Making Our Grid System : Part 1

After finding out more and the understanding of grid system. It was now our turn to make our own grid system with the things that influence us to make and design what we put out as designers.

So for that I had to note down what motivates me and influences me as a designer and where i get my ideas from. With that, some of my influences are listed below :

• Music - the sound of music motivates me because it gives me the creative side of listening and then giving out an idea. It helps depict images through vocal language. Hence this for me helps me in such a way that when I have a design to do for someone, I can easily already start having ideas because i can articulate the creative side with music with a description of a wanted design.

• Photography - this is another thing that influences me in such a way the whole idea of being able to capture moments through taking photos is eye catching. You can take exquisite photos showcasing things you want people to be amazed by. To apply this influence, i use it in my designs to have that 'wow' look. The eye/vision i have when looking at something to take a photo of is the same vision that i want/use when im doing a design. What will they people out there see? What impression will they see? Will be the amazed and like it. Therefore i use these questions to design a platform my work.

• Games - Games are influential not only towards to designers but anyone else. This is by the fact that any game that you play and feel attached to can make you want to have that in real life. For example, a racing car game can be influential to you that you may want to start driving like that, with the drifting, high speed etc. Without knowing, you will apply these changes to your life and see. Hence this gaming influence gives me ideas to create fiction and non-fictional designs. Designs that look real life when actually not. Like applying angel wings and all that using photoshop all to give an illusion. With such thinking, it broadens my creative ideas not to think in one state but i as always use my works along this statement, 'Think Outside The Box'.

• Typography/Text - I like the the way typography art influences me because i use this in designs where i wouldnt have to use any images but i could simply use text in a certain type of typography to come out with my designs. The typography i would see in certain designs like posters and all are what catches my eyes. Seeing retro posters e.g would have retro fonts and a style added to them. More over the playing of typography influences my designs where as i can add fonts to suit a specific design to give it more feel.

After identifying some of the things that motivated me, had to list down and see where I see a grid system in these influences. Be it invisible or visible The had to be elements where i could see this grid and then use this as a way to make a guide for my work. For that i listed examples on where i would see a grid system in each of my influences :

Music

• Microphone
• Keyboards/Pianos
• Musical Staff

Photography

• Alignment of photos
• Framing
• Metering

Games

• Control pad
• Buttons (design of a cross)

Typography

• Posters
• Books
• Articles

Listing down some of these examples also helped giving me an idea of where we would SEE this grid system. These are the examples with some visuals and mind maps to explain more of how these influence design.

Making Our Grid System : Part 2

In reference to Part 1 of making our own grid system. We had to use what we are influenced by and making our grid system and show case this grid in a mock up of a design.

With that, I choose to use my musical influence to make this design. We had to have a topic to which we would use to showcase this grid. e.g like

• Lights and shadows
• Reflection
• Transparency

Such examples/topics were to be used. For mine, i chose Reflection. The reason i used reflection was not because it is the bouncing of light by first understanding but it also acts a synonym in a way that we reflect things in our daily life. Reflecting this would help with the idea and concepts and actually make them happen. So this was a double sided concept, showcase the grid system and also reflect my ideas towards this design.

After taking note with that, i took where i saw grid system in my musical influence and i chose the microphone. It was clear that you could see a grid system on a microphone so i wanted to showcase this using reflection.

The image above shows this grid i was going to show using the topic of reflection. For starters reflection is defined by the bouncing of light off a medium. Hence i was going to have a model that would need to have light passed onto this medium which is a mirror then bounce light off a grid.

So to make this i used the following materials:

• Mesh
• Cutters/Scissors
• Box/cardboard
• Tape
• Glue
• Colored paper
• Manila 
• Mirror
• Light source

Having these materials i set out to make this design. It was going to have a a hole through one section of the cardboard where the grid system would be placed and then at the bottom, have the mirror and then when light hits the mirror, it relfects off the grid 'gate' and onto a medium like a wall, paper so we could see this.

After showing my idea to my lecture, he explained that the grid system is not by simply having normal straight lines that show. But to mix it all up like what if you tilt this that way, move this, add another layer here and there. So with that help, i added a mesh where it would show more "detailed" grid. By this you could see multiple lines of a grid through the same idea i had. 

To showcase this, i simply added my mesh that i had and put it ontop of the mirror and then when the light source hit the mirror, it was going to reflect this light off two grids, one on the mirror and one through the cardboard box hole.

Tattoo Culture

Tattoo Culture

With the general understanding of culture that we were taught and showed by examples from the lecturers. We had to research on a culture that is or has been there for long time and has become what we can call, mainstream. My choice of culture for this tasks was tattoos. Reasons as to why I had chosen this culture will be shown in the research and information I had found.

TATTOOS

Tattoos had started a while back with its simple definition as a change made by having ink into the skin of human being which are permanent.

These markings started a while ago with the traditional people called the Ainu from Japan. These people had similarities with the people from Australasians who had made these markings on their face calling them facial tattoos. These facial tattoos had also spread later on as years passed by to other countries and continents around the world. These markings signified different meanings in their culture to symbolize something without having to be verbally told what it would mean. Such an example would be the image below. 

Fig. 1

With reference to (Wikipedia,2013), "Tattooing among females of the Katia people of Papua New Guinea traditionally began at age five and was added to each year, with the V-shaped tattoo on the chest indicating that she had reached marriageable age, 1912."  With understanding, could see that the V itself would give out a special meaning to people to indicate something. Hence tattoos back then were used to symbolize an idea or meaning with the people around. Others would just showcase the design of something in this example below:

Fig. 2

Tattoos In Line With Piercing

Piercings are normal all through the planet and are seen on mummies no less than 5,000 years of age. 

Ear piercing is maybe the most well-known, seen on each mainland and worn by both men and ladies. Lip piercings are likewise widespread. Nonetheless, the Dagon tribe Of Mali, and the Nubba of Ethiopia were the main ones that utilized rings. This had religious imagery of the planet's creation. 

Piercing of the tongue was seen in the Americas. Attracting blood along these lines was thought to help in correspondence with the divine beings. The nose has been pierced for over 4,000 years. To start with in the Middle East and afterward in India. It was generally seen in ladies. In the Middle East it symbolized the abundance of the crew. In India it helped cut the agony of labour. In the 1960s, nose puncturing came to be mainstream with hipsters. 

Septum piercing has likewise been around for many years and was generally utilized as a part of warrior societies to give the face a furious look. Navel puncturing is just seen in cutting edge history, beginning in the twentieth century after the concoction of the swimsuit. The root of areola puncturing is unverifiable yet it is realized that areola rings were sold in Persian stores in the nineteenth century.

In reference to (Levins, 2013), the culture of the tattoos from back then to nowadays has really evolved. Tattoos have become more of a necessity with the use that they people want to have them for. Some of these examples are shown below:

·         Memories - some people get tattoos to remember memories that they shared or had earlier in their life’s like names of lost ones etc.

·         Art - artists who normally get these are those that appreciate the art of the ink being placed on a body. They are inform of different designs that showcase what they are interested in.

·         Fashion - because everyone else out there is getting one, it’s become a trend in a way for people to get tattoos nowadays so that they 'fit in' with the people out there.

·         Depression - people who are depressed normally tend to get tattoos so that they relieve their stress over getting the ink machine pierce them 1000 times in a second. That pain they feel is what helps them relieve their depression and the thought of wanting a new tattoo over that is one way they are willing to do anything for that.

·         Social/Peer pressure - this goes in line with the depression and the fashion reason to get a tattoo. If one is surrounded with people who tend to have tattoos from time to time, one is to get the pressure to 'fit in' and also get a tattoo so that they look/seem 'cool' in their group friends. These normally tend to also have regrets later in life and seeing no reason to why they had got their tattoos earlier.

In one article this was stated about the people that get tattoos

"Other trends have emerged. Most people do not get just one. In the military, a person’s name is the most common. Men get their first tattoo earlier than women. Tattooed women are seen as less attractive but more promiscuous. In a whimsical French experiment, women with temporary tattoos on their lower back — often mocked as the “tramp stamp” — were dispatched to a beach where they read a book while lying on their fronts. Results suggested men found them no more or less attractive, but approached them more often and more quickly, while estimating their chances of sex on the first date to be higher, based on the tattoo."(Brean, 2013)

Seeing that would show that certain people, mostly women would get tattoos and then see no importance and also the tattoos would portray a certain type of moral and the way that they behave or get judged by the type of tattoo they have, location of the tattoo etc.

Fig. 3

In the image above, we see the 'lower back' tattoos which have been a trend for women, girls, and ladies out there. This trend has brought different cultures to be misunderstood. Some think that this type of tattoo is related or as the article stated, tramp stamp and show no morals from the female that has it. (Bogart, 2013).

Fig. 4

The above image shows skulls and what is called, a 'half sleeve' tattoo which normally below or up to the elbow. With such a tattoo, one would be judged that he is of evil actions, not religious etc. But for him, it may mean something towards that. 

So with these tattoos out there, it brings about misunderstandings because what one will think is okay and fine to get but when they people out there see it, it will be judgmental and this has been a 'problem' for certain people to adjust to the whole tattoo thing.

Religion on the Tattoo

Most religions are reluctant or do not the people out there to have tattoos. Mostly because this is called to be a 'sin. This is because we were blessed with clean bodies that God gave us and we are 'damaging' it by putting all this ink and piercing to it that not even he had. So the image we portray by having a tattoo is viewed differently in certain religions. Some, like Muslims are totally not keen to having tattoos. For this, the use, what is called henna which is also used by Indians and others to present this imprint for certain occasions e.g., weddings where the groom will have to find his name in a henna tattoo.

With reference to (Fairchild, 2013), the contradiction of tattoos and religions also continues from a verse from the Bible from the book of Leviticus 19:28, "Do not cut your bodies for the dead, and do not mark your skin with tattoos. I am the Lord."

With such a clear statement, one may still go to the tattoo shop and still get inked regardless of such a bold statement. Different people do different things and you may wonder as to why one would still get tattoos.

But if you are considering the question, "To tattoo or not to?" I think the more serious questions to ask yourself are: What are my motives for wanting a tattoo? Am I seeking to glorify God or draw attention to myself? Will my tattoo be a source of contention for my loved ones? Will getting a tattoo cause me to disobey my parents? Will my tattoo cause someone who is weak in the faith to stumble?

Affecting Culture of Today

In reference to an article, ((Www.Dw.De), 2013), this is the information found about the trending culture of tattoos:

'In Western society, tattoos have never been more popular. In fact, social researchers say that Generation Y – that includes people that have been born from the mid-1980s until the 2000s - are the first generation in which tattoos have become mainstream. One US survey found that 40 percent of people in this age group had a tattoo. The situation in Germany is quite similar. Part of the trend may well be explained by the mainstream presence of many tattooed celebrities, like Johnny Depp, Pink, Rihanna and David Beckham. But, people involved in the tattoo industry say there is more to it.'

With that understanding, we could see that the mainstream of these tattoos have affected the influences of people around the world. The people that us youths look up to as 'role models' or 'idols' have caused an influence to the people out there to get tattoos seeing that, they have one, and it would be also okay for us to get one. These reasons are now probably the cause of the tattoo being more mainstream nowadays just because everyone got one, it is keen to be with 'them' and also get one. Popular idols have given us an image to follow by what they do, and that would be what they do to their body. Hence them being trendsetter to a new beginning which we were 'blind' to because back then, no one 'cool' was getting them. 

Tattoos in Fashion

It is clearly seen that tattoos have become a trend and is so mainstream with the fashion world growing. With people getting hot tattoos and wanting to show them, the fashion industry has gone to a level with incorporating this new trend with their fashion designs.

Here we see a trial fashion design that is designed by famous sports brand Nike. Nike made this design through the art of tribal tattoos which have become a trend around people. So clearly has helped boost their age of people to go into their stores and get something they like. Hence them using what’s mainstream to make good business for their company. (Brean, 2013)

Tattoos have also hindered us people out there to get inked with our favourite fashion label designs e.g., Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Lacoste etc. Why because we feel like we can and we like it? These are some of the reasons one would give when asked 'Why did you get this tattoo'. The fashion industry has caused the tattoo industry to raise because, the more the people are attracted to something and wanting it to be a way of life, getting a tattoo of it will be one to make it a permanent statement. The main purpose of it.

Tattoos being a 'label' itself made on one’s body. This has made getting a tattoo a new fashion because it makes everyone want to have someone on them like everyone else. Hence the same way we love to buy the coolest of fashionable labels, the same way people would get into the tattoo pa-lour and get a tattoo and walk out with the same happy face as the fashion label shopper because the accomplishment of getting something new and hippy is defined. (Brean, 2013)

With all the understanding given, clear to see that the tattoo culture has given different visual communication that we see around. The way it was back then and the way it is now is very different and the time of development by the use of tattoos has hindered that too. Tribal markings, soldier markings were used then for a strong purpose, but now we have the people running for their money finishing off angel wings on their backs which to them may show their 'holy side' or because they want to feel their back with something 'cool'. Tattoos, the new fashion and design on our bodies.

What is Culture?

CULTURE

What is culture?

Culture refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving.

Understanding of visual communication to me is the understanding that we get by seeing things in our day to day lives. The way these visuals communicate to us in ways of images, typography, drawings, animations are all some ways we rely on the visual side of the data to get the concept from it all.

After understanding the two, we had a task to discuss a topic in which we put visual communication and the culture meaning behind our topic. With that in hand, my topic of discussion was Tattoo Culture. 

Tattoo Culture Part 2

The importance of tattoos now has different reasons with the modern of life that we are living in right now. They are currently a regular lifestyle and a quickly being noticed into social order. This was not dependably the situation. More senior eras are disillusioned with this thought as they consider tattoos with negative issues, however they are gradually needing to manage this new thought.

Tattoos are sometimes used to recall a lost adored one. These are used since the individual feels a feeling of distinction towards the individual they have lost, and an indication of appreciation. The name of the individual is regularly utilized within this sort of tattoo, yet not dependably. Certain images could be utilized within spot of the persons name that symbolize the remembrances of that individual.

FIG. 1

The image above shows what we just described as the way tattoos can be used to show appreciation of a lost one. 

Other place that people, men and women that place their tattoos is the back. With such a big place to place tattoos, they normally go for angel wings. These also have a spiritual meaning to give that angelic feel to their personality and that they can rise above anything and any hardship that comes through. But with the modern age, people pay less attention to this and go for the physical appearance whether it was a good tattoo or not. (Hendricks, 2013)

Expressions/words are additionally used to say particular phrases, typically rotating around trust and have an inspiring message to the person of the people that view it. On the other hand, regularly individuals will have these expressions composed in an alternate dialect other than English. Generally the dialect is picked since the expression has the ability to be composed in an image or look like a configuration as opposed to composed expressions.

Tattoos have been around for a long time, going once again to when tribes utilized them to symbolize enrollment. Today, tattoos speak to more than being the part of a tribe. A paramount segment of self-representation for a few, tattoos speak to diverse things and serve distinctive capacities for every single person.

Some individuals get a charge out of the wide show of tattoos on the grounds that every one recounts an alternate story or looks engaging. Whatever the motivation behind the tattoo, it is an unique stamp on the skin of that individual. 

As excellent and unique as tattoos might be for fans, they should beware of the weaknesses tattoos and their position can have. Getting a tattoo can serve an incredible reason, yet the position of the tattoo can have an expansive effect on future attempts. 

It is paramount to remember that while seeking an occupation, particularly a vocation that may require formal business clothing once a day, a prospective superintendent may view tattoos as amateurish. 

Getting a tattoo in a spot that is not difficult to conceal with dress, such as on the foot, back, hip, stomach or upper arm, will make the occupation chase simpler than if the tattoos were completely uncovered constantly. In any case, not all occupations are against tattoos. Work fields in anything with outline or symbolization will likely wouldn't fret the vicinity of tattoos. (Hendricks, 2013).

INFLUENCES ON TATTOOS

They are many influences out there that cause us to get these tattoos. And with these influences, the amount of people that are getting tattoos nowadays is much larger than before. These tattoos being constantly inked on peoples bodies are now being regarded as a ‘fine art’ which people are to stand by. Tattoo artists are now the people that also encourage to go a lot more mainstream. With club influences, what we see on the internet, peer pressure, to feel or look cool among others, the urge to feel the pain. It is such reasons people visit the ink shop and get inked. Some tattoo artists despite whatever reason a person may want to get a tattoo, they consider the body sacred hence some tattoos cannot be placed on the body because the respect they should have it. Hence putting an irrelevant tattoo on a body would be like an insult but because tattooing has become so mainstream, others look at it as an art hence whatever they want on their own bodies, they’ll find ways to get it. (Randomhistory, 2008).

·      Media – according to (Crossley, 2013) what we see on television, radio, internet, pictures etc. are also influences to us people that want tattoos. What you see, is what you get. For that some people will feel the urge to get a tattoo. Seeing major artists, role models, sportsmen in advertisements, posters etc. will give out a message of being rich, having a higher status in life where people will look up to you as well give you this successful feel of accomplishing something to be ‘up there’ with tattoos. This causes people to get a tattoo because it is the ‘in thing’ and because it will give them a status value due to it being a fashion in this modern time.

Events – people normally tend to get tattoos of events that happen in their life. This is because they are memorable and they would want to have something to always look back to and something they can at least hold on to. These event tattoos are normally got on such situations :

1. Birth of a child

2. Death of a loved one

3. Paying tribute to something/someone

4. Important day of life e.g. birthday, marriage day, winning of something

5. Passion of something can also be tatted to show what their life has an impact on.

With some of these reasons being a ‘good’ thing, there’s also the bad choice in getting a tattoo. Some of these choices tend to be realized after the peer pressure they normally had or a life happening that made them realize that it wasn’t worth it at all. Situations where tattoos are not relevant are shown below (Kelly, 2013):

•  Lovers Name – being in love sometimes may not happen for a while to be certified that you and your partner will be in love forever. Especially if the two aren’t married to show certified proof.

•  Favorite Vice - this is having or being attracted to something on the regular that you can’t do without it for a long time. E.g. beer tattoo, clothing line tattoo, car logo.

• ·    No reason for it – this is the one thing that gets people get tattoos anyhow. With the response of saying ‘they just want to have a tattoo’ and when asked why, answer ‘I have no reason but just want to get it’. These are normally done with the influence of peer pressure around friends where people just want to get it because it is the in thing and will give you a status value among others.

NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF TATTOOS

Having a tattoo can be one of the biggest decisions that one can may get. Why you may ask? Well because this is ink that stays on your body for practically the rest of your life and having this permanent mark on your body has some negative effects that affects us.

In reference to an article (R-go.ca, 2013) “Society frowns upon many things today in age, one of the biggest and most common being tattoos. In a recent study, completed by myself, the average person described body art as dirty, and gross. The damage tattoos can bring to someone in today’s society can be a lot worse than one would think. Many employers will not hire someone with tattoos, when they come in for an interview, and some employers will fire their staff if they find out they have tattoos. Over half of the families in Canada would not let their children get tattoos. A lot of parents kick their kids out of the house for getting body art, which leaves them, in most cases, with nowhere to go. Some families even disown children; I have a friend from high school in which this happened to. A large number of Restaurants and stores will not allow entrance with body art showing, must have them covered up or no entry. “

It’s clear to see that some points are highlighted when getting a tattoo and what it causes us to deal with: 

• Employment difficulties

• Unrespectable towards parents

• Makes us restricted to go/enter places

• Homeless when chased

• Health issues are also forced to damage us and the tattoos.

Getting a tattoo back then was more of a stereotype thing which created less of these effects. Someone who had a tattoo was related to being in prison, evil, in a gang. Most of these relations having something to do with doing bad things. But with the new generation of today, this stereotype has stretched out with now people who are lawyers, doctors, teachers etc. all getting tattoos all to embrace this piece of ‘art’. 

People now getting tattoos’ in visible areas are now forced to restrict themselves in wearing certain clothes that are able to hide these tattoos. Especially with the working class of people today. 

Tattoos in certain areas such as the neck, face, lower arm were considered to be bad places to get tatted up because these would give then people in society a very judgemental of the person. Worse off, when going for a job interview, these tattoos are displayed. The chances of getting the job are very low than someone without because, the person with tattoos may even be charged with insubordination of having visible tattoos. (Examiner.com, 2009)

HEALTH ON TATTOOS

A tattoo is an imprint made on your skin with shades done through pricks into the skin's top layer. Normally, the tattooist utilizes a hand-held machine that like much as a sewing machine, with one or more needles puncturing the skin over and over. With each cut, the needles leaves little ink droplets. The method which if not done probably by having neutralized instruments may be a danger to our health.

Knowing the risks of these tattoos are important to know what effect they can give to our skin. Some of these allergies are shown below.

• Hypersensitive responses. Tattoo colors — particularly red, green, yellow and blue colors — can cause hypersensitive skin responses, for example an irritated rash at the tattoo site. This can happen even years after you get the tattoo done.

• Skin Infections - some of these tattoos may cause skin irritation like by having a rush, some may have a pus-type of infection which normally happes after having the tattoo done.

• Blood-borne diseases - because of machine used when making this tattoo, if the instrument is not cleaned or replaced by a new one, diseases such as tetanus, hepatitis B and C have a chance of being caught by the person.

• MRI Complications - Tattoos or changeless cosmetics may reason swelling or smoldering in the influenced zones throughout attractive thunder imaging MRI exams. In a few cases, tattoo colors can meddle with the nature of the picture. For example when an individual who has perpetual eyeliner has a MRI of the eye.

With the research that was covered in this component where we had to go in deeper and see what is it that gives this tattoo culture more than what meets the eye. Studying visual communication and understanding culture meaning gave me a widened understanding of things. The more than I did research on this subject, tattoos, i learnt things like why people get tattoos, what is the meaning behind it all, the health issues around it all etc. The is more than just sitting on that chair and getting inked up. Certain precautions have to be taken into place like religion, certain beliefs and statements that i wasnt aware of FULLY were helped by this study/module.

My skills of understanding things by visuals and having to know the meaning behind it more will help in many ways in such that you could study a culture in a particular area for example, see the people there and before you bring out something for the people in that town e.g shopping mall, You can evaluate what type of people will visit that shop and who it will be. Such things are how i understood to research more on cultures that are out there. 

The tattoo culture also looks to  be on that is growing and growing. They have become mainstream that practically anyone can now get a tattoo than before. Lawyers, police men, such examples than before where it was stereotype when someone was to get a tattoo they would be judged on certain things like religion, way of life, behaviour and so forth. The tattoos back then added value to someone but because it is becoming so mainstream in a fashionable way, this value may not be ‘special’ anymore because it is something soon to be ‘normal’ because everyone will or has it.