the meliorist, assignment the last

You can't kill the metal
The metal will live on
Punk-Rock tried to kill the metal
But they failed, as they were smite to the ground
New-wave tried to kill the metal
But they failed, as they were striken down to the ground
Grunge tried to kill the metal Ha!
They failed, as they were thrown to the ground

while the design isn't exactly what i was hoping for, in the end, i'm glad its finished. this entire experience has been a positive one. the semester culminates to the most stress i've ever endured and yet i still find time to sit down and work on these designs. the interest factor was huge for me; far more than any other class i took. right from the first day i had an incling it would be that way and my incling was proven right. Thanks to Michael Jorgensen and his amazing insight into the techniques behind design and typography, i learned more of design with your lessons than i all the other classes combined.


so long, NMED 2005


No one can destroy the metal
the metal will strike you down with a vicious blow
we are the vanquished foes of the metal
we tried to win, for why, we do not know

I wish I were a hippy

who are these hippies and what the hell do they want?

born of the 1960's revolution against the norm, the speak when spoken to rhetoric that had existed for so many generations. Men suddenly began wearing long hair and growing wild beards; youngsters dressed like peasant folk and wore bright, psychadelic colours. everyone looked dirty and unkempt, bathing, afterall, was for the bourgeois.

the generation gap that was created between parents and children became immense, and no one above the age of 35 or so could even comprehend, even fathom the changes that were happening in popular culture and society. a new, gain-ridden grungy sound emerged in music, rock and roll took a turn for some of the most experimental periods in musical history. it came as no surprise that certain bands that had gained popularity earlier in the late 50's and early 60's were now changing their mindset to form to the experimentation in drugs and culture. The Beatles, Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Pink Floyd were all born and reborn in these hippy times, and some of the world's most wonderful music followed.

it all culminated to the summer of love, 1969, years of oppression and conformity were thrown to the wind so that the kids could be free. At woodstock, folk music and brazen guitar solos trumpeted out to the baked audienced, stewing in their own sense of purpose and a lot of LSD. the hippy lifestyle has no bounds, depends upon peace and love and caters only to those willing to take a plunge and explore your own mind's eye.

Then, all at once, as quickly as it came about, when the change was cemented and the society changed course, the hippy died, and the metal moved in. Fashion, music, opinion, interest; all of it changed forever because of the refusal of a small group of baby-boomers to follow in the steps of their mothers and fathers.

many claim to be hippies today, but the title is as redundant in today's culture as the term "punk" or "ska" or "grunge". there simply are no hippies anymore, no room in this trendy and narcissistic culture we've come to know, and thats truly sad.

the calgary tower, a staple of the city skyline for over 40 years. everyone in canada knows the calgary tower, perhaps seconded only to the CN Tower in Toronto. i chose to leave out the 2-3 sentence description on the actual poster for this very reason. i felt it took away from the aestehtics and the designed layout i created for the image itself.

this was easy, took me no time at all, i just used the paths tool to outline the tower and then create the psychadelic waves in the background by rotating a single path over and over like a hand on a clock face. snazzy.

finished, finally. I foolishly decided to switch the design of the background almost half way through and created hours of extra work for myself. in the end, its worth it and I'm happy with the layout, but I only wish i could have seen the switch coming before it was too late.

i mean literally late, this thing got handed in the class after it was due.

Alphonse Mucha 1860-1939

While the artwork is stunning, take a look at the framing of many of the paintings. In most cases, the framing of the artwork is as important to the design and look of true "art nouveau" as the image itself.

Boom

sometimes the internet speaks and there's really nothing you can do about it. as you can clearly see, the image above is a negative image. this of course should no be and i'm left somewhat frustrated after having spent a while trying to figure out how to put images inside text like that. Furthermore, the link doesn't even take you to the full-size images, but instead an empty page of void and nothingness. don't bother clicking on it.

i guess it doesn't matter, i like the image on the left more anyway

so i come up with a custom header to put at the top of this blog, only to find out that you can't do that. damn.