"Times is the club nobody goes to anymore because it's too crowded."

I'm doing a big post of my completed work from fall semester. You can click on the project number to download complete .pdf's of the assignments :)

First up, work from Visual Language:

Project 1
Goal: To explore formal elements of design through a series of contrasting compositions





Project 2
Goal: Explore different methods of creating imagery (by manipulating xeroxes of objects)





Project 3
Goal: Create digital abstractions with the pen tool in adobe illustrator from chosen xeroxes from project 2




Project 4... was in progress when the strike started




Next, Typography 1 projects:

Project 1
Goal: Create monograms and a label to be used on future projects




Project 2
Goal: Typeset an Aesop's Fable with expressive text and layout grid, and design a cover for process work









Project 3
Goal: Create a poster for the ROM advertising an exhibit about early forms of writing; this included composing the main image for the poster by learning how to write or create the letterforms on a medium that reflected the traditional medium





Project 4... was a group presentation about "good", "bad", and "ugly" typography :)

Back in the saddle... sort of

The strike is still going, but it looks like things might be coming to a close soon... well, we all hope so, at least. For those who are interested, The Star has been running an article every day for the past few days about it.

I have, however, started my two classes at Sheridan College Wednesday, and I'm really excited about that. This semester, for my practical design courses, I'm taking Interactivity Design and Design and Image. One of my professors is a professional information architect/interactive designer from the States, and the other I had last semester in a lecturer-only class. I'm really excited to have him again! He said he hasn't ever taught a studio class, and hasn't actually been in a design studio since the 80's, but he's a really interesting guy, so this should be... well, interesting, to say the least.

For Interactivity Design, we're going to be learning some very basic interactive (web) techniques (HTML, CSS, grids, motion, etc.). Design and Image is supposed to build off of Visual Language, a class we had last semester (...or were supposed to finish... except the strike interfered with that a bit), which was a class where we had to make compositions that focused on techniques for communicating abstractly. This class appears to be more about communicating through use of abstract imagery concepts (symbols, denotation/connotation, icons) in conjunction with the formal elements/principles of design, rather than exploring the elements alone.

I'm really looking forward to this semester! I'm glad that I am still excited by all my current projects and all the things I'll be learning in the future. I think design was a really great find in the world of careers; I'm relieved that I know what I want to do with my life, and that every time I go to class, that feeling becomes stronger, not weaker.

A Hostage Situation

Since Thursday, November 6th, 2008, classes at York University have been suspended because of a labor dispute between Canadian Union of Public Employees 3903 and the university. CUPE 3903 members consist of teaching assistants, graduate assistants, research assistants, and contract faculty… so anyone who teaches, but isn’t a tenured professor; they cover over fifty percent of the teaching at the university. The union is asking for, not only increases in wages, but better job security for the contract profs, two-year contracts, and some other things that I that I’m not entirely clear on.

So, for 17 days, there have been no classes, labs, tutorials, studies, or other academic activities lead by TA’s (student-run groups that don’t count for credit, however, are still fair game). During this time, approximately 50,000 undergraduates who attend school here have basically been held hostage, especially those in residence (…i.e. me). On top of that, in my case, I’m in a joint program with another college, Sheridan College, so I (and my fellow design majors) had to schlep out to Oakville once a week and attend classes there while none of our other classes were going on. Pretty much all of the kids who were living in res, the ones that could go home and be back at York in a reasonable amount of time should the strike end unexpectedly, left. Those of us who still had classes in the GTA, or who were from really far away (say… Hong Kong, or even places like P.E.I. that required a flight to and from), had to stick around and wait. In light of the fact that my classes will be over Wednesday, I am going home for American Thanksgiving (something hadn’t previously been possible because I had a midterm and concert scheduled that day).

However, there is a constant threat that I’ll have to book last minute tickets and book it up to the GTA if the strike ends. Apparently, the union is meeting with a third party arbitrator sometime soon and adjusting their demands, which could lead to a meeting with both sides soon (I’ve heard from various sources that the last meeting lasted either two hours or fifteen minutes… either way, no agreement was reached).

Though I’m worried about cutting my breaks and subsequent time at home short, I’ve decided to remain fairly neutral about this; I have taken the stance that… there isn’t much I can do, other than start picketing with one of the sides, which isn’t really appealing to me for many reasons (including the fact that the temperature hovers around the freezing mark every day). Not surprisingly, OTHER undergrads have A LOT to say about it. For example, the main student-focused protest group, the York University Anti-Strike group (facebook), is taking the stance that CUPE 3903 is asking for too much and not considering the undergraduates' positions at all. The York Federation of Students, our student union, is siding WITH the union, I believe based on the idea that better working conditions for them will produce better education for the undergraduates here.

That’s all I really have to say about this topic. For those curious for more information about the strike, and strike updates, here are some links:

For ridiculously biased updates from the university, see:
http://www.yorku.ca/web/index.htm
http://webapps.yorku.ca/negotiationsupdates/Updates.aspx?a=CUPE3903

For slightly less biased updates from CUPE 3903, see:
http://www.cupe3903.tao.ca/

For bitter, possibly accurate updates from York Not Hostage, see:
http://www.yorknothostage.com/

For outside, not-necessarily-thorough updates, I check The Star:
http://www.thestar.com/search?t=&q=York%20University%20strike&r=&ll=&type=&dp=&PageNumber=&OrderBy=

Change (and I'm not talking Loonies and Toonies)

Two weeks ago today, history was made in the United States.

Now, I don’t really want to discuss politics too heavily in this blog, since… well it’s more of a travel/experiential blog, really, and politics are best left to be discussed bitterly in political blogs, but the whole experience of this election from the perspective of another country was something worth noting.

I’m still surprised by the number of people I meet here (young people, especially) who are interested in, possibly almost obsessed with, American politics. I visited my roommate’s hometown last weekend, and while we were at dinner with a bunch of her friends, one of them got all excited when she found out I was from the States (she even whipped out her copy of “The Audacity of Hope” to share with me). I’d like to think that we’re all ambassadors; obviously you can’t judge a whole country based on one person, or on media coverage – you need to meet individuals from countries and hear what they have to say. So in a way, I’d like to think that I’m an ambassador for Americans, especially in time where our country’s political decisions haven’t exactly been stellar, diplomatic, or world-forward. I listen to what Canadians have to say: I explain what I think about American politics and how it works, and I hope that we’re both learning and maybe changing our opinions about one another.

And when they ask me if I voted, I tell them that I did; I voted for Obama and I voted absentee in the comfort of my residence room. I had my friend sign as my witness and then I mailed it home. I’d like to think that my vote was counted and there wasn’t any funny business at the polls, and since Virginia somehow magically became a blue state for the first time in 40-ish years, I’m pretty sure it was.

In the last few weeks prior to election night, there was at least one article in The Star each day about something dumb Sarah Palin had done or said (one of my friends jokingly speculated that this is because Canadians secretly like to think that Americans are dumb, and when someone actually proves it, it makes them happy) and at least one or two about other aspects of the election.

And when it came down to election day, I was pleasantly surprised by a lot of things. I knew that the election coverage was going to be playing on the common room TV, but I was surprised when I came home from class Tuesday night to see a huge crowd gathered around the widescreen in the common room, their gazes fixed on CCN, watching as results came in. Unfortunately, I had to work on a typography project, so I didn’t join them, but I reloaded NBC4’s website over and over again until, suddenly, Barack Obama had 273 electoral votes. I ran and hijacked my roommate’s TV, and ended up getting to hear a bit of McCain’s defeat speech (I ended up watching Obama’s victory speech the next day, and it was awesome). After that, every so often, I could hear people freaking out all over the dorm. I live on the seventh floor, directly above the front entrance, and I could hear people outside by the front door shouting to others, “OBAMA WON!!!” It was madness, but it felt nice to know that people here, though they had no say in the election, were so excited for what had been accomplished at home.

So, yes we did, America. We did something that has given our image a huge boost around the globe. One of my roommate’s friends commented, “I feel like I can actually like the United States again, now that there’s a president I support,” and as an obligatory afterthought, because I must have been giving him a look, “…sorry.”

And I’d like to add a warning to those conservatives out there who are disappointed by the results: I kept seeing posts and opinions all over the internet whining that if Obama won, they would be moving to Canada. Think again – I heard on CP24 that 85% of Canadians polled would’ve voted for Obama if they could have. And you’re complaining because Obama is too “socialist”? Remember – in Canada, they have socialized health care, and many, many, many OTHER government-funded social programs. I guess what I want to say here is, Republicans, or those who did not support Obama, be thankful for what you’ve got. And, don’t get me wrong here, Canada is an awesome place; I don’t mean to imply that there’s something wrong with politics here, but if that’s the reason you want to leave, just think twice before packing your bags. :)

Videos!

A few hours later:


See. It really is snowing. Of course, this is only foreign to me... this is like January weather in Virginia.

"...or maybe they spent 1/3 of a second looking at the ad... yeah, that's all you get for your work, so it'd better be good."

Good news, everyone! I'm not frozen yet!

I am pretty busy with classwork, though. My design classes this semester are Typography 1, Visual Language, and Critical Issues in Design The first two are practical classes where we make things instead of sitting around and listening to professors talk a lot; the last is a lecture... and the prof. does talk a lot. :) I'm also taking Introduction to Psychology, Arts and Ideas (it's a class about how to study art... sort of ...it's required for my degree; all fine arts majors have to take it) and Orchestra.

The York/Sheridan BDes program is basically set up to create an army of young designers who will be able to compete in the professional world right out of college... which is, theoretically, every university program's goal, I guess. That being said, the professors focus a lot on process work - we have turn in bound copies of all of our sketches and process materials with our mounted final products. The theory is that if you can defend your process and how you came to conclusions about your designs, you'll be able to make better pitches when you have a real job. Coupled with that, one of the main focuses of my Critical Issues class is to teach us how to write and think critically about design.

In my Typography class, our first project is to design two monograms and a label to use on all of our projects during our four years of study.


The first monogram design had to show both letterforms completely and contrast them without them touching (in my design, the letters are different fonts and are positioned at a 90-degree angle). For the second design, we had to use one positive (black) and one negative (white) letter integrated together with either one or both of the letterforms incomplete (look - it's an 'e' inside an 'S'! Neither one is complete, however, the viewer can still tell what they are. Thank you, Gestalt.)



In Visual language, we are illustrating visual principles (such as form, texture, and direction) by designing two contrasting blocks for each principle (or multiple principles later in the project) using only one shape (I'm using triangles) and only black and white.


direction - contrast in direction





form - contrast in shape





space - contrast in the figure's relationship to the background





scale - contrast in size of elements





weight - contrast in how much visual space a figure takes up





texture - a two-dimensional representation of a three dimensional tactile sensation



Next week, we have to do 6 sets of contrasts combining different forms (i.e. texture and weight or space and scale). So... I'm going to go work on those. I hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into what I'm working on!

Look Frosh – a blog post! A blog post? HUH HUH.

Last week at uni was Frosh Week. As far as I know, there aren’t any US schools that have anything called Frosh Week, or anything like it masquerading under a different name. Frosh Week is the fun-filled week before classes start. There is orientation information (i.e. talks about the rules, what to do, meeting the faculty, etc) and also… partying. Dry partying, but partying nonetheless. Every night, I hear the parties going on in the quad from all the way at my residence hall at the very edge of campus.

At York, faculties are divided into groups called “colleges” (it’s like the Hogwarts houses in Harry Potter. If you haven’t read Harry Potter, it’s like organizing your cutlery drawer at home – spoons here, forks there). The colleges each have their own orientation for freshman students. My college is called Winters, and it hosts all the fine arts students at York.
Each college also has a residence building affiliated with it. It isn’t required that you live with your faculty, but it is recommended. I don’t live in the Winters residence hall; I live in a snazzy one called Pond Road which is the newest residence building, and the only one not associated with a college at York.

And so that brings me to my dorm room, which is a wonder upon wonders in the collegiate world. I share a suite a kitchen and bathroom with only one person, my roommate Laura. We also get our own single-person bedrooms. It’s basically an apartment, and we are freshman… which is insanely lucky and amazing.

And so it’s time to share the wonder that is my suite at The Pond Road Residence:

kitchen/bathroom:



john adams! woo!







my roommate's room:




my room:









eddie's on the window

the view from my window :





So my residence hall is amazing. The people I’ve met who live here are all nice as well. I met my don (it’s what they call RA’s in Canada, or at least at York) and a bunch of kids on my floor on move-in day. We had a barbeque, played some games, and met the other dons and Frosh Week leaders (Bosses).

During Frosh Week, my roommate and I only sampled some of the activities instead of going to every single one, like some people do. We went on a downtown tour with Winters. We went to the Eaton Centre, a huge mall downtown. While there, some of our frosh bosses started a dance party in the Apple store and got kicked out of the mall. And, while we were all running around downtown together, we sang some of the Winters College cheers. My personal favorite is the one where a leader will call, “Look, frosh – [an object]!” and everyone echoes, “[an object]? Huh huh! [an object]? Huh!” with each “huh” accompanied by a pelvic thrust. For example, when we overtook Downsview subway station, we shouted, “Look, frosh – confused and innocent bystanders!” “Confused and innocent bystanders? HUH HUH! Confused and innocent bystanders? HUH!”

Yeah Winters college is crazy and intense. Like I said, I can hear their quad parties from my res halfway across campus.




Kids and frosh bosses in a fountain during the downtown tour.



All the frosh in my res and our frosh bosses went to a “Space Pirates vs Space Ninjas” themed dance party in the Winters quad.


My costume (space ninja)


Laura’s (space pirate)


My res! (not my picture - I shamelessly stole this from someone’s facebook)



Winters Frosh Week culminated with an awesome boat cruise on The Empire Sandy, this old schooner that tours the Toronto Harbor.








the skyline from the harbor


So Frosh Week was amazing! I met so many cool people and did so many cool things! I miss it already.