American Beauty?! - Week 2

This is a photograph that I found from the March/April 2009 issue of AdBusters that struck me as very interesting.  I didn't understand what the reference was at first because it was an overweight woman in an American flag bikini and automatically got hooked.  As you look into it more, it shows the woman is on top of all sorts of candies and sweets that I'm sure you and everyone else enjoys.  What was interesting is the photographer, Henrich Kimerling entitled the photograph "American Beauty" because when we think of beauty, we think of probably a athletic or a thinner person that's built very nicely and always looks pretty.  This just takes the stereotype of beauty and not only flips it, but Henrich calls it like it is.  Why I say this is because in today's society, we're mostly obese and eat all of these sweets and care about what we buy (because of the designer Chanel high-heels and sunglasses), along with showing how other countries view our country and culture in general.  I just hope that we can change some of these things before it's too late.  But beauty isn't just about the outside, but what's inside is much more beautiful.

Let the Inspiration Fly! Week 1

This is an advertisement that I found in the Communication Arts Design Annual 43, November 2002 issue.  The first thing I thought when I saw this in the magazine was, "why is there a silhouette of a chicken in the middle of the page?"  After I took a few seconds to look at it, I realized there were three eggs in the chicken.  The top egg contained what the company was for, Portfolio Center; the second egg containing information in regards to what the company is about; and the third is what I believe to bring the idea together.  The idea came from a review saying they were "Grade 'A'", just like eggs are supposed to be.  ~_^

What is so inspirational is how they could take a review such as "Grade 'A'" and take it to the next level using a simple silhouette of a chicken and a few eggs to emphasize the main points in the advertisement.  I want my eggs scrambled with onions please!  =]

Week 14 Sketch

I was sitting in my chair watching TV next to my lamp, when at the time I thought it was a wasp and it kept flying around the lamp over and over and OOOVVER again! So, that was the inspiration for the little bug flying around the lamp. As for the piece of paper and pencil, I don't know what's written on there, but it might have to do with how annoying that wasp was. ~_^

P.S. I later found out from my brother it was a parasitic wasp that doesn't hurt anyone. =P

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (Book Covers Edition)

(http://www.skrishnasbooks.com/2009/03/hopeless-romantic-harriet-evans.html)

I found this book cover very appealing because not only does it pop out with the color choices, it shows "a hopeless romantic". With the girl going on top of the fountain, dancing around with an umbrella tops puts the icing on a cake to how it feels to be lucky in love and uses the pink to distinguish the umbrella and the author's name, which is very nice. Also, I love that the leaves on the trees are heart-shaped and shows a magical theme.


(http://jacketsandcovers.wordpress.com/2009/05/18/uglies/)

Actually, I had bought this book just because of the cover back when I was a sophomore in high school and absolutely loved the book. Though the title and author text are very simple, it doesn't need anymore than this because of the picture and how it brings an element of mystery. From how they had the person peeking out behind the bushes, having only half of the person showing, and the element of sadness that this brings made me go Wow!


(http://www.nevadaappellatelaw.com/articles/when-lawyers-write/)

Alright, so I feel in love with it's simple idea (especially the title). It takes the key points that you would look on a naked boy doll and "censors" it out with the title that is very clever. It also points out the "anatomy" of the boyfriend, including the next (a.k.a. "the hickey zone"). Using so little colors, simplicity, and the dots to distinguish the title and author makes for one great book cover that I'll remember.

(http://sfscope.com/2009/09/books-received-september-2009.html)

Oh my! Oh dear! This is the book cover that I will be redoing, but it seems to be very... corny. The text first seems to be going in completely different directions, uses a combination of many different fonts, styles, and actions to create a creepy effect. Secondly, the background is very distracting with it's different combination of pictures and colors. Lastly, though it's completely "awesome", I love how the bunny and the raccoon are so monstrous. It's completely bad, but so bad it's awesome.

Research For Project 4

The book that I’m going to be redoing is Zombie Raccoons and Killer Rabbits by Martin H. Greenberg and Kerrie Hughes. The book (of analogies) is basically fifteen short stories of animals that range from being happy to horrifying animals that you never want to meet in your lifetime. There wasn’t much more information to gather about the book since it was all about different animals and it’s not a very well-known book. The source about the book I got was from a guy’s picture of the back of the book (below).

(http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Zombie-Raccoons-&-Killer-Bunnies-Short-Stories-Pbk--NEW_W0QQitemZ370269229747QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxq20091022?IMSfp=TL091022119001r37421)

Kerrie Hughes is an author/editor that has written only with Martin H. Greenberg only with different analogies. Martin H. Greenberg taught at the University of Wisconsin in Political Science and wrote Political Science Fiction in 1974 for a teaching guide, and since has been writing science fiction anthologies with other authors, including Alexander Potter (Sirius: The Dog Star in 1994). He even edited The Future Adventures of the Joker in 1990. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_H._Greenberg)

When I was looking into the different science fiction and anthology book covers, mostly they have aliens, space ships, or anything that has to do with outer space on them. But, with anthologies it seems that there is no theme but to try and attract the user with it's interesting book cover to try and get them to buy the book. I took a few examples from one science fiction book and an anthology and science fiction anthology.



Sources (from left to right):

1. http://fiftybooksproject.blogspot.com/2007/04/fahrenheit-451-by-ray-bradbury.html
2. http://hwadarkwhispers.wordpress.com/2008/10/
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirius:_The_Dog_Star
   

Week 13 Sketch

With this sketch, I was eating donut holes this morning and always thought about those pictures that they drew with the big, scary fish eating the small, innocent fish. So of course I had to incorporate that into the donut holes! =]

Week 12 Sketch

I was sitting at Parkland and I noticed one of those big fountain drinks that you get at a gas station and just decided, "Why not?" And I drew this, adding the effect where if someone gets over the capacity of the cup, the drink decides to magically make a mess and spill all over the place and out of the straw. Have you ever had that happen to you? It sure has to me!