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Now that we’re immune to this level of involvement, it becomes second nature.  This probably explains why I make more of an effort now to take photos as soon as an event occurs in real time and post immediately after since everyone else seems to be doing the same.  Mobile apps have evolved from this like Instagram, Path, and Facebook all promote this action.  They tie into the social network aspect more efficiently than Flickr, but the level of involvement pattern can be traced to Flickr as an original source.

At first glance I had assumed Flickr resonated more with amateur photographers or those “photo obsessed” (i.e., those people who would bring digital cameras to restaurants to take pictures of every plate).  Now I realize that Flickr ended up being useful to those who wanted to look or contribute to a group or type of photography.  The case study had mentioned hipster, scenic, and micro photography as examples of this.  It also paved the way for those everyday, random photos that amused people.  These are the photos we now see all over Facebook and those Mobile apps as mentioned earlier.  This concept ties in with Murray’s article and her argument that photographs are not so much about rare or unique moments, but instantaneous musings through the perspective of the photographer with instant responses from the user’s network.

This is where Kodak had made an unwise business decision.  By choosing the professional over the everyday consumer, they lost out.  By not embracing technology and society demands quickly enough, the company could not move forward.  They seemed to emphasize too much on the professional products than the consumer ones and now that cameras are on phones and Kodak has no web presence, they have become irrelevant.  I even see this shift at my job at Apple.  The company has moved the emphasis from professionals to consumers who want user-friendly software and hardware.  An everyday consumer can quickly learn editing software and directly upload their videos from the program and into Vimeo or YouTube.  Professionals are left complaining and in the dark, but Apple’s value continues to rise.  If social media has taught us anything, it is that the typical consumers are everything.

2) After viewing Porchez’s lecture, it has given me a new appreciation for the painstaking and tiny details that go into each typeface.  He had showed his interpretation of classic typefaces and how his version deviates from the original in multiple but very subtle ways.  An example of this was when he showed his Parisine family in comparison to Helvetica Neue by overlaying the two onscreen.  These characteristics are dramatized or toned down depending on the style as well (bold vs. light), which as obvious as it sounds; I had not put that much consideration into.

I remember Porchez had also mentioned that when the classic types were designed, they were made the paper and ink medium in mind, therefore when these types transitioned to the computer format, there were characteristics that needed to slightly alter.  From my own experience, certain typefaces that were made originally for print are more difficult to view on a computer screen and vice versa.  He had also made the point that with businesses and advertising, legible type that does not take up very much space is coveted.  Some of the older typefaces take up much more space on the page versus his Henderson’s typeface, which used space more efficiently.  Even now, the same type on a computer screen looks slightly different once printed out.

3) I know that “font” had a different meaning in the past.  A “font” was a set of characters (letters, numbers, symbols etc.) set in a certain style and specific point size.  Computers can now switch out point size and style so efficiently, that now “font” refers to simply the characters.  “Typeface” has more to do with the design and appearance of a set of characters.  Porchez had said there are two roles of typography, the reading/technical aspect and the appearance.

I think they are used interchangeably from lack of education on the topic.  Majority of people do not study typography and so it is assumed that a certain design of a typeface is considered “a font”, therefore, many think that there are different varieties of “fonts” when really there are different “typefaces”.  The two roles of typography are combined into the word “font” and most do not differentiate the two.

4) Professional: Champagne & Limousines

Personal: Decibel

Both of these are rounded, san serif typefaces with clean lines.  They are easy to read and modern.  Champagne & Limousines has a more basic, professional appearance and looks more similar to the classic typefaces than Decibel.  Decibel has a more texturized and handwritten look to it, making the typeface more graphic-y and fun to use.  The basic shape of Decibel looks professional, but with the added texturized pen-strokes, it changes it enough to make it appear more novel.

I enjoyed reading up what other people are doing for their final project and seeing the variety.  I tried to leave both positive feedback and specific suggestions or things to consider since that’s what I would love to see (and have seen) on my own.  Looking at the other’s project inspires me to really get going on my own.  Their posts influenced me to continue to hone into the details and specifics of my own project.  Already the comments I am receiving have gotten the gears turning.  Tim posted a point that I had yet to consider and probably would have overlooked until the very end, had he not mentioned it earlier.  He brought up the point of posting my resume online can be risky and asked how am I going to hide my personal information.  These types of details are percolating in my head for the time being.

From my personal experience, the vast majority of people at work that I interact with choose to use Gmail as their email provider and even those that have distain for it, end up using a Google product somewhere or another. It’s hard to avoid with YouTube, Google Reader, Google Docs, Google + etc.  I think those that already use Gmail are less likely to be upset since they’ve essentially waived off their privacy years ago.  In the article regarding Consumer Watchdog’s vehement dislike of Google, Jamie Court (from Consumer Watchdog) believes that the public has a growing distrust of Google so it will be interesting to see how this continues to pan out.

Going back to the article that begs the question, “Does Google Make Us Stupid?” From what I’ve gathered, it depends what your definition of what ‘stupid’ is.  When Nicholas Carr made the seemingly inflammable statement that Google does make us stupid, the overwhelming majority said no according to the chart inserted in the article.  81% of the experts polled were in disagreement with Carr’s statement.  After reading the list of quotes compiled below, however, many of them agree with similar points that Carr makes.

One quote of Carr’s that resonated with me was, “What the Net does is shift the emphasis of our intelligence, away from what might be called a meditative or contemplative intelligence and more toward what might be called a utilitarian intelligence. The price of zipping among lots of bits of information is a loss of depth in our thinking.”  I remember reading an article a month or two ago about how many writers favored using their iPads in lieu of a laptop to do their work.  This was because the laptop was severely distracting and it was difficult to get into the “zone” when it was so easy to look up a billion things.  The simplicity of the iPad worked in their favor since they could only be in one app at a time and forced writers to focus only on the writing.  This in some ways reinforces Carr’s point. There is something to say for sitting down with a tangible book and really mull over one’s thoughts or be forced to do one task at a time.  Would I go so far as to say we are becoming less intelligent because of a resource that diminishes this particular skill set? No, but I can see where he’s coming from.  Research has continued to show that the Internet and technology are changing the ways our brains work.  It is true that we have become better at analyzing data efficiently, but do not use the skill of actively seeking out information as much.  I agree with David Ellis’ quote,  ”Google isn’t making us stupid — but it is making many of us intellectually lazy”.

Even so, we cannot deny the power of Google.  Hal Varian stated, “The smartest person in the world could well be behind a plow in China or India. Providing universal access to information will allow such people to realize their full potential, providing benefits to the entire world.”  The efficiency of Google cannot be denied and I, for one, am quite happy to never need to pick up a dictionary again (except for maybe novelty purposes).  I will, however, make more of an effort to take time to sit outdoors and contemplate computer-free.

I have rejoined Twitter since then (right before this class started) due to the easy access to view a variety of news headlines of my choosing.  It is effective, quick and I no longer feel like I am out of the Twitter loop.  This class has actually enlightened me on why I feel awkward creating tweets.  The fact that it is an asymmetrical platform where many people with whom I have no connect with can follow me.  I can see why this would be very effective to reach a mass audience, but I still feel as though what I have to say is nothing of relevance or worth sharing to strangers.  I would say I appreciate Twitter for what it can offer after taking this class.

I am quite happy being purely a consumer on this one!

b) Timeline:

Week of Feb. 13th: 1) Find an appropriate theme that suits my design sensibility for ellisworks. 2) Compile and upload all my videos to YouTube

Week of Feb. 20th: 1) Write down and create a skeleton for how I want my information to be displayed for each page and what content to include. 2) Create the main page- include a welcome piece and what the site is about as well as have a section for recent updates/news.

Week of Feb 27th: 1) Create my bio page that gives an introduction to who I am and a brief description of my work history/background. 2) Create my reel/work page and especially spending time in how to display these videos without looking overwhelming, but engaging to the viewer.

Week of March 5th: 1) Create a resume page that has a link where people can download a PDF version besides seeing my resume on this page. 2) Create a contact page where people know where they can reach me easily.  The goal for this is to make the page encouraging for viewers to respond.

Week of March 12th: 1) Review my overall site to make sure it is up to my liking. 2) Ask people to give me feedback on the site before I finalize it. 3) Before March 14th, create my promotion blog post and post the finalized site. 4) Complete my essay and turn it in.

c) Measures for Success:  My measures for success and what it will take for me to feel like the project has been a success relies on positive feedback from viewers either verbally, comment posts, or via emails. This is key since I am trying to attract potential clients or have companies see my work so I want the perspective of third party people.  I will feel like I succeeded if:

1) Viewers were able to navigate through my site without instruction

2) They can gather what type of style/artist I am

3) The site was comprehensive and feels complete, but not overwhelming

I like how simple Daniel’s portfolio site is.  He has almost the same number of pages (labeled the same too) as me sans one where he mentioned he was an extra on the popular television show, Dawson’s creek.  His site is very easy to navigate with all the pages on the left.  His page has very little type so straight to the point.  I would like to take away from this website and interpret in my own, the sense of simple design.  I would make it a little less bare bones, though.

EXAMPLE 2: Ron’s Site

Where Daniel’s portfolio is bright/light in color, this one (Ron’s) is the polar opposite.  His homepage includes his bio, twitter feed, resume, and contact info.  His pages are then broken up by type of work: photo, video, design, and extra.   The extra and design page seem a little broad and redundant.  I do like how under the videos he has posted, he states who the client was, the agency, and what the tv spot was called. I think his homepage, while simple, contains too much information off the bat, but I understand his idea of placing all the data upfront to spend more time on his work.

EXAMPLE 3: Kyle’s Site

While Kyle’s portfolio site personally does not appeal to me design and appearance-wise, but I like the thought he put into displaying his information and text.  For example, he has the page category links at the top of the page and at the bottom so  if the user scrolls down, they can access the links easily.  His home page has a welcome blurb, recent works, and news and updates.  I think I will try to integrate the news and updates into mine.  He has a resume page, but also discusses resume on the home page and about page, which I think is unnecessary to have so many links to a clearly marked page category.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compressor_(software)

Sentence: 

With the release of Final Cut X and Motion 5, Compressor was upgraded to version 4 and is available to purchase separately on the Mac App Store for $49.99.

Source:

URL: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4733

Title: How to purchase Final Cut Pro X, Motion 5, Compressor

Publisher & Most Recent Publication Date: Apple, Inc., 06/23/2011

Access Date: 01/29/2012

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