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Media - Concepts
We present to you the concept sub-section of Wavelength's media
section. This section will bring to you resource links in the following
three areas:
- Art Concepts
- Graphic Design Concepts
- Media Technology Concepts.
March 2007
Art Concepts
The Masters - Raphael Santi
-----------------------------------------
Raphael Santi or Raffaello Sanzi was an Italian artist and architect.
Santi was born in 1483 AD in Urbino and he died at the young age
of 37 in the year 1520. His 26-year career (he began painting under
the tutelage of his father when he was 11) gave humanity many works
of art. He belonged to the high renaissance period in art.
Read Raphael's detailed biography at: http://www.globalgallery.com/artist.bio.php?nm=raphael
Raphael's works can be viewed by clicking http://www.abcgallery.com/R/raphael/raphael.html
Graphic Design Concepts
Checkout some graphic design rules that will help you ensure a
professional look for your graphic work. Click
http://desktoppub.about.com/od/designguidelines/
Graphic_Design_Guidelines_Rules_of_Good_Design_and_Layout.htm
Media Technology
Click http://www.adobe.bbs.bg/products/photoshopcs/files/photoshop_nfhs.pdf
to become aware of the punch that Photoshop CS packs.
February 2007
Art Concepts
The Masters - Frida Kahlo
-----------------------------------------
Frida Kahlo is probably the most known woman artist of the last
century. Her self-portraits and her renderings of her own reality,
tell us the story of a life that was fraught with physical pain
and mental anguish.
Click http://www.artchive.com/artchive/K/kahlo.html
to read about Frida Kahlo's life. Then visit http://www.pbs.org/weta/fridakahlo/worksofart/borderline.html
to view five famous self-portraits done by Kahlo. This web page
is also an example of how a lot of information can be chunked and
presented clearly through rollovers. Roll your mouse over the image
in focus to "understand" Kahlo's paintings.
Find pictures of Kahlo's paintings at http://cgfa.sunsite.dk/kahlo/index.html
Graphic Design Concepts
If I were to ask you to define graphic design, how would you go
about defining it? A concise definition of graphic design is available
where else but at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphic_design
I specially recommend the section “Graphic Design History”
to all those who love to build their concepts ground-up.
Do click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphic_design
to read about the web avatar of graphic design.
Media Technology
If you are a Flash designer, stretching to meet your deadlines,
you may like to go through the nine software programs listed in
the article “Create Flash effects fast--without Flash”
at http://builder.com.com/5100-6371-5081456.html.
One of the packages mentioned here is Swish, which of course, you
know all about. You may find the other eight interesting to explore.
January 2007
Art Concepts
The Masters - Titian or Tiziano Vecelli
---------------------------------------------------
Titian, whose real name was Tiziano Vecelli pioneered the Italian
Renaissance. Titian created both landscapes and portraits with equal
finesse and ease. His ascent as an artist began with "Sacred
and Profane Love" (http://www.wga.hu/support/viewer/z.html)
Dark forms over light backgrounds characterize Titian's art, in
this period of ascent. He played with strong colors to create his
characteristic impression. His art became more subdued when around
the age of 45, he lost his wife. Click http://www.wga.hu/support/viewer/z.html
to view "Presentation of the Virgin", which was painted
around this time.
Titian was born around 1485 and died in 1576. He often exaggerated
his age to impress the patrons of his art and so historians are
not clear about his year of birth. Regardless of the controversies
surrounding his age and his personality, Titian is considered to
be a great master of the Venetian school.
Read Titian's biography at: http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/titian/
Graphic Design Concepts
The link http://www.webdesign.org/web/web-design-basics/design-principles/
general-guidelines-for-imagery.4728.html provides some guidelines
for good use of imagery on websites and substantiates them with
example and non-example sites.
Media Technology
Media technologies include far more than just software; they include
the hardware too. One of the important tools that a graphic designer
requires is a graphic input device. If you are wondering what I
am talking about, you need to click the link http://www.scottjohnsonart.com/Gallery1.html
to see what Scott Johnson achieves with his Intuos 3 tablet.
What is Intuos 3? Click http://www.wacom.com/productinfo/intuos.cfm
to find out. If you are a graphic designer who likes to create,
I recommend that you buy one. It will change your life:)
~~~~~~ 2006 ~~~~~~
December 2006
Art Concepts
The Masters - Salvador Dali
-----------------------------------------
This month we focus our attention on the works of Salvador Dali.
Salvador Dali is known for his surrealist paintings. Surrealism,
as an art movement, can be understood as the use of art to express
"the dreamlike state different from and truer than everyday
reality." Dali, who was born in 1904, studied in Madrid, Spain.
He could not complete his education but painted profusely - most
often, painting images from his dreams.
Click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:The_Persistence_of_Memory.jpg
to view his most famous painting "The Persistence of Memory",
which is also known as Melting Time or Melting Clocks.
Check Dali's galleries at http://www.virtualdali.com/
Dali was an artist who was a surrealist with words too. Here's
his opinion on critics: "The thermometer of success is merely
the jealousy of the malcontents." Surreal or real? You decide!
Click http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/s/salvador_dali.html
to find forty quotes from Dali.
Graphic Design Concepts
Do you know all that should be known about Form Analysis, Composition
& visual Framing, Unity of Form, and so on? "What designers
need to know" at http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm?contentalias=designersneedknow
is an excellent article that scopes the graphic designer's knowledge
very clearly.
Media Technology
Premiere Pro is the newest version of Adobe Premiere. If you are
keen on video editing and composition, click http://www.wrigleyvideo.com/videotutorial/tut_premierepro.htm
for some cool tutorials. I liked "Matrix Rain" and "Writing
with Lightning".
November 2006
Art Concepts
The Masters - Caravaggio
-----------------------------------------
Caravaggio was born Michelangelo Merisi in Caravaggio near Milan,
in the year 1573. He trained under a pupil of Titian, and is known
for the Chiaroscuro effect in his paintings. This effect is characterized
by depiction of light from an unknown source, falling on the focal
areas of the painting while the remaining objects are painted in
the dark areas. Caravaggio's initial works were more erotic in nature,
but as his popularity increased he began working for the Church,
which led to a mellowing of his works.
He died at very young (in 1610) but he left behind a mesmerizing
collection of paintings that continue to be a source of inspiration.
To read about the life of this great artist click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caravaggio
and if you want to discover what ChiaroScuro is click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiaroscuro.
http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/c/caravagg/index.html
will take you to a chronologically arranged collection of Caravaggio's
works.
Graphic Design Concepts
http://desktoppub.about.com/od/designguidelines/
is an excellent collection of ten graphic design guidelines linked
to their detailed explanations. Though these guidelines pertain
to textual formatting, yet they can add tremendous value to the
way we display content.
Media Technology
"Elements of Graphic Design for Your Website" at http://www.thmg.com/webdesign/19324.php
gives five simple guidelines for designing good and readable webpages.
The novice graphic designer should definitely click the above link.
October 2006
Art Concepts
This month, we devote some of the media section space to understand
the art of Raphael or Raffaello Sanzio, who was a master of high
renaissance.
The Masters - Raphael
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Raphael (Raffaelo Sanzio), who was born in the family of a minor
Italian painter in 1483, grew up to become one of the masters of
high renaissance. He received his initial training under Pietro
Perugino, who was probably one of the first Italian painters to
use oil as a medium to paint. Perugino’s work is characterized
with lower detail, crisper lines, and higher color contrast. Raphael
who initially tried to paint in his Guru's style later gravitated
towards Renaissance art (which focuses on correctness of perspectives,
proportions, and lighting to achieve realism.) This shift in Raphael's
artistic style could have been due to the influence of Leonardo
DaVinci and MichelAngelo.
Here are some links that will help you understand the artistic
style of Raphael and Perungino, and will enable you to see Raphael's
evolution as an artist who helped define the high renaissance era.
http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/p/perugino/index.html
classified Perungino's works.
Crucifixion at http://www.abcgallery.com/R/raphael/raphael2.html,
which was painted by Raphael in 1502-03, when he was barely nineteen
(and under Perugino's apprenticeship,) clearly brings out the influence
of Perugino's style on Raphael's.
The Fresco. Vaticano, at http://www.abcgallery.com/R/raphael/raphael32.html,
which was painted in 1510 clearly depicts Raphael's inclination
towards rennisance art. This shift is clear in the colors, perspectives,
and details used in the fresco.
View other paintings by Raphael at http://www.abcgallery.com/R/raphael/raphael.html
Graphic Design Concepts
http://www.usask.ca/education/coursework/skaalid/theory/theory.htm
is an excellent link, which classifies graphic design theories as
follows:
*Classic Graphic Design Theory
*Gestalt Principles of Perception
*Human-Computer Interface Design
Media Technology
Of course you know about the SVGs or the Scalable Vector Graphics
(are there non-scalable vector graphics too? I thought all vector
graphics remain scalable until rasterized!) Delineate is a raster
to vector convertor that uses different vectorizers to achieve different
effects in the vectorized output. http://delineate.sourceforge.net/screenshots.html
shows you the input image, output image and the environment of Delineate.
If you find it interesting, explore Delineate further at http://delineate.sourceforge.net/
September 2006
Art Concepts
This month, let us learn about another of the great Renaissance
artists – MichelAngelo! Almost everyone who is connected to
art has heard of this great artist who took Renaissance Art to its
height.
The Masters - MichelAngelo
-----------------------------------------
MichelAngelo, the Italian artist who was born in 1475 in Italy
(Florence) was a painter, architect and poet. Read the biography
of MichelAngelo at
http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/bio/m/michelan/biograph.html
To see two of his breath-taking works, click
http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/m/michelan/3sistina/2ceil_ve.html
(The Ceiling of Sistine Chapel) and
http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/m/michelan/1sculptu/david/david.html
(David)
Michel Angelo wrote his thoughts down in his diary. Painting the
ceiling of the Sistine Chapel took him four long years, which, he
wrote - ruined his health completely. Known as the master of high
renaissance, (defined as "the artistic style of early 16th
century painting in Florence and Rome; characterized by technical
mastery and heroic composition and humanistic content
" at http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn),
MichelAngelo surprisingly is also known as one of the initial proponents
of mannerism, (defined as "A style of painting in Italy and
France about 1520-1600, marked by emotional distortion, harsh coloring,
and individualism, said to be a reaction to the art of the High
Renaissance" http://www.indiana.edu/~w505a/dictionary.html)
As most of the work left behind by MichelAngelo can be classified
as High Renaissance, the former title appears more logical for this
great artist whose work never ceases to amaze us.
Graphic Design Concepts
Interface design can be called a science with a generous helping
of art! Seriously speaking...interface design worries many graphic
designers more than they would care to admit. http://www.ambysoft.com/essays/userInterfaceDesign.html
can give you a lot of helpful guidelines for creating good interfaces.
You may also find that the six principles that are listed for creating
good interfaces, immensely useful
Media Technology
There is a possibility that you are already using these new features
of Photoshop 7 CS2; but if you are not do explore them. Do check
out "Revolutionary Vanishing Point," "Smart Objects",
and "Image Warp." I think these three can really add an
extra hour to a graphic designer's day. (It's then up to you to
spend that hour with yourself rather than spending it with...well,
your organization.) Click http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/newfeatures.html
to make your day.
August 2006
Art Concepts
The Masters - Vincent Van Gogh
-----------------------------------------
Among the great artists of the past century, the name that made
a strong mark though after his death, is Vincent Van Gogh. He died
in poverty, having sold but one painting in his entire lifetime.
The treatment that life metes out to artists is painfully ironical!
Emotions aside - the biography of Vincent Van Gogh is available
at: http://www.vangoghgallery.com/misc/bio.htm.
You can view his paintings at http://www.vangoghgallery.com/painting/
where you will find the "Before & After" link. This
link leads to an interesting study of the change in Van Gogh's style
before and after being influenced by Impressionism.
While you are at this site, don't forget to read the analysis of
the three Starry Night paintings by Gogh.
Graphic Design Concepts
- Basic rules of graphic design, by Cheryl Stephan provide a good
insight into text formatting. Click http://cherylstephens.com/professional/communication/Design.pdf
to download the pdf of this article.
Media Technology
- This month, the focus of this section is on the 3d designers.
the fare for you comes from http://www.cuneytozdas.com/software/3dsmax/
where Cuneyt Ozdas makes some free 3ds max plugins available
for you to download. I like the effect of QuickDirt, which is
a weathering/aging tool (I guess I am aging fast!) There are many
other downloadable plugins for the 3D enthusiasts.
July 2006
My favorite links among those listed here are those listed in the
Art Concepts section. Monet’s art teaches us a lot more than
art…it teaches us about life.
Art Concepts
The Masters - Claude Oscar Monet
Last month we began a series on the Great Masters. This month let's
allow us to be impressed by one of greatest impressionists of all
times - Claude Oscar Monet (1840-1926.) To understand Monet and
his art better visit the following links:
1. http://www.intermonet.com/colors/
informs us about Monet's color preferences, his partial blindness
due to cataract, and how it impacted his style as well as choice
of colors.
2. http://www.intermonet.com/oeuvre/
is a gallery of Monet's painting, which takes us along on Monet's
artistic journey through life. Remember to view the Water-lily
series paintings. They are awe-inspiring.
Graphic Design Concepts
- http://www-static.cc.gatech.edu/classes/cs6751_97_winter/Topics/
graphic-design/ provides some excellent guidelines for user
interface design. I especially appreciate the ones about avoiding
the use of all capital letters, and limiting the use of blue for
small font-sizes. I recommend this excellent article to all those
who are engaged in graphical user interface design.
Media Technology
- Probably all of us have heard about the advances that the being
made in the direction of using media technology (virtual reality)
for teaching medicine and even conducting surgeries. http://k-2.stanford.edu/papers/vwsim98/
provides you a brief description of "Frog Island" a
"VRML world for teaching vertebrate biology for high school
and middle school students."
June 2006
I love webquests and I love them best when I am on a media treasure
hunt. I often stray from the intended course, and I end up savoring
a media fare I never thought existed. Well, here are some gems that
turned up during my recent quest.
Art Concepts
- The Masters - Leonardo da Vinci
We've already collected a lot of links that tell us about the
concepts of art. This month onwards, I will bring you the best
link that I can find on the masters. The artistic past of human
race exists on both sides of the sixteenth century, but sixteenth
century gave us, among other noted artists, the great Leonardo
da Vinci. Click http://www.mos.org/leonardo/
to enter a treasure cove that contains information on Leonardo
as an artist, a scientist, and an inventor. Another link that
you may want to explore is http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/bio/l/leonardo/biograph.html,
which has a comprehensive life-history of da Vinci.
Graphic Design Concepts
- "Graphic Design Basics" at http://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/ET650_online/MAPPS/GDBasics.html
is an excellent resource to recapitulate what works and what doesn't.
This page links to the rules of thumb for audience, layout, typography,
image, and color.
Media Technology
- Though it's a long shot, but if you do work with a logo-creation
company (sigh!) or with a company that often creates logos, do
visit http://www.aaa-logo.com/
to review AAA a logomaker. The trial is free; the tool costs US$50
approximately.
May 2006
Art Concepts
- If you often work on courses that require an understanding of
the historic art styles you should visit "Art History"
at http://witcombe.sbc.edu/ARTHLinks.html.
This fantastic collection of URLs, classified chronologically
as well as regionally, is designed and maintained by Dr. Christopher
L. C. E. Witcombe. I recommend that you bookmark this page.
Graphic Design Concepts
- http://www.typography-1st.com/typo/txt-lay.htm
is the place if typography and page layout design defocuses you.
I especially like the bit about picas and points. The historical
information that helps us make sense out of these alien-looking,
strange-sounding words is cool! This site also talks about typefaces,
margins, proof-reading and so on. I think this site should interest
most eLearning graphic designers.
Media Technology
- For Photoshop lovers, http://www.freephotoshop.com/html/free_plugins.html
provides links to free brushes, shapes, and many other plugins.
Most of these free downloads are demo versions so you will be
able to use only a limited number of plugins available in the
library. For example, of the 10,000 royalty-free Photoshop brushes
from GraphicXtras you will be able to use only 26; but then 26
new brushes for free isn't bad...and if they double your efficiency,
your organization may want to buy the whole bundle for you.
April 2006
Art Concepts
- "Don't you think the man that you've drawn seems to be
taller than the trees around him?"
"I think there is something wrong with this image. It looks
slightly twisted to me." Has this happened to you too? Worry
not! All those who are baffled by perspectives and depths could
learn to use one-point perspective by clicking on the following
link:
http://mathforum.org/sum95/math_and/perspective/perspect.html
- Have you still not clicked on the above link? You don't believe
that Perspectives are important. Believe me, they are! They give
depth to your art and they give reality to your expression! If
you are a non-believer, click on http://www.mos.org/sln/Leonardo/LeonardosPerspective.html
to find how Da Vinci used linear perspective to create the illusion
of depth and distance.
Graphic Design Concepts
- Graphic Design is an extension of art. You cannot create great
graphics by being indifferent to the concepts of art. Technology
is but a tool to enhance and facilitate your ability to create.
I am sure you know what I mean. For all those who've crossed the
first stage, the link http://www.math.duke.edu/education/ccp/resources/write/design/graphicindex.html
is a good resource for those who wish to ensure that what
they create is correct according to the principles of graphic
design.
- You can also review a short list of rules for graphic design
by clicking on http://www.carnrightdesign.com/design_rules.htm
and reading "Your graphic design strategy needs principles
and rules..."
Media Technology
- The growing popularity of Adobe Indesign should motivate you
to click the link http://www.adobe.com/products/indesign/main.html
and determine the strengths of this Adobe package.
March 2006
Art Concepts
- If you've worked on courses that require you to create contemporary
settings of different eras, or if you love to dig into the past
of everything, trying to figure out where its roots are; you should
save the link http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/splash.htm
to your favorites. This site is a fantastic collection of art-related
information, which is classified on chronological as well as regional
basis. Happy surfing!
Graphic Design Concepts
- The article "Multimedia Design 2 - Graphic Design"
provides an overview of the concepts that you should keep in mind
while doing graphic design. What I like most about this page is
that it also provides some "example links", which are
fantastic! Click on http://www.multimediacreative.com.au/articles/graphicdesign.htm
to read this article.
February 2006
Art Concepts
- http://itchstudios.com/psg/art_tut.htm
houses a fantastic art tutorial by Niklas Jansson. This tutorial
introduces you to the basic vocabulary used in art, and guides
you towards developing your own learning methodology. The part
that I liked the best is "The Onion". It helps you define
a thinking process for art. I've seldom come across a single page
packed with such a huge amount of useful information. Be the first
one to check it out!
- If you would like to get information on colors and how you can
use them not just to create effects but also to ensure that your
organization doesn't end up in some "colorful" lawsuit,
you should definitely visit the site http://www.colormatters.com/.
Other than basic information on colors and how they should be
used, this site provides a good deal of practical tips too.
Graphic Design Concepts
- Anime/Manga art! Who doesn't want to create those fresh, crispy,
and colorful characters? If you too have wondered why our characters
should be pudgy and rotund and not energetic and light-weight,
at http://www.polykarbon.com/tutorials/index.htm
you will find the tutorial that you were looking for. This URL
even helps you set up your workspace! Talk about peripheral learning!
- "The Art of Animation" is a detailed article that
gives you some cool “fundas” about web-animation.
You may find the article not very visual but then the content
more than makes up for it. Click on http://www.webreference.com/dlab/9904/
to read this article by Dmitry Kirsanov.
- If you have ever designed logos you have experienced the lingering
design process. The client is never as picky about anything as
about the look, feel, and theme of his company's logo. "Something
isn't right about it." is the feedback that you usually end
up with! Well, read "Logo Design Revisited" by Dmitry
Kirsanov at http://www.webreference.com/dlab/9811/.
This article provides two case studies that succeed in highlighting
the importance of thought behind the logo design process.
Media Technology
- Just entered the eLearning utopia? Well...well! Want to learn
Flash? Well! Click on http://www.sitepoint.com/article/flash-101-1-hammer-chisel
to read a simple, bare-bones tutorial on Flash designing. It begins
with Flash tools and functionality, and then discusses symbols.
It then moves to tweening and creation of effects, followed by
basic actions (mouse and keyboard based) and finally teaches how
to integrate audio files into Flash.
January 2006
Art Concepts
- If you are a graphic designer without formal art qualifications,
this site will introduce you to the principles of art. Even if
you know them all, I still recommend that you click http://www.sanford-artedventures.com/study/g_art_principles.html
to read and explore the eight principles. The visual dimension
that has been added into these pages, makes for enjoyable learning
- I think the instructional designer who worked on these pages
knew the audience well! BTW, the link "Proportion" takes
you to a page that details the process of drawing faces.
Graphic Design Concepts
- "First Principles of Interaction Design" at http://www.asktog.com/basics/firstPrinciples.html
takes you on an exploration of the main principles of graphic
design. Don't let the simplicity of the article title fool you
- this site doesn't just introduce the principles on the surface,
it takes you on a deep-sea excursion! When you resurface, do remember
to save the page in your favorites. Nostalgia makes me save it
to mine.
Media Technology
- This article "Becoming and online media mogul"
(http://www.fastrak-consulting.co.uk/tactix/Features/mediamogul.htm)
by Clive Shepherd, reviews streaming from all perspectives. It
not only defines streaming in a very lucid manner for the uninitiated,
it also provides information on both the on as well as flip side
of using it. The article also provides opinions of experts on
the marketability of streaming media. The article quotes Andrew
Robinson (UK Managing Director for Unit.net) to underline the
importance of streaming media as not just a carrier of video,
but also audio, Flash animations, pdfs, and so on. All this could
lead to the eLearning media designer's media palette changing
substantially in the coming years.
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