the general idea that I am going with on this project, as well as many other points such as the highs and lows and health issues but my main priority for this ad/campaign is to show that buying drugs and having the aftermath only last a short period of time is literally a waste of money and you may as well throw your money down the drain or burn it. It's not just as simple as that tough, addictions could get worse and worse and that results in more money being spent which could ultimately result in something being very, very bad finically.

For somebody to go "Meh, it's only weed, it's not bad for you" - They'd probably be right, but it's things in the future and other potential risks not strictly health-related that can effect the person. 

The way I want to show this visually is a cartoon-based animation where you see cartoon money going down a carton drain and so on. I also want to animate a person deteriorate over the period of the 20 seconds too, which is quite fast, but I think that'll be great because people will be able to see the effects of a person so fast and could be shocked at what they see and change their mind/views on taking drugs. It's worth a shot!

Sound and Accessibility

SIGNAL

• Good - Perfect audio
• Bad - Noise/interference, corrupted audio, inaudible 
• 
  
• Radiowaves - what you can hear
• When Signal is weak, noise is louder 

NOISE

• Fuzz, background, buzz, constant
• Fans, Air-Con, computer, Kitchen, T.V, People

INTERFERENCE

• Inconsistent, unwanted

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Locations where noise may be an issue: 

• Roadside/Urban area/Shopping centre/cafe
• Windy area such as beach/hill/mountain
• Building site
• Electric Generator

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TV: Subtitles, audio description, Audio loop - a magnetic signal sent to the hearing aid. 

Cinema: Hearing loop

Radio:

Online: Subtitles

PPM dB
0 -10
1 -12
2 -14
3 -16
4 -18
5 -20
6 -22

PPM = -2(dB-5

PPI: Pixels Per Inch

PPI: Pixels Per Inch

In todays Digital Publishing lesson we looked at PPI (Pixels Per Inch) of images and how the resolution of the image works with the PPI. 

We were given an example as a class, this is what it was:

Resolution: 4608x3456

PPI: 72

So with a resolution of 4608x3456 @72ppi that would be 64x48inches in actual print size; that is absolutely crazy in size compared to a standard HD screen which is only 1920x1080. 

Print uses 300ppi instead of the digital equivalent of 72ppi this means that we would need to change the image from 72 to 300ppi.

To change it we would need to divide the resolution by 300, below is a visual demonstration:

We were then told to find an image ourself and then do the calculations to put it into print size:

Logic Pro: Cliché Soundtrack Play-Around

Cliché Soundtrack Play-Around 

In this moving image lesson we experimented with different sounds in Logic Pro. We were told where everything was such as instruments, sound loops and how to add software tracks and how to use the typing keyboard as a musical keyboard. After that we played around creating various different sounds and getting a feel for Logic in general. 

Once we all had a general play around and had gotten a feel for the software we were then set a task to create a backing track to a clip of our choice from a short film from the previous second year Moving Image students. 

Below is the clip that I chose and the final music that I created:

Impact on the characters:

The music I created for this was made very specifically to fit the scene. In the scene there is a person tied up to a chair in a dark room with a bag over their head and they are screaming. Straight away I wanted to create something that would turn emotions cold for the audience so I decided to use a medium pitched synth and a lower-end pitched synth. These working together created a tense atmosphere right from the start, especially when you are greeting with a tracking in shot into this tied-up character. The amount of music/instruments used is very minimal but I wanted it like this because anything else added to it would create a completely different atmosphere and where it was, was just spot-on. 

What did I know before/what did I learn?
Before I was aware of everything that we had taught in this lesson but I had never actually independently tried it out myself, I was aware because I just followed what the teacher did in school on the projector. 

It was good to have that Independence to just crack on and get the job done and experiment, that's one of the best ways to learn for me I find because It actually stays in my head more. So I was aware of everything we had been taught but it was good to have it fresh in my head and hopefully I wont forget it as quickly or as much as I did 3 years ago.   

Christmas: In Design Christmas Jumper

Christmas: In Design Christmas Jumper


In todays lesson we were assigned a Christmas task, this was where we had to design our own christmas design and follow and set of instruction from a website, that can be found here: http://blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/tutorials/how-to-create-a-christmas-jumper-pattern-in-illustrator

What did I know before?
Before I had basic experience in shapes and how to rotate/colour them, I was also aware of how to duplicate a shape by holding down 'alt'. 

What have I learnt?


Today I have learnt how to merge two shapes together. This can be done via the 'Pathfinder' tab. You select the shapes you wish to merge by holding shift and click them both, and then click the 'Unite' icon on the far left. Once this is done you will have a shape that has merges various shapes together. 

Here is the final version of that poster: 

You can also find a time-lapse video of the process here:

Art Movements

Phycedelic 60's

The Phycedelic 60's was all based around drugs and hallucinations, believe it or not. It was seen as 'funky art' for some. The main drug that initiated the whole psychedelic era was LSD, this basically caused people to alternate between states of consciousness, causing them to hallucinate and paint what they see. When other drugs were used this cased people to have different experiences, causing the art to be slightly different.

The design idea is still used but very rarely, for example, some Music Festivals sometimes use the idea. It is also used on a popular youtube channel, known as Good Mythical Morning.

Post Modernism:

Post Modernism was very popular around the time of 1960's and onward. It was a move by a lot of artists to try something different and breaks some rules to create a great new movement of art. It doesn't strictly follow any structure either so the possibilities are endless. Well-known people such as Banksy, Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns and Jackson Pollcock all use this style of art in the modern age. 

Futurism

Futurism started in the 20th Century in Italy.It appeared to be based off of the concept of the future, such as speed and technology, often empathized with objects such as cars or a plane and the industrial city. It was also about geometrical shapes, curves and jagged edges. The 'main players' of this movement were David Bomberg, Gino Severini and Primi Conti.

Soviet Realism

This is a realistic style of art that was developed in the Soviet Union, it became a dominant style in other countries too. This was an officially approved type of art in the Soviet Union for nearly 60 years. The whole purpose of it was to enhance the goals of socialism and communism. 

Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau is an international style of art, used in many places across the world and influenced the design of man-made items such as furniture jewelry and so on. It was one of the most popular art styles from 1890-1910 and because in 1880. From then it spread around Europe. It then even went onto being used in art and craft forms/movement. It also has no political references and is easily recognizable.

Swiss Style

Swiss Style started back in the 1950's and is mainly a graphic design style designed in Switzerland (big hint in the name). It likes to show cleanliness, readability and objectivity. The font style was sans serif. Interestingly the style is also associated with photography in place of illustrations or drawings, that's something I never knew! The main players of this art movement was Josef Muller-Brockmann.

Even 60 years on Swiss Style is still very relevant, you see it all over the place where that being big block colours on posters or websites. Ikea is also heavily know for using it with their designs of furniture.

Bauhaus:

Bauhaus was actually a an art school in Germany that focused on design. It was founded in 1919 by Walter Gropius. It later closed in 1933. At the time 'Bauhaus' in German literally meant 'House of Construction'.  Bauhaus became on of the most influential design styles in modern design and art. It had a big influence on developments in art, architecture, graphic design, interior design, industrial design and even typography. Bauhaus appears to be very neat with it's layout, everything lines up and is all the same angle, typically 45 degrees. 

Potential Political Campaign at College to Encourage Teenagers to Vote

College Campaign to Encouragement Teenagers to Vote

-What are young people interested in?
Most young people of today's generation are interested heavily in digital items such as phones, computers, tablets and so on. This is mostly because of how they've been raised into a generation that uses it the most compared to previous generations. It is also much easier to access information, images etc.. Not only that but there is something about technology that intrigues younger people. Myself included.

- How can these interests be used to get young people to vote?
This is pretty much self-explanatory, technology is a major part in advertising or gathering information in this generation. Even visiting a website is technically being part of the view-count for that website, which is classed as primary research. If you create a really interesting and visually appealing website or video or some form of media that can be posted around on social media sights, then people are much more likely to view it other than a poster in a corridor. 

- How can the act of voting in the election be made interesting/How to get young people interested in politics/voting?
Make the concept look more interesting, even adverts about politics/voting on the TV look really dull and boring, but imagine if that advert had a concept of teenagers going into the voting hall to vote (possibly alongside adults) and the whole colour-grade of that advert looked really visually vibrant and the graphics at the end were all various different shapes and colours. That would surely have even the smallest effect on persuading teenagers to vote?

- Which media formats would work for the campaign?
I would say various formats. Mainly something that is quick and easy, like the play of a button on a video. Most teenagers wouldn't want to pick up a newspaper or magazine because it's 'boring' or 'what old people read' or 'it won't look cool'. But some surprisingly do! Think of it in social media terms, a teen is scrolling down their news feed with a white background, and they suddenly see a video with a really vibrant and colorful thumbnail, it will stand out to them and all they have to do is click play and the information is being fed to them on a plate, whether they choose to keep listening or take in what is being said. he trick is to get them watching within the first 10 seconds, that's the most important part. 

- What would the style, content and information be like?
It would almost definitely have to be vibrant and colorful - it's just what attracts the eye. They create a much more positive mood and atmosphere compared to darker and dull colors. The information would have to be visually interesting, use graphs, graphics/images to illustrate what is being said. And the information would have to be compacted into short and sweet sentences. 

-How would I go about researching this to find out?
There are various ways, one would be to create an online survey and ask people to fill it out on various social media platforms. Another way would be to physically go out and ask people themselves. 

What people at college currently think of politics/voting?
As you would expect, the majority of people in college don't know or have any interest what-so-ever in politics. Some don't even know who the prime minister is, whether they were joking or not I don't know but some people genuinely don't. I recall only 2 or 3 people out of 50-60 asked read about politics everyday, which is such a small amount. 


What media I could create to promote voting?
Myself being heavily interested in the video world would mean that I would probably make some form of graphical video with some actual video element involved also. What would be best is to research into the best format that teens like, both in college and in general over the entire country/world and then work around that.