Virtual Choir 2.0

I recently participated in Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir 2.0, performing his composition Sleep. What an experience! 1752 singers submitted videos from 58 countries, something that has never been done before. There’s something extraordinary about singing with hundreds of people, particularly ones you are complete strangers with. It fills me hope and delight when people are willing to unite from across such distances–music has a funny way of bringing us together, doesn’t it?

It does take a few takes to get your video just right, but seeing the final result is incredibly gratifying. I am definitely looking forward to joining the next round, and would recommend it to anyone with a passion for singing.

Erik Spiekermann

Kinetic Type Examples

This is a month or so ahead of schedule, but I’m already exploring examples of kinetic typography for my project later this semester. There are so many intriguing examples out there!

Handwashing PSA (Declicious Germs)

This recent Wednesday, my team member Caitrin and I completed a project for our Art Direction course. The entire class was instructed to make a Public Service Announcement (PSA) that promotes handwashing, and this is our concept. We wanted to blend seemingly pristine food with unsanitary conditions, and also refrained from any obvious signs of dirt/germs. Our goal was to use that juxtaposition to make viewers think twice. Our instructor suggested we play with typography a bit, and while we did explore quite a lot, that might be the one thing I would explore further.

This project had some major learning outcomes for me. First of all, it’s valuable to create several iterations along the way, the earlier the better. That way, you can continually get feedback to make a piece better each time. Plus, we left spare time just in case we wanted to reshoot. Sure it can be a pain in the rear, but if a reshoot will help dramatically, then be it.

Furthermore, we got a small taste (bad pun, sorry) of food styling. At the time, the only sprinkled donuts we could find had a Halloween theme, thus we attached our own sprinkles to a plain donut using honey. The Twizzlers rope is actually divided into three pieces, and was connected with a wire running through the entire thing. As for the breakfast food, that’s thanks to my team partner. I can’t fry an egg for the life of me. It was difficult to decide to include bacon, since both of us are vegetarians, but I think the shot would have been incomplete without it. Little piggy, please forgive me.

Petey’s Update

Today, we presented our stop motion PFD: Last Chance to Sea. He was well received, and the animation has reached nearly 200 hits on YouTube since we premiered it yesterday afternoon. Our peers voted for us to pitch our idea to Mustang Survival in two days. Way to go Petey!

Earthlings

We watched a film called Earthlings in our Environmental Ethics class a few weeks ago.  It’s very graphic, but may have been one of the most life changing things I have seen in my life. Earthlings explores how we exploit animals, including as pets, for food, clothing, entertainment, and research. I became a vegetarian the moment I watched the film. I am appalled at how humanity treats animals, and I don’t want to take part in causing pain and terror to creatures anymore. Part of me is ashamed–I had no idea what was really going on. But now I feel enlightened, and I highly recommend this film to anyone willing (viewer discretion strongly advised).  Awareness is a good way to begin change in our society.

When I was a little girl, I always wanted to be a veterinarian so I could help animals. However, I abandoned that dream because I could not bear to witness creatures in pain. Nonetheless, I think I have finally found a way to help animals, even though it puts me on a path I never expected. Here’s to finishing Week 3 as a vegetarian, and continuing for the rest of my life!

PFD: Last Chance to Sea

After dozens of hours (not to mention a hundreds of still frames), my team finished our life jacket advocacy project. I’ve paired up with Fiona Samson, Helene Lu, and Tia Blunden to produce PFD: A Last Chance to Sea, a stop motion animation short. It’s a story about Petey, a PFD, who lacks acceptance in the human world, and sets off to fulfill his destiny.

This is the first stop motion I’ve ever worked on. Although the process was very tedious at times, I must say that the outcome is very rewarding. When it comes all together, you get all giddy inside!

Between the Folds

Today in Design Research, we watched a documentary called “Between the Folds.” I have included a link below, and the video is divided into six parts. I found it very interesting that the art of folding paper, otherwise known as origami, has been applied to math and science. I cannot fathom the patience some of these pieces would require!

A New Approach to Cooking

Another school year has begun, and our new core design studio assigns weekly mini-projects. Last week required a large amount of homework, but the assignment caused me to step outside the box. We were presented with two recipes to choose from, and it was up to us to reinvent their layout. Typical recipes list the ingredients, the steps, and sometimes a brief history on the dish. Somewhat boring, yes?

Mine ended up reminding me a lot of David McCandless’s data visualization charts. (You can see his work here.) There is much else I could do to improve this piece, but it made dramatic changes to the way we normally read a cookbook.

David McCandless: TED Talk on Data Visualization

Another school year has begun, and it’s time to start thinking about who inspires my design work. David McCandless and his information design are possibly near the top of my list. He recently gave a TED talk about his work, and I find it particularly interesting how he changes the mindset of specific data by comparing it to other information. Something to keep in mind for my next assignment. I am most intrigued by pieces that reveal a bigger picture behind the data– not just another bar graph or pie chart.