Lost Imagination.

Screen Prints for Change

While this wasn’t my first time screen-printing, I found it to be a more unique experience than the others that I have had. Last year I took Printmaking 1 with Arturo, and before that I tried it for the first time at a camp in the San Juan Islands in Washington. Camp Nor’Wester was a true camp. We slept in Tipi’s, weren’t allowed any technology except for maybe a flashlight, did activities like archery and kayaking. When we were at the crafts cabin they offered screen-printing in the same manor that we practiced the other day. Back then however our designs weren’t really meaningful, just pretty images. That is what set this day apart. Seeing everyone band together to help one another and work as a team with cleaning and hold screens down mad this experience an enjoyable collaboration of classmates and friends.

I had a fun time seeing everyone prints and unique styles, giving me a view into the interests of my fellow classmates. Everything from GMO farming to my own project on Imagination; styles that were simplistic and elegant to illustrative and complex. For my design I wanted to play with the idea of children today and the threat to their imaginative abilities. Even though I’m only 22 years old, I see a difference in how children are growing up now compared to my own childhood. When I was little phones were landlines, and cell phones were flip phones with no games or internet. This mean that to be entertained I spent most my days outside playing with friend, or even inside playing with dolls, horses, stuffed animals, and friends you name it. I find this to be important in the process of living. The imagination is a phenomenon which every being has the ability to experience. Ever look at a child playing and find yourself missing the days when you could change your reality for time into a magical kingdom or whatever you pleased and believe it? This process is what makes artists, creators, designers, and many more types of individuals. Its was lead to children playing out side and becoming interested or curious in their environment, leading to scientists, environmentalists, physicist, chemists, astronomers, and explorers.

Today children have iphones, ipads, gamboys, kindles, and computers to entertain them and not take away the need to explore ones creativity and imagination. Many of these gadgets are portable and are used by parents to fill the need to entertain ones child. While I am not a parent and can only imagine how tiring it must be to entertain a child I still will stand by my belief that it is important to exercise their ability to play and create because before you know it that time to play with your child will be gone. I believe that by playing with your child or getting them outside will create some kind of chain reaction, leading to them possibly doing the same when they have kinds, or at least sparking the in an interest like science. Playing outside also helps promote active children who are healthy.

For my deisgn I wanted a simplistic yet clear design. I used props from characters in children’s book to aid my design, as well as a simplistic font to make it seem out of a story. I used the hat from Peter Pan, one of my favorite stories of all times which compliments so many of my beliefs of imagination because it is all about a boy who never wants to grow up. Then I have the crown Where they Wild things are, where a boy imagines a world of monsters who he befriends and plays with, then the Dr.Suess’ cat’s hat. And Finally the wand which play on many different children’s stories like Cinderella, Pinocchio, Wizard of OZ, and Sleeping Beauty. I tried to portray these objects as beat up or left behind, like they were evidence left behind at the scene of the crime. The victims of these crimes being the character who were lost along the way due to the fact that they are being forgotten. They are being killed by technology.

Looking back now I wish I had created maybe one more layer to add a splash of color or smudges that look like blood, and make the objects on black or a navy blue. However I am very pleased with the way which it came out and the dimensional look it has. There is no right or wrong time to wear this shirt and if I had printed it on a smaller shirt that was my size I would wear it all the time, but sadly it is on an XL shirt. For now I wear it as a shirt to sleep in which I find funny because it talks about imagination and when we sleep we dream, our dreams are the imagination becoming alive for a short time and becoming our reality.

Slingshot and Positive news

Slingshot and Positive News

Hearing about the process and techniques of Sling Shots design and printing processes was extremely interesting to me. Their process seems old school and a little outdated but that possibly could be the appeal and personality of this printing. Being interested in fine arts and illustration, I found their design and collage like technique fun and exciting in a different unique sort of way. Their illustration on their planner distracted me for a little while during the lecture because I have such a different style drawing I was intrigued with what the artists sketched were and how they came up with them.

It was nice to see that a company run by people who are passionate about what they do and do it for free, is successful. It is rare to find a printing company that is as intact as Sling Shot is. In this day and age of technology printing is becoming an obsolete things. You can see so many companies that used to be print suffering from this change like magazines, newspapers, and even books. They are transitioning to screen and app interface means. I was sad to see this era arrive, even though it was bound to happen, because I personally have an enjoyment of turning a page or the smell of new books.

That being said the Designer in me finds that the process and means, which Sling shots uses to develop their prints can and probably should be updated. I say this because I feel that it would make their output faster and more efficient. Even though part of their identity is the intimate and tedious work they put into each print I feel they can still hold on to that style but make a better profit. All this being said Slings Shots ability to stay alive and popular has a huge part to do with their location. San Francisco is a unique city full of people who are drawn to that sort of company and product. While I am not one of them I can see where the appeal lies for those who are into their style and their beliefs.

Positive new was such a great company to see and hear about. The world, especially the US, need more new like this to take away from all the dramatized new of NBC or FOX. I hardly turn the news on now because every story is that of suffering, violence, or politics. These things are important to know and understand, but they way which they are portrayed and written about consumes our lives and creates a bias view of what the world is like. Positive News should be incorporated into every news station and paper, society need to see that more good things happen out there than bad. That though people are starving, there people finding solutions or doing good deeds to help. Though their designs are simple and a little under developed their concept is strong and something that has been called for during the last decade which we have been in war.

These two industries share the common characteristic of being non-profit. Being a designer it is interesting to hear about how none profits work. For a long time I always though it must be hard to work at one because you have to make a living. Now however I see that if you are passionate enough it is worthwhile.

Get out! and PLAY!

Get out and Play proposal

What is it:

It is a movement to support parks and recreations and try to motivate society to get out and be more social and active with one another. It would be an ad campaign inspires local communities into spending more time in their parks and to better inform individuals about the mental and physical health of being outside. Today society spends so much time on their phones, computers, ipads, and watching TV that the tendency now is to stay indoors and look at pinterest or chat on facebook because it is convenient and less effort. The mission of this campaign is to create a desire and curiosity within individuals to question if they are active enough and to inspire said individuals to become more present their physical surroundings. In short to inspire society to interact with one another again.

Why:

I am doing this because of a trend I have realized within my own life and even my own social circles of people shutting out their physical relationships and interaction and constantly being plugged into their technological relationships. For my senior thesis design I am working on a project based on challenging people to question their addiction to technology and put their phones away. My senior thesis project sparked me create this proposal. The says of chivalry, manners, and communication have been slowly ebbing away thanks to social networking and the availability of portable technology. The ability to instantly be connected and busy with phones had developed this need to constantly be entertained and a discomfort in traveling alone or not having a conversation. While technology has brought us into the future and enabled us to achieve developments and abilities to connect that would have been thought impossible 20 years ago, it ahs also brought with it a curse. Our humanity towards one another is disappearing, or consciousness of the physical reality and surrounding is becoming less and less. We no longer hold eye contact when in conversation, which is an important quality to have when interviewing, it becoming harder to meet people in your day-to-day. We spend more time in our own comes in comparison to outside, excluding traveling from work and home. I want to challenge this perspective and get people to become more interested in being active and willing to meet their community and one another in person rather than over social media platforms from home. Possibly initiate a “cell phone free day” where individuals spend a day without their phone and lose that feeling of nakedness or panic that usually occurs when without their technology. Hopefully this will create a habit of going out to lunch or community events and meeting people. Ideally this would then lead to a chain reaction of people getting together and planning outings or BBQ’s and spreading this habit.

Goals:

My coal is to inspire participation in individuals to get and try to be active, to be more willing to say hello to a stranger and talk to the physical person next to them on the bus rather than put their headphones in and sit in silence. I want these posters to inspire people to host or create events with friends and communities, or in the city friendly soccer matches, or Frisbee. Getting out and being social and active puts smiles on faces, and this mean more people will be happy and not sitting at home bored. When ever there are event in SF people seem to like them and get out, when needs to happen is inspire the individual to get out not just on those occasions but also in the smaller settings and outings. 

Audience:

Ideally I would like to appeal to all ages but I feel the more strategic way is to target an audience between the ages of 20-40. I feel this is the best age because at this time in life individuals are more willing to be active, are in charge of their own lives, and are more interested in educating themselves. While students are being education it is more out of necessity than interest. The Ask.com campaign billboards can attest to this through their questions posted by the freeways in SF. Those questions are seen and individuals become curious in the answers, later researching the answer. Once I saw an ad they did that asked how deep the bay was, instantly I was curious because I never though about it and once I got home I had to know. Then was shocked to find out how shallow it really was and that there is constant excavation to enable the freight ships to pass through.  Because of this add I became more aware and educated about my surroundings and city. Those questions are seen and then researched because Ask.com does a great job of drawing in the audience through curiosity and interest in self-education. It is an optional participation but often your will find because of that more individuals and audiences participate. This age is ideal as well because it is the age when people are getting married, dating, or having children. By motivating them it will hopefully become a chain reaction and they will pass it on to either their partners, spouses, or children.

Approach:

I want to approach this proposal though a series of posters and advertisements on muni busses and bus stops. I would also like to have an online website like spirithoods.com that is both retail and education. Spirit Hoods is a company that did a fantastic job of creating a stylish unique product that supports a belief or fund. They develop animal hoods of endangered species that when bought donate to that animals revival, as well as educate you through small fun facts. On my website I will have statistics that are easy to comprehend about time spent outside vs. online. I would also like to education local communities on where their parks are and list events that happen in those parks. And example would be like Doloras park and how every weekend you are guaranteed people will be there, or how Hayes street has a food market and children’s festival a few times a year. I would also like to educate the audience as to the theme of the parks ie. If they are dog friendly, have a children’s playground, if there is drinking allowed ect. By leading them to the already developed apps that SFrec park has. With the money that is spent on merchandise I would hope to put it towards future events or the creation of future events on parks like the lantern lighting festival or bay to breakers for the clean up jobs. The SFPD and Gov would of course have to approve these event but hopefully with the right planning it would appeal and be approved. Hopefully after enough funding and interest in this campaign the scope and reach of it could expand to more than just San Francisco,like the Ad Council website does with ad’s on youtube. They key is reaching as many people as possible and succeeding in the appeal to be outside.

Design:

The design aspect of this campaign will be the creation of eye catching posters, informative one line posters, Logo Design, and retail design screen printing. These retail designs will include the shapes or themes of the parks, funny images or slogans of city events like bay-to-brakers, or props you can buy for the events like team outfits.  

Taller Tupac Amaru collective

Hearing all of the unique stories of the Taller Tupac Amaru collective was an exciting and interesting session. When I first saw and viewed their prints in the Thatcher gallery I had a hard time believing that these were simple screen prints made on cloth and paper. Their diverse colors and styles really spoke to their cause as well draw the eye. Their poster prints speak volumes without words about the struggle of identity and equality. This was interesting to me because this year has been an eye opener to me in way I thought I already was aware of.

            Being from a small town in Idaho, while I was raised with different environment and ability to venture the wilderness, we did not have much diversity within the community. Even my first three years in college were spend with similar types of individuals. Then recently I started seeing someone who was from Costa Rica and lived in the mission. After a few short months with him I became aware of how different our lives were growing up and the differences that come from growing up in different places. Even though we were both from small communities, the fact that I lived in a ski resort is such a difference form the small town he originated from. As I spent more time down there I caught onto the struggle that happens at the schools, and even the communities.

            It was great to see individuals with no art background ban together and develop skills to produce such strong pieces of art, as well as interact with the community and groups who they support. I found it especially interesting how though making one screen print and posting it on line it managed to make its way across the world and speak volumes for rights in Egypt. This really showed me that the power of art and expression can go vast distances, as well as inspire people to create beautiful piece in a time of need drawn from emotion.

            Hearing the presenters speak was like hearing a great adventure story or fairy tail, the different backgrounds which they all are from, the inspiration Melanie drew from her family and mother, as well as the awareness of society around them, their community. All of their unique stories contribute to the fascinating production and collection of Taller Tupac Amaru.  As well as help to develop and impact on the collective as well as the individual, many can relate on some level, be it sexual identity, or racial, or even the individuals self struggle. Emotion and struggle are necessary ingredients to create strength and motivation for action and reaction. 

Designing Pornotopia

Pornotopia hammered home the message that we as designers need to not only change the way we design and produce but also change the way we think about our impact and ourselves. As designers we often undermine our values in communities and our voices in our works. Too often the “consumerist status quo pumps out vast, overwhelming, massively resourced” product creating the mentality within the design community that “design is the end goal”, not the prompt for something more and inspiration for change. Today we are bombarded by ads, logos, and design that seems meaningless, but we can see examples of how design can make an impact. Just look at the Nike logo design or apple. Though those companies create mass amounts of product and consumerism, their logos are known world wide. People forget that those logos were designed they didn’t just appear. But anyone who is wearing the brand or sees a product instantly recognizes who the company is and what they stand for.

What needs to change first is the mindset of designers, we need to change they way we think in order to change how we design. “The first set for the cirizen-designer,” says Sheri Koetting,”is to develop an understanding  of the changes underway in the world and for the many cultural values and traditions that give worth to human life.” She is right that we as designers need to realize the values and different perspectives life and cultures have to offer and seize them as opprotunities to develop our own political stances and voices within communities through design. The article talks about the need for designers to no longer fear politics and criticism when developing our own work and stances, that designers need to speak to their passions and not be afraid of a voice. In order for designers to spark change we must change ourselves and be willing to go against the grain. “Desin is simply a tool to help us connect to our communities and make a difference.” This tells us as designers that designing need to no longer be seen as a prop or end result, but a means to spark something in a community, to reach out and connect to society. It is sad that more often than not space that can be used to send a message or stance is taken up by consumerism ad and eventually garbage. These pieces of ad design should be replaced with messages and inspiration. Design has a greater impact in the world than we as designers realize. It is time we recognize our power to see things differently and problem solve, and be the change in the world we wish to see. 

1950's at a Plance

1950’s Timeline Project:

When choosing the designs and topics for the 1950’s I came across an interesting split in trends. While I only touched briefly on it within the timeline, I though to write more about the interesting occurrence that happened within women’s fashion in America during the 1950s.

            The 1950 was a time of readjustment and recovery. After WWII was over men were returning to jobs and women were retreating back to the kitchen. However with the past decade of interdependence of women and men in the work force, women developed a voice and interest in success and independence. This is where we see the line split between the proper housewife fashion and lifestyle, and the scandalous empowered woman.

            While I believe being proper and lady like is important in certain settings and in life I also believe that the kitchen is not the place for us to reside. Other women at that time believed so as well. Society began to see women like Marilyn Monroe who wore form-fitting dresses that accentuated curves and showed skin. This style embraced the sexuality of women and in a way empowered them. On the other side of the scale there were the women who wore skirts with petticoats, gloves and high neckline dresses. Women of this pedigree believed that women were there to serve and not speak out.

            There have been many movies on these juxtaposing societies of women like in Mad Men, The Help, and even in Marilyn. One of my favorite quotes comes form Marilyn, “well behaved women rarely make history.” And I believe she is right, it is the outcasts, and the black sheep that are remembered, like Amelia Earhart. It is interesting to see this split then and compare it to fashion today even within the area of San Francisco city with its diverse communities. For example the Marina greek mentality verses the Haight street hipsters. I wonder what people will be saying 30 years from now about or social and material trends.

Do Good Design

Good Citizenship The article “Design Citizenship” by Katherine McCoy brought to light something I had never considered before. I have been drawing, painting, doodling, and designing for a long time it had always been my designs and views. While I do often play with the idea of imagination and the sadness that when we grow older we tend to lose our ability to play and dream, it is my idea and not one of a client. What will I do when approached with a project that goes against my morals? What if a client wants something that goes against my opinions? Even though I interned for a company in New York, it wasn’t a company producing posters or promotional works. It was designing ornaments for Christopher Radko. And even looking at school, though the assignments weren’t something I would want to do, the designs were still my own designs and ideas based off of an outline.

 McCoy talks about socially conscious work vs. creating commercially profitable work. I find myself at a crossroads and feel that each circumstance will call for me to do something dependent on the issue. If approached with a product or company design that has no social or political impact I feel that I would do what the client asks even if it goes against my opinions of the design. To me if the client doesn’t want to take my advise on good design, then they can have what they want. However I believe that if approached by a client who wants me to design something I am morally opposed to, like promoting Camels on a new friendly way, I would have to politely tell them that I think I am not the right person for their job. It would be mean that I as an individual don’t feel right and would not please the client nor myself as a designer. If I am designing something I full heartily believe in then my effort and willingness to help and collaborate will pay off more for both ends. As well as promote the change in my mind set as a designer to have a voice and participate in this promotion.