Pros and Cons of Social Media

The internet plays a large part in everyday life. It connects us with people all over the world, allows us to communicate with them and provides us with a vast amount of information. Emailing is no longer the better way to contact people as websites such as Facebook and Twitter provide us with the ability to do so in a much more appealing way, which in all attracts people to use the site for said purpose. Social networking brings people with common interests together, however social networking sites of general interest are expanding to more specific sites which benefit society. The internet is also a great way of advertising and getting a brand out there. Blogging is also a common way to express opinions in a non-violent way, forums side with this as people can input their ideas and judgement. 

Despite the obvious pros of SN, there are always the negative aspects to consider. Such as cyberbullying and hurtful gossip and rumours. Facebook is the most likely website to accommodate for such abuse but others are out there. There is also the slightly disturbing fact that social networking sites today have no way of verifying that people are who they claim to be leaving people vulnerable to solicitations from online predators who are able to mask their true identity. Leaving a profile open to the public rather than it being private for known friends means information about you can be seen by anyone leading to possible spread of unreliable and false info. Blogs can also lead to disrespect and defaming of people. It has been proven that continuous users of Social Network sites have lower grades than those who don't or limit their time, and are known to entice people to waste time, stress levels in cases also rise due to relationship problems online. Face-to-Face interaction time is decreased as people prefer to socialise online, putting them at risk of exacerbating feelings of disconnection especially with youths, which could put them at higher risk of depression, low self esteem and eating disorders.

I have experimented more on Dreamweaver. This time learning how to insert a Spry Menu and a Spry Accordion. 

Creating a spry was pretty simple. The Accordion was a little more complex and required more time, but both were successful. At the time, i'm sure i had a screenshot of a finished Accordion but when i came to adding it here, the file couldn't be found... But nevertheless, both were tested.

Moonfruit

I sought out a few websites that i could build my own website on using a template... 

Wix and Moonfruit proved to be the easiest and so i put together a quick sample using Moonfruit of what i had in mind for my website.

Just started editing...

I edited pretty much everything on the template to my liking as the initial colour scheme didn't work very well with my theme. It was pink and the fonts used where boring. The background was custom so i changed that too as well as the blue text boxes.



Moonfruit is a trial only website, so to upgrade and continue after the 15 day trial period would cost money to run... but if i could, this is pretty much what my website would look like. I'd perhaps edit the navigation bar to direct to different pages rather than 'Contacts' and 'Services'... And actually add relevant text to each page.

deviantART Feedback

I posted my designs on the website deviantART in hopes of getting a bit of feedback on them. I received positive reception from followers of my work.

http://samoanvampcatt.deviantart.com/art/Design-Project-Sherlock-Tops-373301876

http://samoanvampcatt.deviantart.com/art/Design-Project-Sherlock-Tops-2-375254000

Dreamweaver Image Gallery

I followed the dreamweaver gallery tutorial again and this time managed to create a functioning Image Gallery using the primary images that i have already posted here on Blogger.

Home Page

I don't intend on making another gallery to show other designs. I will just update online with the images as i make each set. The process of putting what i did together was rather tedious and i got confused every now and again which complicated things. But i followed through and am pleased that i got it finished to a decent standard. 

More Designs

Some more Sherlock quote designs ^.^

I will do 4 more of these and then move onto a different fandom.

I am considering getting one or two of my designs printed onto a plain t-shirt and take photos, either this or i will mock up the designs digitally manipulating them onto photos instead.

Designs

Some more Sherlock inspired designs! :D

Fashion Sample

So i've decided to concentrate on just doing illustrations instead of photography as well...
What i want to do now... I'd probably categorize as fashion in the 21st century... However i will attempt to incorporate other decades into my art if i can, and also perhaps interpret iconic artists (Warhol?) art into the designs too in my own way.

Onto the actual designing, I drew up a base that i'm going to use to sport the designs i come up with

I had a look around the internet and noticed that quite a few fashion mannequins tend to be rather stretched... so i attempted to recreate that in my own base.

After noting the type of fashion that i've seen people wear around college lately, i've decided up until further notice that i'm going to design t-shirts and jewelry (and the occasional hoodie or so) related to the films/series' that i've chosen (Sherlock, Star Trek and Doctor Who being the main ones)

Here's a sample of the style that i will probably use to continue designing. These 4 are based off of Sherlock.... if you haven't seen the BBC series, i'm not sure these 4 phrases will mean much to you, but i rather like them and there will be more later that will hopefully make more sense even to people who aren't specifically fans.

I'll most likely stick to using the same kind of clothing base (like the ones above).

Most of the designs will be phrases and logos, nothing too fancy. All of the tops will be the same shape, and the hoodies will remain similar.

More Pinterest!

Another Pinterest board a bit more relevant to my chosen subject

http://pinterest.com/samoanvampcatt/sci-fi-fashion/

I will probably make another at some point regarding the fashion specifically from the films/series' i want to base my work on.

Good and Bad Website Design

GOOD

Website Address: http://www.deviantart.com

deviantART is the world largest online art community, sporting images from many different people worldwide and aspiring artists of varied skill. The first thing that meets your eye when you go onto the site is a range of the most popular images or whichever category is selected on the left hand side where the sites main navigation links are present. The main colour of deviantART is green, a colour that isn't too bold, or bright, but rather neutral and appealing to an audience. The target audience for the site is primarily artists of all kinds, the site is not specifically aimed at an age range. The navigation around the site is fairly simple to understand, and once you are a logged in member of the community you gain access to more specific buttons which enable you to view your own profile and statistics personal to you.

Website Address: http://pinterest.com

The layout of Pinterest is similar in a way to deviantART. When logged in, the 'home page' consists of what could be classed as a random assortment of images pinned to boards you create. You can't browse the sight unless logged in to an already existent account or are willing to sign up to access the sites features which makes it not as accessible as DA but just as rewarding when a member. The site overall is rather plain due to the images being the main subject, the blank background proves this as the user can leisurely stroll through the images they've pinned (To start off you choose specific topics to begin following pins of) and then progress to create your own boards of pretty much any subject of choice. The navigation around the site is simple. 

BAD

Website Address: http://arngren.net

I tend not to look at a website and judge it. If it has what i'm looking for i'd consider it a good enough website. But one thing i can't stand about websites is when nothing makes sense. The first time i found Arngren, my first thought was that i had absolutely no idea what the website was about... The layout was terribly crowded to say the least. Everything overlapped, the colours clashed, and overall it seems to me to be just a bundle of random words and images... I suppose it doesn't help that i can't understand it... But however bad the layout seems the navigation on the left is hard to ignore and is pretty straight forward.

Book Review - 100 Years of Fashion Illustration

100 Years Of Fashion Illustration
by Cally Blackman
Published in 2007 by Laurence King Publishing in association with Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design


The book consists of mainly illustrations and fashion photography of many different sources ranging from sketches to concept art to digital manipulations. Each page contains an illustration or two of a fashion era or style, accompanied by a description of the artists chosen method of creation, most times in the form of a reference to the media and techniques artists have used to create their art. Both traditional and digital works are present in the book which gives the overall impression of variety.


The book relates to my project simply because of the subject of Fashion and how the book flows through different styles, very much the same way i had to research. For my project i am intent on doing fashion design illustrations for my website which is what the book focuses on. I could perhaps find an artist in the book that might relate specifically to my project and perhaps look into basing some initial work on them or at least attempt to replicate an image in my own way.

Trends in college

I took some photos of some trends of friends in college which i hoped would spark a few ideas for my illustrations and fashion pics related to my chosen film/series...

I came to the conclusion that most people these days prefer to wear comfortable clothes in college as some of the most seen fashion items were: jeans, converse shoes, hoodies and jackets.... Most of them actually sporting t-shits with logo's and fan designs, which i will take into consideration when designing  my own trend set and putting together some outfits which in some aspects represent my theme and can be recognisable to fans of it too.

Trend Subject - SOI

I've decided to go with a futuristic theme for my subject but will base it towards sci-fi/mystery/fantasy films and TV Series'. I want to base my website mainly on trends that never quite took off, and possible trends that would work in the world today. I intend to take photos of trends that i can interpret and make-shift outfits based on specific sci-fi/mystery/fantasy films/series' of my choice and draw illustrations linked to this. The reason behind me choosing this is so people can appreciate the trends that could well be based off a film.

Most sci-fi/mystery/fantasy films go all out with settings and costumes... which in some aspects would make it hard for companies and such to manufacture and introduce new trends that people would wear. Fans of movies and specific characters like to wear clothes that symbolise them (for example Marvel and DC characters are popular icons on many shirts/bags/accessory items etc.) so i thought i'd like to have a go at creating a set of everyday trends that could pass as wearable fashion for people interested in films that are difficult to recreate in life. Some of the more likely possible films/series' i would consider would be: Doctor Who, Sherlock and Star Trek.

I would ask friends to model certain clothing styles that represent specific fandoms*, and take photos.

* - Fandom is a term used to refer to a subculture composed of fans characterised by a feeling of sympathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the object(s) of their fandom and spend significant portion of their time and energy involved with their interest, often as a part of a social network with particular practices (a fandom).

Art Movements

Over the years art in general has changed dramatically.





Beginning with modernism in the late 19th century which led to movements such as Post-Impressionism (1870 - 1880), Art Nouveau (1890 - 1910) and Symbolism (1750 - 1890), and then the first twentieth-century art movement of Fauvism.

Fauvism (1900 -1910) Introduced 'heightened non-representational colour into figurative painting.











Cubism (1900 - 1920) Introduced multiple perspectives into a two-dimensional image. The most well known cubist artists were Picasso, Braque, Metzinger and Gleizes... as well as others. 









Futurism (1910 - 1920) incorporated the depiction of movement and machine age imagery.









Dadaism (1916 - 1923), had artists rejecting art styles altogether by exhibiting found objects, notably a urinal.











Pop Art (1950 - Present Day) Began in the 50's but really took off in the 60's. A lot of themes from Pop Art are inspired by adverts and comic books.








Internet Art (1970 - Present Day) With technology improving everyday, computers and the internet has substantially changed what artists can accomplish. The art is digital and can even be interactive and goes against conventional ideas.

Fashion

Possible subject ideas:

> Street Fashion
> Shoes (Mainly illustrations, based off/inspired by Andy Warhol)
> 1970's Fashion (The Era that saw fashion becoming more adventurous -  Floral patterns, Bold colours - Bell Bottom Pants, Jumpsuits, Skirts)
> 1930' Fashion inspired by objects (Futuristic, as seen below)

I like designing fashion. I do quite a lot of it in my spare time. I make characters out of my designs and post them online.

For my project the most likely subject i'm going to concentrate on is Fashion itself. Although i'm not sure of which decade i'd like to explore more of.... I'll consider other options for a subject and hopefully come to a decision soon so i can start work directly linked to it.

Dreamweaver - Creating a Gallery

I've used Dreamweaver in the past to build a website and been pretty much successful, but having to use a much more updated version on macs, getting used to the basic layout, even following a tutorial on paper and through verbal instructions... I still got lost when it came to creating a gallery with primary images. I managed to follow most of what was said and did eventually manage to get back up to scratch and save what was covered in the tutorial to pick up next time.

Fashion Project - Street Fashion!

So to start off, i'd best begin with explaining how i intend to interpret the brief for this project. Throughout the 20th Century, things such as fashion, music and technology was constantly changing. Some aspects of one era continued on and others where dismissed. Today, many trends are being brought back into style and are considered popular among us especially in the fashion category.

I have a few Pinterest Boards with Illustrations of Fashion through the ages which really shows how fashion has changed from decade to decade until we get to where we are now and how we got here. http://pinterest.com/samoanvampcatt/fashion-through-the-ages/ and another of Street Fashion http://pinterest.com/samoanvampcatt/street-fashion/
The reason i'm mainly looking at Illustration than Photography is because i want to base my project on such, as photography isn't really my strong point. It will also be easier to recreate a Fashion product through an Illustration, but i will explore both medias so to attain a greater range of possible outcomes.