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TRANSCRIPT
SAMANTHA BOONE
ASSIGNMENT 2 -3ABOUT ME
I am very passionate towards projects that are a bit quirky or focus on sustainable and responsible
design. I want to be involved in design that I can feel good about and I believe advertising should reflect the
world we live in – which is diverse and nuanced.
While I embrace new technologies whenever I can, I am also a traditional artist. When beginning a
process I Iike to sketch it out on paper. Years of drawing comic book characters have influenced my illustrative
style and I rely on precise lines and pops of colors to bring out the contours of my work. Curves and organic
shapes are also featured in a lot of my art and architecture concepts. While I can appreciate the hard lines and
simplicity of modernism and abstraction, I prefer the overabundance and gluttony of Art Nouveau.
My mother is my inspiration. She would not consider herself an artist, a designer or an interior decora-
tor, but she is all that and much more. Under her careful arrangement of colors and textures, spaces of my
childhood were transformed from typical to extraordinary. Through her I realized the power of design — it isn’t
about selling a product; it is about eliciting a feeling.
My academic background in Psychology,
Architecture and Graphic Design has given me great
experience working with, and understanding, dif-
ferent fields and their specific needs. Along with
traditional mediums, such as watercolor and acrylic
painting, I am highly proficient with a variety of
graphic design software including Adobe Creative
Suite, Maya, and Rhino 3D. I have developed manu-
als, informational posters and 3D models with floor
plans for use in university presentations. Currently
I am regaining familiarity with HTML and CSS in
order to offer my services in web design at all stages
of development.
ASSIGNMENT 2 -3PORTRAITS
portrait 1Medium: Watercolor, ink and acrylic paint. The pixel background was added with Photoshop by using
the “Pixelate” filter “Mosaic” effect as an overlay layer.
portrait 2Medium: Cut paper.
portrait 3Medium: Photo Manipulation. Self-portrait photos were spliced with a vintage print of a castle and
cut outs of flower photos I had taken. Curve and gradient layers were used to create more dramatic
shadows. By lowering the saturation of the images and laying a photo filter over top, the differences
in color and tone between photos was minimized to establish a more unified composition. Overall, a
dreamy, introspective atmosphere was the goal.
portrait 4Medium: Digital painting and photo manipulation. Portrait was created digitally in Photoshop. I used
a photo I took of downtown Calgary as the background and modified it to be more cartoonish with the
help of the Photoshop “Artistic” filter “Poster Edges.” Once again, a photo filter was used over the two
elements to unite them.
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ASSIGNMENT 3 -3 Out of all the designers on the list, I was excited to choose Louise Fili for this assignment. Her work is
meticulous and elegant with a focus on typography and patterns. While my attempts to create posters mimick-
ing her work pale in comparison to the original source material, I am pleased that I was able to make something
different from my usual style.
Looking through her work, I became enamored with a series of packaging she had designed for some
tins. It featured bold colors and repeating patterns. Drawing from this inspiration, I stepped outside of my com-
fort zone for poster #1. Most of my designs are heavily illustrative and, without an image to center the design
around, I became a bit lost. I feel there is a good visual hierarchy but I had difficulties arranging the elements.
Either there wasn’t enough visual interest or too much. As a result, it lacks the subtlety of her work.
Many of her other designs bring to mind vintage postcards with romantic, faded illustrations. I edited a
photograph I had taken in Hawaii to create the antique backdrop. I wanted it to be warm and inviting, but also
clean and simple. The ribbon is used to set the title element apart from the background, to give the poster lay-
ers. While I like the effect I created with the photos, unfortunately, the poster appears very top heavy. I should
have added text along the bottom to even it out. Or, perhaps, the red ribbon is too drastic a color, and should be
muted so it draws the eye less.
FUNCTION AND DESIGN
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ASSIGNMENT 4 -3THINKING HIERARCHY
This week I decided to create a poster for The Calgary International Children’s Festival which features
critically acclaimed theatre, music and dance performances aimed at children. I chose the Folk Art style as I felt
its bright colors, simple but bold shapes and community-minded subject matter would be appealing for children
and families. Every week I try to pick a style or designer that wouldn’t necessarily be my first choice, as I want
to go outside my comfort zone and expand as a designer. However, I have mixed feelings about my results. Folk
art, while illustrative, does not focus on aspects such as perspective or realism. I had a hard time trying to fur-
ther simplify my usual drawing style into something more abstract. The finished product is more cartoon-y than
I would have liked.
The first poster drew inspiration from the many examples of organic patterns and nature scene I found
when searching for folk art. I wanted to illustrate the wealth and innocence of a child’s imagination using this
motif, as this festival is about nurturing that creativity. The pattern also serves as a nice frame for the text.
Black feels like too drastic a color for the text however all white text hurt the eyes. I also didn’t want to add
another color to the background element as I wanted the child to stand out against the limited tones.
For the second poster I wanted to use a traditional medium as a lot of Folk Art is created through hand-
crafting. There were quite a few painting examples of town or farm scenes, filled with people doing their ev-
eryday activities, so I tried my hand at my own idyllic scene. The Bow River runs through Calgary and, along
its banks, are a series of parks and walkways where a lot of families spend their summer days together. I used
simplified illustration to depict a sunny, pastoral scene at this location. It was a combination of freeing and
nerve wracking to not be concerned with things like logic or size comparisons. One of the benefits of the flat-
tened perspective is that it does allow for a lot to be shown in one panel. As there are a lot of colors and activi-
ties occurring in the backdrop, I kept the font simple and used size to highlight the information hierarchy.
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ASSIGNMENT 5 -3SOCIAL AWARENESS
The two regions I chose to design for are Japan and North America. As they are respectively defined
as high context and low context cultures, I thought it would be a good contrast and compare experiment. High
contrast indicates that a lot of communication is implicit. Therefore, visuals used in a design aimed at a Japa-
nese audience do not have to serve as an explanatory device, or as a way of illustrating the textual information.
It is more important to be aesthetically pleasing (Carpenter, 2005). I have also studied the Japanese language
and history, so I felt it was the region I was most familiar with outside of North America. When wondering what
social topic to cover, the kanji for forest immediately came to mind. Forest then led to deforestation, a cause that
is very important to the WWF.
I always appreciated the kanji characters that looked like what they meant because they were so intui-
tive and poetic. Forest, or “mori” is a combination of three tree or “ki” characters clustered together. You can
clearly see the strong vertical, the tree trunk, and the branches along its sides. As a high context culture, Japa-
nese graphic designers often use more abstract designs rather than rely on a lot of exposition. Japan also has a
strong calligraphic tradition. I felt that using the kanji for forest as the center text/image, surrounded by a field
of stumps, would be fitting. I added geometric greenery to help the character stand out from the rest, to reinforce
the symbolism in case it was not clear and so it appears as an oasis of hope in the midst of devastation. To echo
the strong directional pull in the vertical direction, I also used type vertically - the traditional way of writing in
Japanese. The end result is very minimalist.
In comparison, the second poster keeps the same color palette. However, it is much less ambiguous, and
much more detailed, which is better received in a low context culture. The close-up “photograph” of someone’s
work-in-progress of a cheerful tree illustrates the “beautiful future” that needs our protection. It is also less
dramatic, although the tone was not designed to be region specific. While the first poster paints deforestation as
more apocalyptic, the second appeals to our altruism and the romantic love we have for nature because it is a
beautiful retreat.
Carpenter, G. (2005). Designing for a japanese high-context culture: culture’s influence on the technical
writer’s visual rhetoric. (Master’s thesis). Retrieved from http://etd.fcla.edu/CF/CFE0000372/Carpent
er_Russell_G_200505_MA.pdf
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ASSIGNMENT 2 -2 & 4 -2original design piece 1 The first piece I chose to share is a fairly recent one from Typography class. The project was to design a
two-page magazine spread with the text properly formatted. This was the first time that I managed a design from
the overall composition down to the exact details of the text - such as leading and hyphenation breaks. Rather
than taking typefaces for granted we were encouraged to play around with them. By adding a silhouette of a tree
to the title of the essay, I made it a more integral part of the design and gave it a bit of whimsy. The text is from
an academic essay so a traditional layout was used to keep with the tone of the piece, while the imagery and soft
green draws the reader’s attention and provides context for the piece. I am very proud of how it turned out; it is
clean and easy on the eyes but also welcoming. As a designer I like to produce illustrative rather than minimalist
design and I feel that my style is reflected in this piece.
original design piece 2 For a previous class we were asked to create packaging for a unique brand of soda My gourmet soda
design, Brouhaha Beverages, is based off cocktails that were created during Victorian times. I chose this topic as
I enjoy the advertising aesthetic of this era and the names of the cocktails provides such great imagery. Victorian
and steampunk go hand in hand, and I felt including the steampunk genre would make the design appeal to a
younger audience, as it livens up the graphics with a sense of adventure. It also opens up the potential buyers to
include those who are interested in things such as fantasy novels, conventions and video games. I tried to emu-
late vintage illustrations using newspaper and inked hand sketches. In particular, I attempted to mimic Alphonse
Mucha, who was a very popular illustrator in the late Victorian period. I avoided color because I felt it would
not show up on the craft paper well, but also because there was already so much going on. Cross-hatching was
used to give the illustration the old-timey newsprint/journal feel. I am very happy with how it turned out and it
was exciting to print it out and see it in real life. I think it captures my style very well as I was able to combine
illustration and design with my love of history, whimsy and steampunk.
ORIGINAL DESIGN PIECES
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A COUNTERINTUITIVE MODEL
The ominous threat of global warming, the seem-ingly irreconcilable tension between the environ-ment and the economy, and the related problem of environmental degradation leaves a solemn weight on many of us. In a time of such serious problems, video game play may seem the most counterintui-tive savior. But maybe it is not; in fact, video game play may be one of the things that can save us. Video games can incorporate realistic multivari-ate simulations of locations, resources, and policy changes in a multiplayer environment. Instead of guessing how social research initiatives might impact particular scenarios (such as the introduc-tion of a renewable energy subsidy),video games allow us to preconceive the results of such policies over consecutive trials and foresee the quantitative effectiveness of such policies.
GAMING THE SYSTEM:
The Historical Use of Game-Based Interaction to Inform Environmental Policy
The idea of using games to inform environmental policy is not new. Following the advent of Nash’s game theory in the 1950s (Nash 1950,1951), experi-mental psychologists began reconstructing social dynamics via simplistic game models (Edney and Harper 1978; Flood 1958).One of the most well-known
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
games is the Prisoner’s Dilemma (also known as the Flood-Dresher experiment) (Flood 1958; Rapo-port and Chammah 1965; Tucker 1983).
This game was used to show that individuals may choose noncooperation even if it goes against the collective best interest (including their own). In this game, two subjects were asked to make a deci-sion to cooperate or defect given a payment system similar to the one listed in Table 1. While the actual game typically does not use incremental monetary values, it provides a way to quickly understand the game’s dynamics. If both players are rational actors, they will always choose to defect. This is because if person A assumes person B will cooperate, their rational response will be to defect, to get forty dol-lars instead of thirty dollars. If person A assumes person B will defect,then their rational action is to defect, to get twenty dollars instead of ten dollars. Ironically, when both players act selfishly in their best interests, the total individual gain ($20) is less than that if they were to cooperate ($30). When this game was played with participants, the most likely response was for both participants to defect.
The Prisoner’s Dilemma is commonly used to back up theories on environmental non cooperation (Costanza 1987; Soroos 1994). Soroos (1994) argues that the Prisoner’s Dilemma may play an important role in global climate change. With reductions to greenhouse gas emissions being perceived as anti-thetical to economic growth and well-being, it may
THE INTERSECTION OF VIDEO GAMES AND
Keari Bell-Gawne, Mark Stenerson, Ben Shapiro, and Kurt Squire
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ASSIGNMENT 6 -3 I was all over the place with my logo exploration - using imagery from illuminated manuscripts, deer,
chandeliers and flowers. I feel the common denominator between these elements is that they are associated with
a traditional idea of “refinement.” A feeling of timelessness and class is definitely one I want to instill with a
potential client. The logos where I used roses as the motif stood out because red roses, for me, have always been
symbolic for my mother. Given that she is such an important inspiration for me as a person and as a designer, it
feels right that my final logo choice would include a rose.
I was worried that using an image that is typically defined as “feminine” would have a negative effect.
Would I be typecast as a designer? But, as this is a representation of my identity, I feel it should reflect my per-
sonal taste. I also believe that my portfolio shows that I can use a variety of styles and mediums to best suit the
project or client.
I wanted to use my initials because it would be easier to incorporate into a small, simple logo. In addi-
tion, I plan on joining a design firm, so using my name on promotional materials and my personal website feels
like a good move in getting my name out there to potential employers. I noticed, when playing around with my
initials, that S and B use the same circular shapes and could be combined in a variety of ways. By arranging
them on top of each other, I could join the S and B into one symbol. It gives the logo a uniqueness while freeing
up space that could be used on an illustrative element.
The narrow and vertical nature of the SB configuration led me to combine the abstracted silhouette of
the rose on one side, to balance out the logo. Having a strict separation between the initials and rose seemed too
severe, so I let the petals creep into the other half, but left some negative space for legibility. Depending on the
material the logo may be in color, with the red rose and black initials, or in light grey.
FINALIZED LOGO
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ASSIGNMENT 1 -4 Copyright Law, as it is known it today, began in the late fifteenth century with the wide use of the print-
ing press. Previously copying a book was a very long process, done by trained scribes, so there was not much
competition when it came to publishing books. When more printing presses began popping up, printers began to
run into trouble with other printers stealing their projects. The Stationer’s Company, a collection of printers who
had an agreement to respect each other’s projects, asked the King for a monopoly. This led to an exclusive right
to print books (NPC.edu, 2014). Since then the copyright law has gone through various iterations but its original
goal remains the same — to encourage creation by “securing for limited times to authors…the exclusive right to
their respective [works] (Harvard.edu, 2014).” Without any protection creators would be vulnerable to theft and
therefore discouraged from sharing their ideas. Ultimately the public would suffer from this lack of knowledge.
A delicate balance must be maintained between building off of creative ideas and respecting an author’s right to
their original work.
Copyright protects an original work by giving the originator the ability to control how or if the work can
be used by others. “Original work” includes anything that can be “fixed in any tangible medium of expression”
which can range from recordings, poetry and photographs to databases. This means that without the explicit per-
mission of the author or artist, a piece cannot be duplicated or manipulated and used in another’s work. In addi-
tion, original works do not need to be registered because copyright is enacted automatically once it is created.
An artist working on a piece for a company will not have copyright as it is “work made for hire” under their
employment contract. It is important to note that copyright only protects the “form” of the work but not ideas or
facts. Copyright Infringement, or the “unauthorized use of copyrighted work”, can lead to criminal charges, a
fine or prison time (Harvard.edu, 2014).
Plagiarism is when you claim someone else’s work as your own explicitly, by copying their idea through
paraphrasing, or by not giving proper credit for any sources. It is different from copyright as it can differ from
the original, in exact wording for example, but the idea is stolen. Conversely, you can reproduce someone else’s
work and give proper credit but if it is without the originator’s permission then there is a case for copyright
infringement (Harvard.edu, 2014).
Due to the nature of progress, where ideas continue to build upon the findings of others, “fair use” was
implemented as a way to allow copyrighted work to be used without the permission of the copyright owner
final sketches
final logo
ETHICAL GUIDELINES
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under very specific conditions. This is done in a way that continues to protect the copyright owner so that some-
one else is not reaping all the benefits of their labor. Work used “for purposes such as criticism, comment, news
reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use, scholarship, or research)” are considered fair-
use and not an infringement of copyright (Harvard.edu, 2014). This is determined by four factors: the purpose
of use, the nature or type of work, the amount used and the market effect (MITLibraries, 2014). This distinction
is important to a student as they may incorporate imagery found from various sources in their school projects.
As they are not profiting commercially, and are usually transformative, it is generally not a threat to the market
value of the copyrighted work and is an important explorative activity for educational purposes. If the students
were to take that class project and sell prints on Etsy, that would be a different matter. The issues with fair use
become a bit murkier with “non-transformative” pieces, or a work that adds nothing to the original copyrighted
piece, such as tracing or photocopying work for use in classroom handouts.
If using someone’s work by invoking fair-use it is best practice to only use a small fragment of the origi-
nal. It is also important to cite the sources of the media. These projects can only be used in the classroom or in
a portfolio for a job or school application. If the student wants to use a project outside of an educational, non-
profit setting then obtaining permission to reproduce or use copyrighted work is as easy as asking the copyright
owner. This permission is not guaranteed and they may request a fee or that the piece be modified to a certain
extent before usage (UTM.edu, 2014). For example, if an individual wants to create a painting of a photograph
than the copyright of the image belongs to the photographer. Before recreating the image, the photographer’s
permission should be requested especially considering this is a derivative and not a transformative piece.
Despite its long history and idealistic goals, it is clear that copyright law leaves a lot to be desired when
it comes to big companies versus independent artists or small companies. Even when it is obvious that there
is a case for copyright infringement, the long, drawn out and expensive nature of the court system discourages
many from pursuing their rights because they cannot afford it financially or emotionally. It is especially difficult
as a number of factors that determine variables such as fair use are very subjective. Modern Dog, a small design
company, has been fighting for over two years with big names such as Disney and Target as their illustrations
had been used on T-shirts without their permission. It feels like an open-shut case as the original image and the
t-shirts are almost identical and there is clearly a profit being made at the expense of Modern Dog. After pay-
ing large sums to keep the trial going, including selling their studio, a modest payment schedule for damages
was agreed on at $200, 000. However, once the trial was removed from the docket, the payments from Target
stopped and Modern Dog was once again alone in its fight against image theft (Raye, 2013). This is a situation
that occurs too many times on sites like Etsy. Companies such as Forever 21 take designs from Etsy artists and
hope that the victim either does not find out or is not able to keep up in a legal battle. On the other hand, plenty
of artists on Etsy profit by recreating symbols and images from clearly trademarked franchises as “fanart” and
selling them.
In its beginnings Copyright Law was used by the King to censor materials under the guise of protecting
publishers however it has also been influential in encouraging creators to spread their work and ideas (NPC.
edu, 2014). While it continues to be a far from a perfect system, as we continue to use more social media to
showcase our portfolio and gain attention, copyright and how it relates to online media is becoming increasingly
important for students to understand. It is easier than ever to appropriate the work of others — as simple as
clicking a button. As members of the artistic community we need to uphold the honor system as the law may not
work in our favor even if it is on our side.
Harvard.edu. (2014). Copyright and fair use. Retrieved from
http://ogc.harvard.edu/pages/copyright-and-fair-use
MITLibraries. (2014). Using images: Copyright & fair use . Retrieved from
http://libguides.mit.edu/usingimages
NPC.edu. (2014). The concept and history of copyright and sources of law. Retrieved from
http://nationalparalegal.edu/public_documents/courseware_asp_files/patents/Copyrights1/Concept.asp
Raye, R. (2013, September 24). Sister raye: Shame on target. Retrieved from
http://www.rockpaperink.com/content/column.php?id=643
UTM.edu. (2014). Intellectual property (copyright & plagiarism) . Retrieved from
http://libguides.utm.edu/coNtent.php?pid=186646&sid=1567953
WORK CITED
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