Media Design Studio Blog

 The process I have chosen was the development of Earrings my friend creates. I selected this process as a way to work further with my friend and fellow artist to give us yet another opportunity to explore art together. This project was close to me as we are both artists, and collaborate together often, so this was another opportunity to expand our artwork together, and we were able to work simultaneously both on the earrings and on this photography process. The approach taken here was almost a documentary point of view. I designed this process less about her, and more about the creation and idea process on how the earrings are created. This series follows more of the birth of the earring. The edits made were color correction, lighting changes and focus. I changed focus on less obvious places to look to see a different point of view (per example Earrings Stage 3 focus & sharpness on reflections). I shot close to 100 photos, engaging in different angles and looks and point of vi...

"I am more afraid of crazy people than the virus... I blame our president. The word that he's chosen is really damaging and hurting the Asian community. It's not necessary to call it the Chinese virus." - Jonathan Yeung, a father of two young children. The world is plagued with xenophobia, we watch as the unknown inject fear, and as fear develops into hate. That is why I chose to respond directly to the surge in assaults and harassments faced by Asians since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. I curated 3 designs for the “I am not a virus, I am a human” slogan with the phrase “1 in 12 anti-Asian reported incidents are physical assaults. Time for facts not fear”. "If they wear a mask, they are suspected of being infected - and if they don't wear a mask, they're suspected of being infected but negligent." - Russell Jeung, a professor of Asian American studies at San Francisco State University. Around the world, racist remarks and attacks have not o...

 Social Justice Posters Environmental Justice is Social Justice      Recently, social justice issues have become prominent conversations globally. Discrimination based on race, gender, age, sexual orientation, and nationality is rightly being rejected by communities at all levels of society. These issues are important, and it is my goal to continuing learning how to become a better advocate and ally in the face of injustice. Additionally, I’ve become increasingly interested in the damage being done to the environment and the implications of climate change for future generations.   A transformative realization came for me when I was introduced to the idea that environmental justice and social justice are intertwined. The root is to create change and these pressures derive from the same sense of urgency to build a better future. Unequal government regulations are limiting or denying specific groups equal access to the resources available to the rest of society. ...

The social justice issue I wanted to focus on was targeted towards equality and race. I wanted to address how Puerto Ricans have been treated as second-class citizens when in reality all Puerto Ricans are born U.S. citizens. It does not matter if the person lives in the states or on the island. Unfortunately, Puerto Rico has had to endure through multiple natural disasters causing lots of damage throughout the island. Some of you may recall the hurricanes Maria and Irma from a couple of years ago, but there has also been a couple earthquakes in recent years. The U.S.'s response to aiding Puerto Rico was rather slow and is why this saying, "Can't Say American Without The Rican" originated to be a reminder that Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens too.  Anyways, the first poster I created was really simple and was the 12" x 18" portrait poster. I wanted a plain white background as I want my viewer's attention focused on the message being displayed. I chose the ...

 The social justice movement I decided to go with is LGBTQIA+ rights. I decided to go with this movement because I have important people in my life who are part of the community. While not being a part of the community myself, I realize the privilege I have as a cisgender male in today's society and want to use said privilege in any way possible to advocate for equal rights for all who fall under that umbrella. Also, the quote I chose was tweeted out by Gerard Way after the Orlando nightclub shooting in 2016 and he's been a large influence on my life + an advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights as well. The quote is as follows, "I've always just wanted everyone to be able to be who they want to be, proudly, enthusiastically- freely." The first poster I designed is 11x17 with a black background and white coloring and Chaparral font. I focused on hierarchy and balance for this poster by having the main part of the quote start centered at the top with the last 3 words spaced ou...

  For this week's assignment, I chose to address the injustices of Immigration Detention Centers in the United States. Immigration Detention Centers imprison undocumented people in horrific conditions, and deprive them of their basic human rights. Detainees lack proper healthcare or legal counsel while incarcerated in these facilities. Recently, Immigration Detention Centers received national press coverage for reports of sterilizing detainees  and not protecting detainees during the CO VID-19 pandemic. I believe the conditions and practices of Immigration Detention Centers are oppressive and abusive. Given the urgency of these issues, I decided to create typography posters addressing this. As a designer, every choice matters. Color, size, font, placement, and hierarchy. My first iteration used a dark color scheme, with text in red, white, and blue. The choice of the red, white, and blue was to evoke the American flag, and call into question how unconstitutional and "un-Ameri...

 I have chosen the Trans movement. While a member of this group of people, it felt important to me to utilize this time to talk about what trans is, how big the umbrella is and to start advocating for these rights. I decided to utilize the popular statement within political trans organizations, Trans Rights Are Human Rights. I kept the colors of the trans pride flag by using it for the first letter of each word. In theory, I want the reader to look at this and see less of an political statement and more of a person. The soft blue and pink middles by the dark grey stand out. In this project, I focused on graphic design principles Alignment, Repetition, Contrast, White Space, and Hierarchy. Each image and poster is sized differently for utilization purposes. See below for my descriptions of how I developed these designs.   11x7 Poster. Here is the center Alignment where afar is highlighted by TRAHR, I decided to use this format as a way to stack or make all the words look even a...

Still Life Drawings - Sydney Angove For this week's assignment, I decided to draw something that is familiar to me and that I interact with almost daily. An avocado. This inspiration is spurred from the idea that this class has called my attention to, that being, that finding unique perspectives is foundational to being a successful designer. Every day there is a choice to see something old for the first time, and I decided to take this theory and look more closely at this object. Drawing One: Pen I have found that a pen can be used as an effective tool for creating details and contrast. As I looked at my object, I noticed how much texture arises at the surface, and decided to use my pen to create a representation of the texture on the skin. Because creating contrast or depicting lighting is more challenging with a pen, I layered my pattern to make some areas darker than others and give the implication of contrast to accurately frame my object.  Drawing Two: Post-It Each time I sat...

  In this assignment, we were meant to choose an object to draw 4 times and experiment with different settings and approaches in capturing the object. The object I chose, which was complex and intriguing was a light/candle sort of object. My Object: Lamp/Candle (Drawing #3) I chose this object because I figured I could capture it with and without it’s light in different times of the day. I also liked the art style so I decided to rotate it around with each drawing and tried to capture the object at different angles. I will cover each drawing in chronological order. For my first still life drawing, I wanted to depict this object as accurately as I could. Typically, the object is never turned on in my house since my dad hates candles, so I chose to keep it off since this is its normal presentation in the house. I used regular computer paper, relied heavily on a sketch pencil, colored pencils, and a fine line pen for the words. I drew rather slowly for this drawing as I wanted the...

A small bottle of perfume caught my eye while I searched the room for something to draw. It gleamed in the light as I picked it up and turned it around in my hand. The bottom slightly curved upwards -- the remainder of the liquid refracted the light and created a complex series of highlights and shadows. The top of the bottle has got smooth curves on both sides, capped with a molded ceramic flower. The delicately designed cap brought visual interest to the simplicity of the glass body. Though, the glass itself is not overly simple as there is much to play around with when it comes to reflecting light and casting shadows. Day 1: Study of Line I started by studying the outlines of my object, along with the different kinds of shapes embedded within. I placed the glass object sideways to cast a deep shadow and chose to use a black marker on a piece of smooth, white, glossy card stock, inspired by the Blind Contour Drawing method. I let my pen flow as I recorded every segment of shape my ey...