What is Graphic Design for?

I stumbled on these kinetic type pieceson Behance by an American student called Jacob Gilbreath which work for me on two levels firstly for their entertainment value but secondly they are simple and clever.

Kinetic Typography. Turquoise from Jacob Gilbreath on Vimeo.

Conan O'Brien Kinetic Typography from Jacob Gilbreath on Vimeo.

This attracted me because I like Sia (the musician) and also the Kinetic type again . Steve bussy talks about how he achieved this:
'I did this movie in my summer vacation over roughly a month. I layout all the type in Illustrator and animated the kinetics in Flash CS4. After that the Wiggle and the vignette was done in After Effects. Some of the illustrations like the shoe, did I do myself while others where found on the internet. '

Kinetic Typography movie – Sia Academia from Steven Bussey on Vimeo.

To be continued....

What is a line?

These are the books I have researched for idea development for What is a line. 

I chose this because the layering of several line drawings is interesting.  It could be an interesting way to create the illusion of a series of actions

I like the simplicity and perspective of this drawing

I like the movement of the hands which looks like it has been created by not taking the pen off the paper.

                                               

The merging and layering of several faces is a technique I want to try with my line drawing.  I also like the spontaneity this illustrator has achieved.

I like the simplicity of these outlines drawings which have been layered together to great effect.

This is an interesting article which gives you the steps this illustrator went through (hand drawn. traced and digitals) to achieve this illustration. 

I am attracted to the idea of doing line drawings over other images .   I also like the effect of pen and ink, ink blots etc. I had thought about line drawing over some old music sheets.

Gary Hume's work came to mind as soon as Amber introduced the brief, especially as he manages to create such movement with his layering technique.  These are my favourites:

Creative writing - Still Alice book review

Review of Still Alice by Lisa Genova

I knew this book would pull at my emotions due to the story being about a 50 year old professional woman.  Alice is a Harvard Lecturer who starts forgetting things.  She completely forgot to go to fly to a College lecture she was doing which prompted her to visit her Doctor.  She was eventually diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease and apart from taking part in clinical trials there is very little can be done to reduce the symptoms or stem the steady decline.  Alice being an extremely intelligent woman even put a message to herself via her Blackberry.  She asked herself to be able to answer five basic questions such as her daughter’s birthday.  If she was unable to she had given Alice a way out on her computer with instruction to commit suicide.  Sadly she put a Blackberry in the freezer one day by accident and even when she stumbled upon the instructions she was unable to perform them because she had forgotten them by the time she had found the pills.

Alice is very believable as she talks about how she is feeling and it explores the impact her illness has on her family.  Sadly she also finds out she has passed the gene responsible for the disease onto one of her daughters.   Still Alice may sound very sad but it fact is very inspiring as it explores one woman’s strength and dignity. A Heart wrenching line scene in the book is when Alice has really declined and in a moment of lucidity she says to her husband” I miss myself” I miss you too, Ali, so much.” “I never planned to get like this.”

It has provided me with some ideas to use in my story even though mine is based on a much older character.  Even when Alice can’t recognise her family she still recognises emotions and love.  She understands she is loved and  cared for. 

Creative writing - Character development

I have researched the names so they are appropriate for the generation on this website

This story is set in present day however my main character is Mary who at the age of 77 is suffering from dementia.  She was born  1 May 1933. Her younger sister was called Betty and her husband was called Frank.  Sadly Frank passed away one year ago before the dementia set in.  Her younger sister Betty died in a car accident aged only 20 in 1955.  Mary has one daughter born in 1955 called June. June is married to Michael and they have two sons, Robert and Ben.  Mary is very close to her granddaughter Mille who is nine years as she picks her up after school two days and also has her during the school holidays.

Mary and Michael live in a beautiful Edwardian House on the edge of the village where Mary grew up.  The house has large gardens backing onto a wooded glen with a stream running through.  Mary and her sister Betty also grew up in this area.  Mary has been staying with June and Michael since before Christmas since the dementia was getting worse.  The day is 1 May.  The story will be told in two parts.  Firstly, through the eyes of Mary, a young girl running through the woods.  This will describe the day, the woods and will appear to be about a young girl.  The second part of the story will be through the eyes of June who has been frantically searching for Mary for the last two hours.  It is a Sunday morning so Millie is helping her Grandma.   The reader at this point will realise that the young Mary is actually the older Mary…..

Creative writing - further research

The setting for my story will be a woodland glade, in Yorkshire, in April/May when the Bluebells are out and the birds are nesting.  I found some pictures to inspire me.

Article in Sunday times about woodland walks and bluebells

 oak, rowan, birch, beech and sycamore

Judy Woods is near Brighouse in West \Yokshire.  I may include birds and animals in my story so have also researched this.

Birds:

Judy Woods is home to a wide variety of birds, some of which can be seen all year round, others as Summer or Winter visitors. The woods provide nesting sites for birds and food in the form of insects and seed. Many of the birds at Judy Woods require holes in trees to nest in, the most obvious being the woodpeckers including the Green and Greater Spotted Woodpeckers. Other birds also rely on these tree holes to nest in including Stock doves, Jackdaw, Nuthatch, and Tawny owl. Even the more familiar birds such as Blue tit, Great tit and Starling make nests inside tree holes. All these birds are present year round at Judy Woods.

In the Springtime migrant birds from Africa arrive at the woods to breed and leave before the Winter sets in, these include three warbler species; Chiffchaff, Willow warbler and Blackcap. In recent times winters have been so mild that many Blackcaps have remained in this country rather than migrate back to Africa. As Winter sets in another group of migrant birds make Judy Woods their home to escape harsh winters further north in Scandinavia and continental Europe. The Redwing and Fieldfare, both members of the Thrush family, feed on berries at the edge of the woods and in the fields surrounding them.

Tawny owls are not easy to see at night but by day a roosting one can often be discovered in a suitable evergreen tree in spring when there is less leaf cover elsewhere, roosting close to the trunk or in ivy.

Chaffinch singing
Its cascading song is one of the hallmarks of the spring and summer, often dominating the soundscape in many places especially in both broad-leafed and pine woodlands.

The most frequently heard song - which seems to be used for both territorial defence and mate attraction, it is a fairly short phrase both accelerating and descending, it is in 3 parts - starting with a clear "chip-chip-chip" call, then getting faster and descending to a lower level, then a little trill finishing off with a flourish at the end.

Mallard duck and ducklings

Fungi:

Judy Woods has many different varieties of fungi. There is an annual Mushroom Walk (please see 'Events' page), where you can learn all about the different mushrooms that grow in woods.

Orange tip butterfly

Spring butterfly seen from April to June. The male has orange wing tips, the female (pictured) has no orange colour and are mostly white on the uppersides. Both have mottled green on the undersides of the wings. They live for about 18 days.

Wood mouse

Bistort Perennial flower growing to 60cm tall. The pink flower is borne on an unbranched stem

Bracken

Bush vetch

Colts foot (yellow like dandelions)

Cow parsley (white like lace)

Forgetmenots

Hawthorn blossoms (white0

Ladybird

Carpeted blue

Creative writing - Research for short story

I have an idea for the short story.  Garry recommended to write about something which either moves us or makes us feel angry.  My Granny died aged 82 in 1997 and towards the end of her life she suffered from dementia.  I have always wondered about how she really felt.  At the time it was devastating for us, especially my dad, her son.  She didn't recognise us and several times she regressed back into the past totally unaware of who we were.  She also suffered several paranoid episodes which may have been due to the medication she was taking - who knows?
I have just read a Stepahnie Meyers book ' The Hosts'.  The main character Melanie or Wanderer is a human with an alien soul in her body.  A weird concept however Meyer manages to create believability and empathy with her situation.  The alien soul and Melanie's soul are in conflict initially but do come to respect each other.  This actually lead me to think of the duel soul a person with dementia takes on as they begin living in the past.  I like to think that my Granny was not too distressed by her situation but conversly was set free with her precious happy memories from her childhood and youth.  So with this in mind I intend to write a story which appears to be about a young girl but which is actuallly about an elderly women in the later stages of dementiia.

To do this story the justice it deserves, I am carrying out research to expand my understanding of dementia.  I have also purchased a story called Still Alice written by Lisa Genova.  There are serval online reviews from people with ealry dementia who say it si an accuaret represneation of how they feel.

The Alzheimers Society has a wealth of information below thw main points:

The progression of dementia

Each person experiences dementia in their own way, but it can be helpful to think of the way it progresses as a series of stages. This factsheet outlines the characteristics of early-, middle- and late-stage Alzheimer's disease, and briefly looks at how other forms of dementia progress.

Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive illness. This means that the structure and chemistry of the brain become increasingly damaged over time. The person's ability to remember, understand, communicate and reason will gradually decline. Looking at Alzheimer's disease as a series of three stages can be a useful way of understanding the changes that occur over time. But it is important to realise that this view of Alzheimer's can only provide a rough guide to the course of the disease. This is because:

• Some symptoms may appear earlier or later than indicated here, or not at all.
• The stages may overlap - the person may need help with one task, but may be able to manage another activity on their own.
• Some symptoms, such as walking about, may appear at one stage and then vanish, while others such as memory loss will worsen over time.

The way that a person experiences Alzheimer's disease will depend on many factors, including their physical make-up, their emotional resilience and what support they can rely on.

Early stage

Alzheimer's disease usually begins gradually with very minor changes in the person's abilities or behaviour. At the time, such signs are often mistakenly attributed to stress or bereavement or, in older people, to the normal process of ageing. It is often only when looking back that we realise that these signs were probably the beginnings of the dementia.
Loss of memory for recent events is a common early sign. Someone with Alzheimer's may:

• forget about recent conversations or events
• repeat themselves
• become slower at grasping new ideas, or lose the thread of what is being said
• sometimes become confused
• show poor judgement, or find it harder to make decisions
• lose interest in other people or activities
• develop a readiness to blame others for taking mislaid items
• become unwilling to try out new things or adapt to change.

If you are caring for someone with Alzheimer's disease, there's a lot you can do in the early stages to help the person you are caring for maintain their independence. It may be tempting to do things for them, but they are more likely to retain their sense of self-worth if they are given the chance to do things for themselves, with support if necessary. (See Factsheet 521, Maintaining everyday skills.)
The person may also become anxious and agitated. They may experience distress over their failure to manage tasks, and may need some reassurance. If this is the case, try to talk to them, and give them as much emotional support as you can.

Middle stage

As Alzheimer's disease progresses, the changes become more marked. The person will need more support to help them manage their day-to-day living. They may need frequent reminders or help to eat, wash, dress and use the toilet. They are likely to become increasingly forgetful - particularly of names - and may sometimes repeat the same question or phrase over and over because of the decline in their short-term memory. They may also fail to recognise people or confuse them with others.
Some people at this stage become very easily upset, angry or aggressive - perhaps because they are feeling frustrated - or they may lose their confidence and become very clingy. Other symptoms may include:

• becoming confused about where they are, or wandering off and becoming lost
• becoming muddled about time and getting up at night because they are mixing up night and day
• putting themselves or others at risk through their forgetfulness - for example, by not lighting the gas on the cooker
• behaving in ways that may seem unusual, such as going outside in their nightclothes
• experiencing difficulty with perception, and in some cases hallucinations.

For more information, see Factsheet 525, Unusual behaviour, Factsheet 501, Moving and walking about, and Factsheet 520, Hallucinations and delusions.

Late stage

At this stage, the person with Alzheimer's will need even more help, and will gradually become totally dependent on others for nursing care. Loss of memory may become very pronounced, with the person unable to recognise familiar objects or surroundings or even those closest to them, although there may be sudden flashes of recognition.
The person may also become increasingly frail. They may start to shuffle or walk unsteadily, eventually becoming confined to bed or a wheelchair. Other symptoms may include:

• difficulty in eating and, sometimes, swallowing
• considerable weight loss - although some people eat too much, and put on weight
• incontinence, losing control of their bladder and sometimes their bowels as well
• gradual loss of speech, though they may repeat a few words or cry out from time to time.

The person may become restless, sometimes seeming to be searching for someone or something. They may become distressed or aggressive - especially if they feel threatened in some way. Angry outbursts may occur during close personal care, usually because the person does not understand what is happening. Those caring for the person should try not to take this personally.
Although the person may seem to have little understanding of speech, and may not recognise those around them, they may still respond to affection and to being talked to in a calm soothing voice, or they may enjoy scents, music, or stroking a pet.
For more information about this stage of Alzheimer's disease, see Factsheet 417, Later stages of dementia. For more detailed information about Alzheimer's disease in general, see Factsheet 401, What is Alzheimer's disease?

I also have an idea about a story my Granny told me about Fairies.  She grew up in a small village called Norwood Green in West Yorkshire around the time that a young girl in Bingley in West Yorkshire claimed to photograph Fairies ....I may allude to this in this story.  http://www.cottingleyconnect.org.uk/ypost.htm

We are what we do!

One of the original concepts of creating a website as a forum for people to find suggestions and also record what new activities they have done, already exists (or similar)

Website: http://wearewhatwedo.org/

Communication is a virus - further group idea development

We thrashed a few more ideas around including the Birthday card one.  The group felt although this was a strong concept they still were not sure if the receiver would actually try the suggestions.  Also we had a chat with Amber and she was keen to explore an idea which we could try 'live' rather than just conceptually.

This is a summary of further ideas we had. 

• Dom and Matt were both keen on the cardboard USB idea and we returned to this concept when Matt showed us the Seed poster.   The seeds were perfect as people are engage and also reasonably cheap to execute.  Sarah and I were not convinced with the USB idea as what were we actually going to put on the stick?  Matt thought we could put some Jpegs on which gave people links to website.  Also the this could only be considered as a concept due to the cost and also new technology.

• We extended this idea thinking about how we could 'track' whether people would actually try something new.  The GPS chip technology could be a solution here,  Maybe the message/usb could have a chip attached which identifies how far the message has spread?  Again we dismissed this as too conceptual for this 'live' brief.

• We then considered simpler methods of distributing messages such as helium balloons with messages attached.  Sarah mentioned about the Books which are passed on which you write when you read the book then leave somewhere for someone to pick up. This made us wonder whether we could actually leave different kinds of messages around Leeds for example even including a SAE with the suggestion to encourage people to let us know what they had done new.

• About this point in the discussion it occurred to me that Niall and Baljeets group had set a time and date for their conga.  I thought this was a good way to 'focus' people's attention.  We all seemed to like this idea.  We thought we could promote round Leeds to a few days before.

We agreed to each come up with a Logo for this campaign and five 'try something new' ideas by tomorrow.

I like the idea that Spring is just around the corner so I'm going to look at spring flowers as my idea.

 'Put a spring in your step, try something new to you on ....'

Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!"  ~Robin Williams

Spring is just around the corner




Also found these which fit with an earlier idea of scaring somebody into making a change:

Also the simile of life to juggling five balls from the James Patterson book Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas:

Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them - Work - Family - Health - Friends - Spirit, and you're keeping all of these in the air.

You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls -- family, health, friends and spirit are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered.

Viral campaign/social networking research for Communication is a virus

The Nike + campaign was introduced back in 2006 as detailed in this newspaper article.  The website nikeplus.com is a virtual gathering place for runners who have collectively collected 93 million running miles. 
Going onto the Nike plus website I also discovered something called a GPSapp which can track who you are and where you are. The Nike campaign is called Dont be it.  This technology could be used with our idea.  To see this technology click this link.  This website is really clever as they are not only gathering people, they are challenging them which really can hook people who are competitive.

By researching GPS apps I also found one called Motionx which allows you to share routes with other users for example one Biker uses this to share new Biker tracks with his friends.  It can also capture photos.

Thinking of how we can motivate people to actually try something new, I started to consider our target audience.  The product could be to set challenges to groups of twenty somethings before they hit thirty , thirty somethings before they hit forty etc.  We could target it even more and offer it out as a  30th, 40th, 50th and 60th presents. The challenges to try something new could be to chose say ten new suggestions before you hit 31, 41, 51  and 61.  If the product was an App the common denominator of turning 30, 40, 50 and 60 would link each group together.  The challenge could be who achieves the top ten first when they sign up.  Each time they achieve a suggestion they could blog/record/video or photograph the evidence and share with the group.     Within each group of thirty year olds their could be sub group of friends joining who could compete with each other.  Although the App could start the Suggestion process off friends could actually share challenges and lay them down for each over.

Another method of distribution could be to design a 30th birthday card which lays down the challenge and directs them to a website, blog or app.  The card could be customisable like Moonpig.com (but much better Graphics!) so the Friend actually chooses the 'challenge' or new things from a drop down list.    A link showing an existing Birthday card app.   Another which is simply a cup cake and  candle to blow out iKandl .

This website goes one step further as it sells animated/musical Greeting cards which link to Youtube videos (Graphics can be a bit rubbish but nice concept)

Another new iPhone app. 'Where' is an app. which allows people to share places they have visited.

Customer Reviews

Best location based app!

     

by GMCabana

This application is great for finding places around you and now suggests new places to go, Very handy for a night out on the town. New Bump feature is cool.

Love WHERE!

     

by Doodlebug2214

I love the WHERE app! Whether I'm traveling or just looking for someplace new to try locally, WHERE always comes through with great suggestions. The bump feature is so cool and I love checking out my friends lists of favorite places and seeing all the places they want to go...its helped me discover so many new places that I want to check out! With this great app Ill never have a hard time finding cool things to do again! WHERE just keeps getting better and better!

...More

my solution to decide where to eat...

     

by EthanOzel

and take my wife out to different restaurants because she complains when i just wanna go to applebees. take it or leave it but i just launch the app and go to the next best recommendation. it has been working out and I'm scoring some gentlemanship points hehe #winning

Another interesting App called Nudgeme  allows you to track/shadow your friends:

Ideas for strap line/product names:

Kick start your heart

New to you

Before its too late

Life begins..

You make the rules...

The 30/40/50/60 club

Challenge 30/40/50/60

Is life passing you by?

100 percent Life at 30,40 etc

Give your friend a new lease of life....

Make it a year to remember

Ideas for try something new

Websites


Taster lab


43 things




I thought a neat idea may be a randomiser type app which choses a random activity to do that day:


There are some websites that play on this concept:


Randomiser



Apps for the New year for the i-Phone.

An informative website which reviews the latest App

The app below gave me the idea of creating an app where by people do something new than share the new experience with their friends by uploading a photograph or comment.

The app could link into a blog app like Squarespace where the user clicks on the randomiser to come up with an "new activity/idea' to do that day.  He can then load the experience to his blog to share with his friends.

Another social networking site:

This is an interesting App to organise your life... 

The App above had really bad feedback as it was juts a front for Spam and advertising.

Found a motivational App for iPhone as below:

This little App sends a new quote every day.

The app could act as a randomiser but with categories (some ideas):

Go ahead, make my day  Delivered in a Clint Eastwood drawl

Looking for inspiration

Feeling lucky

Need some action

Quick hit 'smile and say hi to the next person you see.' Think my glass is half full all day.

The day ahead. "ideas for day out, just drive north east for 100 miles and see where you end up'

Dare Devil antics ie sky dive

Jackass

Need new recipes

Could categorise by senses i.e. taste, hearing, seeing, balance and touch

Could categorise by time.

Some ideas for Inspirational quotes:

You can't do anything about the length of your life, but you can do something about its width and depth.
       - Shira Tehrani

Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint you can on it.
       - Danny Kaye

Bite off more than you can chew, then chew it.
       - Ella Williams 

To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to.
       - Kahlil Gibran

Wake up is a beautiful morning

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.
       - Eleanor Roosevelt

Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling.
       - Margaret B. Runbeck

A man is not old until regrets start taking place of dreams.

Reviews

Great little app

digitalzee  Version: 1.0

Great little app. It does what it says.

Best motivational quotes app so far

Royal Chowder  Version: 1.0

I've downloaded several other quotes applications, but this is the first one I've seen that shows a new quote every day. Its worth $0.99 for sure!

T

Yuvaraaj  Version: 1.0

Love it!

Love this app

Petereee  Version: 1.0

I have bought quite a few of these daily motivational apps, but this is the best. Really inspiring quotes for motivation from many different angles, and noteworthy people. Worth every cent of my dollar.

This is an APP that lets you organise your goals