Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Your turn #9


What's on your minds?

29 comments:

Alexa Prosniewski said...

I really like this image because it is such an accurate description of the impossibility to answer the question: "what is beautiful?" The child in the ad obviously believes his leggo creation is beautiful, yet someone else could have a hard time seeing the beauty he sees. The answer is different for everyone, which is why beauty has such a widely-accepted range in society. Modern art really plays with this concept. For example, in Chicago I visited an exhibit by artist Rudolf Stingel called "Orange Carpet," where the exhibit was actually a room where he reinstalled an orange carpet that was previously showcased in an other musuem. Some people may look at this and see its simplicity, and fail to see its beauty. Yet enough other people found it beautiful enough to showcase it in prominent museums around the world. I believe art in itself is the process by which we explore an answer to this unsolvable question.

picture of Rudolf's exhibit: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_rlhZCdZl2is/Rbprufo1wUI/AAAAAAAABes/tnGXBqVrkA0/s1600-h/IMG_4076.JPG

Ana Trinchet said...

Is it beautiful? Is an open question with multiple responses. For example in this image are we talking about the whole composition or just the cute little girl or the lego design she is holding in her hands. From this image in particular you can depict several other and decide what is that you consider beautiful; and it happens with art in general from a complete composition of an artist you may decide which one do you considered beautiful and which not. In architecture is the same, you may go to a building and only an specific space is the one that is special and beautiful for you and for others may be different. Now days the art may be more simple to the eye but the context behind and meaning may be the key of what makes it beautiful; is just a matter of opinion.

Ana Trinchet

Luzyanis Fraga said...

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. The use of typefaces makes the message straight forward and complements the photography. It depends on the point of view of the audience wether or not to agree with the message. The written message is very open to the interpretation since the artist did not specify what is beautiful. The background is very settle to make the girl & the lego the center of attention. The legos are the only colorful elements in the composition & the rest are more monochromatic. The way the photography was taken it seems like the girl is inviting the audience to play with the legos. I think that the image is beautiful and well composed because the artist created a symmetry and balance that is appealing to the human eye. Also the message is clear and straight forward. These are characteristics that increase the quality of an advertisement, which usually makes it more successful.

Luzyanis Fraga

Anonymous said...

This week we examined the trend of logos. A logo is a symbol or a small design, which is adopted by an organisation to promote recognition and identity, crossing over the barriers of language. It is fascinating that corporations rely on these emblems to be innovative and original and yet they have to remain relevant within a constantly changing industry. Despite their size many achieve global recognition. The article predicted that in 2012 the use of lightweight fonts and softer colours would replace the harsher blacks and bolder fonts of previous years. Just like the rest of the world, social media has affected logos. The prevalence of Facebook has changed our interaction with the Internet, Starr forecasts more bubble shaped logos for 2012. Logos are an easy way to witness the affect of fashion on graphic design. The intention is to make these images accessible to the public so it is counterproductive to frequently redesign them. Organisations work on building an identifiable brand, for example coca cola or MTV. But new businesses are particularly likely to follow the new trends for 2012 and I think it is worth bearing in mind the power of these little symbols.

Harriet Ashton

Emilee Lau said...

In regards to grunge art and maximalism—David Carson is a designer that has had no formal training in the field of graphic design and has said that he simply did what he thought “looked good”. He was always experimenting and sometimes didn’t even see proofs of his magazine, Ray Gun, before it was set out for printing and publishing and blatant mistakes could be found on the page. This did not faze Carson, however, who decided to translate entire pages of text in his magazine to Wingdings simply for design and no practical purposes. Carson asserted that his best work came from being emotional and that, in terms of reading typefaces, people should not confuse legibility with communication. Just because something is initially difficult to read does not mean it cannot send an adequate and meaningful message. He believed that important messages could be lost in boring presentation, which further demonstrates Carson’s need for energy and expression in his designs. This idea of maximalism along with Stefan Sagmeister’s idea of “trying to look good limits life” lead me to think about the creation of art for art’s sake and no other purpose. Just like musicians of the modern jazz era, artists were seeking to create music and art for their own enjoyment—not in order to cater to an audience. The difference between high art and popular art lies in the desired use of the creation, whether it be to entertain or simply to satisfy one’s own creative ambitions.

Anonymous said...

I believe this lego ad is very successful at targeting not only the toy's demographic (children) but also at targeting the parents. Clearly the child has created what she believes to be her beautiful masterpiece, and any child looking at the advertisement can be enticed to want that toy from the picture. But it also resonates well with the parents who are buying these toys for their children because the ad alludes to the child's happiness. The freckled-face little girl, with her cute pigtails and sheer innocence shining through her smile hits a more emotional spot with the adult. The ad has two completely different meanings depending on who is viewing it: the child or the adult. It is so simple and yet so clever and I think it must have been a good tool in the selling of the product.

Natalia de la Canal

Anonymous said...

Logos are very important to the companies they represent. I am always fascinated with how companies come up with the designs of their logos. Some companies use logotypes which combine their emblems and company name making them more recognizable worldwide. I found that some companies end up with their logos / logotypes by accident and others by meaning or definition. I took a look at a few logos and found it very interesting how they came about. For example, Lego almost was ‘legio’. After the company went from a carpentry workshop to a toy company the owner thought about naming it Legio, implicating “legion of Toys” or Lego which is a Danish contraction of ‘leg godt’ which means play well, and then further interpreted as ‘I assemble’ in latin. Google ended up with theirs because they misspelled ‘googol’ which is the number one followed by a hundred zeros. They chose this because their search engine would provide large quantities of information for a lot of people. There are so many interesting histories behind each logo and the design. I found an interesting link with a few well known logos and their histories.

http://www.instantshift.com/2009/01/29/20-corporate-brand-logo-evolution/

Suelyn Chong

Anonymous said...

First of all, I love this image because the little girl looks just like my sister with her red hair.
Secondly, when I was a child I grew up with boys who loved to build things with the LEGOs so I played with them for a very long time.. They are very entertaining at the same time good for the children's development.
The ad itself takes the attention of the viewer right away with the line in the middle, "What is beautiful." It isn't a question..The girl is very cute and she looks smart.
The facial expression of the girl is really satisfied and happy because she thinks that she built something beautiful.
Beauty is a flexible concept though. Everybody perceive beauty differently but with the lego's you can build something unique and something you think that is beautiful.
This is a simple ad, without anything crazy. (No fancy types or colors or models..) but still it lets the people understand that lego's make children happy as well as the parents.
This is a successful ad to satisfy its buyers.
Ela Apa

Anonymous said...

This advertisement brings up the question, ‘what is beautiful.’ Which made me think of the materials used in art and how non-traditional materials can make pieces that are just as beautiful as a conventional oil painting. Nathan Sawaya is a Lego artist who is best known for his life-size Lego sculptures of the human form. (see first link for his website). Everyone knows of the sea glass that washes up from broken bottles thrown into the sea, but Richard Lang and Judith Selby Lang create “Beach Plastic” pieces from childrens’ toys that wash ashore. (see second link). Both of these are examples that came to mind when I saw this advertisement because to me, the whole point of Legos is the recyclable characteristic. You build something, take it apart and repeat. I think this sends a good message, which is so important for our generation and the generations to come.

http://brickartist.com/

http://inhabitat.com/artist-recycled-washed-up-toys-on-california-seashore-into-beach-plastic-artwork/


Alexandra Roe

Anonymous said...

This image immediately makes me think: Beauty is subjective. What one person thinks is visually pleasing may not be pleasing to another. Beauty to a child, for the sake of referring to the given sample, may look like an unorganized mess to an adult that finds more pleasure in order and routine. There is no exact equation for beauty, which may contribute to what is so incredible about the concept. Beauty is flexible, up for interpretation, and unique to every individual. It can identify the things that one person may appreciate or notice more than another. From an advertising perspective, however, the subjectiveness of beauty can hinder the success of a produced image. Professionals want something to be pleasing to the largest audience of people. So, with beauty being in the eyes of the beholder, professionals are given the task of determining what will be considered beautiful to the largest amount of beholders. This is the unfortunate truth of beauty being harnessed to sell a point instead of just be appreciated as it would be in a museum.

Anonymous said...

above post is by Jamie Shankman!

Anonymous said...

I think legos are the best type of toys a child can possibly have. I cannot compare lego to anything in terms of how helpful it is for a child to grow with. Once you play with legos, you are limitless. You can do anything. Just think about it. Compare it to other type of games or toys. For example, in a computer game you have to accomplish something whether it is scoring a goal or killing a man or finishing a race by being the first to finish. Or you have to go from point A to point B. But in lego, it is all about your imagination and it makes you think, makes you create something new out of small pieces. It is very useful in child development and I think it is the most valuable toy a child can have. And after all, you can use it over and over again to create new shapes, and show how far you can go with them. And I also think that an adult would have fun with legos, challenge himself too.

Can Zarb

Lindsey Reiff said...

I could not attend last week’s class, but the picture above got me thinking about the impact that Legos can have on a child’s education and also the things that they can reveal about a child’s development. Legos teach children to fine-tune their motor skills, the concept of spacial awareness and shapes, how to play with others, and numerous other valuable lessons. They can also reveal a problem, if a child is not grasping these concepts quickly enough. Lego is an honest toy and brand- it has adapted to the culture in terms of video games, stores and activities, movies, advertisements, social networking, awe-inspiring store windows, and the word has even been adopted by pop culture figures to mean “let’s go!”- but it has stayed true to itself, continually emphasizing in some way the importance of playing with physical Legos. I believe that it has been very successful in this because children definitely still experience Lego in the original manner, as well as partaking in the virtual attractions. That is pretty impressive in this age, with games and toys getting infinitely more stimulating and complicated than little plastic boxes with holes and bumps on them.

nan gallagher said...

I think this particular advertisement is interesting on several fronts. Most obviously the message - whereas we are usually surrounded by ads telling us things that we are not and highlighting the unachievable lifestyles and products, this takes the approach of showing us the most average subject of a freckled redheaded girl in simple clothes with a simple toy and calls it beauty. You can tell from the font and the style of the design that this ad is from at least a couple of decades ago, however that makes it almost more unexpected. The Dove Real Beauty Campaign of the 000s was supposedly a revolutionary advertising strategy and concept. I love the use of these real people campaigns, because it shows that the design and world of advertising can manipulate through good as well as negative.

kaitlin said...

This advertisement says volumes about the human experience. Like others my age, I spent many a formative hour playing Legos with my brother building epic masterpieces or drawing blood over pieces. This ad triggers memories and emotions related to archetypal life experiences such as childhood play, learning, love, and innocence. The phrase “What it is is beautiful.” to me is referring to those archetypal experiences, and for me is stating that what is beautiful is the emotional connection to life, and essentially love.

Jacinta Yong said...

Talking about the digital age and advertising, we all know we are now immune to the typical billboard and flashing banner on a website, but what is advertising doing to move forward? The design is to go digital but what does this mean for print? I don’t think it has anything to do with our medium, but how we use that ad. With our love to talk and love to be in the know, like the article says, we’re all moving to social media because it is using our social human nature to do the marketing for us. Now the design is a whole new language where they have to make you want to use it either on the internet, on your ipad, iphone, or phone. I feel that ads like the LEGO are clever but people now want more touch and feel, more interaction. The digital age not only makes better convenience but personality and interactivity in games, Facebook, and YouTube. It says that you have a voice and you can do what you like. Alluding to what you mentioned in class, it is a perceived independence with our new technological capabilities. Advertising now has to acclimate to their audience’s personalities not vice versa. They are no longer selling it, they are buying us and remaking it into their own.

Looking at works and ads today, there are so many layer to that one logo or that one image, but yet we have no idea usually what that is. We just memorize it as a bite of information associated with the product. We think logo, we think company. Everything gets shorter and more concise as we prefer the faster-paced living. This actually correlates with the logo design. According to the website, logo trends change every year just like art periods. 2010 was cubist, 2011 was light and airy, and 2012 is more bubbles and buttons while going green. I see this will become an art history field soon enough just on logos. With the amount of energy we take in our communication industry in creating these concise images to represent a lot of information, I feel as though we’ll starve of real knowledge. We are now supposed to trust a logo for its customer service, product, and experience. One day it will take a class to understand one “logo” and it may be representing a company, a race, a country, a lifestyle, etc.

Patty Alfaro said...

Out of the topics last class, I found Ed Fella, punk graphic design, and David Carson the most interesting. I find the idea of “Dada with a typo” very engaging. If I have to turn my head at different angles just to read something, the piece becomes more interactive, and therefore more memorable. I like punk designs for a similar reason. I find clean, seamless design boring, almost overly manufactured, and while everything is manufactured, the punchy spontaneity of a punk piece has a certain energy to it; it looks loud. There’s something about imperfection in type and content, that makes it more exciting. In regards to David Carson, I believe Maximalism also has a more poignant effect because it inadvertently overwhelms the viewer. In Carson's work, words and symbols seem to crash in to each other on the page, allowing his emotional undertones to surface.


http://www.edfella.com/stack.php?image=0&dir=images/lettering/letteringcurrent/ccalartsprojects/

http://www.edfella.com/stack.php?image=8&dir=images/flyers/flyerspast/gartsorg/

Amy said...

As a child I used to play with Legos and preferred it over other toys because it gave me the ability to create. Lego has successfuly captured its audience with this ad by showing the feeling of accomplishment on the child's face. As humans we all want to feel like we have accomplished something and Lego is promoting just that. The ad adds that younger children build for fun while older children build for realism. This got me thinking that even at an early age we are taught to create things that resemble things that have been created in the past. Men throughout history have built upon designs created before and added their own personal touch. I love that lego is promoting this idea of looking to the past in creating the future.
Liudamy Sedeno

Lisandra said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lisandra said...

It has always amazed me how companies designed their logos and ads to target the specific audience they want to attract. For example this Poster Advertising Legos the first thing that we see is a happy child and obviously the company is trying to attract kids, this company in specific has been around since 1940’s and is unbelievable how today in 2012 all that kids want to play with are Legos. The company in a way redesigns the marketing, ads and graphics to attract the new generations. Each year they come up with new designs and now the company even has a theme park in Orlando. The company also tries to target the parents in a way because the parents that used to play with Legos can now do it again with their children. Legos are so famous because only your imagination is the limit.

Anonymous said...

The advertisement of Lego showed in this post is a good example of successful advertisement. A cute little girl holds her “project model” in hand, feeling proudly announces: what I just created is beautiful. Even though I have no idea what exactly she made, the feeling of “creativity is everything, creativity is the future” can definitely drive the viewer to the thought of “playing Lego can be a way to develop creativity”, which also is the designer want us to believe. The combination of graphic and words is perfectly made, if the advertisement is all about graphic without words, it won’t be so effective. Also, the designer is playing with the idea of “to create the creativity”, which is the toy Lego is all about. Not just making the children believing whatever they created is beautiful, in order to encourage their creativity. But also making the parents believing the product can bring unlimited possibility for the development of their children.

Qiansongzi Chen

Anonymous said...

The ad for this week’s post raises the question about beauty. How do you define beauty? Each culture and person creates their own definitions that may not cross over from person to person as the same. Merriam-Webster defines beauty as “the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit.” This vague definition references to the individual definition each person determines. I believe that there are different levels and/or types of beauty. In relation to the ad for LEGO, this young child has created something that she believes is beautiful to her. I think this ad unit is saying that we are able to create beauty and each person’s view of beauty is not the same. I found an interesting quote about beauty by Albert Einstein: “The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives.” I think this quote fits perfectly with the ad unit. A majority of us have seen and played with LEGO toys, I think many have had positive experiences and as we get older we feel nostalgic about the days of play with LEGO toys.

Ashley Bahamon

Anonymous said...

I think this Lego ad is a successful one because of the message it sends. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and the joy a child gets out of creating something is beautiful in itself. I think this is a great example of how advertising and design can play on people's emotions and get them to create an emotional connection to a brand. In addition, I think its important to address that this ad is successful because of all of the elements of design are being executed well. The connection between the picture, the target, the smile on the girls face, as well as the bold typography and the copy that is written on the page. The overall art direction of this ad is great and everything seems to connect.

Maddie Nieman

joyce sosa said...

I work as a babysitter and this picture reminded me of how little kids have no boundaries in their imagination , the fact that they are so naïve about life , makes their imagination limitless , and they usually see beauty everywhere . This lego creation is perfect for the little girl just the way it is , in her head it is her master creation . It happens as well with every person , everyone sees beauty differently and some people see beauty where someone else wouldn't . Also it kind of makes me feel that I can let my imagination go wild and do whatever I want with this toy portrayed here , the lego . The only boundary to create something beautiful is your own head or what you want to do . I think it transmits the idea of the lego really well because it uses imagination , and targets an specific audience , that is young kids .it is simple and clean , but has a strong message . As we were talking last week , the logo is simple and is supported with the image of the legos and the girl , to maybe portrayy their purpose.

joyce sosa said...

I work as a babysitter and this picture reminded me of how little kids have no boundaries in their imagination , the fact that they are so naïve about life , makes their imagination limitless , and they usually see beauty everywhere . This lego creation is perfect for the little girl just the way it is , in her head it is her master creation . It happens as well with every person , everyone sees beauty differently and some people see beauty where someone else wouldn't . Also it kind of makes me feel that I can let my imagination go wild and do whatever I want with this toy portrayed here , the lego . The only boundary to create something beautiful is your own head or what you want to do . I think it transmits the idea of the lego really well because it uses imagination , and targets an specific audience , that is young kids .it is simple and clean , but has a strong message . As we were talking last week , the logo is simple and is supported with the image of the legos and the girl , to maybe portrayy their purpose.

Ernest said...

While looking at this AD the first thing I see is an amazing design. The way the company designs their marketing campaigns to draw the attention from the kids and parents. I believe that the company tries to remind the parents how they used to enjoy their playtime with the Legos toys. Legos are global and every year they get more famous. The company has tried to redesign their toys in a way that the new generations to come would always want Legos. The franchise now came up with Legos movies which are extremely popular. For example this year Harry Potter Legos where sold out all over the world.

augie kazickas said...

Last Week's Comment:
An interesting question raised in class was whether we value certain logos over others based on the financial success of the company. Paul Rand’s IBM and CBS logos are well renowned but then again we’re talking about IBM and CBS. To figure out if logo predetermines success or is elevated by it I decided to do a blind aesthetic ranking of foreign car company logos and then check if their respective earnings had any correlation with my design rankings. After testing myself and a friend on which logo design we thought best, I found that the highest earner’s logo was judged very poorly, and the second to last income earner received the highest score on the logo test. However, there are many flaws to this quasi-scientific study such as lack of design expertise, low logo impact to product and cultural aesthetic differences. An interesting example of the cultural bias in logo is the fact that in the U.S. the Buick is a seen as a dying breed, where in China it is one of the most popular and respected car brands.

I also want to comment on how logo has become more interactive. Google’s Doodles illustrate how logos can be morphed according to the context of the day. This creates logo that not only represents a brand but engages and interacts with the audience.

This Weeks Comment:

I don't think beauty can be quantified. Art is subjective so I think the Lego ad does a great job illustrating the flexibility of the lego product as well as the idea that art can be anything and anything can be beautiful. The baggy jeans and scattered pieces on the floor symbolize playfulness in work. I like the vintage feel of the poster and the white type face stands out but doesn't impose. It is not demanding statement, but it draws curiosity and thought. Sort of reminds me of Herb Lubalin's work. I wonder if some of his prints would lose their effectiveness if they gained color like in the Lego ad. I guess designers should be wary of the connection between typeface and color.

Haley said...

Logos are often overlooked in society. Logos a a simple reminder of a brand. However, after studying marketing and graphic design, I find it incredible that Logo design transforms complexity into simplicity. Logo's hold strong brand equity, symbolism, and representation of both the company and its consumers. Especially in today's technical world, with the emergence of millions of apps, which are essential displayed in the form of a logo icon.

Design seems to be proving itself as a major emerging trend in both society and business. People have an obsessing with the making of beautiful things. Not really in a superficial way, but in the way people are changing the way they look at the world. Actually, I slightly contradict myself, if the technological world is deemed superficial? Is it? Or is it just becoming more of the norm? Technology has advanced at an incredibly accelerated rate. Major design and technological genius brands include Apple and Google. Check out the link to see where we are going next. Is this exciting or terrifying? Is personal design of one's manifested ideal world worth the risk of a dying art of communication?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c6W4CCU9M4&feature=share

Lauren Hahamovitch said...

This image is a very familiar activity for me because I babysit children from ages 2.5 to 4 years old presently. The younger children have trouble even figuring out how to physically put the blocks together, and the older children (age 4) have trouble making sense out of which blocks should go where. No matter what level of capability, the adults always comment "good job!". Beauty in creation seems to all be relative, when at a young age. As we get older and reach a level of "adulthood", achievement is not measured in proportion to how many years you have been creating for, but an adult gets thrown into the pool of the rest of the adult creators. Compliments are fewer and far between than given to a developing child. Is this to fuel their development of self esteem? Probably. When around children, I tend to say "good job" to let them know that I am actually paying attention to what they have accomplished, which could have easily gone unnoticed. A few legos placed together could mean nothing to an adult, while it means great things to a toddler. Beauty and creation is all relative.