Design Basics Index
Photo Cropping Exercise
For this exercise, I used the Design Basics Index guidelines to crop photos, thus changing the eye movement, mood, or subject of the picture. Using inspiration from this week's readings in DIY Media, I ventured to Flickr and explored this week's 'most interesting pictures.' Even though a lot of the pictures on that website that are considered 'most interesting' have already been cropped or artistically modified, I did what I could to find images that I could work with. The photos below are professional and therefore beautifully done; I did run into some roadblocks when downloading the images. Some of the images that I wanted to use had downloading disabled by the owner, so I had to be sure 1. to find images that downloading was allowed, and 2. to credit the owners of the pictures properly. Credit is given to the owners in the captions underneath the original photo, along with a link to their flickr.com page.
Below is a video of all the images together. Specific descriptions of the photos and why I chose to crop the way I did are below the video.
1.
The original image is of a street in Chinatown, NYC. The images in
the photo are very specific to that neighborhood, and the tonal color of
red exemplifies that this picture was taken in Chinatown. By cropping
the photo to show just the young man standing against the brick wall and
by toning down the red in the photo, I think that I made the images
more transient- this photo could have been taken anywhere.
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2.
In the original image, the eye is drawn to the negative space of the sky
right above the bridge. By cropping the sky from the top of the photo,
I changed the focal point and supported the bridge as the primary
focus, which also serves to equally divide the sky above the bridge from
the water and streets below.
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3.
The original picture of this street in the village (NYC) has a specific
color palette reminiscent of early fall. My eye was drawn to the sun
shining through the trees and onto the building, so I cropped the photo
to focus only on that. The red leaves in the bottom left corner dissect
the picture diagonally, which I really liked.
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4.
The original image has a very specific grid and frame to it; showcasing
a variety of quilt squares. I chose to crop out one of the quilt
squares and change the color of it slightly (from a bright pink to a hue
more antique y). I also added a frame; the original picture had a
frame built into the layout of the squares, and I liked how it forced
the eye to look at the group of images as a single item. I mimicked
this design element to reinforce the idea that the two flowers are one
unit.
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5.
I love this picture - it is so quirky! When I looked at the original
picture, it was very obvious that it was a doll. My eyes were
immediately drawn to the doll's large white eyes, so I decided to focus
on those for my crop. I also changed the color and used selective black
and white to humanize the doll's face. By taking away the very
specific doll characteristics, I was able to create an image where the
viewer creates the personality behind the eyes - not the other way
around.
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6.
I liked this photo because of the two different subjects - the woman and
the elephant. For me, it was difficult to tell what the picture was
for (fashion, maybe? the ASPCA? who knows!), so I decided to simplify
the image by cutting out the elephant. Originally, I intended on
cropping out the woman and focusing on the elephant, but when I did that
it was clear that the picture had been doctored - the skin on the
elephant did not look right. I chose to crop the picture so that the
woman was offcenter, looking towards the sky. The picture is obviously
not balanced, but the negative space that the woman is looking could be
filled with whatever the audience imagines. Really, what is she thinking
about? Why does she have a cat on her shoulder? The blank space
allows the audience to process and ponder this, without feeling
overwhelmed.
Design Basics Index - Theme Exercise
Book Cover: Flirting with the Bully
I chose this activity because I like the idea of creating a book
cover with a theme. The theme of bullying is very specific, and I tried
to capture a target audience (young girls and their parents) with these
covers. I utilized feminine colors, but contrasted them with a black
and white background. This created a sense of despair and loneliness
(the empty hallway) that I hope will resonate with the target
demographic.
This first book cover used a pinkish red for the word flirting, and the orange in the word bully captured the urgency of the situation. I chose to make the word 'bully' reflective so that the audience would see themselves through the word.
The second book cover I created is a little different, because instead of the empty hallway as a background, I used the image to fill the text. Again, I used a shade of pink to capture and identify the target demographic, but this time I made the pink a bit bolder. I chose to use the same font for all of the words, but modified the size to justify the space. The depth of the hallway guides the eye 'into the book,' enticing the audience to open and read.
