Cuneiform and the Sumerians | 3,000 BC

After it evolved over time, what shape did the characters of Cuneiform evolve into?

The Sumerians were one of the earliest types of this kind of civilization? What does that mean?
Nomadic Civilization,

Why is the region of Sumer considered the Cradle of Civilization?
sumer

What could the Sumerians practice year round because of the regions climate?agriculture the surplus of food allowed them to say in the region


Post an example of early Cuneiform (Sumerian pictograph).
Why was Cuneiform created?
to help track all the business transactions

What medium was used to "write" Cuneiform? Explain the process of preparing and writing on this surface?
clay tablets, wet the clay, form it into flat surfaces, use a wedge shaped stylus made from reeds to make impressions into the clay surface, lay clay n sun

What did Cuneiform begin as a series of? 
pictographs

Post an example of evolved Cuneiform (wedge-shaped).

wedge shape language



Post an example of Akkadian Cuneiform.
After the Akkadians conquered, what happened to the Sumerian culture and written language?
adopted the sumerian culture and their written language

What is a pictograph?
ideogram that conveys its meaning through its pictorial resemblances
Why did the creation of Cuneiform allow the Sumerians to become a sophisticated culture?
form of communication 

Assignment 14: research and inspiration

Research:
According to College Board, Illustrators, "create images for everything from books to greeting cards to advertisements. Many specialize, working mostly on children's books or medical illustrations, for example."
It helps to be to be creative, talented and committed to crafting in this field of work.


Brainstorming/Inspiration:
- incorporate a fun, twist with the word creative
- colorful
- bright colors
- if using Illustrator utilize words to make up your piece
- greens, yellows, pinks, oranges, and purples
- maybe make Illustrator in bold, big letters at the top of the poster
- have job description at bottom in fine print
- picture in the middle
- incorporate positive and negative space
- maybe make it look like a storybook

I like this one because it utilizes colors. It also tells basically what Illustrators do in only three words.  The Illustration was interesting as well. It looked like a cover to a children's book, however, it was also a poster and I love how they conveyed a message as well as showed what Illustrators do.

I absolutely love this design because they use text to describe an idea or a subject in this case uses a poem. It is beautiful and I love the way this designer used cool colors when designing his piece, If i use Illustrator I would like to create a poster that looks sort of like this with using a person. However,  If I did something like this I would use a picture that could remind me of a children's illustration. 

I like this one a lot because it is advertising a companies product. In a unique way that is not usually used, It shows a message without using many words and has a lot of different things to look at and catches your attention.

Visual Organization

Visual Organization
not directing the audience through a design is misdirecting them!

1) Eye Movement- The typical eye moves left to right and top to bottom. Controlling eye movement within a composition is a matter of directing the natural scanning tendency of the viewer's eye. The eye tends gravitate towards areas of complexity first. In pictures of people, the eye is always attracted to the face and particularly the eye. Light areas of a composition will attract the eye, especially when adjacent to a dark area. Diagonal lines or edges will guide eye movement.
2) Optical Center- The spot where the human eye tends to enter the page. Optical center is slightly above mathematical (or exact) center and just to the left.It takes a compelling element to pull your eyes away from this spot.
3) Z Pattern- Our visual pattern makes a sweep of the page, generally, in the shape of a "Z". Effective page design maps a viewer's route through the information. The designer's objective is to lead the viewer's eye to the important elements or information.

Font Guidelines


1) Use no more than two fonts within a page. (make sure the fonts compliment each other)
2) Avoid all caps, unless necessary
3) Choose the right font (choose fonts according to the theme of your design)
4) Do NOT overuse fancy and complicated fonts (such as scripts and calligraphy, not good for body text)
www.typography.com/email/2010_03/index.htm

Visual Hierarchy
will establish focal points based on there importance to the message that's being communicated. establish an order of elements, a visual structure.
1) What do I want my viewer to look at first?

The Grid - way of organizing content on a page, using any combination of margins, guidelines, rows, and columns. (Instituted by Modernism).
-can assist the audience by breaking info manageable chunks and establishing relationships between text and images.
-A grid consist of a distinct set of alignment based relationships that act as guides for distributing elements across a format.
-Used to help clarify the message being communicated and to unify the elements.

Cave Paintings

What are cave paintings?beautiful detailed and colorful representations found on the inside of cave walls and ceilings

Name several common themes found in cave paintings?large animals, tracings of human hands abstract patterns

How were these paintings created (tools, pigments)?
water, plant juice, animal blood, soil, charcoal, and hematite (a form of iron oxide)

What is the most famous cave painting site? When was it discovered and by whom?






Post an example of cave painting(s) from this cave.
Lascaux, France. Discovered it in 1940 by four teenage boys

Why did this cave have to be closed? What was done to satisfy public curiosity?
Because the paintings were being damaged by the carbon dioxide emitted from the tourist, the french government created lascaux 2 a man made replica next to the original. 

Post an example of cave painting(s) from Altamira cave.
In Altamira cave, why do most of the paintings have a red hue?
caused by the red hue in the soil where they got the paint from

Who discovered this site? How old are the paintings confirmed to be?
discovered by Marceline Sanz De Sautuola and his daughter Maria. nearly 19,000 years ago

What is the oldest known cave painting site? When was it discovered and by whom?

Post an example of cave painting(s) from this cave.
Chauvet-Point arc, discovered by three speleogists in 1994

What was different about the painting techniques at this site?
Walls were scraped clear of debris and 3d effect was created by etching around the edges

What is "speleology"?
the science of exploring the underground spaces.

What three reasons do archeologists and historians believe prehistoric man created cave paintings?

1) to tell a story or recount an event that already happened
2) as an instructional visual aid to help teach about hunting techniques 
3) created for magical or religious reasons that if an image of a desired event were painted it might come true

Assignment 13: research and inspiration

Research: 

Wikipedia says, Exquisite Corpse, "is a method by which a collection of words or images is collectively assembled."

This form of art was developed around the 1920's and it was made by the French Surrealist of that time. Surrealism- art movement that is unrealistic and shows a different view on art because everything before was realistic.
Brainstorming/Inspiration:
-fun
-somewhat realistic
- playful
- who is my target audience? me
- what am i trying to communicate? surrealism

I like this one because it utilizes three completely different figures and that go together in perfection. 

I enjoy looking at this particular piece because it flows however uses completely different thoughts together to make one big piece.
Down to the hair in the first half to the feet in the last half on this picture. 

I like this picture because it does not have a certain theme
and it is crazy and everything is pretty much scattered around the piece. 

The Creative Process

Creative Process- a series of steps repeated every time you design something


Why is this process important?
1) improves consistency 
2) ability to plan and time your work
3) raise the quality of your work
4) communicate more effectively and in a more professional manner 


Steps to The Creative Process
1) RESEARCH- to understand the audience, get online, look at magazines, listen to music, pay attention to the world around you, whatever you need to get inspired.
2) BRAINSTORM/INSPIRATION- striving to be unique and innovative while still following the current trends, ensure a fresh and creative approached (come up with adjectives or phrases that best describe your project, ask yourself some questions.. what kind of message am i trying to communicate? who is my audience? what am i trying to tell the audience? what kind of color/style will work for this audience?)
3) SKETCH
4) EXECUTE- implementing our ideas. pulling all of your research, brainstorm, sketches together. 
5) CRITIQUE AND REVISE- take a step back (literally) and look at your design with an objective eye. Does the design look good? Does it fit the principle that is being used? 

Photo Composition

Snapshot- an unplanned picture, quick shot often spontaneous, to keep a memory. ex: pictures with your friends

Photograph- an image taken with care and thought. 

Rules of Compositions:

Rule of Thirds: imaginary lines drawn dividing the frame of your camera into thirds, both horizontally and vertically. Place the important subject, or important elements of your composition where these lines intersect. Place horizon line at the top or bottom horizontal divider. And/Or fill up the entire frame with the subject for a close up image.

Leading Lines: use the lines created within the foreground or background of the composition to lead the viewer's eye through the photo. Lines can draw attention to one or more intended subjects or a single focal point.

Point of View: change the way your subject is perceived by changing the camera position. If you are photographing a subject that you want to seem very tall, compose the shot so that the camera is looking upwards.

Simplicity: keep your background simple and clear of clutter. The mood and effectiveness of a photo can be altered by what is in the background. A chaotic composition will cause the viewer to look away.