#writtentext

What skills did you bring to the table from past projects that helped you solve the problems in this one?

Even though we got to see the painting we were basing our last project on, the ability to translate an object from one medium to another applied to both. I struggled with visualizing in this project, but I feel if I had not had to do something kinda similar in the last project, I would not have done as well.

Which was harder: describing, or interpreting? What do you wish you had done differently?

Interpreting was definitely harder for me. That being said, both are pretty difficult. I wish I had done a better job of describing, seeing Ryan’s result and then re-reading my description, I saw a lot of little things I left out that I obviously should have described better. 

Were you surprised when you saw the reveal?  How close do you think you got?

I was not all that surprised because I feel I got pretty close. I was missing a few minor things that, like my own description, where just small things left out in the explanation. I ended up interpreting tor assuming them wrong. Now I know if I do something like this again, I need to re-read what I wrote several times and try to think of all the ways it could be interpreted. 

Was this process fun?  Frustrating?

I found this frustrating for sure. A lot of it had to do with my own inability to visualize just from text, I had to re-read sentences at least 15 times to grasp some meaning. Also, the time crunch made it a little more stressful. 

What difficulties did you have with the writing portion of this assignment?  What areas do you think you could work on to improve your comfort with writing?

A. What did you try to accomplish in your piece, both conceptually and technically?  Could you have gone further or did you go too far?

Conceptually I wanted to try my best and interpret the description of the piece correctly, and technically I wanted to create this work fast but efficiently represent the structure. This is why I chose to build it out of cardboard which is sturdy, can be made to look like metal, and is quick to assemble. I could have gone further technically and used wood instead of cardboard, but I do not think I would have been able to finish it in time if I had. 

B. Discuss your final idea in relation to the project presented; explain how your design developed, and how the techniques you have used are appropriate to carry out your ideas.

My design developed a lot from the first sketch to the ending. The first sketch was basically pentagons on wheels with odd placed handles. I kept sketching out ideas then changing them once I read the passage again. My master’s degree in overthinking really came into play while I was trying to visualize this work. It is amazing how many different ways you can interpret one sentence. Once I had my meeting with Kaitlyn it was liking everything clicked in place and I could finally see the piece. I think it was because when I read the description I would read one section, but that in one corner of my mind and read another and place that somewhere else. It was all one piece but I broke the information up and could not connect it. Kaitlyn (and you) drew lines between the info and allowed me to see it all together at once. That os what lead me to my final and not too far off design. The cardboard and hot glue was an appropriate technique to create this piece because it worked well with the very straight design and was fast. 

C. Discuss critically what was successful in your piece and what was not successful.

My ideas for this work changed and shifted as I read and reread the written description, but always kept the idea of luggage in my mind. Luggage was the idea that was most heavily pushed in the description and I knew it was the most important element. If it did not look like luggage I was not doing it correctly. With other parts of the description though, it seemed like it might be a more abstract looking luggage and that troubled me for a bit but with the meeting, that problem was cleared up. 

The description I submitted:

“It is a small sculpture, height and length is unknown, but it looks like it could easily be griped in one hand. It is a man holding a club over his bowed head, like he is in the process of swinging it forward. The figure is not a detailed human form, but looks more like the Pillsbury doughboy in shape and has very basic features. Its torso is slightly more bell bottomed then the doughboy and its limbs more pointed at the tips. From the side view, its thick torso is leaned toward the right, like the back is bowed. Attached to its bell bottom torso is its short legs, about the same proportion and look as the doughboy’s, with one out stretched in front and one in the back like it is mid stride. It has no knee joints as the legs are smooth rectangular shapes with pointed tips at the feet, and the leg as a whole is not as round as the doughboy’s, they are a little flatter like an oval. Its arms almost look like they are facing the wrong way, stretching up towards the left of the figure whereas the torso leans right. This makes it looking like the club it is holding is too heavy for it and it is having trouble getting the momentum to swing it overhead. Again, proportion wise and in shape the arms are similar to the doughboy. The only marked difference is that where they connect to the body the base of the arm widens and flattens into the torso. The arms become more rounded and oval in width near the hands, but are still flatter then the doughboy’s. Again, there are no joints, the arms are smooth. The hands have no fingers, only a small thumb. In its hands, it grips the club at its base with the hands holding it at the same place, causing them to connect. The club is about the same length of the torso, and has some detail to make it look like wood. Whereas the rest of the figure is smooth, the club has small wavy lines cut into it to resemble bark, and has three little nubs coming out of it like cut tree branches. The three nubs are near the tip if the club. The angle the club is held at is about the same angle of the bowed back, it does not droop. As for the head, it has no neck and the curve of the back is continued till it levels at the head. The head looks like a tea candle on its side that has been squished a little so it’s not so round, with the bottom connected to the leaning torso. The figure appears to be wearing a hood, where the end of a tea candles metal base would end, there is an indent. The face is simple, from the hood indent there is a small dome that does not protrude too far. On the center of this dome is a hooked nose, it looks like a shark fin, but does not protrude as far out as one. These simple features make up the face.

All the connections and edges of the pieces are smooth. This is due in part to how it is made. The artist started by bending a strong wire into the base of the torso and legs, and arms. Then they filled in the thickness of the torso with papier mache. Their process for papier mache is as follows: they make the pulp by ripping a newspaper into strips, soaking it in a bucket of water until broken down, then straining it. Then they mix it with a potato-flour glue, which is a little flour in a saucepan of water that is gradually heated until viscous and clear. Next, they sculpted the rough form of the figure with air-drying clay. After it was dry they further shaped it with knives and sandpaper. It still remains smooth and soft in form, but this technique of carving made some more defined angles. The legs and arms look like softened geometric shapes, as the edges and connections are smooth, but you can still see that the arms look a little like flattened rectangles and the legs have triangular structure and edges. Finally, they painted a few layers of acrylic paint to give it a stony appearance. The stone it looks like is that blue/black/grey stone that some fired pottery looks like. It has bits of oranges, yellows and a little green in there, like they painted those colors on then sanded most of them off leaving only bits. In fact, the surface is scratched like they did sand it. This may be due to their final step of rubbing back with a damp cloth before the paint has cured to make the natural-looking surface.”

The description I received:

Celebrity Endorsements, what are they?

There are many ways to promote and establish a brand. One of the more popular ways to promote a fashion brand is by using upcoming and popular celebrities to communicate and represent the brand, capturing their identity. To promote a brand using celebrity endorsers the celebrity used must encompass what the brand is trying to promote, this way the brand is not tarnished or mislead by an ill-fitting endorser. Celebrity endorsers are now crucial in marketing a brand, because of the huge impact they have on consumers today. Social media and blogs also play a major role in marketing a brand. This has become more prominent as more celebrities join and post regular updates and collaborations, with brands on social media. The creative director of Balmain Oliver Rousteing, uses social media as his base platform to promote the brand Balmain. He uses snapchat, Instagram and twitter to broadcast about new lines, collections and current celebrity collaborations. This creates a larger following for the brand, expanding their fan base. Also for those following the accounts and pages they are notified with every post so they are subliminally thinking about the brand always. Versace as another example, also consider social media as their biggest platform, they recently announced on Instagram, a collaboration between Donatella Versace and Zayn Malik. In which they’ll be designing a clothing line together for Versus Versace; Zayn X versus. Malik, first impressed Versace once meeting him through his supermodel girlfriend Gigi Hadid, with his recent streetwear line and shoe collection with Giuseppe Zanotti. Since leaving One Direction, Malik has created his own self-brand. Starting with his breakthrough into R&B in January 2016, he made himself known to be more urban and Hip-Hop. He related himself to streetstyle and made his urban vibe become more prominent once he released his collection Think Hood by Air with Urdu Script. His most recent venture is with Versace, who have teamed up with musicians previously. The clothing brand worked with rapper M.I.A. and Lady Gaga in 2013, which again have very urban and unique backgrounds but Versace noted that this recent collaboration would be particularly special. "Many celebrities do clothing lines that just aren't relevant," she added. "This one? It will be. He's smart to do it with me." Malik, himself believes that this venture with Versace is like a dream come true, because he feels a strong connection to the brand. Not only will he be co-designing he will also star in Versus' next two campaigns, unveiling in February. This will boost Zayn’s brand as well expanding Versace’s fan base.

Jones, K. (2016) Zayn Malik is teaming up with Versace. Available at: http://www.harpersbazaar.co.uk/fashion/news/a38265/zayn-malik-is-teaming-up-with-versace/ (Accessed: 2 November 2016). In-line Citation: (Jones, 2016)