Adbuster: The iThink

Shawna P.

Culture Jammer

Adobe Photoshop Elements 7

October 25, 2012

Technical

While doing this assignment I discovered how to use the background eraser tool, which proved to be very useful. I used it to erase the background of the brain in the bottom. I altered the brain drawing to fit around the Apple logo (the ‘iThink chip’) by using the eraser and paintbrush tools. I used brushes to make the zombie and the white eyes, and I also used the lasso tool to adjust what the zombie looked like (I put his arm out to the side).

Idea/Concept

Originally I had wanted to make fun of the iPad by calling it something like the iSad and saying how people threw away their money on iPads when they should be donating to charities etc instead. However, this idea was not working out for me, as I couldn’t find a print ad to make fun of (Apple does most of its ads on TV through video commercials). Instead, I decided to make fun of the silhouette iPod advertisements that they have (examples above). In these ads, there is the silhouette of a person with only the headphones and iPod showing up over them. It has minimal text, and the text claims that this iPod is a “digital music revolution”. I twisted those words on my ad, claiming that the iThink was the “world’s most portable technology” (a revolution of its own J). I wanted to make fun of the fact that we are now letting our technology think for us. Whereas previously we used to ask people for directions and read maps, now we have Google Maps and GPS devices to show us where to go. You don’t have to go into a store to buy things: there’s an app for that. It’s getting ridiculous, so I wanted to explore that thought in this culture jammer. And whenever you think of ‘mindless’, zombies usually come to mind, so that’s why there is the silhouette of a zombie as the silhouette. He has a ‘brain chip’ in his head that thinks for him, and as a result has become a zombie.

Influences

I suppose that Apple themselves influenced me with this artwork. I used their ads as a foundation for my own idea. My ad was modeled directly after theirs. I also really like the ads for the “iPoo” toilet, which made me laugh when I first found them, so I knew I wanted to make fun of Apple somehow. The ads for the iPoo toilet also influenced me.

Composition

I balanced this ad asymmetrically. The first thing you notice is the apple logo chip that is on the man’s brain and his creepy eyes. Next the silhouette leads your eye down to the text at the bottom, where you see the brain and the sentence describing the products. Finally, you see the apple logo in the corner with the word ‘iThink’. This explains the product more with a small sentence below the logo.

I wanted the silhouette with the chip to be the main focus of this ad because it would make the viewer curious as to why there was this creepy-looking person with an apple logo on their head. The silhouette conveniently draws the eye downwards so you can see the explanation which further explains the product. The words on the top right balance out the composition, as otherwise the silhouette would put too much emphasis on the left side of the picture.

Motivation

I do like Apple products, but I there are three things I dislike: the ridiculous prices, iPads (what is the point?), and that they don’t support Flash. However, in this ad, I wanted to explore the idea that electronic devices are taking over our lives. I mean, if all the electricity went out in the world for a week, even for just a day, we would have a seriously difficult time coping. We depend too much on our electronic devices now, for everything from shopping to work to driving and staying in contact with friends. Some of these things are very beneficial (i.e. contact over long distances) but can also lead to things like cyber bullying and loss of skills we used to have (like being able to read maps).

Critical Assessment

I am most proud of how much it resembles the actual Apple ads for iPods. At first glance, it might seem like one of those ads, but the zombie silhouette makes you look closer and see what’s really wrong with it. I was also really happy with how well I cut the background out of the brain picture, since I had never used that tool before and found it to work very well.

I originally had a lot of text on my ad and cut it down significantly so it wouldn’t be so overwhelming. I was surprised at how much this improved the appearance and wow factor of the ad.

I would have liked to find a better zombie silhouette, preferably one in the classic sideways ‘zombie’ pose so that it would be more recognizable. Unfortunately, it proved difficult to find the correct picture on the internet. With additional time I would have either spent more time searching for the correct picture or dressed up and took it myself.

Portfolio Mood Board

A brief mood board for my portfolio.

For my portfolio idea board:

·         Old Nintendo video games à specifically Mario

·         Old gaming systems à Game Boy colour

·         Pokémon à Battle arena view (could use menu options as ways to view portfolio)

·         Probably a black background with retro graphics, so mostly subdued colours and a Technicolor palette

·         Tetris background

·         Gaming controls

·         Very 8-bit colours with more pixilated looking fonts and graphics

·         Thumbs on gaming controls

·         I want it to play like the regular video games but on your computer instead and with your mouse. You could probably click on the buttons on the screen to make different things happen

·         Very 2D-looking

·         Vintage video game transitions – wipes, flashing and pixilation,

Of course, if I can’t use Mario and Pokémon, I can still go for the old vintage video game effect, but I’d have to do it my own way. I could just have motifs from each of them, like coins or mushrooms or the little Pokémon dude, or I could come up with a 2D 8-bit character and have them collect things and battle with insects and spider or something. It would look like Pokémon and Mario but have my own graphics etc.

Conceptual Portfolios

http://www.arihirvonen.com/

Ari's Labs is a conceptual portfolio because of its use of animation and interaction. The user can spin 'Ari' around and hover over the different parts of his body to learn different facts about him. There are little movie clips in the background and animated menus.

http://theoleg.com/

The Oleg is a conceptual portfolio because it requires the user to search around and have a bit of fun while learning about the artist and their work. To find out facts about the artist, the user must navigate around an interactive drawing and hover over items they think might be hiding a secret. Even as you are viewing the artwork the backgrounds are animated and include at least one element that you can interact with and that does something when you hover your mouse over it.

http://www.liliaplanet.com/

Lilia Planet is a conceptual portfolio because of the unique menus it has. They are in the form of doodled drawings that move around on a little planet. The planet can be rotated to see more of her work. If you want to learn about the artist, you must click on the running girl. Although it has a simple colour scheme, the animation and interactivity make it a conceptual portfolio.

http://www.christiansparrow.com/

Christian Sparrow's portfolio is conceptual because of its colourful backgrounds and theme. It is birds and seaside themed with a very home-made, cut-out feel to them. All of the animated drawings in the background etc. appear to be hand drawn and it almost looks like you are watching a 2D puppet show. The portfolio makes use of animations in the background and to show off the artwork.

http://www.cathybeck.com/

Cathy Beck's portfolio is conceptual because of the uniquely animated way it links all of her menus together. The portfolio starts out with a very simple opening screen and menu, but as soon as you begin to click on the options it grows into this very large tree that you can view zoomed-out at any time by clicking the bug in the corner. There is a lot of animation involved to animate the tree branches and the different items that show up on the branches after you click through each section. The colours and unique way of presenting her work makes it conceptual.

Homework #4: Professional Portfolios

32 Round:

http://cargocollective.com/32round

This portfolio is professional because everything was laid out in defined categories. It had a unique interface, as it appears to be completely in black and white, but the art becomes coloured when you roll over it. It is a unique way to make what you are looking at stand out. The menu is easy to read and the artist’s company is easy to find.

Formatura:

http://www.formatura.org/

This portfolio is professional because it is very easy to navigate and the focus is primarily on the photography. There is no background picture or clutter anywhere to distract from the work. The buttons at the top are easily read and clear as to what they will take you to.

Tali Kimelman:

http://www.talikimelman.com/en/

This portfolio is professional because of the ease with which you can peruse it. The categories were well labelled and allowed you to look at her work quickly and easily. When looking at multiple pictures, the work was spaced far enough apart so that you could see each one without it cluttering up the other pictures. The text was easily readable and there was even a translation button at the bottom to translate it into Spanish. The artist’s name was always visible.

Fiero Animals:

http://fieroanimals.com/

This portfolio is professional because as soon as you enter it you immediately see the artwork. You can’t miss it, and it captures your attention and makes you want to look at more. The menu was easy to find and had a nice drop-down effect with clearly defined categories in easy-to-read print. The art was easy to find and look at.

Kim Holtermand:

http://www.holtermand.dk/2258/work

This portfolio is professional because it is very minimalist and draws your attention to the photography. The menu always stays in the same spot along with the artist’s name, so it is always clearly visible. All of her work is clearly laid out in categories that are easy to peruse and load very quickly. The fonts and writing is very easily read.

High and Low Key Photography

Low-key edit number one

High key portrait number one

Low key edit number two

High key edit number two

AdBuster Precreation

Ad #1:

1.       This ad represents McDonald’s.

2.       The fast food at McDonald’s is being advertised.

3.       This adbuster shows the signature “M” of McDonald’s used as the ‘e’ in the text and uses the company’s colours. It is a form of mockery because of what the text says, which is “Eat fast, die young”.

4.       It is saying that if you eat McDonald’s fast food, you are likely to die young because of the awful things contained in their food.

5.       The target audience is younger people who eat fast food such as McDonald’s.

6.       Yes, this adbuster conveys a clear and successful message.

7.       I think that this ad could be improved by providing a more clear connection to McDonald’s, as right now the only connection is through the colours and the stylized ‘M’. Perhaps some sort of superimposed transparent Ronald McDonald figure would make the connection more clear.

Ad #2:

1.    This advertisement is representing a perfume/cologne company.

2.    It is advertising cologne.

3.    There is a picture of a man who is obsessing over his looks.

4.    The word “obsession” is shown at the top, implying that it is the name of the cologne. It is saying that our society puts too much emphasis on looks and people are obsessing over it.

5.    The target audience of this advertisement is men.

6.    The ad jam does convey a clear and successful message.

7.    The ad jam could maybe be improved by more clearly defining that they are advertising a perfume, as currently it is more of a guess.

Ad #3:

1.    This ad represents Nike.

2.    It is advertising for shoes.

3.    This ad has a picture of a girl who is running barefoot. She is holding on to a bundle, perhaps her belongings.

4.    This ad is more descriptive than the rest and talks about the awful conditions that the workers who make Nike shoes go through.

5.    The target audience is people who purchase Nike shoes.

6.    Yes, the ad jam conveys a clear and successful message.

7.    I think that this ad jam could be improved by shortening the description/words slightly, since some people might not bother to read all of the text and the ad would be passed over and ignored.

Ad #4:

1.    This ad represents milk companies.

2.    Milk is being advertised

3.    This ad has a photo of a malnourished boy holding a bowl. He clearly needs food.

4.    The text says “Got Milk?” and also comments on the hunger in the world and also the excess of food in some parts of the world. It is making the viewers question how much food they have and how much they waste.

5.    The target audience is people in first-world countries who have an excess of food.

6.    I think that this ad jam could be improved by somehow showing the excess of food that some people have as compared to the malnourished people in the world.

3D Post-Apocalypse: Garbage

Version 2 of my Post-Apocalyptic world

Shawna

3D Apocalypse Assignment

Photoshop, ChromaDepth glasses

October 9, 2012

Technical

To make this edit, I used a lot of brushes, some pictures from the internet, filters, gradients, and blending. I changed the colours of all of the pictures I used with the hue-saturation sliders and also with the “colour variations” tool. I used a feathered eraser to “cut out” the garbage piles from a photo on the internet. I used a variety of brushes for the background and to distress the buildings and garbage piles slightly. I used even more brushes to add on the bugs to the garbage piles and the pollution coming from the bulldozer. Sometimes I used gradients to make things gradually stand out, such as on the pollution and the ground the bulldozer is on.

Idea of Concept

I decided to go with a sort of Wall-E themed world where garbage was everywhere and it was accumulating all over the world in massive piles. I wanted to show the massive amounts of pollution and toxic gas that was released because of it and the lack of vegetation because of all the contamination.

Originally I had an idea that perhaps the world would end up being some sort of floating island because our pollution would become so dense, but eventually I scrapped that idea and started new with the garbage one. I changed it because the pictures were not turning out how I wanted them to and were generally not suitable for a 3D picture.

Influences

Wall-E partially inspired me with this project. I watched that movie a few years ago and found it fascinating how they imagined the earth could end up. In Wall-E, they show that there is garbage everywhere and that it completely took over the world. The humans had to go out to outer space because there was no longer any room for them on earth with the garbage and they created robots to package up the garbage to reduce the space it took up. All of the plants had died because of the pollution, and when a plant was finally found, it was treasured and took as a sign that they could come back to earth. This inspired my art because I, too, wanted to show the ultimate effect of pollution and how scarce plants could be if we continued to contaminate Earth.

Composition

I went more asymmetrically for this edit. The buildings are concentrated more so on the left and the garbage is largest on the right.

I made the bulldozer and the garbage it is pushing the focus of this piece. You can see the pollution that is in the air and effect it has on the plants because there is a significant lack of greenery. The plant in the garbage on the left is small and not very noticeable. This is because I wanted it to be hard to see since I wanted to emphasize that most plants had died from the pollution.

I wanted the garbage to be present on every level so that it appeared to be everywhere. To do this I have one pile of garbage in dark blue at the back, another one closer up in turquoise, and one at the front in red.

Motivation

I wanted this picture to show people the effect that people can have on the earth if we don’t change our ways. I wanted to bring to their attention the amounts of garbage we put out into landfills and how it can accumulate if we continue to do that. I hope that this picture encourages people to recycle and to reduce their waste.

Critical Assessment

I feel that the bulldozer turned out the most successful because the pollution coming from it turned out nice with the gradient that I used. It is clearly behind the red garbage pile but in front of the other two piles and the buildings. The filters I added to it turned out better than I expected. I also think that the garbage piles turned out well because you can see the different levels within them and the different levels when you compare each pile to each other.

I was surprised at how much better things looked when you added filters and textures to them. They popped from the page more and became more 3D.

I would have liked to find something to put in front of the second building (the one closer to the middle) because I still find that area somewhat blank. Preferably I’d be able to put garbage falling from the windows or something similar if I had more time. This would fill up the space a bit more and you would be able to see the extent that the waste and garbage had gotten to.

3D Post-Apocalypse Brainstorm

I think that the world could end because humans have created so much garbage that it filled the streets and took up so much space that we could not grow plants anymore. Pollution would be everywhere like a dark smog hanging over everything and bugs would thrive. People would start to throw garbage out their windows and front doors because they wouldn’t be allowed any more space in dumpsters. We would have huge bulldozers and machines to try to compact the garbage as much as possible. I expect people would have to wear some sort of breathing tank like scuba divers because the air has become so polluted.

I want to show the amounts of garbage everywhere and the pollution that it gives off. Recycling is so much better and perhaps this artwork would encourage people to recycle. I hope to show people the extent that things can escalate to so that we change our ways sooner before it becomes too late.

Ten things that would survive the disaster:

1.       Cars – most people wouldn’t bother using them, however, because the amount of garbage in the streets would be so overwhelming that it would just be faster to walk.

2.       Houses and buildings – the buildings would be very tall to minimize space and you might even be able to see garbage falling out of the windows

3.       Bulldozers and heavy machinery – they would need to be there to clean up the garbage

4.       Insects and bugs – they could thrive because of the decomposition and decay everywhere

5.       Resilient weeds and plants – things like mould and fungus would be able to grow

6.       Schools – they, too, would be built very tall instead of wide

7.       Technology and electricity – I expect we would become more dependent on it as time went on and have invented many new electrical devices by the time this apocalypse took place

8.       Airplanes – this would become the preferred method of travel since you could fly over the mounds of garbage

9.       Humans – obviously we would be the ones making all the garbage, so we would be around to make even more of it

10.   Birds – they would adapt and make nests with small pieces of garbage. They would be able to eat lots of bugs.

They symbol of hope in my picture will be a small plant poking out of a mound of garbage. This proves that even though things have gotten really bad, earth still has the capacity to sustain life and can heal itself if we stopped creating so many problems for it and were more environmentally conscious.