Michael Jackson

Besides the fact that I have been lacking on posting on my blog.  I have been working on projects.  I have recently built and designed my own personal website.  I am seeking out a life in Photography.  I one day hope to have my own Business.  I shall call it Compass Photography.  It incorporates my love for aviation and my search for the correct path in life.  I am proud to say that I making my own road and the journey is sweet.  Look for more information on the website to come.  I am seriously thinking of launching next year.

So, for another class project/final I had to design an album cover.  The cover if printed would be the size of an old vinyl record.  This was my final project for my Fundamentals Of Visual Literacy Class.  The assignment was to create and album cover for a deceased artist.  Someone had found some unreleased tracks and they were coming out with a new album, and we were hired to create the cover.  I decided that I was going to do Michael Jackson aka The King of Pop.

If you have not gathered from my previous work.  I like to keep things simple, clean, and slightly abstract.  So with that said, here is the front of my album cover.

As you can see from the design I decided to label the album The King Unveiled.  If a person thinks about it the Jackson family is so publicly know especially Michael, but their family is very private and secretive.  The fact that this album will be releasing never before released tracks of the Michael I feel that the title fits very appropriately.  The photo of Michael is all the way to the right creating weight on the right side; however, the text, even though smaller, on the left side helps to balance out the design.  I personally tend to gravitate towards darker colors in my design and personal use.  The color selection is very simple yet very striking; simple, clean, crisp.  When people look at art the natural eye direction is to go from the bottom left corner to the top right corner.  With my design I am challenging the viewer to reverse this natural reaction.  I want the viewer to look from the top right to the bottom left.  For some this can create a sense of uneasiness.  I had tried several images for the background before i settled on this design.  Honestly, I liked it and felt that the image symbolized hiding something.  While presenting this to the class one of my classmates had made the point that the image almost looks like Michael is going to unveil himself to the world and in a sense reveal his voice through his music once again.

You can not have an album with just a front cover you have to have a back as well.  So, here is my design for the back of my album.

 

When a person stops and thinks about Michael Jackson's projected image to society he is very eccentric and almost a little over the top.  So, what better way to express his projected image then by making the back cover almost an extension of The King himself.  The big gold frame is very eccentric and a little over the top.  It is flashy and in your face.  One of my favorite songs by Michael Jackson is Man In The Mirror.  Yes, I am listening to it as I write this.  I wanted to incorporate my love for his music in the cover.  So, I decided to make the frame the frame of a mirror.  I placed and image of Michael in the center with a low transparency level so that they image was not jumping out at the viewer.  It almost looks like he is taking a look at himself in the mirror almost as if he is reflecting on his career and the music that he has made.  If you think of Michael Jackson's more recent perception to society is it is almost robotic and very block-ish.  Hence the style of the font.  The viewer might be asking were the color for the text came from well all the text on the album cover has been pulled from the frame itself.  There for there is not a lot of color and or change of color on the album.  I stick to two main colors gray and gold.

As I was siting in the classroom talking about the album and then sitting at home looking over and analyzing my work I would have to say that this is one of my favorite designs that I have done in a while.  It is clean, sleek, sophisticated; yet, still a little abstract and thought/emotion provoking.

"If You Wanna Make The World
A Better Place
Take A Look At Yourself, And
Then Make A Change"

~Michael Jackson~

Man In The Mirror

Entrepreneurship

Passionately Creating Value

Redesign Your Name

We had an assignment where we were asked to redesign our name. When my instructor was talking about the assignment I was thinking that the assignment sounds a lot like Leet. This past summer I was introduced to Leet and became very interested in it. Here is my name in Leet.

Eames Card

Christmas ornaments.....so simple yet says a lot.






Once again, I love Chicago. Here is one of my favorite photos that I took while I was in the city. It was the best time of the year. It was Christmas time!




Have you ever wondered how other countries say Merry Christmas. All the smaller words behind the large Merry Christmas are how other countries say Merry Christmas all across the world.





I love listening to a people play the piano! I was recently taking some photos at a wedding and there was a Baby Grand Piano at the church. I had to get a few photos of it. It also brings back fun memories living in the dorms with my friends. I love Christmas Time.




This is a card with a Saxophone on it. I absolutely adore Kenny G. His music plays constantly over my speakers especially at Christmas time. Last year I visited Chicago and got to listen to a saxophone player play on the corner. He was playing some of my favorite Christmas music. Every time I hear a saxophone playing I think of the cool crisp day. It makes me smile.




This is an ornament from Brooke's wedding. I am the biggest fan of Christmas Trees and ornaments. I am actually putting up my Christmas trees this weekend. Yes, that is plural. We will have three trees in the house this year! So excited





Chinese New Year




Brooke Mynatt's guest book at her wedding. Representing love and Valentines day.




The Nutcracker. I want to see a live performance of this ballet someday! The Nutcracker also reminds me of the Nutcrackers that go up at the White House. I love watching the decorating of the White House at Christmas time.




Merry Christmas to Mi Amiga Alica!

Composition and Layout

What is composition as it applies to design?

In its most simpliest definition composition is the use of design to make all the different elements of a piece work as a whole. It becomes the glue that holds all the other pieces of the design together. Without composition all the other parts of a project are inanimate objects. They are just there and have no rime or reason as to why they are there.

What is unity as it applies to design?

If you take time to look at the word unity you see the word unit. Unit means one. So, unity in design is all the different parts of the design looking as if they belong together. If an artist successfully completes this task then the design will be viewed as a complete whole, with all the elements working together. If there is no unity in the design the elements of the project will seem out of place. If unity is not achieved the viewer could possibly become bored, disinterested, or even confused.

What is the layout of a design?

Although unity is very important, the layout of a design is just as important and has an even bigger effect on the composition. The simplest way to think of layout is to think of it as the arrangement of all the elements of a design in the space of the piece. The layout should enhance a piece by making all the separate elements work together in a way that surpasses a mere collection of different components. The composition should be used to create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

How can the grid be used as a layout tool?

The grid is a print design technique that can be helpful when it comes to developing the layout for a new media project. The grid is a series of intersecting lines that are used to align the elements on a page. This is a very similar technique as using an implied line to create a uniform and balanced layout. With some software a user has the ability to produce a visible grid that can be used as a guide to place the different content in the work area. Another technique is to create a series of guidelines that aid in the alignment of different elements within a layout.