New Project Update

I take it back! The website is not done yet, but it will be soon. I am still having formatting problems between different browsers, so I am redesigning the tables (which hold all the elements within each page). Things are beginning to get aggrivating but I am confident all will be well by Thursday.

Project Update

I managed to finish my website this week. While the text is not as polished as I'd ultimately like it to be, the graphical elements are complete to my satisfaction. I redesigned the tables so that their dimensions are expressed in terms of pixels rather than a percentage of the screen. This resolved the alignment problems I was experiencingwhen viewing the webpage with multiple browsers. At this point, all that remains for me to do is to contact the economics department chair and request an address located within the department's domain where I canstore the files. It may be the case that the chair wants to see more polished text before linking the site to the economics homepage, in which case I will present the material to my advisor for further development by students next semester. For the purposes of my english project, however, I have created a presentation that illustrates my ability to generate a graphical website using a given collection of subject content, giving a new visual dimension to the data and analysis of South Carolina's economic history.

America's Army

- Created in 2002, geared toward video gamers as a tool to generate new recruits
- Realistic, first person shooter, online multiplayer game
- Focuses on teamwork
- Not a substitue for real-world training, but helpful in familiarizing soldiers with layout, scenarios, etc.
- Photorealism is central to game
- Breathing, injuries, ect. all affect the character's performance
- Soldiers creed: a set of ethical guidelines for how to behave as a soldier

World of WarCraft

Visual Aspects

Fantasy characters
- appearance: blue skin, glowing eyes, powerful weapons, etc.
- illustrate power, importance, strength, beauty

Magic
- glowing colors, especially green

Landscape
- unusual colors draw attention to areas you want players to look at
- supernatural aspects portrayed differently; often bleak, gloomy

Project Update

I have added the necessary pages to my SC economic history website, so that there is now a page for each link. For some reason, however, the table containing the links has shifted, causing the positioning to become unbalanced. Hopefully this will be easy enough to fix. I still need to enter the actual text, charts, etc. onto each page, and I also need to find other sites with additional information to link from my site. Entering the analysis and interpretation of economic data (the bulk of the information on the site) will take some time, but I feel like I am progressing at an appropriate pace.

Computer Graphics

Realistic, high-tech animation is infiltrating our world. From video games and internet applications to commercial advertisments and feature film productions, photo-realism of animation is a provokative new outlet for visual communication. Programs such as Photoshop and Final Cut Pro employ a graphical user interface (GUI) which allows users to digitally manipulate images, essentially blurring the lines between reality and fantasy.

- gameplay
- graphic
- first computer game developed: tic-tac-toe
- EDSAC - (military missile targeting??)
- 1948 - Wilkes developed first computer
- three countries developed computers almost simultaneously during this time (usa, england, germany). computers were almost identical in the way they functioned.
- Space War - "granddaddy of all modern computer games"; first multiplayer game, networked
- Chess - "Deep Blue" was IBM's computer which first beat a chess grand master
- Toomraider became a big hit partially because it gave a 3rd person perspective of a sexy avatar
- many computers now have a separate processor dedicated to video games

Visual Project - Progress Report

The development of my website has made significant progression. Although it doesn't appear to be very far along at present, most of my effort has been spent learning how to use the composer software. The content I am using for the site is gathered in an electronic portfolio, which can be accessed at:

http://bb.clemson.edu/webapps/bbcms/portfolio/viewPortfolio.jsp?pid=_15351_

If you log into Blackboard, you can view the shared portfolio under the "content collection" tab. Click on "received portfolios" and select "South Carolina Economic History" to view the files.

As for the site itself, I have been using a free program called SeaMonkey Composer to design the page. While it was fairly difficult to learn at first, I am now familiar the the process of using tables to layout various content areas. With this accomplished, I am able to make progress at a more rapid pace. The economics department is still using a remote server to store its content (http://clemsoneconomics.org/), therefore I am still waiting for a public folder on the Clemson network in which to store the files for my page. This should be taken care of soon; if not, the department should be able to link my page from its remote server. The work published thus far can be viewed at:

http://people.clemson.edu/~jcourtn/South_Carolina_Economic_History.html.

By the week's end, I would like to have the transportation and ports sections completed along with the welcome page. The narrative-style textual content, written by myself and coworkers, is included in the various files stored in my electronic portfolio. This will need editing and formatting, which can be done in the later stage of development. For now, my focus is to get everything posted to the site so it can be arranged in proper layout form.

CSI: Production Analysis

Last week in class, we watched an episode of CSI - Las Vegas. Although it was entertaining, the focus of this activity was to observe the production aspects of the program, including visual elements and the "made for television" plot structure.

Notes...

Project Update

At present, I am in the process of completing the Welcome page for my South Carolina Economic History website. The composer program I am working with is not as user-friendly as I had hoped it to be. I am considering switching to a different application. Nevertheless, the Wecome page will be completed later today, and I will post the link here in the blog.

Two Great Film Classics

For this assignment, the class was supposed to read a specific article on the internet concerning the classic film, Citizen Kane, then write reflections on that article in this blog. Unfortunately, I have been unable to find the article in question. Additionally, we were supposed to compare the characters in Citizen Kane with the characters in The Godfather. Due to the fact that I have not seen either of these films, this assignment was somewhat difficult. I did manage to find a synopsis of the two films, however. From what I can tell, the main characters in both stories face a struggle to achieve money and power. Some may call this the "American dream". In their efforts along the way, both characters become subject to moral corruption which draws them into a downward spiral. These films are both said to use unique and effective cinematography, which helps to convey their overall message. This is a key element of any successful film.

Notes on Film: Downfall

In the film "Downfall" watched in class, How do the visual elements of the film assist in conveying the film's message?

- Dull colors of clothing, scenery ~ conveys historical context and dark mood

- Most everyone in uniform ~ war is everywhere, clear and present danger

- Hitler's shakiness and jerking movements ~ losing control of both power and sanity, nervous?

- Weapons, vehicles, phones, typewriters, other props ~ specific to time period

- Destruction, barracades, chaos in the streets ~ surrounded by fighting

- Dead naked bodies, weary faces of jews ~ reminder of Holocaust

- Hitler & Eva's bodies carried out, then burned ~ visual confirmation of death

- Bodies burned ~ prevent Russian soldiers from seizing Hitler's body; cover up the suicide?

- Guns and blood in the bunker ~ confirmation of suicide

- Beating rifles against bricks ~ surrender?

- Woman and boy dressed in Rusian uniforms? ~ pass through Russian troops unharmed?

- Generals/soldiers? committing suicide, graphic images of dead bodies ~ evil men died violently

- Camera follows actors through bunker ~ creates more personal feeling of actually being there

Project Update

I must admit I have been somewhat lagging in progress towards the completion of my webpage on South Carolina Economic History. I have been preoccupied with work for other courses, among other reasons. This is merely an explanation, not an excuse, and I will now spend the remainder of the semester focusing my efforts to accomplish this assignment. First of all, I need to establish a new timetable to follow.

Week 10/22 - Establish a new timetable! Finish gathering images (particularly more historical photographs).

Week 10/29 - Make a final decision on the overall layout of the site, keeping the visual theme consistent with the Economics department site. Design and publish Welcome/Introduction page.

Week 11/5 - Design and publish Transportation & Ports sections.

Week 11/12 - Design and publish Agriculture section.

Week 11/19 - Design and publish Manufacturing section.

Week 11/26 - Design and publish Education & Significance of Clemson University sections.

Week 12/3 - Polish and finalize the website. Upload the site to CU Economics department domain. Write final paper.

Sunday at Noon

This Sunday I rolled out of bed just before noon. I let my dog outside and grabbed my camera phone. Here is the image that was before my eyes...

The weather was nice outside. The sun was shining, and it was the type of day that would make you happy to be alive...if you were not hung over from the night before.

Digital Remix Photos

Our in-class assignment today was rather fun and productive. Our group somehow managed to conceive and produce three digital remix photos in a period of only 30 minutes or so. The following images are the results of our collaboration.

This photo of Stephen Colbert's head on the Lincoln Memorial represents the admiration for Colbert by both liberals and conservatives who are disenfranchised with the Republican party. His recent announcement that he will be running in the presidential primary (only in South Carolina) was our inspiration for this creation.

This is a satellite image of the United States with a picture of the Great Wall of China superimposed on the Mexican boarder. The current debate over illegal immigration and the proposal by some individuals to erect a wall on the boarder led our group to create this image as a satirical statement.

In this digital remix, we portrayed President Bush as the head of Medusa, with the 2008 Republican party candidates as snakes extending from his head. This is intended to represent the widespread sentiment that Bush is a fearsome creature, while the candidates represent a further extension of the Republican agenda.

Group Cartoon

For this in-class project, we split into three groups to create cartoons. Each group had a manager/storyboarder, writers, and artists. My role was a writer. Our cartoon is fairly simple, since we had only one class period to complete the project. Still, I believe it expresses the intended message quite clearly, while adding a satirical component at the same time. Basically, we are expressing our frustration with the fact that fall break was cut a day short because of our football game which was held on Labor Day. Here is the cartoon itself:

"Due to the Observance of Tommy Bowden's birthday, classes will now be held on Thanksgiving Day."

Sincerely,
-- President James F. Barker

Weekly Progress Report

Due to a very busy schedule this week, the progress I made toward my website was not as much as I would have liked. I was under the pressure of two exams and two papers in addition to the ongoing demands of coursework; however, I did manage to accomplish a couple tasks to advance my website. I subscribed to a free web server where I can work on my site temporarily. The head of the economics department informed me that the departmental pages were in a transition phase of being relocated from remote servers, and he will let me know when this process is complete. At that time, I will be granted access to a domain within the economics department. For now, the temporary site is hosted at the following address:

http://scecohistory.freewebpage.org

Although I have not yet published anything to this site, I downloaded an application for creating webpages. The software is called SeaMonkey, which includes a browser and a composer application that is fairly easy to use. I have begun to familiarize myself with the composer tools, and I believe they will be adequate for my project. Additionally, I have collected several images to use on the site. I already have all of the charts and graphs that I will use, so I feel like I have a fairly good start on the project. Even so, I need to maintain my focus on the completion of individual goals which I will set for myself in order to have the webpage finished in a timely manner.

Questions for Reading Discussion

"Deflecting the Political in the Visual Images of Execution and the Death Penalty Debate"
-- by Diana George and Diane Shoos

Discussion Questions:

Do graphic visual images of executions desensitize us?

Does Hollywood exhibit a bias in its portrayal of capital punishment? Does the news media?

How can such images be presented without bias towards a particular agenda?

Is there a real constructive purpose for these images, or do they provoke emotions on both sides that are often counterproductive?

Does the use of such graphic images sometimes have an opposite effect of what is intented?

Ex) Pro-life protesters carrying signs of dead fetus parts at a football tailgate - this made me more angry at the protesters than anyone else.

My Personal Font

After looking through many different font styles and type families, I happened upon a font known as "Poor Richard". While I am not sure if this is the exact font used in printing the historical Poor Richard's Almanac, it is undoubtedly named with regard to this publication (concerning the American colonial economy, 1732-1758). I found it difficult to look through so many fonts in attempt to find one that represented my own personality; therefore I took an opposite approach. I identified some of my own characteristics, then selected a font that also resembled these attributes.

I am both unconventional and conservative, which is illustrated by this font. As a moderate conservative, I am open to new ideas and progressive change. As a font, Poor Richard is not in the dry, conservative style that is used in Times New Roman, for example. It is different and unique, but not flashy or overtly decorated either. Here is an example:

Questions for Reading Discussion

"Changing the Face of Poverty: Representations of Poverty in Nonprofit Appeals"
-- by Diana George

Discussion Questions:

What actually defines poverty? Is it different for each culture?

If nonprofit intentions are entirely altruistic, does the end justify the means?

Semester Project Proposal

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am designing a webpage for the Economics department as my semester project in Visual Communication. The site focuses on South Carolina's economic history during the Civil War era. This is the subject of an ongoing creative inquiry course offered in the department, which I have taken over the past three semesters. Students have gathered a great deal of data and written analyses of the data's significance, but it is not in a format that is easily presentable to an outside audience. For this reason, the department has designated me to be the webmaster of the South Carolina Economic History site.

So far, I have gathered all the materials from my previous semesters in the course, and I am regularly meeting with my economics advisor (who also teaches the course) to keep him informed of my progress. He also will be providing me with new material generated during this semester. I have spoken with the department chair about obtaining rights to a public folder linked to the Economics website, and I should have access to this soon. I have several ideas for the layout and design of the site itself. My second drafted rough layout can be seen below, although I plan to make the site more professional-looking, attempting to keep it consistent with the general layout and theme of the university homepage and the departmental page for Economics.

Creating a SecondLife Avatar

For this assignment, I created an avatar for the interactive computer environment known as SecondLife. As a computer-illustrated character that represents me in this digital world, I created my avatar to look similar to myself.

The first thing I noticed when creating my avatar was the many different options available to customize his appearance. I tried my best to represent my own image, giving him short, dark blonde hair, and adjusting facial features such as the eyes, chin, and lips. Admittedly, I designed the character somewhat idealistically, giving him a bigger build and probably some additional height. I changed the fabric and color of his clothing as well.

SecondLife gives users the ability to create characters from reality or fantasy. Even though my avatar may not look exactly like me, he is personally identifiable. I created him in my own image because I wanted to be somewhat realistic in this virtual environment.

Visual Communication Semester Project

My major visual project this semester will involve producing a webpage for the Economics department. In a three semester course on South Carolina Economic History, I and several other students gathered a great deal of information concerning the economy of South Carolina leading up to and following the Civil War era. I believe this is a good example of a real-world application involving visual communication.

The reason why I chose this particular project is because I have a large collection of data, charts, and written analyses that are not organized in a format that is easily presentable to an outside audience. My economics professor had intended to develop a website as part of the course, but due to time constraints this objective was never initiated. Since I am interested in visual design, as well as economics and South Carolina history, this is a good opportunity for me to integrate my knowledge in other areas into a visually appealing, easily accessible format.

I would like to approach this project with the objective of creating a website that is easy to use, yet detailed in explanation and relevance of the material. I will include old photos taken during the Civil War, as well as charts, maps, and data sets. The color scheme will be predominantly grey, blue, and red, since these are the major colors associated with the War. I would also like to have a focus on Clemson and Thomas Green Clemson's vision of "nothing to buy, nothing left to sell." His foundation of Clemson University helped lead the state towards a long economic recovery, and this is a very relevant factor in the creation of my website for the Economics department.



*This is my first rough sketch of what the website may look like.*
(The background image is a photo of Columbia after it was burned during Sherman's march.)

Designing a MySpace Page

If I were to design a MySpace page for a friend, I would have to choose my roommate Brian. He just moved in, and I don't know him very well yet, but I think I could represent his interests fairly accurately based on my impressions of him over the past month.

The first visual image that comes to mine when I think of Brian is a saltwater aquarium. He loves his fish. I would likely use an image of an aquarium or underwater reef as the background for the page. Brian also loves to watch television, falling asleep and snoring loudly on the couch. It might be funny to include a video clip of this, since he likes to deny this annoying habbit. Other images that would be appropriate might be a picture of the inside of our refrigerator, since Brian is very particular about his food and how it is arranged, or perhaps a picture of his favorite actress (some older chick from Stargate Atlatis). I might also include a couple links to his favorite pornograhy sites, since that is another of his favorite hobbies.

Admittedly, my impression of Brian thus far is not the most favorable, but I am stuck with him as a roommate and I do consider him a friend (however awkward). I would be careful not to offend him with the MySpace page, while at the same time visually conveying to him the impressions he has given me over the past month we have known each other. I would also ask for his input, of course; perhaps listing quotes or personal information that he might want to include. Such an activity might actually help us get to know each other better, possibly easing tension and contributing to a less annoying living environment for all our roommates.

What Is Visual Communication?

I consider visual communication to be any message or idea that is expressed through optical stimulation. This is a very broad definition, however, since the ability to communicate using visual images is manifested through many outlets. Graphic design, digital imaging, webpages and video games are modern examples of visual communication. Other examples include televison/cinema, print media, theatre, dance, art, and architecture. Body language and facial expressions are even more basic outlets for communicating visually.

From the creation of the very first eye, beings have used the sensory cues of light to communicate and analyze information from the surrounding environment. Throughout time, this process has evolved to increasingly more complex forms of visual communication. Modern technology gives us the ability to enhance perception, presenting images with interactive elements and creating new avenues for development within this field.

Visual communication is everywhere. It always has been, and always will be. It is my goal this semester to develop my skills utilizing modern technology in order to create a visual presentation that is attractive, informative, and effective.