#digi340

For our last blog, we are tasked to analyze different types of municipality logos from all around Vancouver Island. According to Lindsay Kolowich a great logo should contain the following: (Kolowich) 

Simplicity - it has to be simple and clean

Memorability - it has to be quickly recognizable

Timelessness - the logo has to be great even after 10+ years

Versatility - it has to be scalable; it also has to fit if you were to put the logo in different media/areas.

Appropriateness - it has to be appropriate for the desired audience

Before creating a logo, designers usually would research the field/industry (in this case the municipality). So in the given examples on the website, most the logos are based on a story/narrative, the city’s coat of arms, or sometimes, it could even be related to what the city is known for. For example, in cities like (Tofino, Colwood, Ladysmith, Metchosin), their logos relate to what they are famous/known for (i.e., Metchosin with a whale logo because the name metchosin was formed from a first nation saying Straits Salish word, smets-shosin, meaning "place of stinking fish"; the place was also named after when a dead whale washed up on the city’s shore). All the logos on the website as well had the 5 traits that Kolowich mentioned above; it was all simple and easily recognizable.

I noticed that in most of the municipal logos that I looked at, it has a colour scheme of mostly green and blue. I also noticed that most municipal logos had trees, mountains and or bodies of water. I can understand why most logos in the island are this way, this is because we advertise outdoor activities on the island since we are surrounded with beautiful bodies of water and nature. 

One of the logos that stood out to me the most was the Tofino Logo, the reason why it stood out is because it is the most eye-catching and colorful logo out of the bunch. The logo also reminds me of surfer vibes (or the color scheme that most surfing companies use). And we all know that Tofino is the surfing capital of Canada, so I can see why they designed the logo this way.

The logo that I decided to recreate was the Saanich logo. I choose this logo for a redesign because I feel like it is too simple. Just a plain text with a circle behind it:

I redesigned the logo based on the mythical creature that inhabited Cadboro Bay (one of the known bodies of water in Saanich). Here are some of my varations:

Since the other logos incorporated things that they are famous for, I wanted to include the history of Cadboro bay in these logos. The mythical creature is called Cadborosaurus or Caddy; It is a sea serpent with a horse-like head with webbed hind flippers. But I feel like my version of the Saanich logo is too flashy (maybe because I put too much details on the Cadborosaurus) compared to the other municipal logos on the website

WORKS CITED

For this blog, we are asked to reflect on how different types of environment affect my work style. Whenever I do my projects, I usually prefer to work alone; I prefer to work alone because I do not like being rushed (i.e., when doing group projects, everything has to work under a scheduled time). I schedule my time when I plan projects, but I always like to give myself a lot of flexibility that I usually would not have when doing group projects. Although I prefer to work alone, I still think that there are some positive outcomes whenever I collaborate with others. For example, having to work with another person means that they can give me more creative ideas (or give me ideas/thoughts that I never had). Groups can also be beneficial in terms of feedback (they notice things that I did wrong that I usually would not notice if I’m working on projects alone). Having a group can also be helpful if I am working on bigger scoped projects (the more help, the easier the project will be).

The first step that we took in creating our final project for this class is to come up with an idea/story for content; we had to pick a story that tells some a narrative. Then afterward, we had to think about the best way to deliver this narrative, and put it together for a proposal. The feedback that I got from my proposal was about me figuring out what my exact story/narrative is rather than the medium itself (in my proposal, I focused on explaining the medium of my choosing, instead of elaborating on my actual narrative). The problem with me is that whenever I create projects, I always start by thinking about what my end product is, then base my content around it (I was having a hard time thinking about what narrative I wanted to do at the start, and I feel like I am still struggling a little until now). So every time I create proposals, I always end up elaborating on my end product rather than the narrative (and not looking at the bigger picture).

Last class, Ravi suggested that we do a “Logic Model” to help us identify not only the steps/materials that we need but also to figure out the goals and intended impact for our final projects. It took me a while to create this logic model. It took me a while not because I had so many things to list on each section of the logic model, but because it took me time to think about the different aspects that I need to include, I also got stuck in thinking about my Goal/End Goal.

Here is my logic model:

What I realized after doing the logic model: After creating this logic model, it helped me clarify the materials/steps that I need to create my final project. It made me realize how big the project I proposed, given the time frame (left) to do this final project (creating a game might be a little too ambitious). I also still feel that my goal/end goal is still not as solid compared to my peers; maybe because my narrative idea was not as solid from the start (I should have spent more time thinking about/solidifying my idea/story). But I can say that this activity is helpful because it made me realize the scope of my project in terms of goals, time frame, and the materials needed; it also helps when planning for your project (i.e., what goes in the project, etc).

For this week, our activity was to play two types of games; one with a narrative and one without. Afterward, we have to compare which ones do we prefer the most (narrative or non-narrative).

I played a game called Temple Run. It is classified as an endless running game. There is a bit of narrative to this; You are an explorer, and you are collecting artifacts. You stumble across an ancient monkey artifact and you took it, but you did not know that there are giant monkey-like creatures guarding it. Because you stole the artifact, the monkeys are now chasing you, and you have to outrun them. I can say that this game has a very simple storytelling to it; it has an introduction where you are introduced to the protagonist and antagonists at the start of the game, there are challenges (you have to outrun the monkeys because you stole their idol), and there are results (you either fall to your death, get burned to crisp, get eaten by the monkeys, etc). The game’s narrative helps to tie it all together, but it is not super important. If you were to take out the game’s narrative, it would play differently because the player would be confused as to why the character is running.

The other game that I want to talk about is Dancing Road. This game is somewhat similar to the game I mentioned above because it is an endless running/rhythm game (although it is not really endless) where you control a ball a run over specific colors based on the color of your ball. You play the game with music, so the color of the ball changes with it. You win the game by avoiding obstacles and finishing the song/music. This game does not have a specific narrative because all you do is control the ball according to the rhythm. You start the game, pick a song, play the song and end the game.

For this weeks blog, we are tasked to think about memories; how different things might alter/influence our memories and how we might present our altered memories to different people. We are also asked to remember a memory that I recall but have no proof of, and think about how I might be able to tell this memory (using a media tool) to a different person even without an actual proof.

Memory: When I was 13 years old and still living in the Philippines, I used to hang out with my friends at a basketball court near my house. The basketball court was big and it was surrounded by houses all around. One of the houses surrounding the basketball court was a very run down house; it had mould and rust all throughout the house, some windows were shattered/broken, and the fence was falling apart. I seemed like nobody lived in that house because of its condition. I remember my friends telling me that it was a haunted house, a crazy killer lives there, and that somebody died in there (and there are ghosts inside the house) and I also remember seeing a white face in one of the windows at that house (which is why I was convinced that the house was in fact haunted). I recently talked to some of my friends about this particular house. Some agreed with me that it was in fact a haunted house but some told me that I was just not well-kept. So now, I feel like my memory is false but I'm pretty sure that I did saw a ghost in that house before.

If I were to tell this memory to other people using different media tools, I would first use google maps (and do a street view). Although I tried this one and it didn’t really work since google changed the way they do street view (they only show the main streets now. Before, you were able to view the main streets and some back roads). I was not able to find a picture of it from google either, so using google was out of the question. Another tool that I thought I could use was Facebook. I remember seeing the picture of the “haunted” house on one of my friends profile, but when I tried to look for it, I wasn’t able to find it. I even asked that specific friend if they did have a picture of it but they said no or they were not really sure. The last tool that I thought of was drawing the house from my memory. Drawing the house from memory could be a possibility, but this might not be as accurate because I will probably draw the house based on a haunted house (because I remember it being a haunted house/recollected memory), so it might not resemble the actual look of the house.

The image below is my attempt to search the house on google maps:

For this week, our blog is related to looking at our ‘Digital Breadcrumbs’. We did an activity (a person outside of class) where we try to search each other’s information through google (we had to type each other’s name and look at what comes up) to see if we can piece together their information, and think about what kind of person they are. I recently met the person that I did this activity with so she does not know much about me (all she knows is the most basic information about me).

I watched my partner search up my name on google. Of course she saw my Youtube profile and a digi320 website (which is currently inactive). I’m guessing that these show up at the top of the search bar because of IP location. From those, she tried to piece together what I’m like. From what she observed, she said that I go to university (studies at VIU), and I’m in 3rd or 4th year, I’m a creative person that studies something with Digital Media. But other than that, she was unable to find anything beyond my school life information. She tried to google my name with other information (i.e., Aubrey S* Canada or Aubrey S* VIU), but nothing else came up. She wasn’t able to tell anything beyond what she knew about me or what she assumed about me (TBH, i’m not that surprised about this; I only use my full name in schoolwork because obviously I can’t use pseudonyms).

BLOG#3: REMIX

For this week, we were tasked to remix something (i.e., an object, a place, etc.) or turn a thing from its original form to another type of form. But for this blog, I decided to relate the topic of remixing from my personal experience of Cultural Adoption. I’m going to talk about how I managed to adopt Canadian values and social activities and remix them with my own culture (filipino culture).

To give you a little bit of a background, I grew up in the Philippines, and have spent most of my life there. If you ask me, I think that there are some differences that can be pointed out between Canadian culture and Filipino culture. For example, when it comes to holiday traditions, in Canada, we celebrate Halloween as a day where children go door to door trick or treating to get candies. While in the Philippines, when it’s Halloween, we don’t do trick or treating. Rather, we visit our passed relatives, families or friend’s grave and stay overnight beside them (to mourn and to say prayers).

Living here in Canada for the past 10 years has definitely made me adopt some of the Canadian values/culture and somewhat remix it with my own culture. For example, in food culture, western and asians have different types of food. In the Philippines, we would eat rice with everything. Rice for breakfast, lunch, dinner or even snacks. We would usually eat them with cured meats or stews, while here in Canada, people do not usually eat rice as often as we do. People eat more westernized types of food (i.e., steak, mashed potatoes and greens). I noticed that as I lived here in Canada, I have been accustomed to eating western type food but every now and then, I would get cravings for rice. So sometimes I would eat foods that people here would normally eat alone with some rice. (i.e., split pea soup with rice or poutine and some rice (my friends think that this is the weirdest thing that they heard. Some say it’s a disgrace to poutine. But I like it).

Image from: https://ntelt.com/research-tools-1-observation/

BLOG #2: OBSERVE LIKE A ‘FLY ON A WALL’ / MAKING A SCENE

For this week, our activity was to cause a disruption by sitting and observing how the public place + the people in it works. My task is to observe the space and list everything descriptive (i.e., people and environment) that I see in that space. Then make sense/interpret how my listed descriptive observation/facts fit the context of the chosen public space itself.

Last Wednesday night, I went to a Jazz Concert at the Port Theater. I picked this public space because there were a lot of things to observe (i.e., people, physical things inside the theater) and it’s different from when I tried to do my observation on campus. When I booked my seats for the concert, I purposely picked a seat where nobody sat beside/near me but I could still observe everyone without being creepy/weird. I made a table that lists all the different elements that I have observed, and another that made sense of what I saw/heard.

WHAT I OBSERVED

1. Most of the audience were also wearing semi-formal clothes; it was mostly older people (probably in their 50s).

2. The space was dark, but the performers were lit up by the stage lights.

3. All I can hear is the sound of the musical instrument from the speakers.

4. The audience was quiet; not taking while watching the show. They also clap every now and then.

5. There are a lot of seats, but not a lot of them are occupied.

MAKING SENSE OF OBSERVATION

1. To me this makes sense. People usually dress up nicer when they go to fancy concerts (such as the Jazz concert). I felt like I was out of place because everybody was wearing semi-formal, while I was wearing my usual casual clothes.

2. This also makes sense because this was held in a theater (it’s supposed to be dark at all times), and people came to watch the performers so the spotlight should be on them (this way people will pay more attention compared to if the place were lit up—people would be more distracted).

3. People came to the concert because they wanted to hear the musicians play. If there were other sounds that the audience can hear, then it would be very distracting to them (and to the musicians as well).

4. This makes sense because people want to be respectful (to performers and other audiences) when watching the concert. If people are loud, then it would be distracting. People clap at the performers to be respectful.

5. This makes sense because it was a Wednesday night/school night. It was not a free concert; you have to pay to watch which is probably why there were not that many people watching.

In this space, I picked one of the music student (we will call him Joe) to observe and analyze how they would act in different scenarios other than the one that they are in at the moment. At first observation, Joe looked like he is a quiet person; not as sociable as the other students in that group (based on what I observed). I also made assumptions about him based on what he looked like. To me, he looked like he was the nerdy type: braces, clean haircut, glasses, and a neatly tucked dress shirt (he looked like those stereotypical highschool nerds in movies).