AW10 – Layout – LT. Form And Space

Rearrange shapes cut out of paper, and try to find the point at which the figure disappears into the ground.

Cut out a series of shapes from black paper – squares, rectangles, circles and random shapes – in a variety of sizes, from small to large.
Working with a square piece of white paper, place shapes of different sizes into the white space; place them on the white one at a time and move them around.
Try to find the point where the distinction between figure and ground becomes unclear. Does it depend on which shape dominates the space: black or white? Is it about the position of the shape within the space? Think about how important figure-ground relationships are within composition and design.
Write down your findings, and remember to take pictures of your progress. Submit these pictures and your write-up on your WordPress blog.

A few years ago, I had this phase where I loved Aztec patterns on fabrics, so I have a lot of memories about different patterns so this was quit fun to do. I made triangles and squares and started to put them on the white paper. I did make two different, one with only triangles and one with triangles and squares.

On this one with just the triangles the white space forms squares and isosceles trapezoid.

On this the white space forms triangles, right trapezoid and the white square in the middle that is “hollowed”.

The photos are scanned to my laptop.

AW09 – The art of Photography – LT. Question 2

Take five pictures every day for the next five days. The subjects of your pictures can include a series of different objects, people and landscapes. The focus of this activity is to put into practice what you have learned so far about exposure and composition. This includes: Depth of Field, Motion Blurr, High Key, Low Key, Pattern, Symmetry, Texture, Lines, Framing, Perspective, Space, Balance and Colour. Apply
the manual settings as explained. Submit your six best pictures at the end of the week, listing the following with each picture:

ISO
Aperture
Shutter speed

Here are the 6 photos.

ISO 50, f9, 0,8 sec, 24mm + ND 0.6 Soft gradient filter

ISO 50, f22, 3,2 sec, 24mm + ND 0.6 Soft gradient filter

ISO 320, f5.6, 1/800, 400mm
Was out photographing poolfrogs and this nice soft bokeh on the water showed up on the screen.

AW09 – The art of Photography – LT. Question 1

Selecting the proper White Balance:

Take your camera outside during daylight and photograph the same scene using different white-balance settings. Move indoors and repeat the exercise with shooting in a tungsten-lighting environment. Finally, find a fluorescent light source and repeat one more time. Pay close attention to how each setting affects the overall colour cast of your images in different lighting environments and write down your findings.

My camera has 10 different white-balance setting that’s is premade, so I took the same picture in all 10 modes:

Daylight
Shade
Cloudy
Incandescent
Fluorescent: Warm white
Fluorescent: Cool white
Fluorescent: Day white
Fluorescent: Daylight
Flash
Underwater auto

I used the same object out in daylight, in a room with tungsten-lightning and in a room with fluorescent lightning. You can clearly see that all of the different settings makes the color much colder outside in daylight than under a tungsten and fluorescent light. Out of all these 10 settings on these photos I prefer the underwater auto setting, this is because I feel this has the best balance between cold and warm.

Experimenting with Focus Modes:

Change your camera settings so that you are focusing using the Single-Point focus mode. Try using all of the different focus points to see how they work in focusing your scene. Then set your focus mode to AF-S and practice focusing on a stationary subject and then recomposing before actually taking the picture. Try doing this with subjects at varying distances. Lastly, change your focus mode from autofocus to manual focus and practice a little manual-focus photography. Get familiar with where the focus ring is and how to use it to achieve sharp images. Write down what you learned from the different focus modes

AF-S is something I barely use, I always use MF or AF-C (for moving objects) so I actually had to do some research on this task. Mostly because I had to double check the names on the focus, I use sony so it’s called flexible spot and not single-point af. I think I understood the task right but to be honest it’s a bit confusing.

By using flexible spot (small) I moved the spot around to change the focus to where I wanted it, I have marked it in the photos so you can see where I moved the spot. For this I used AF-S mode and flexible point (small) on focus area. I might have used AF-A instead of but the result is the same since I have to move the spot around anyway.

Using AF-S while recomposing is easy as long as you know where you focus area is, if you want to be quick, I would probably not use flexible spot since then its always focus on where the spot is, I would probably use wide or zone just so the AF has more space to move. But if you are shooting something that is moving, or if you move to recomposing, I would use AF-C, just since I can lock the focus on the object while the object (or me) is moving. But I use MF when I’m shooting everything else than animals/bird because I like to have fully control over the focus.

AW08 – History and Camera basics – LT. Question 2

Question 2

Observation and analysis (2 hours)

After watching the video: Introduction to Photography: The Camera by Ben Long (1h 52m), please answer the following questions. If necessary, refer to your Camera Manual:

Name all the functions / buttons on the front of your camera
Name all the functions / buttons on the back of your camera
Explain how you would set the correct ISO
Explain how you would change the aperture
Explain how you would change the shutter speed

My camera is Sony a7iii

ISO : I always keep the ISO as low as possible, as of today I have never intentionally used high ISO to get a noisy photo. But who know? Maybe one day? On my camera I can have a pretty high ISO before it gets to noisy, but it require a lot of work in photoshop to get the noise down. And the ISO I change on the Control Wheel.

Aperture : This one I change on the Front Dial. The aperture depends on what dept of field you want. Say if I take a landscape photo I usually am around f8-f9, just to get a wide area that’s sharp and in focus. And if I take a portrait of my dogs, wildlife photo I use as high aperture my lens will go. I love using f2-f2.8, if you get the focus on the eyes/face on the animal/human/flower etc. you will end up with an amazing blurred out background(bokeh).

Shutter speed: This one I change on the Rear Dial. Shutter speed the exposure, this means how long the shutter is open and how much light it will let pass in to the sensor frame. A fast shutter will freeze the image. So if you are into different sports, wildlife photography you want to have a fast shutter speed so you freeze the photo and don’t get a motion blur on it. If you want to have a photo with motion blur, night photo, astro photos, make the water to a veil you need a slow shutter speed. If you want a sharp image but still want to get those stars or that veil on the water you need to have a tripod, because if you move your camera just a tiny bit the photo will turn out not that good.

AW08 – History and Camera basics – LT. Question 1

Question 1

Research, written and practical assignment (4 hours)

Throughout this lesson you’ve learnt about the various techniques used and inventors that contributed to the art form that is Photography. Choose only one, do some additional research and in your own words write a report on why you think the chosen technique contributed to what we are able to do today through photography.

Explain your research and choice of technique.
Include any images which you think are necessary to explain your thought process.
This should be 500 – 1000 words.

George Eastman – Kodak

George Eastman was born in 1854 in Waterwille, New York where he lived on a 10-acre farm with his two older sisters, Maria and Katie and parents. His father died in 1862 of a brain disorders, and his sister Katie died of polio in late 1870. At this time George was only 15 and ended up leaving the school so he could work and help and support the family.

Eastman’s home from Waterville, now relocated to the Genesee Country Village and Museum

In his early 20’s he was supposed to go on a trip to Santo Domingo and bought all the equipment that he really thought was big, heavy and expensive. Instead of taking this trip he ended up spending a lot of time in his mother kitchen. George was inspired by the big and heavy existing camera, and he wanted to make a camera that was smaller, lighter and easier for a average person to enjoy.

At this moment there where no dry plates, only wet plates. This required the photographer or an assistant to do the development of the photos. This would take considerably longer time and it was also very expensive. In a British publication he saw a formula for a “dry plate” emulsion, and after getting some guidance from two local photographers he formulated a gelatin-based paper film and a device for coating dry plates.

He resigned from his current bank job and in 1885 he went to the patent office with a roll-holder device that he and camera inventor William Hall Walker had developed. This roll-holder would allow the cameras to be much smaller and cheaper. In 1888 he developed the Kodak camera, witch was the first camera that was design to use roll film, the camera came with a roll that could take 100 exposures. He came up with the slogan, “ You press the button, we do the rest”. This meant that after the 100 exposures you would send the camera back to the company where they developed the photos, and then the photos and camera was sent back to the costumer. It was also possible for the customer to make a request for reloading the camera with fresh film for an additional &10 (about &250 today). The developed negatives was contact printed on gilded edged brown colored card stock. As film stock became standardized, George continued to lead in innovations, and refinements in colored film stock continued after his death in 1932.

I grew up with film rolls and I’ve seen how the camera has changed throughout the years, I’ve always been interested in photography, my grandfather has some really old cameras so I have always been fascinated how a camera works. The reason that I wanted to write about George Eastman and his invention of dry film is because this was a big game changing thing. This made the photo development prosses much quicker, the cameras was smaller and lighter. Ant the fact that he wanted the camera to be available for average people and not just the upper class people is such an good and inspiring way of thinking and taking actions. There would probably be someone else that would come up with this patent, but because George Eastman did it the camera history changed early. And because of that the cameras is by this day digital, gives us a insanely good quality, are small and light weighted and comes in a big variation price classes. If he didn’t invent this dry film I’m sure the camera industry wouldn’t be where it is today.

Sources
https://www.biography.com/inventor/george-eastman – History
https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-Eastman – History
https://www.eastman.org/about-george-eastman – History + photos
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Eastman – History + photos
https://photofocus.com/inspiration/history/history-of-photography-introduction-of-kodak/ – History + photos

AW07 – Logo Design and Brand Manual – LT. Create a Personal Logo

Take the moodboard you created in the last lesson task and now create your personal brand logo.

When it comes to determining your personal brand, no one knows better than yourself whether you’re traditional, trendy or tough.

Create a unique typeface accompanied by an icon or symbol that showcases you – or an aspect of you – as a brand. You are free to choose whether you want to add a tag line or not.

This task was fun working with. A few weeks ago I actually found a brand name for my art/design Instagram page, it’s hetiart. Hetiart is Hetland tina art and if you remove the “ti” is says heart. So I think it’s a good play with the letters. I knew that this task was coming soon so I didn’t make any logo to the name, I felt that I could use this opportunity to make a good logo that fits.

Here is my moodboard from last LT.

After some feedbacks from the teachers and some adjustments this is the logo I came up with. I’m really happy with the outcome!

AW06 – Brand Positioning – LT. Mood Board

A mood board is a collage of images, text and colours to capture the feel and direction of a brand identity. Mood boards are essential when brainstorming a brand identity.

If you’re in the process of working out a brand identity, a mood board will help bring things like company attributes, vision, identity and the emotions you want your brand to convey together.

As you move along in the world of design you will develop your own personal brand.

Create a Mood Board for your Personal Brand

Ideas of what to include:

imagery
colours
visual metaphors
textures
patterns and shapes
fonts

You can either create a digital* version or a physical one.

AW06 – Brand Positioning – LT. Customer Profile

Create two consumer profiles for a fictional client.
You are free to choose the client and the product.

List the things that you think are important to include in a consumer profile and show your research.

Resources & Equipment

notepad and pencil
software of your choice
Internet for research purposes

I chose a café where all kind of different work people come to work and to be social. A café that is classy with a hint of nature to get that nice and calm atmosphere. I made a little moodboard to show the idea.

Sources:
“Kate”
“Richard”

AW05 – Brand Identity – LT. Understanding Ideals

Visit a popular store, like an Apple reseller, Nike, Levi’s, H&M or Ikea. The brand should be well-known and you must visit a shop where their products are being displayed or distributed. In smaller towns you may not have access to these stores, in this case you will need to find a section showcasing these items and view how they are displayed or laid out. Before going to the shop, determine the following about their brand identity and, once at the shop, evaluate how they remain true to their brand identity or how they do not. How is the brand identity enhanced (or perhaps, not expressed) at the point of customer interaction? Hand in a write-up with photos of the following:
- What brand identity element are they using in their logo (e.g. abstract mark or word mark)?
- What do you think their brand ideal is?
- How do they remain true to their brand ideal within their shops?
- Evaluate the customer experience according to the brand ideal. (For example, if the brand ideal is “innovation”, do you get a sense of that ideal when you visit the outlet?)

Evaluate the visual display of the products according to the brand ideal. (For example, if the brand ideal is “value”, is this expressed in the way they display the products?)

For this assignment I chose Søstrene Grene. Søstrene Grene is an amazing store, the store itself makes me happy when I’m there for shopping or just for looking. This is a danish store that has grown to be a big brand, they have stores in 15 countries in Scandinavia and they also have a store in Japan.

When I think of Søstrene Grene I think about creativity, organizing, kids creative toys, organic products. But they also have kitchen, interior, furniture stuff. So it’s not just all creativity in that store.

They have a high focus on products that responsible, free of dangerous chemicals and that they are produces under proper conditions. They also focus a lot on reducing the plastic, so if you visit one of their stores you will see that most of their products are made of tree. I do love that they have so much kids toys that is made out of tree.

Also if you are visiting one of their stores you will easily see that the store is beautiful, the colors and the organizing of the sore is just amazing. The sisters Anna and Clara brings different passions to the store, Anna is bringing the creativeness and Clara is all about the organizing

What brand identity element are they using in their logo (e.g. abstract mark or word mark)?

They are using both abstract and work mark in their logo.

What do you think their brand ideal is?

Their brand ideal is a product brand. And I think their ideal is:

Honest responsibility.
Making a significant difference for people, wildlife and environment.
Experience of joy.
Inspire body and soul.
A wide range of high aesthetic quality products.
Responsible supply chain – low prices.
Share new creative DIY projects every week.
Ever-changing store experience.
Having and colorful and organized store.

How do they remain true to their brand ideal within their shops?

They remain true to their brand ideal by having a really organized store, they have a good categorized stored with subdivided areas so it’s easy to find the right area in the stores. The prices are low, but you also see that there are a high quality on their products. You can also see that they are thinking about the environment by seeing that there are not that much plastic products, most of their products are made of tree.

Evaluate the customer experience according to the brand ideal. (For example, if the brand ideal is “innovation”, do you get a sense of that ideal when you visit the outlet?)

I’m feeling the joy and an inner peace when I’m walking the round in their store when I see all of the colors, tree products and the well-organized shelfs. I’ve been to the store a lot, but I’ve actually never seen an employer on the floor, so how they manage to keep the store that clean and organized is a mystery for me, but the person in the checkout is always nice and friendly.

Here are some photos from this amazing store.

AW05 – Brand Identity – LT. Understanding Positioning

1. Look at the following logos and explain in your own words what you consider their positioning to be (do this for each one).

I’ve always enjoyed Instagram’s logos, from day one. But this one is probably the one I like the most. It has an bright an joyful color pallet, blue, purple, magenta, red, orange and yellow. You can clearly see that this is an photo application since they have the white shapes that visualizing a camera.

The Mercedes logo is basically a star, and for me this type of star is a symbol of trinity since it’s a three-pointed star. The logo itself is simple but clean, it’s a silver star and the logo has a nice use of colors that makes an illusion of that it’s shiny.

This is a logo that is quite simple. But, less is more. There is a red and a yellow circle that is overlapping each other so it get a effect that’s red, orange, yellow. I feel that the logo has a warm touch, and I like how simple it is and still it’s a good and solid logo.

2. Let’s work backwards! Look at the logo on the Apple iPhone and, by doing your own research, investigate the history of the product and the company that manufactures it. Give an outline, in your own words, of what you consider the following to be:

Describe the iPhone’s brand identity – exactly as you see it

The iPhone’s identity is the all known apple. When you see their logo you know it’s an apple product. The logo itself is really simple, and I think that’s the reason that it’s so well known. The logo is sleek and centered on the iPhones backside. Lately they have also made the logo in the same color as the phone, but it still shows since its polished. The iPhone itself is elegant and sleek, and you are feel that you are looking at something exclusive.

What do you think its positioning is currently?

It’s not a big secret that the iPhone is one of the top phone brands out there, because it is. I’m a android type of girl but still I’m hearing about iPhones all around, 80% of the people I work with have an iPhone. But as my point view I feel the Apple products go out to more of the younger people because is sort of an status to own a apple phone.

But they have good phones, they are up to date when it comes to design and technology. The only thing they still need to do better is to make a more unbreakable screen, because almost everyone I know that owns a iPhone has shattered the screen.

What do you think the strategy for this specific product was?

I think the strategy was to make something new, every phone company was using android. So they made a whole new operation system, and they nailed it. I also think that they wanted to make a elegant and exclusive phone, a phone that would become trendy to own.

What research do you think was done on this by the company who made it?

I think they researched all of the other operating systems really good first to be able to make something that could be even better. The same about cameras, to try to have the best camera possible in a phone. They have focused on the younger audience since taking pictures and filming has become a such big thing in everyone’s life.

3. Now take the same product as in question 2 and explain, in your own words, how the visual element (in this case, the logo) fits in with the brand identity.

Since the brand is called Apple the logo fits perfectly with the name. I think its bold to call a company that sells phones and laptops/computers Apple, it’s special and really outside of the box. But! It has really showed that a abnormal name for electronics is so well known. Everyone knows what that simple apple logo means and what product the company is selling.