Media: Piktochart Developing Ideas

 Finalised my idea for the Media project and I decided to go with the Digital Art project.  I have names this The Return of the Dolls as my concept will be a story that will follow on from The Army of Dolls

Please find my picktochart with more development and explanation here and the link:

IIM Book Cover Design: Initial Ideas & Practice

 This week we are being inspired by written work and so we are looking at book cover design so I need to consider books I might like to redesign.  I am tempted to C.S. Samson, here are some examples of his book covers 

C.S. Samson (2015) Dissolution

C.S. Samson (2008) Revelation

As you can see, these book covers work as a set however I think I could do something interesting with these titles so I am going to do a practice run in class.

I began by creating a canvas on photoshop, I did this by clicking on create new and then 'Print' in the top menu of the dialog box.  I then picked an A$ size from the templates and changed the resolution to 300 dpi for high quality in case I wanted to print.

I then opened by image in Photoshop which I found on Pexels which I thought would work quite well with the book title of 'Revelation'.  As this is a historical novel then I needed an image that was timeless and certainly did not look contemporary.  The image also had the dramatic air that reminded me of the novel itself. 

I then wanted to add the text so I spent some time choosing a suitable font so the typography, again reflected the novel itself.  I chose Euclid Fraktur for the title and authors name and the title was at  100pts & the author at 36 pts.  I lined this up to centre this as the image was central so this would balance well and be aesthetically pleasing. 

I then added a tagline to interest and excite readers and those that know the stories would want to buy this book in the series - I used 30pts Baskerville Old Face 

The final version I saved as a psd, in the cloud and on the desktop and also as a jpeg on the desktop to upload here.

As a practice this worked quite well and considering it was completed in a very short class this gives me an idea about other books or covers I could explore. 

IIM Art Inspired by Art Final Shot & Reflection

 Here is my final choice of shot for my recreation/reimagining

                  

For the final shot, I adjusted slightly on Photoshop by cropping so that the shot was closer to the original.  I also adjusted on curves brightening the image slightly as the original is slightly more exposed. 

I think as a recreation this was an interesting one as the girl in the original is young and has the look of innocence surrounded by the cream and white but also is in her own environment.  I also have used my own environment for the shot so this reflects very much of my own look in the shot.  I am not young and so don't have the naivety of the original but I think there is the same slight sadness to the look and softness to the image that makes it compelling. 

I also tried this in black and white just to see if this would change the feel of the image. I liked the black and white however I think the color shot works better with the light and the blond hair, purple duvet and sunlight on skin.

IIM Art Inspired by Art: Process

 Today I set up the shoot for art inspired by art images.  I was trying to recreate and reimagine the image by Katy Grannan discussed in the previous post.  

Katy Grannan

Untitled (from the Poughkeepsie Journal)

1999

I tried this in my bedroom as the morning light was looking really good and I thought I could shoot at a low angle on my bed.  My flat is small so I had limited space.  I also tried on the living room floor however I think the first set works better here and so I will just share the first set

I created contacts on Photoshop just by going to File - Contacts - and then choosing the file on the dialog box.  

I took the images using my Olympus E-3 with a remote control, I started with the settings at ISO 400. F3.5. I shot in RAW and jpeg so I have both versions for editing. I took 120 images in this shoot,

After studying the shots actually the very first shot I took is the one I liked the best.  I think this is highly unusual however I think it was the nature of the shot.  The original has had a naivety and I think that in the first shot I just tried the pose and this lack of adjustment to the shoot kind of captured something of the original. 

So here are the three shots that I liked the most

The settings for the three shots were:

I will now choose my final shot and decide which will be my reimagining of the original.

Adding Biteable to Website

 Today I completed my final video to add to my website that will be my promotional CV.

I first clicked on Export and Biteable then built this. This is the free version so it will contain the watermark.

I then downloaded the video to my desktop and uploaded onto Wix

I wanted to add a button onto the front of my portfolio so that it it linked to a new page which contained the video.  I added a page and uploaded the video and added an introduction and title and then I went back to the button I had added and linked it to the page I had created. 

I then checked my website before republishing so that the video now appears.  Before publishing I checked the preview to make sure that it was working correctly. 

You can view my new video at my website address: 

www.zoevan-de-velde.com

Fashion Research: Men's Fashion Calvin Klein

 

Mark Wahlberg. Photograph: Herb Ritts / Calvin Klein

I have chosen to look at men's clothing design as this market is not as saturated as the women's clothes market and I feel I can create designs that new and innovative in this market.  I am going to look at Calvin Klein as he really has cornered the men's underwear market and has sexy, daring and eye catching campaigns that have made his underwear part of everyday life and instantly recognisable. Ferrier states in The Guardian; 'Calvin Klein pants, briefs and boxers, and now bras and swimwear in womenswear, remain the resolute king of underwear.' (Ferrier, 2022).  Men's underwear has not changed much in terms of design; 'The people who brought boxer shorts to the UK, Sunspel have been making underwear since 1860. Their boxers are almost identical to the original designs but they’ve done away with the excess fabric so you can wear them under fitted trousers comfortably.' (5 of the Best Boxer Shorts for Men, From Calvin Klein to Hugo Boss, 2022)  This would be because we have technical advancements in the materials we uses with lycra and cotton mixes that make it possible to have tighter more fitted designs. 

Now we are more concerned about the planet and sustainability of fashion Calvin Klein uses more sustainable materials and in this heritage collection the specifications are:

CK REIMAGINED HERITAGE: An ode to iconic Calvin Klein silhouettes, reclaimed in more sustainable materials with a new jacquard logo finish.

• organic and recycled cotton blend

• medium rise waist

• Calvin Klein jacquard logo waistband

(Men's Trunks | Men's Low Rise & Cotton Trunks | Calvin Klein®, 2022)

Calvin Klein, Heritage Collection at Next 

The success of Calvin Klein and the idea of showing the logo of your underwear really shot these designs to fame and made everyone feel like a star wearing designer clothes; 'Stealth wealth is a noble idea, but as Calvin Klein – the American designer who turned underwear into a status symbol, and by proxy, its wearers into sex symbols – once said: “The only way to advertise is by not focusing on the product.” And lo, the logoed underwear was born.' (Ferrier, 2022).  The use of famous actors, models, football stars etc in their adverts mean that men can feel they can look as good.  In recent years there has also been a rise in men's beauty products and men are starting to care much more about what they wear and how they look every day.  

In my own work this term I would like to explore this market further particularly the mens' underwear market and see if there is anything new or innovative I can add through my own designs.

References

Ferrier, M., 2022. The rise and rise of Calvin Klein underwear. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2016/jun/09/the-rise-and-rise-of-calvin-klein-underwear [Accessed 7 April 2022].

Men's Health. 2022. 5 of the Best Boxer Shorts for Men, From Calvin Klein to Hugo Boss. [online] Available at: https://www.menshealth.com/uk/style/a759604/best-mens-boxer-shorts/ [Accessed 7 April 2022].

Calvinklein.co.uk. 2022. Men's Trunks | Men's Low Rise & Cotton Trunks | Calvin Klein®. [online] Available at: https://www.calvinklein.co.uk/mens-trunks [Accessed 7 April 2022].

Media: Developing Ideas & Initial Research

 After considering my ideas I have decided that the one where I could do something that really adds to my skills is creating the digital art and using this on a gallery to sell as Non Fungible Tokens (NFT) as this is something I would like to investigate and it has a real world context.  Investopedia states; 'Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are cryptographic assets on a blockchain with unique identification codes and metadata that distinguish them from each other. Unlike cryptocurrencies, they cannot be traded or exchanged at equivalency. This differs from fungible tokens like cryptocurrencies, which are identical to each other and, therefore, can serve as a medium for commercial transactions' (Sharma, 2022).  An NFT can be a digital version of the original artwork and the British Museum allow you to own an NFT copy of original artworks, these are limited edition and can reach high prices but you then own the digital asset.

The ghost at Sara-yaskiki, from the series One Hundred Ghost Tales

Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849)

This is from the British Museum collection and there are 2 editions available so is 'Ultra Rare' and these are being sold for £99,000 as an NFT.

Clear Day with a Southern Breeze ('Red Fuji'), from the series Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji

Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849)

Again this from the British Museum - this one is worth £100,000 and there are 10 editions 

The rarer the price the higher the price and the museum make it clear you do not own the original painting just the NFT version.  

In my own digital art project I would like to create a collection of perhaps 4-6 works that could be sold as NFTs.  Further investigation and research would be needed on how to make these digital assets once created so I will explore this and will join a NFT gallery and set this up.  

The collection itself I would like to do something perhaps with the Dolls as I think these might work well on the NFT market - below was my original doll head but I could create a new doll version for a new series. I will use stock imagery for the background and I will explore this further as I look at other examples of Digital Art.

References

Sharma, R., 2022. Non-Fungible Token (NFT). [online] Investopedia. Available at: https://www.investopedia.com/non-fungible-tokens-nft-5115211 [Accessed 5 April 2022].

The British Museum: La Collection. 2022. [online] Available at: https://lacollection.io/marketplace [Accessed 5 April 2022].