Swiss watches – Identity

I’m beginning to see a trend here. As you can see below the name of the company appears with a small and simple logo. All are attractive but I particularly like the type and logo of Corum and Zenith.

Corum uses a key for its logo which is simple but if you zoom in, it has some small details which make it look attractive. The typeface used is also very interesting and different.

Corum can be contrasted with the type and logo of Zenith. It’s interesting to see how the kerning has been used to space the letters quite far apart. It’s interesting to see the typeface is really minimal and just uses straight lines. The star logo is very simple. If you zoom in you can see some more detail.

All the magazine adverts are from:

I would really like to have a small logo (like the ones above) for myself but I don’t think I’ll have enough time to design something before the deadline.

Bilan – The Swiss Economic Magazine – Layouts and Typography

I went to visit Swiss relatives and they had this magazine on their coffee table. I was impressed with the striking front cover so I took some pictures of it.

http://www.bilan.ch/

Learning Outcomes

How and why is photography used?

Photographs are used in most walks of life now.

• They are used in advertising to promote products and people.
• By police to give warnings of known criminals, appeal for public help and to find missing people.
• Used by governments to give advice and provide information.
• They are used for medical purposes and in schools to teach.
• They keep memories of major historical events alive, expose the horrors of wars and are credited for helping create the anti-war movement.
• Used in science to show new discoveries. Have helped show parts of the world never before seen by humans e.g under water, outer-space  microscopic world.
• Make the world seem much smaller as events on the other side of the world are heard about and shown in books and newspapers.
• They are also used to capture personal and beautiful moments.
• Have exposed the natural world and wonders of nature.

‘http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090428213925AABsqTE’

Art and aesthetic pleasure

Below are two examples of images used for art or aesthetic purposes.

This image is non threatening, doesn’t challenge you, is simple, has soft colours and a strong contrast between the dark background and light petals.

‘http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/90186386/’

This image shows a grand engineering feat, which in itself is seen as a piece of art and viewed in an aesthetic manner. The image shows this in perspective with the cars in the foreground and the rest of the bridge leading into the background.

‘http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/40186379/’

Documentary – News & Historical Records – The camera never lies

This photo accurately portrays the destruction and despair on a woman’s face after the earthquake in Haiti.

The woman in the photo is looking away from the camera which is unsettling for the viewer.

The above two photographs are from the Communication Arts magazine.

Discuss how the camera can lie

Below are some examples of techniques which show how a camera could be seen as lying.

‘Forced perspective is a technique that employs optical illusion to make an object appear farther away, closer, larger or smaller than it actually is. It is used primarily in photography, film making and architecture. It manipulates human visual perception through the use of scaled objects and the correlation between them and the vantage point of the spectator or camera. It manipulates human visual perception by scaling an object a size where it harmonizes with other elements around the field of vision of the spectator resulting to a dramatic optical illusion.’

‘http://www.instantshift.com/2010/08/24/88-brilliant-examples-of-forced-perspective-photography/’

‘With a technique called forced perspective you can create illusions that make an object appear farther away, closer, larger or smaller than it actually is. It just takes a little creativity with the placement of the subjects in the shot and the camera angle.’

‘http://webdesignledger.com/inspiration/20-creative-examples-of-forced-perspective-photography’

In this photo the reflection of the water is used to help create the illusion that two men are upside down and stuck to a ceiling.

‘http://www.tutorart.com/index.php/56-awesome-examples-of-forced-perspective-photography/’

Why would anyone want to slant the viewer’s connotations of an image?

Photos may be given false labels to try and mislead the viewer and change their view point on an issue. This can be a very powerful tool used by newspapers and governments but can backfire badly if the label is found to be false or the photo to be doctored. Below is an example of a photo found to have been labelled in a misleading way.

‘U.S. News & Word Report cover story implies a village was leveled by Israeli war planes, but on closer examination, the “village” is actually a garbage dump with burning tires.’

‘http://patriotpost.us/pages/70‘

Air-brushing – Doctoring an image

Another way that photos can lie is if they are manually changed and edited to change what the image represents. Below is a good example of this, a before and after photo of  Madonna for a magazine.

The photo is changed to give the subject a younger look, which will help to sell more copies of the magazine and promote the subject to sell more records etc (sex sells).

‘http://www.chilloutpoint.com/misc/celebrities-before-and-after-photoshop.html‘

Photography used in advertising – how does its role change?

This image glamorises smoking. Since the dangers to health have been discovered this type of image has been banned is some places.

‘http://www.pixel77.com/print-ad-designs-through-the-decades-the-60s/‘

Surrealist Photography

Robert & Shana ParkeHarrison

‘The ParkeHarrisons create large-scale coherent narratives reminiscent of early 19th century images imbued with futuristic allegories.’

‘Creating a genre unique within photography, the ParkeHarrison’s construct fantasies in the guise of environmental performances featuring an ‘Everyman’ character. A man dressed in a black suit who interacts with a landscape. The surreal and often humorous images are a mixture of a black and white silent film and a dream you can’t forget.’

‘http://www.galleryofphotography.ie/exhibitions/parke_harrison.html‘

Christophe Huet

The point of this picture is to show how the issue of homelessness and alcoholism is swept under the rug.

‘http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jPhceBYiIaI/TMFlXXGsICI/AAAAAAAAAEw/OxSr8uJ4G9s/s1600/‘

Landscape photography

Ansel Adams

This black and white picture shows the dramatic landscape of Yosemite, California, leading up to a mountain range. There is a contrast between the darker landscape and the lighter shades of the river. The photo gives a moody and foreboding feel.

‘http://www.arikiart.com/articles/ansell_adams.htm‘

Ian Cameron

This photograph has a very nice contrast between stormy and sunny. The bright colours look vivid and stand out well.

‘http://www.transientlight.co.uk/photo/rainbows-beinn-hope/?gallery=mountains‘

Analysing the brief – My plan – Update on my progress

Here I am looking at the brief and highlighting the important parts.

Plan for the project

• Read all the information on Moodle.
• Go to the library and get the book Photography: A Critical Introduction.
• Do the task on Moodle.
• Ask fellow class mates and family members if they will sit for me.
• Make some ideas to be shown at the crit.

Update on progress

• 3 classmates have agreed to be photographed.
• 3 family members have agreed to be photographed.
• I have agreed to sit for my fellow class mates.
• All the copies of Photography: A Critical Introduction are already out and there is already one person waiting for a copy before me.
• I don’t have a definite plan of what to do for the photographs. I have never tried to take professional standard pictures so I don’t know what I’m doing. I have told my sitters I might ask them to do a genuine smile and then a fake smile. Then put the two pictures side by side in the magazine. Or if that doesn’t work I might just do casual style shots, individually and as a group. Then just see what turns out well and discard the rest.
• The photography tutor has told us that it takes many shots to get one decent one.

Observer Food Monthly – September 2012 – No 136

This spread looks really classy with the faint grey type. The only colour is on the food which gives it prominence. Good use of white space because all the elements can breath.

Interesting use of bold type which is eye-catching.

I don’t think there is anything particularly amazing about this spread but it does show a picture of food and I enjoy photographing food. The placement of the image looks like it fits comfortably and all the elements have enough space to breath.

I put this here because of how over-powering the two adverts at the side are. When I was looking at this spread the bright colours took my attention away from the article.

I realised the design could have been made to look like an Italian flag.

http://www.mapsofworld.com/flags/italy-flag.html

This spread is very simple but it is still very attractive. The grid lets the images sit together and I like the use of white space on the left hand side. This helps the spread to breath. The author’s name is in bright coloured type which gives it prominence.

All of the above are from this magazine:

See the post called Conclusions to Research for my conclusions to this piece of research.