Project 2 Deliverables

The final due date for Project 2 will be Thursday May 28th. You are required to include a DVD of the finished work and submit in the main office before the end of the day. You will find a cardboard box on the top shelf of of the unit directly across form Jane.

Also upload a version to Vimeo and post to your blog and write a brief description of the final work to explain your concept and formal approach.

Atmospheric Disturbances

Published by Harper-Collins, this is a book trailer for Rivka Galchen’s novel “Atmospheric Disturbances”.

Last December a woman entered my apartment who looked exactly like my wife.

Suspension of Disbelief

Here are two examples of  lo-tech methods that result in compelling visual sequences. These two works use simple imagery but mange to pull the viewer into an alternate sense of reality by skewing familiar materials like chalkboard and a notebook.  On one level we know that this can’t be happening, but the magic of motion design can suspend our disbelief and generate a sense of awe and wonder. Its also interesting to note that both of these pieces involve illustration.

Book Trailers: Life List and The Gum Thief

A book trailer designed at Pentagram for Olivia Gentile’s biography of bird enthusiast Phoebe Snetsinger.

Pentagram’s  Life List begins with a book trailer which features the names all 117 of the bird species that Gentile mentions in the book, in order, in less than 45 seconds, starting with the Blackburnian Warbler that got Snetsinger hooked on birding in the first place. (Had we listed all of the birds Phoebe saw in her lifetime at the same pace, it would take 45 minutes.)

This is a book trailer for Douglas Coupland’s the Gum Thief designed by Crush, a Toronto studio that has an interesting portfolio of motion design work.

P2: Open Project

This project is intended for students to build on prior knowledge and skills of the time-based mediums, while developing new ideas and practices that challenge their current design competencies. In this way, each student will be asked to follow their own interests wihin the realm of time-based communications, by creating a new work from the following list:

1. Deconstruct/Reconstruct – disassemble a  mechanical object (eg. a toaster, tape player, clock) and visually document its component parts through sketching, scanning, photography, etc. Using digital tools, reconstruct the components into a new form  or make a new object that performs a new task. (eg. toaster now a musical instrument, a robot, etc).
2. Information Work – a piece that serves to educate the audience about a particular topic or issue. Could be a social issue (urban environment, economic duress) or related technology and culture. (eg. surveillance, social media).
3. Project 10 DVD – Taking all the 10 projects from the class and build a interactive work in DVD format that includes: intro video and transitions; menus; highlight designers and project; packaging and branding
4. Film Festival Trailer – Choose an independent Toronto film festival (Images, Reel Asian, Inside/Out, Hot Docs) and produce a short promotional piece (or series) to generate interest to potential audiences
5. Book Trailer – pick a book have read (or will read) and develop a short piece that promotes the book for others (not retelling) in a way that encourages new readers.
6. Experimental -  integrate a series of smaller works that explore a particular perspective or methodology, both formally and conceptually. (eg. the loop, speed)
7. Any other idea for a time-based work that you may propose with approval from your instructor

Project Ten Extension Proviso

Due to overwhelming requests, I will extend the final deadline of the 10 Project for (almost) one week. You are entitled to this extension on one condition; that you bring your project work to date for show and critique in Friday April 3rd’s class. This means you need to present your latest video sketches for in class viewing. Be prepared to discuss and rationalize your design choices.

The due date for submission will be Thursday April 9 by 4:30 pm in the box inside the Design office across from Jane.

In this week’s class, we will be introducing Project 2 as next week is Good Friday (no class).  We talk about the details  to include project parameters and signed schedules.

Antenna Design: Public Spaces and Intervention

Antenna Design is a innovative design group with a range of  work for public spaces. Interactivity, motion, sound and product design are integrated in many of their projects.

Commerce or Art? Rick Valicenti and 3rst

Rick Valicenti of Thirst will be sharing some his work and ideas in a talk  presented by the MDes program here at the Department of Design, York University. This is a fabulous opportunity to see and hear from one of the preeminent designers working in the field today. From an educational perspective, there is no better place to learn about design than to be there and listen to Rick.

Hunting, Gathering and Algorithmic Processes

In developing and imaging the representations of 10, it is a good idea to look around our own places and paths for inspirations. A small digital camera and a sketchbook are a designers best friend for documenting the unexpected. Finding patterns, shapes, occurrences, surfaces, sounds, activities, etc. in “non-designed” things is a good way to access the deeper recesses of the idea pool. Feeding on ephemeral moments and everyday experiences  provide food for creative output.

Project 1: Ten (%30)

Project 1 is intended to enhance your understanding of the language of time–based communication and to continue your exploration of the concepts and techniques intiated in TBC1. The integration of images, animation, typography, video and audio presents many opportunities for designers to express concepts using dynamic media forms.