day two

Yesterday was my second day on the job, and like last time I startedd out by sorting the paper. after staking the piles of them, I went and deliever them to recieving, where two people brought in a couple of new born kittens. They were tugging and playing with each other; the image was most precious. Of course, when your in a shelter precious moments like that are often followed by reality. The reality is that those little frisky feline babies will be put to sleep if no foster parents sign up to care for that. since they have no mother to care for them, their chances of surviving are slim. Shelters often depend of people who are willing to be the foster parent of a puppy or kitty and providing them love and care that they would have recieve from their parents. so if your out there, please help...

Day 1 on volteer duty

Yesterday was the first day as a volunteer in the south LA animal services.
It started out very cheery,if not nervous. I signed in and my supervisor gave me an empty plastic name label. You know its official when your wearing a tag that you made yourself attached to a red tank-top that anyone could be wearing. My first assignment was having to separate newspapers. it may not make any sense at first but hey, puppies and dogs have to pee. We sorted the pile we had out, and went back for more only to find out that we had quickly ran out. Next thing you know, my supervisor is asking us to donate newspapers (Which I ask of you to do the same out of the goodness of your heart).

After dropping off the few newspapers, We were asked to bring the blankets for the puppies and kittens to have them folded for their cages. After that, my next task still didn't involve directly dealing with animals, but still any little bit helps I said to myself. Me and a group of other girls were asked to tidy up the volunteer and employee Lodge. The room was filled with with so much things, pile of recyclables, papers, cages, boxes and god only knows what else. after setting up a box filled with clipboard, I focus on the closet that contain supplies for puppies. I had to empty out the entire closet before i could even organize it. i was so glad i worked previously in a gallery. it so much easier cleaning out junk when you have experience in a much bigger job. after clearing disinfecting and organizing the closet, we were finally done, and my first job that deal ed with animals directly began.

my first job, and under supervision, was to clean the small dog cages. I suppose its what every beginner has to do, but I'm not complaining. though i didn't think it was going to be so complex. For starters, every time I clean out a new cage or handle a new dog, I had to change gloves. I put on a new pair of gloves, get the dog to trust me, take him out, put him in an empty cage, clean out the cage, put news paper put the dog back, take off the gloves, wash my hands, put on new gloves, clean out the empty cage, throw out the gloves, wash my hands, out new gloves, and do the whole thing all over again. It was tidious work and for a moment, I felt what it was like to have OCD. Still it was worth it. At least the dogs had a clean place, until they go to the bath room again, that is.

After I cleaned up, I headed to lunch, feeling like I accomplished a lot. I honestly felt like I made a difference, but the day was not over yet. As soon as I finish lunch, I headed to the Kennels, where a mom and her kids were looking for adoption. They didn't spoke English so I was on my own when it came to telling her everything I knew, which meant it put a strain on my nerves. They said that they were going to adopt a little dog name bubbles. she took one look at her, and though she was cute, but as soon as I told her the price, she wasn't so sure. To be frank its not that bad. For 117$, she could have had the dog, plus have her spayed, vaccinated, licenced, microchip, and a 3-business-day period to take it to the vet of your choice and well cover the exam. I think its worth it. Especially if it means taking a dog out of the shelter and into a new home. Still she was not convince, and when she asked if it was healthy, I told her that the dog had kennel cough (the common cold). this may not seem like the best thing to say, but the minute they find something wrong with the dog, then they blame us and accuse us of not informing them completely. Dealing with homeless animals, often means having to be completely honest. after words, she decided not to take bubbles, which I felt it was my fault. i felt bad that bubbles wasn't taken home, I'm sure she thought the same. I showed her a few more dogs. There was a couple of dogs that caught her interest, but ultimately she decided not to adopt any dogs. Her kids left disappointment, and i think a couple of dogs were too.

I left the shelter and went home. even after a shower, the scent of dog still lingered in my nose, and the faces of those dogs still flashes in my mind. It was really hard to sleep last night, and I suspect all nights will be the same.

hello design

This quarter speaker was David Lai, CEO of Hello design. I have to be honest, I was not looking forward to seeing another speaker. Most of the speakers that GAUGE host tend to be intimidating, this quarter's guest speaker was different. David Lai, though he seemed social awkward at first, was surprisingly very amusing. Unlike the last two speakers, Lai seemed to be excited about his accomplishments. More importantly, he seem to remember what it was like to be a student, and the challenges they go through.

Lai started his design agency at the age of 23. While he was young and naive like the most of us in the audience, he and his partner work diligently to build up their company. to this day, their web design firm, has one of the most innovative and geeky inner active designs. Form animated web pages, to games and even motion sensitive tunes on i-phones. One of the things I liked about Lai is that he had parents with specific expectations. While he wanted to study design, his parents wanted to study medicine. When he asked to study design, they said no. I felt this was important story that he told us, because most of us have been in this situation. My parents did not wanted me to study art, they wanted me to become a teacher. Unfortunately for them, I cannot stand children, ant that is partially their fault for having so many children for me to look after. I guess the most important thing he had to say to us was do what your passionate, not just what your good at.

I will be honest, I was a little down when I realized I had to go see someone talk about their success, but I did enjoy David Lai enthusiasm for his job. He and his design team take on challenges, even when they have no idea what to do. Its that kind of love for his job, that made me hope that once day I will love going to work, and would like to take on more challenges as time goes on. Though I doubt I have my own design agency

two sides

This week's material covered two subjects,displaying type and color. While I thought they were separate at first, I realized that there was a connection between them. Both topics consist of learning to display type in the most effective matter. I enjoyed some of the material that was offer, particularly the part on type and the factors that can change it for better or worst. However, I failed to see the importance most of the section of color.

Type can be a difficult art to understand, I learned that first hand. After my letter 'E' experiment, I learned we have looked at the same letter in different forms, and still be able read it as E. However, not all Es, or any other letter, read alike. Choice of fonts and design of the letter can give it a complete and different personality. It all depends on what we want to day and how we want to say it. On size and arrangement, I guess its one of the few things I got right from my experiment. Either that or my design was so terrible that it overshadowed my letter's size and position. Just like a tone can affect how we say things, arrangement, such as left/right flush, center, justified, and random, can affect the readability and interpretation. According, to the material, the settings of the letter, such as all caps, no caps or some caps, can express different meanings. Further more the spacing between letters, can affect the word's readability. Although this factor can be set for you through the computer, this really requires your trained eye to position the letters to be optically correct. The section on color seem to cover only the computer technical information, like color swatches and how the printing and projecting color function. Most of the information, however, had already been covered previous instructors (Connie beat you to it Jimmy). The most useful information that this part of the reading offered, was color can affect the readability of the word. I realized that that was the issue with most of the letters in the previous assignment. The high contrast between the white and black created problems. it made it difficult to spot some of the flaws.

I find Letter form to be difficult, mainly because I can barely read as it is, but also because i have yet to grasp its concept. It is precise and technical, and it requires us, the designer, to really think of letters and words as a form of art, rather than just shapes we use to communicate. I am not entirely worried about understanding it right away. Even though to took me longer to learn the alphabet than it did for most children, I eventually learned it. I may not learn all there is to know in the remaining seven weeks, but I'll learn what I can.

musical notes

This mid-week reading was one of the most interesting readings I have read. For the first time, I felt that it touched on what this class is about; working with typography. The challenge in typography for designers is to make sure it is readable, while at the same time draw our attention to the words without a trace. Our eyes need follow the flow of the words like our ears follow the flow of music. The wrong note can throw us of course, and ruin the rhythm. Therefore,its not just a matter of picking a font and a pretty word to match, but rather how we executed that will establish a relationship between the readers and the words.

As I read through the material, I was at a loss with most of the grammar. Had it not been the example type that the book provides, then prephaps I would have been more confuse than I was. It is then that I realized, the value of the section was trying to cover. Not everyone is a strong reader, or even an okay reader, but our eye can still interpret and translate when information is given to us. Therefore it is essential, to have a well constructed passage, and that does not just refers to just proff-reading it. If a passage has it words to tightly close or too far apart (rivers), then it can lose the readers rhythm, concentration, and interest. Furthermore, the setting of the given information is essential as well. For the most part, most type is constructed by left flushed, center, right flushed, and even jjustified. Each one has its own strength and weakness; choosing one depends on how the designer whats the information to process. These four however, are just the basics. Designer has a variety of other style to work with, such as random, runarounds, and contour. Designers can even design their organic shapes. This of course depends on how well its readability is, and if our eyes flow from one word to the other.

This section of was covered around them time when typography was discussed in my other graphic design classes. As a result, I was able to learn them well, or at least understood them. Type is like music, in the sense that I have yet to understand it, and have so far have just been going by instinct.

so long so very very long

Longest Four Pages, Ever!
This week consisted of two due readings. While one had an interesting history of the alphabet, the other could not have been more of a drag. Four pages of measuring was not only one of the dullest subjects I have ever read, it was difficult trying to pay attention to. Much less understand it. Though I do understand in the field of graphic design, precision is crucial in most situations, I still could not completely process most of the information. Picas and points, are just something I take for granted, especially because I am spoiled by technology, which does most of the work for me (Yes I am shamelessly admitting it).

I still do not have an appreciation for letters and their form. I know they can be just as powerful as images on canvas, I still have yet to understand this concept. Therefore When I sat down to read about picas and points, and how they are use to measure length and space of a letters, I could not have been more asleep. It felt like I was reading a math book, in the sense that I had no idea what it was saying. Especially when it got to the part of measuring the type. I did however understood why this was done. Before printing was on a keyboard, it was done on printing blocks. the challenge was to make the print readable for a general public, and not making it too heavy. therefore a good eye, steady hands, and a precise measurement, is key in print design. Lining space was also something i struggle with to understand. Lining space seems to deal with the space between the sentence. they measure from the baseline, and seems to be very important topic to understand. when working with type, the space between sentence must not only be appealing, but readable. So you can guess, that some client are going to be particular about lining.

Well this midweek's reading may not have been one of my most favorite, or even tolerable topics, but who said they all would be. An instructor had warn me not to long ago, that you will not always like what you must read. You can fight it all you like, but you will still have to do it. Well I still have a lot of reading ahead of me, and a lot to learn about type. lets just hope I can do more than just stay awake.

New book, New blog

This is base on the lessons of Designing with Type

ABC's...
What they don't teach you in preschool

Thinking back to my early days of education, I can recall the moment in when I first learned the alphabet through song. As time went on, I went on using the language without fully understanding their forms, purpose, history and aesthetics. In doing so I have neglected myself the ability to communicate effectively and their potential in communication. Now I find myself in the university level, relearning one of my most basic lessons the same purpose. As they say, the masters practice the basics...I guess students should do the same.

While learning the ABC's through song was simple, its history was complex, and did not came from one source. Early communications can be traced to the most primal form, pictographs. They were an abstracted image of an object, but as time went on they soon became ideographs. Images began having more than one meaning, and this pre-writing system became the foundations for many forms of writing, including our modern day Alphabet. Around 1200 B.C.E, the Phoenician simplified their writing system for their trading and business purposes. They took their existing images, and converted them to symbols for each sound. This system of writing was much more simpler, however it was also limited. By 800 B.C.E, the Greeks adopted the Phoenicians system, and modified it so that it was not just contained within business purposes. They added five vowels and formalized the letterform. This version was then adopted by the Romans, who also contribute made it what it is today. The Romans modified letters (C,D,G,L,P,R,S,and U), added the letters F and Q, and changed their names to a much more simpler sound. The alphabet has evolved as we have, and while most of us may never learn its history, even few were would learned of its aesthetic characteristic.

When it comes to understanding typography, and even designing, learning the characteristics that make up forms and function is essential. Characteristics are not just limited to uppercase and lowercase. They also consist baseline and meanline, which are the invisible lines in where the letters rest on and lowercase letters reach. In between them is the x-height, which is the height of the body or entire letter of lowercase family. In additions, there is also descenders and ascenders, which are parts of the letters that fall below the meanline and transcend the meanline. Counters, which are the small spaces within letters like e or o, are also an aesthetic characteristic. Serifs are the finishing stroke on a letter, and sanserif refers to be stroke free. There are other different type of characteristics that provide the form of a letter, which determines how well the letters work to express a word. In addition to letter characteristics, type phase and style can also give a word its aesthetics and ability to communicate effectively. Thanks to modern technology, designers have a variety of typephase, such as Century or Ariel, at their fingertips. Furthermore, they can be altered by typestyle, which can consist of Bold, regular, or italic. However, knowing aesthetics is not enough. Essential and basic writing skill are important to graphic designers because its a career that involves communications. And it becomes difficult to communicate, when you cannot use comma, colons, question marks, and more correctly. As designers, studying typography and and writing skills are one of the most important lessons we will learn in order to become great communicators. We work with both words and image in order to communicate. to a designer, the right word can change the world, its form can change its meaning.