COMD3504 - Section OL69 - Spring 2022

Author: Angela Iacono (Page 1 of 3)

Angela Iacono-Discussion Week 12

Crocs are rubber clog-like shoes that came out in 2002 and were created by Scott Seamans, Lyndon Hanson, and George Boedbecker. These shoes were extremely popular and fun for children and teens at the time. You could buy accessories for your crocs by putting them into the holes of the crocs and they came in a variety of colors. However, crocs became somewhat painful for some people to wear and caused blisters. Although, unsure of the direct decline of the crocs that is certainly the reason I stopped wearing them. They were once mainstream and then underground but now have become mainstream again with a higher price tag. Originally crocs were and still are $30 however, most of the crocs on the website are $40-$60. Crocs have come back in the mainstream and are more expensive due a rise in quality. Although not everyone and their mother are wearing crocs it has certainly comeback and I have seen a lot more people wear them now. I remember when crocs were constantly made fun of and now it’s trendy and cool to own a pair.

Angela Iacono-Assignment Week 12

I changed my topic from impressionism paintings to an illustrator and designer Kati Lacker. Her work is clean, consistent, colorful, and full of life. Here are the 6 sources I found. I cannot figure out how to work the cuny library, I’ve tried searching articles and books however, it is not working and showing no results.

  1. https://99designs.com/blog/tips/graphic-illustration-vs-graphic-design/#:~:text=The%20main%20difference%20between%20graphic,becoming%20less%20obvious%20over%20time.
  2. http://www.illustratorsillustrated.com/thoughts-on-an-illustrators-role/
  3. https://qz.com/quartzy/1728767/why-editorial-illustrations-look-so-similar-these-days/
  4. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2017/10/09/how-graphic-design-is-evolving/?sh=58cd53a51ff3
  5. http://www.designculture.it/interview/massimo-vignelli.html (I included this source because Massimo Vignelli is a famous graphic designer and understanding him helps me understand other graphic designers work)
  6. https://www.ocreations.com/importance-of-illustrations-in-design/

Angela Iacono-Assignment 11

Steven Heller explains that mainstream media and advertisement essentially reuses old concepts and “steals” underground trends. The underground refers to a design or designs that are not mainstream or trendy, in the reading Heller explains that the, “Psychedelic movement…was born in a small community that shared proclivities for sex, drugs, and anarchic behavior—all threatening to the mainstream”. This particular design and movement was popular amongst the youth of the late 60’s and 70’s, which threatened the mainstream commercials and designs at the time. However, over time the mainstream adapted and took design elements from the psychedelic movement and turned them into mainstream design. This led to the psychedelic’s original purpose of design, to express individuality of the youth at the time and turn it into something for consumers and corporations. This meant that this wouldn’t be considered underground anymore because of how the mainstream used it to create ads.

Although I’ll have to change my topic, due to it not meeting the credentials of the assignment, the impressionism art movement can somehow be connected to the mainstream vs underground dichotomy. This is because there are all different kinds of art movements and each art movement has its own unique look and feel; however, techniques from the pre-raphaelite art era are similar to that of the symbolism and renaissance art movement. With impressionism art there are heavy and visible brushstrokes, unblended colors, and a great emphasis on lighting and atmosphere, this movement/trend lasted from 18700-1900 and was replaced by post-impressionism artwork. This is where Vincent Van Gogh’s artwork is and is one of the most popular painters of that time.

Prior to the impressionism art movement there was the pre-raphaelite art movement, which are very different when side by side. Pre-raphaelite art, according to britannica.com, “featured sharp and brilliant lighting, a clear atmosphere, and a near-photographic reproduction of minute details” where they also, “frequently introduced a private poetic symbolism into their representations of biblical subjects and medieval literary themes”. This was extremely different from impressionism art, things were clear, concise, had biblical messages, subjects and themes and were extremely detailed. The underground designs that were developing during the late 1850s and early 1860s were impressionist artists. Impressionist artists were influenced by the outside world and resources, relying on the outside world to paint instead of being in a studio with a model for hours on end. According to theartstory.org it states that, “The Impressionists were inspired by Manet’s example to follow their own creative paths”, they were influenced by the painter Édouard Manet, who painted how he wanted to paint. This was the underground but once Claude Monet and other French painters started to follow suit it became the mainstream for thirty years. The work shaped the mainstream because it allowed artists to paint and create however they wanted to. Artists at the time were doing away with the consistency and clarity of art and taking a more loose, creative approach to their paintings. Although not everyone was participating in impressionism, art was allowing artists to paint the world as they saw it.

Sources-*disclaimer: I couldn’t find any free books in the cuny library database, they were also all recordings that I wasn’t allowed access to unless I went into the building. So, I found my resources online. Maybe I was navigating the website wrong?

  1. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/i/impressionism
  2. https://www.theartstory.org/movement/impressionism/
  3. https://www.britannica.com/art/Pre-Raphaelite-Brotherhood

Angela Iacono-Discussion 11

  1. I love impressionistic paintings and I think it would be interesting to explore that particular art movement in greater detail. However, I’m aware that we must choose something from 1982 and beyond. So I will do more brainstorming in the future.
  2. I love the way the paintings look, they’re not always very clear but you get the impression of something. The impasto, texture of the paint, also stands out to me and the soft details of those particular paintings are interesting to look at.
  3. Claude Monet stands out and Pierre-Auguste Renoir as well.
  4. The designs can relate to the things we’ve read this semester.
  5. I think the rhetoric of the image as well as the reading from Ferdinand Saussure are the ones I understand the most and interest me the most.
  6. As of right now I do not have any theories regarding the impressionism art movement however, I do think that the paintings can’t be looked at objectively speaking. This is because impressionism paintings really rely on the viewer/audience to look at and think about what they are consuming. The texture of the brushstrokes showing and unblended colors means that there aren’t clear structures or figures in the paintings and that requires the viewer to add their own interpretation of what’s going on in the painting.

Angela Iacono-Assignment 9

I took pictures of the first couple pages with my notes along the side. Overall, I defined terms that didn’t make sense to me or words that I’ve never heard before. The reading was quite dense and difficult to understand so I had a hard time grasping information. However, I think the some points did make a lot of sense to me and where I understood is where I commented.

Some of my comments include(just in case my handwriting is unclear)

“There are many signs that this one image can evoke. My initial thoughts were that someone had just come from the market with fresh vegetables. The bag made me think of a market that’s outside and also, it’s a type of bag that someone reuses often.”

“To understand the message/image you must have basic human knowledge. Children learn images at the age of 4 so they wouldn’t be able to fully grasp the image if they were younger. However, I think children do understand images and how to associate words and sounds with images from ages 2-3 not just at the start of age 4. I have 2 nieces under the age of 4 and they know what a tomato is but maybe they can’t grasp the whole image or are unable to give the image context.”

Angela Iacono-Discussion 9b

I chose Yiqiang Wang’s Mr.Clean ad. I can’t believe this was an actual ad that was put out. This is honestly very shocking and I can’t imagine that it was well received by the public. The caption, “Get Back To The Job That Really Matters.” wouldn’t be so bad if it was just a stand alone slogan however, they stated, “This Mother’s Day” before that implying that woman, specifically mothers, should get back to cleaning because that is what matters. This makes it incredibly discriminatory and honestly just wrong. It reminds me of when Burger King tweeted, “Woman belong in the kitchen” and how it was a message about how there aren’t many female chefs or cooks and they should be encouraged in that field. But, obviously tweeting that was not the way to get your message across and hurt Burger King in the process. Also, it’s unfortunate that Mr.Clean made this campaign because their products are actually really good. But, I just don’t understand what goes through people’s minds when they make these ad campaigns that are clearly degrading to woman and mothers alike.

Angela Iacono-Assignment 8

« Older posts