SPE 370 Blog # 4

Logos helps to establish the name and define the character of an organization. When one sees a logo it immediately has meaning to them. This is why logos are used every day in our society. They are created to make people remember a particular organization and separate each other, so every company has their own identity.  If the business does not use a logo, chances are they will not be successful. A logo needs to be effortless, yet still cool.

In our world today many will look to name brand clothing instead of the less expensive options. This is because name brand clothing is the “cooler” option. The logo has everything to do with this opinion. People would rather have a logo on their shirt then nothing at all. Hollister clothing company is known for their bright colored tiny clothing. Hollister is geared towards 14 to 18 year olds. Females and males can shop at Hollister and they used a logo that both sexes can appeal too. Hollister’s logo is Seagull and there theme is “SoCal” which stands for southern California. Whenever people see a long bird that looks as though it is flying one knows that particular clothing garment is from Hollister. Since this is the case, Hollister did a good job with their logo creation.

Before this blog post I wasn’t sure why Hollister choose a Seagull as there logo. As I researched this topic, it becomes clearer as to why they picked it. A seagull flying represents motion and moving forward. It also signifies a relaxed and less-worry type of lifestyle. One of the main reasons why Hollister’s logo is a Seagull is because this clothing company creation began in California, where beaches and sunny weather is the norm. The clothing line for Hollister was launched in the year 2000 in Easton Town Center in Columbus, Ohio. Hollister’s clothing is geared towards summer weather. Hollister makes the store look like surf shops inside. With this being said the bird is a perfect logo to represent a clothing store such as Hollister.

I believe Hollister does a good job with the color usage of the bird logo. Depending on where the logo is determines what color the Seagull may be. Usually you will find the logo to be a maroon color. The design is very small, but big enough for it to be seen by the consumer and people in passing of the Hollister garments. The design is also cleaver because it is very plain. This makes the consumer able to see themselves wearing the logo on their own clothing. The simplicity of a logo helps to make it easier for more people to enjoy and relate to it. If the Hollister Seagull logo was intricate, only a select few people would appreciate it and see themselves wearing the logo on their clothing. In a way this reminds me of McCloud and his theory that the simpler a face is the more humans like it because we can relate to it easier. I believe this is a positive tactic that Hollister used and lots of other logos use today. One normally doesn’t see a logo for an organization that is extremely complicated.

            The font used with the Seagull is also plain. It is usually in all capital letters and looks very organized. I believe this is cleaver because no one will get Hollister’s name wrong. The way Hollister writes it looks very to the point and easy to understand.

            I believe Hollister’s logo successfully matches the corporations overall image. This is because when I look at the Hollister logo, I think of the beach and summer. The Seagull immediately makes me think of 80 degree weather and flip flops. This is what Hollister stands for, so there logo does just what they want it to do!

I also believe that Hollister’s logo successfully communicates the corporation’s mission and image. A seagull is the perfect logo for Hollister to use. It is unique enough that consumers like it but simple enough that consumers will appreciate it. Their mission and image is for people to have fun in the sun while wearing their clothing and products. Hollister’s image consists of bright colored clothing and accessories that are perfect for summer time. I truly believe Hollister couldn’t have picked a better logo then the Seagull. Hollister had the right idea when created there logo.

           

SPE 370 Exam Question # 3 "Re-Do"

               At first glace this image captures an African American man and young child. To me it looks like a grandfather with his grandson, teaching him how to play the banjo. The color in this image looks very dark and mysterious. I believe this is portrayed because of how dark the two peoples outfits are and how you can’t see there faces other then the outlines. The shadowing around the man and the child makes it look as though they are the center of attention and are the main interest for this image. I also feel that the image is trying to portray a hard life. There are items placed around the room but the dark hard wood floors and plain background makes the room look bare. This makes me feel like they are not on the wealthy side. The room looks very small due to the line usage. Having the floor lines horizontal while the people are sitting vertically makes me see the people in a tiny room. Since the men are dark and the wall behind them are a white tone really shows positive and negative shape well. The colors look very masculine because the overall color pallet is dark. There are a few items in this image that show good texture. This includes, the mans pants, the wood floors, and the table clothe. Having this texture makes the image come to life. The gestural lines make the boy look like he is actually playing the banjo.
        
               While analyzing this image I realized how it affects my interoperation of it. Due to the texture, lines, shape, lighting, shadowing, etc. I view this image in a particular way. Since it does have a dark feel to it I view it as somewhat serious and strict. I can almost feel myself being in that room with them, and hearing the man getting stern with the young boy while trying to teach him how to play this instrument. I interoperate the room being very cold and damp because the floor looks extremely dark and uncomfortable. Since there is not much in the room it also makes me feel as though the room is gloomy. The shadowing makes for the bottom right of the image not be seen. It is all dark which makes me interpret the image to be secretive. Before this class I would of looked at this image and just saw a man and young boy. I never would of analyzed it to this extreme. My interpretation of this image would be completely different then it is today. I believe I am more well rounded now in visual rhetoric then I was before, and analyzing this image makes me see how important it is to be educated in such an art form.

SPE 370 Extra Credit Blog on Maria Elena Gonzales

               Maria Elena Gonzales is an inspiration to many including myself after last night’s presentation. Gonzalez was born in Cuba and now lives in Brooklyn, New York. She is best known for her incredible sculptures. Before attending this art discussion I didn’t know what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised.

               Gonzales explained where she gets her ideas and what makes her art imaginations come to life. Gonzales said she enjoys sculpting big pieces. Most of her sculptures are displayed outside in parks and museums across the world because they are too large to be in a house like setting. I found this fascinating because each sculpture is very tedious and takes hours upon hours to create.

               In class we discussed visual artwork and how it can mean different things to different people. When I first looked at her artwork I didn’t see much besides the basic outline and couldn’t tell you what Gonzales was trying to represent or show her audience. After she explained each piece and said why she created what she did I saw the sculpture or drawing in a different light. Everything seemed to intercut and genius thereafter.

              In 1999, Gonzales created a replica of a floor plan that would be a design for a project houses program. She explained that she doesn’t want her artwork only in expensive museums or galleries. Gonzales feels that her sculptures should be viewed by everyone know matter what your status may be. This is when Gonzales put this huge floor plan made out of wood materials and rubber tire on display in Red Hook which is located in Brooklyn. Children across the neighborhood immediately stared skateboarding and rollerblading on this piece, and she couldn’t be happier about it. I find this extremely interesting. I like how artwork can be enjoyed by viewing it but also by playing on it!

            I feel that Gonzales artwork is abstract for the most part. She explained that when there are tragic times in our country like 9/11 and hurricane Katrina she likes to use those negative things to spark creative new ideas. Gonzales feels that when she uses those ideas it makes her feel better about the situation. I think that is a great coping method that can also help others when looking at her artwork.

           Gonzales recent sculpting phenomenon is maps. She finds them interesting. She makes drawings and sculptures of them. Some are abstract and some are representational. She likes the viewer to be able to pick out a specific country and also be able to look at a country and realize it is made up and simply just abstract art at its finest.

            Gonzales uses all the key points discussed in class. From lines, textures, form, contrast, space and time etc. I am glad I went to this event because I now can see artwork like Gonzales in a new way. I am able to look beyond the outer layer and see in depth into what the sculpture or drawing is really trying to get across. Basically, I can read between the lines, which is something we touched upon in class.  I now see why this is very important when being visually literate.

SPE 212 Blog Post #4

I never realized how much advertising plays a role in our society until this blog post assignment. I imagined advertising took place on television during commercials and on the radio. Not realizing that advertising is practically everywhere we look. After my twenty-four hour advertising period was complete my list of ads was full. I saw ads I never even knew existed. I am more aware of advertising now than I ever was before. I see them everywhere since my advertising adventure began!

            The most unusual advertising tactic I saw was on a car. I never saw such an unusual advertising in my life. When I got home I researched it and came across more information. When you rent a car from places sometimes they have advertising on it. Also, some people get paid a few hundred dollars a month to drive around with an organizations ad on their car.

            The ad I disliked the most came from a television show. The Voice on the NBC network had one of their contestants drive to the competition in a Kia automobile. There was a 3-4 second pause, when the camera was directly looking at the Kia logo. The male contestant received a call from his daughter on the hand free phone device the Kia car company offers. Before this class I never would have even realized Kia was using advertising directly in the show. I found this ad to be frustrating. I thought it was extremely fake looking and didn’t make me want to purchase a Kia. Of course, this is just my opinion and maybe someone else watching the program found Kia to be appealing.  If I was the advertising agency who created this ad I would have made the ad more realistic looking and not so cheaply designed.

           

            The most obvious ad I found on my advertising journey was on T-shirts and other clothing materials. There are thousands of people on our campus every day. I never took notice of peoples shirts until now. I found advertising for food places like Subway and Wawa. There were a lot of construction and car towing shirts I saw people wearing as well. The most popular type of advertising on t-shirts and clothing I found were from stores. For example, the typical Hollister or Abercrombie shirt that has their brand name written on the shirt or sweatpants. I believe this is a very smart tactic used by the clothing companies. They already know people buy these clothing items so they know it will be a profit for them. Secondly, while there consumer is wearing their clothing items the company is getting free advertising.  Although, it is getting annoying to see everyone wearing the same type of clothing with the brand name written down the side of the shirt, it is a creative move on the company’s part.

I found the usual advertising while keeping my advertising diary. There are a few main ads I used to see before this assignment that I still see today. This includes ads on the side of your computer when browsing the web, in the newspaper, magazines, and on the sides of buses. These types of advertising have been around for years and will continue to stay. I believe that all the ads I saw, the new and old, all tried their best to catch my attention. Most were cleaver while some like the Kia ad made me want to change the channel.  I found that most advertising can be seen any time of day, depending on where you are and what you are doing. There are some ads that can only be found during the evening hours on television, like the Kia ad on The Voice. Watching television during the prime time hours is when I found the most popular and interesting commercials that did an excellent job advertising a product.

After this blog post assignment I see ads even more frequent then I did before. I am more aware of where advertising is located and how I truly feel about advertising. I believe the advertising world is in full effect and there will be more creative and catchy ads to come as the years go by.

SPE 370 Blog #3

“You’re like an industry standard classic, reliable. Okay, maybe a bit boring. But you don’t let the haters get you down- after all, you’ve still got plenty of friends who think you’re the best.”
As mentioned in the above quote, the font Helvetica can come across as classic and reliable. Helvetica is the font being used to write this blog. The font quiz told me I was a Helvetica font type. As odd as it seems, this font quiz seems to represent me well. I see myself as very reliable and I think others around me would say the same. I can sometimes be boring, and I am totally OK with that! I like my down time when I am capable of having it. I do see myself as classic in the sense that I am normal nineteen year old girl and an average college student. The last part of the quote says “you’ve still got plenty of friends who think you’re the best.” I couldn’t agree more with that statement. I have lots of friends and acquaintances and a few true best friends that will always have my back.
I believe the font Helvetica looks exactly like the first quote explained. It mentions the people who may use this font, like myself, are classic, reliable, and possibly boring. Classic, clean, modernized, are all words I believe fit in with the description of this font type. Which are similar to the description words used to describe the people who may use this particular font. This type isn’t as straightforward or plain as common fonts like Times New Roman. It also isn’t a crazy intricate font like other options out there. It is simply right in the middle and that is one of the reasons why I enjoy using it.
There are tons of different fonts one can choose when using Microsoft Word. The Helvetica website explains how important type/font may be when writing. “One may even say that typefaces and fonts have a certain personality.” This quote may hit a cord with one because unless one thinks about font a certain way it usually goes unnoticed or not thought about. Font is very important when dealing with type. The Helvetica website also states “type is saying things to us all the time. Typefaces express a mood, an atmosphere.”

This image to the left shows how much detail goes into different fonts. The first typed sentence is indeed Helvetica font but the second sentence is not. To a person looking at this image the sentences look almost identical. Some find this fascinating and interesting.

The history of type dates back thousands of years. Many technologies and media outlets have been invented throughout the decades that have changed the type from its original form. East Asia was the birthplace of type and print. The earliest printed book is said to be a copy of the Buddhist Diamond Sutra, found in a Chinese temple. This dates back to 868 A.D. In China one would type using woodcuts which dates back to the fifth century A.D.
More recently in history, a man named Johannes Gutenberg changed type forever. Gutenberg invented the moveable type press in the 1440s. This invention made it somewhat easy to type and ultimately a faster pace process then used before.
Different font types can provoke different feelings in people. For instance this font type could make one feel curious or scared while this font type  may make one feel the text is romantic or some type of old scripture which could provoke an intrigued our interested emotion. People do not think about font every day. The text seems to be considered the most important part of a written script or paper. With that being said, one should take notice in fonts more often, as each one is different. Fonts can change how one views the text. The two different font types above is an example of just that.
In conclusion, learning about font from ancient Chinese writings, to the numerous font options one can choose today can be an intriguing topic. Writing, visuality, and the body can all come together with font.

To the right is a picture I found online. I thought it was funny so I decided to share it with you. I think it shows just how creative fonts and type can be and how they can even have a mind of there own! This image perceives Helvetica being suprior and bigger then Arial font. Also, by using punctuation marks along with letters can really make the letter have human like featers. For instance, Arial has a tear and Helvetica is wearing a crown like icon above it’s “head”.

SPE-212 Blog #3

Better Homes and Gardens is a magazine geared towards people who want to know the latest cookie recipe, gardening tips, or for someone who wants to give their living room the a fashionable updated look. While reading this magazine one can find something that appeal to their taste. Better Homes and Gardens Magazine does a good job showing easy, inexpensive ideas to renovate your home all the way to spending a lot of money and modernizing your entire house. The advertising pages in this magazine do the same thing. There are ads for new foundation face makeup all the way to the newest Lexus luxury car. This makes the reader able to find something to relate to whether they are below middle class or are very wealthy.

The statistics to this magazine show that 100 percent of their readers are adults. Fifty-six percent of Better Homes and Garden readers are between the ages of 25-54 years old. The median age of the consumer is 48 years old. The median household income of readers is $63,542. This shows that the average households who buy and read this magazine are among the middle class. Twenty-six percent of readers make over $100,000 a year which is still a large chunk of Home and Garden’s income. Married couples take up sixty percent of readers, while each magazine copy is read on average five different times. Seventy-five percent of Better Home and Garden readers are home owners and the median home value is $192,293. College attendees and graduates make up sixty percent of readers. These statistics explain that Better Homes and Gardens magazine is mostly geared towards the middle class married couples who went to college and are middle aged.

As mentioned above the advertising in this magazine ranges from inexpensive to very expensive items. Every few pages there are ads throughout this magazine. They range from dog food, candy, to new windows. Most of the ads are for food companies like Velveeta cheese and Barilla pasta. This makes sense because all of these ads are for items Better Homes and Gardens magazine consumers may purchase due to there demographics.

To the left is a picture of a bedroom in the magazine. They explained that you can take this room from dark winter to bright spring just by changing the pillows, adding a fun bouquet of flowers, and lastly adding a colorful throw blanket at the end of your bed. It is interesting to see creative ideas anyone can do, even if you do not have an artistic eye.

On Better Homes and Gardens website (BHG.com) you can subscribe for a year which is twelve issues for $5.99 and two years for $11.98. This is rather inexpensive for a magazine subscription. Since the average consumer for Better Homes and Gardens is middle class this makes it reasonable for these magazines consumers to purchase.
            Overall, Better Homes and Gardens magazine is very interesting. There are tons of ideas to renovate your home and garden, while also making a delicious dessert in between. From there ads, to subscriptions, to home décor ideas that every adult can find interest in Better Home and Gardens magazine can find its way in most households today.

SPE 370 Blog Post #2



I chose this cow cartoon for my blog post because I couldn’t resist how cute he was! This cartoon is by Curtis D. Tucker. As I was searching online for the perfect cartoon this particular cow stuck out the most. I read about Tucker the cartoonist who drew this image. It was so interesting to read all the steps and processes that go into drawing this little cartoon cow. From deciding what to draw, to researching image, sketching, scanning on the computer, and much more, I never realize how much work goes into this art form.

After learning in class about art and lines and many more fascinating art facts it is intriguing to look at this cow cartoon. I see it in a new light. The gestural qualities are done very well. For instance, the tail really does look like a cow tail. He made this believable because of the gestural “jagged” tip of the tail. The contour line or the essential shape is rather smooth looking. The cow’s stomach and back look very soft. As Tucker mentioned on his website he did not want extremely hard edges on this cartoon and he worked very hard to try to make sure the contour lines were all relatively soft around the cow’s body. As for eye lines, it looks as though one eye is closed and the other eye closest to the viewer is open. I think Tucker tried to get the cow to look like he was blinking. Either way you look at this cow the eye is looking at you which I think is exciting and makes it fun to look at. When looking at this black and white cartoon cow I can see some texture. If you look where the cow’s skin stops and feet begin you can see a good divider between the two. For a cartoon drawing it looks extremely exceptional and gives the person looking at this cartoon a sense of where there feet are in relation to his legs. In class we learned about texture and we viewed a picture of two men in a field working with a shovel and we said how it looked calm because of the texture of their outlines. I feel the same way when looking at this cow cartoon. Since his texture is relatively smooth it makes him look like an overall friendly happy cow. When looking at this picture I see representational and non-representational. It is a cow and most of us would realize that right away which makes it representational but on the other hand it is not a picture of an actual cow (considering cows do not have hands) which would make it non-representational. I really enjoyed looking at this cow cartoon and breaking it down into sections and using new information I learned in class to analyze this cartoon.

Fun fact: this cow picture was originally made for a t-shirt company logo but was not purchased. It was later sold to an up and coming search engine website.



The picture above I found while researching a cartoon. I thought it represented positive and negative space very well. It is a picture of two zebras. The left side with the white background looks very calming to me and shows the zebras in a happy light. I believe this is because there is more negative space then positive. The right side with the black background is the same exact picture just with the black and white colors switched. I think the picture looks completely different. I see the zebras looking more dark and mysterious since there is more positive space. It is really neat to see the same black and white image and how it can turn into a completely new picture just by switching the positive and negative space around.