Mini Art Schol #1

REQUIRED ASSIGNMENT




This advertisement caught my eye in a magazine that I was reading, so I thought I would take some time to analyze it.
I think what struck me the most was the use of contrast and color here, not just because it was eye catching, but because the color also conveyed meaning.
Purpose – The purpose of this ad is clear. They want to let you know about the Pink Pony fund and get you to visit the website to learn more about the fund. The greater purpose of the site and the fund is to raise money to make sure that individuals in need of medical treatment for cancer in “underserved communities” can receive that care.
Audience – the intended audience is individuals who can afford to donate to the charity. The ad was found in O magazine, which would have a broad audience, including many affluent individuals. The easily recognizable Ralph Lauren Polo emblem also helps to connect with that audience.
Margins – There are generous margins that I think lead your eye right to the center and to the Pink Pony.
Columns – so this is interesting because the book warns against centering everything, but this is centered. Still I think it works because I don’t think the flow is interrupted. The interest and attention really comes from the image of the pink pony. The rest of the text is in a few small digestible sections. The first piece of text identifies what the Pink Pony Fund is and it probably confirms what one would suspect because of the very well known association between the color pink and breast cancer. Then as your eye moves down you get a little more information about the focus of the fund. Then one line about money and percentages, and finally, a request to visit the website to learn more.
Visual – The visual is really key here. As I mentioned earlier, it is a really recognizable logo and they echo the use of the image of the pony with the word pony in the title of the fund. At the same time the logo is altered to be pink to also match the logo and to transmit the meaning between the color pink and breast cancer research.
Echo and Harmony – As I mentioned above, the title of the fund is echoed in the color and content of the logo. Thematically, the ad maintains the elegance that Ralph Lauren is known for by the simplicity, the fonts.
Space – Well clearly this ad doesn’t really use “white” space, but it does make use of the black space. There is a lot of black space in this ad, but it helps to draw your eye to the focal point, which is the pony.
Size and focal point – The size of the pony is important because it is large enough to dominate the page and is a clear focal point.
Contrast – Finally I think the contrast between the black and white and the black and pink makes this an ad that you really pay attention to. It is a little unexpected the black and pink, but I think it gives the ad a modern feel, and also a serious feel, rather than the whimsical feel that one might often associate with pink. Considering the content of the ad, I think that is appropriate. It gives you the message that this is serious, important, and something that needs to be addressed right away. So again, that speaks to theme some more.
Font – The use of font is interesting here. It does follow for the most part the suggestion in the book to use two fonts. The words Ralph Lauren are in the company’s usual font, so of course they would want to use that. Then for the fund, it is in a more feminine script, which may have been chosen because of the connection between breast cancer and women (and also used with the color pink). Yet the text that describes the fund, while still in a similar script like font to the “Pink Pony”, is a bit different. I think that perhaps the “Pink Pony” script might be a little hard to read, so they might have chosen something similar and I think it works because overall you really just get the feel of two different fonts.

Second Exercise:

For the second exercise I did the thematic references exercise on p.59. A long time ago, I called a crowd of people in New York city "asinine pedestrians" when we were driving and my husband and brother-in-law thought it would make a great band name. So, I designed 3 covers for this fake band, that I imagined to be kind of an indy-rock type of band. I have to admit, I had a lot of trouble with this. I did the brainstorming exercises and I came up with the idea that I wanted to convey a theme of breaking outside of conformity along with a plea for people to pay attention. So, I used some different images to play around with that. The crosswalk was the first one, because of the idea that a following a crosswalk involves really following the rules. Yet, I chose the image of the crack in the crosswalk to play with the idea of breaking from those rules. The breaking glass in the second image is also meant to play around with that theme of breaking outside of something. In the last design, I found an image that also had that work "look" in it and I decided to make that the name of the album as it echoes the other part of the theme that urges people not just to accept things as they are and walk blindly through life, but to really look. Also, it is a play on the asinine pedestrian thing because so often when people are walking, the problem is that they are not looking at the cars around them and creating a dangerous situation.

In all three covers I used two fonts (as suggested) and played around with different uses of them. I chose fonts to try and reflect the indy rock thing and to not be too neat and tidy in order to fit with the theme. In some I didn't capitalize the name in order to reflect the "don't follow the rules" theme, but I didn't do that in every case.








Third exercise:

For this exercise, I chose to redesign an advertisement/coupon I used to use for my jewelry business (that I don't really have anymore). I realized that when I looked at it, it looked more like a centered letter than anything that was designed. I had my logo on top an then made the mistake of centering everything. I tried to revise it using the "works-every-time" layout and put an image on top, the text in columns, and the logo at the end. I also changed the font because there are already 2 different fonts in the logo and then I was using a totally different font for the text. I tried to find a font for the text that matched the main font in the logo. I also put the website address more prominently on the bottom. Overall, I think the design still needs work, but I still think it is an improvement. One thing is that I think I need to play around with the image so that it takes up more room at the top. So, here's what I ended up with.

Original:




Revised:

Week 2: Online Resources

I have to admit that when I first approached this assignment, I didn’t think it was going to be particularly difficult. Find a few online communities to join and then post which communities I joined and why. Easy enough. What I found was that by searching for online communities – mostly around the keyword of “multimodal composition”, I found some (online communities), but in general I just found so much information. Interesting information, overwhelming information – things that I wanted to read, awesome things that other people are doing, movies I now want to see. There is so much that can be done, that I want to do, that some of the challenge is just to narrow down and focus on one task at a time. It reminds me of why research is often so difficult for my students, because while in many ways research is easier than ever (no need to drag yourself over to the University library on a Sunday morning when you can just search databases from your computers), students often are so overwhelmed by the choices, and they have trouble understanding that finding good and reliable sources requires more than just searching Google. Focusing in on the task at hand and choosing from SO many options the resources that are best for the task , this is a new challenge.



Elizabeth Daley really renewed my conviction that it is really important that I start incorporating meaningful instruction around and using multimedia in my composition classroom. I am interested not just in using multimedia as an instructional tool, but by having students CREATE compositions that incorporate other elements besides print. Daley’s article also pointed out that I have a lot to learn and explore so that I can consciously and meaningfully bring multimedia into my composition classroom. The trouble with writing, and I think that it seems true about multimodal composition, is that often you can’t talk about it, you have to experience it. For my project this semester, I would like to create a website where that I can use in my classes both as a resource and a collaborative space where students can share work and provide feedback. I would like to provide resources that will allow me to provide examples and resources around some of the terms that Daley lists mentions such as “frame composition, color palette, editing techniques, and sound-image relations…” (p.38). I would also like to include examples of different types of compositions, that could be used both as texts for analysis and inspirations for student projects. For instance, one multimodal project I have done in the past has been to have students re-vision one of their written texts in a different mode (another idea from Cindy Selfe), and then reflect on what was gained and lost when the text was transformed. I think that if students could really see different examples of all the different ways a text can be created and appear, this assignment could get more interesting.

So, to the point of this post – I joined a few communities that I hope will help me create an instructional space for my students that will help me move a bit beyond the baby steps I’ve already taken. In Thinkfinity, I joined, besides our group, Erica Boling’s group “Using Multimedia for Communication and Education” that I hope will be a good resource and place to ask questions. I didn’t find anything in Thinkfinity specifically around college teaching or even with the tag “composition”. So, I left Thinkfinity and found a few other resources. I found a blog called “Community College English” that had a few posts about multimodal composition. The site also had a lot of other resources and links all around teaching first year composition. So I am really excited about checking back there. I can comment on posts there and I think I can join the site if I send an e-mail because they say it is a community and they welcome contributions. Through that site, I also found another blog that is really interesting as it is a blog of another community college instructor. I was pulled in right away there, because she talked about using blogs in her classroom, which I have done as well, and how she does peer review with them. It sounds like we use a similar approach, so I am interested in checking out her peer review sheets that she provides. I want peer review to be an important part of the website that I create for my class. Finally, the other community I joined is one I am really excited about. It is a National Writing Project site called “Digital Is”. This first page of the website reads: “The NWP Digital Is website is a collection of ideas, reflections, and stories about what it means to teach writing in our digital, interconnected world. Read, discuss, and share ideas about teaching writing today.” I have poked around a bit and found some really interesting categories and posts that I think will be helpful for me moving forward. People post articles and projects that they are working on. Here’s an example of an interesting post I found on the site in which a teacher guides us through the process of digital writing in his English class:
The Digital Writing Workshop | Digital Is ...

I am looking forward to using these resources and finding others ( I also found a few articles I will be sure to read on some wikis I was browsing) for my project. By the way, here is the trailer for that movie I mentioned earlier called Road to Nowhere I am not sure if any of you have heard of it, but I found a post about it on a website I stumbled upon through a link from the DMAC page to a site called The Failure Project (another really interesting idea and website). The movie looks really interesting and related to some of what I think we are all trying to accomplish. There is a showing in October near me and I might try and check it out.

Ciroc Vodka- "Celebrate with the best"

I looked at the Ciroc vodka commercial featuring Sean Combs (Diddy) and the music of Frank Sinatra  The purpose of the commercial is to sell Ciroc vodka and a version of reality where drinking a premium vodka can allow you access to an exclusive world full of old Hollywood glamour and celebrity.   The audience for this commercial I would say is a little more of a mature audience than your typical alcohol commercial. Considering Sean Combs is 41 and was at the height of his popularity perhaps 10 years ago, I would say that the starting audience would be those in their 30’s. The vodka is on the expensive side and the commercial aims to convince those with the means to buy the vodka that they would be making a classy, sophisticated choice in doing so and would be communicating that aspect of themselves to others by serving Ciroc vodka at their next get together.  The combination of using Diddy as the celebrity featured in the commercial and the music of Frank Sinatra allow for a fairly broad age group to connect to the commercial – Diddy with the more modern and hip influence, complemented by the classic and timeless voice of Frank Sinatra.  It says, if you drink this vodka you are not only hip, but classic.

The information is being portrayed through the eyes of one looking in on this small, exclusive gathering, something that as a viewer you might want to be a part of.  At the same time, the focus is on Sean Combs as the host of the party and his perspective that because he wants to celebrate with his friends, and he is a man of quality, he chooses this vodka to serve to his guests.  The tagline at the beginning sums this up when Sean Combs says, “When I celebrate life, I celebrate with the best. Ciroc Ultra-Premium Vodka”  So, if you want to treat your guests like a celebrity does, if you want to be the guy that buys and serves “the best”, then you need Ciroc vodka.  From the perspective of one peering in, the commercial is sort of a “how to”.  You want this? The vodka you serve is the key.

The people in the video are portrayed as first and foremost glamorous.  All the men are in suits and the women are in beautiful form-fitting dresses, perfectly coiffed hair and perfect makeup.  Their look evokes the glamour of the 40’s, reinforced by the Sinatra soundtrack of “Come Fly Away with Me”.   These people have been singled out because they represent the section of the population who are beautiful, successful, and happy.  The party is small and intimate, and from that we can infer that these are “special” people, chosen by Sean Combs to be a part of his inner circle.  No one is sitting in the corner of this party; everyone is important and involved.  While it is perhaps more subtle than many other commercials, there is still a focus on the women as sex symbols.  At second 22, the camera is focused on the buttocks of one of the women as she sashays across the room.  So, there are a lot of perspectives missing.  The entire point of the commercial is to make the argument that Ciroc is “premium” and exclusive.  Of course, they want you as the viewer to feel like they might experience a slice of this life if they drink the vodka.  So, people who are not “beautiful” or the life of the party are not represented.  People who might not be invited to a party like this, or might be hiding in the wings are not represented.  Also, people who might be drinking this vodka alone somewhere, lonely, perhaps suffering from alcoholism, are not represented.  No one is sick or over the top drunk.  Everyone is perfect. The other side of partying with an alcoholic beverage is not addressed.

In terms of design, I think that the choice of black and white film and the music are really important.  Black and white photography and film evoke a romanticized version of the past, in this case when people knew how to be classy and knew how to throw a good party.  I think this choice is meant very purposely to contrast our current society, which is often thought of in terms of trashy reality TV and celebrities that end up on the front pages of tabloids, bleary eyed and makeup-smudged from their latest scandal.  Black and white is clean and pure and avoids the clashing of colors, rather the commercial is focused around this idea of a classy and sophisticated celebration.  This is not a college party with people puking in the bathroom; it is a party of adults that are in control of their life (and of their alcohol – which is reinforced by the last line “Celebrate life responsibly with Ciroc Vodka”).   Using the Frank Sinatra song reinforces this association as he evokes an era when celebrities kept their dirty secrets to themselves and their lives were considered to be truly glamorous and mature.  The name of the song “Come Fly Away with Me” also suggests the idea of escape and inclusion.  Plus there is a not so subtle line in the song that says,  “if you can use some exotic booze”.   

 I think that the medium of video is really important choice for this commercial.  You definitely need the visual to really see the glamour that is being presented. While you could portray some of the same mood and feeling with a print add, it would be missing the song, which I think is really key.  Also, you can see the movement of the party, and that is part of the elegance, ending with Sean Combs standing alone in front of his sprawling pool, sipping his vodka while the successful party takes place behind him.