Digital Graphics
Description
Analysis
Interpretation
Judgment
Animation
Description
Analysis
Interpretation
Judgment
Web Authoring
Description
Analysis
Interpretation
Judgment
Multimedia
Description
Analysis
Interpretation
Judgment
Desktop Publishing
Description
Analysis
Interpretation
Judgment
Video Technology
Description
Analysis
Interpretation
Judgment
Art Critique of TA Products
Prepared by Connie Lindsey
October 2005
Description
This picture appears on the Best Practice High School homepage at http://www.bphs.cps.k12.il.us/
The date taken nor the photographer are identified.
Analysis
The rule of thirds is followed as the student appears in the left third of the image and is looking down into the lower right portion of the image. The angle of the student and the fact that not all of his head or arm appear in the image gives a sense of the viewer looking over the student's shoulder as he works. Although the student is the dominant image, the viewer's eye is drawn to his work, not his face.
Interpretation
The composition of the photograph focuses on the student artist's work. Intensity and motion are both implied by the body posture and the hand holding a pencil poised over the page. The dark shirt in the foreground first draws attention to the student, but then the viewer's eye is drawn to the work.
Judgment
This photograph does an excellent job creating motion and capturing the subject's intensity as he works.
MAX 2005
http://www.macromedia.com (This animation rotates with another one. If it does not appear when you go to the home page, refresh the page or click on the link below for a similar animation.)
http://www.macromedia.com/macromedia/events/max/
Description
The animation appears in the banner of the Macromedia homepage. The picture is a landscape of honey brown hills against a blue sky dotted with fluffy white clouds. The animation gives the sense of looking out the window of a travelling vehicle with the hills sliding by from right to left. Titles fly in from the right intermittently and fly out as a new title flys in.
Analysis
The warm colors of the hills create harmony. The hills have contrasting value from light honey to deep brown. The deep blue sky with its few fluffy clouds add a contrast and yet also communicate peacefulness. The designer followed the rule of thirds as the hills fill two-thirds of the space, with the larger titles travelling across the upper third sky section. The titles on the left and right and the bottom act as an anchor, as they do not move. They also lend a sense of balance.
Interpretation
The designer probably chose to mimic a sense of travelling in the animation because it is advertising the 2005 Macromedia Conference in California, and the theme is ideas in motion. The peaceful sky sends the subtle message that attending will be a pleasant experience. The glow of the hills is one that most associate with reward and fulfillment.
Judgment
The animation is very simple and two-dimensional. The same hills scroll by without variation. If viewed for very long (as I did to complete this analysis), the effect is annoying. The designer probably counted on the fact that most people would only glance briefly at it before clicking to a new page, and so the work to create a more sophisticated, realistic animation would not have been worthwhile. I personally do not like this type of animation, as I find it annoying.
Web Authoring
Target Red Hot Shop web page
http://target.com/target_group/stores_services/redhotshop.jhtml?ref=sc_iw_l_2
Description
The page uses Target’s red and white logo colors with gray accents. The Target’s mascot dog with his red bull’s eye appears in the upper left corner next to the store’s logo. The dog has perched his front paws on the red navigation bar. The focal point of the page is a large red square that contains a design of circles that suggest an old-fashioned telephone dial. Rays of darker red scroll in a clockwise direction. Each smaller white circle contains a product picture, while the large white circle in the center contains a duplicate of the chosen product with a red text box off to the right describing the product.
Analysis
The designer made strong use of shape with the red square and the white circles.The focal sqaure begins in the upper portion of the page. The red navigation bar, a bold, thin rectangle, and the other page elements create a type of mat or frame for the square. The red and white create bold contrast.
Interpretation
The darker rays that radiate out and move clockwise invite the visitor to choose one of the products displayed in the circles. The white background gives the page a clean look and causes the elements to jump out from the page. Two maroon rectangles containing links appear below the square, anchoring it on the page. While both rectangles are maroon, having the left one longer than the right one creates needed interest.
Judgment
The design is bold, attractive, and inviting. The designer used shape with varying sizes to create interest in a page that might appear monotonous due to the dominant red and white color scheme.
Gettysburg PowerPoint Presentation
OR Click here to open the PowerPoint document
Description
This PowerPoint was created by Peter Norvig and is available for downloading at http://www.norvig.com/Gettysburg/ He explains on his website that he created the PowerPoint in January 2000 out of frustration experienced from watching too many bad presentations.
The color scheme is black background with light blue, mustard and grass green rectangles on the upper left area of each slide. The font is white arial on each slide.
Analysis
The color scheme is garish; the colors fight with each other and make the rectangles the focus of the slide rather than the information being presented. The presentation definitely has consistency and repetition, as each slide is exactly the same design.
Interpretation
The colored rectangles fight with the information for attention. The repetitive use of the arial font for all information is monotonous and gives the impression that the information is not important.
Judgment
The presentation is very poorly designed and obstructs the message that is being presented. Peter Norvig explains on his website [http://www.norvig.com/Gettysburg/making.html] that these were his objectives as he developed it.
Brochure: Prepare for Success: A Parent Guide to the Student Success Initiative
Created by Texas Education Agency and available for downloading from their website [http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/resources/ssi/ssi_broch.pdf].
Description
This informational brochure was created to explain the Texas Reading Initiative to parents. The background color for the brochure is medium blue with khaki-colored panels bordered with olive green frames. Title text is also olive green. The front panel contains the title in the upper third and a blue graduation cap in the lower third on which is written SUCCESS. The right panel as the brochure is opened contains a list of promotion requirements and a copy of the graduation cap from the cover in the upper third of the panel.
When the brochure is open, a large panel covering the left two sections contains the framed title The Student Success Initiative with four sections of information divided with sub-titles. Appearing in the lower right corner of the panel is a red apple with a white outline of Texas stamped with the TAKS logo on it that is being held in a childs hand.
The far right panel contains a bulleted list with the title Parent Tips. The back panel contains a picture of a student reading that overlaps the upper third of the panel. Information on how to obtain copies of the brochure or more information about teaching children to read is given in the back panel. The TEA address, phone number, and logo appear at the bottom of the panel.
Analysis
The designer softened the contrast by using a light khaki as the text background rather than white. There is also a muted contrast of the olive text against the khaki. Using a blue graduation cap ties the blue background in with the khaki panels creating unity in the design. The student in the photo on the back panel is wearing a navy blue shirt and blue jeans that also pull together the colors. The red apple creates a strong contrast and pulls the reader's eye down through the print toward the bottom right corner. The TAKS logo on the apple is the same blue as the brochure background.
Interpretation
The designer probably wants muted contrast to avoid a harsh tone, as the information in the brochure details the stricter promotion and graduation requirements for Texas students. Blue, a calming color that most people find appealing, is probably a wise choice. All of the graphics bring attention to students, not teachers or the school itself, as the graduation cap symbolizes a student's ultimate school success. The extended child's arm and hand holding the apple communicates a child's willingness to please his teacher and the use of the TAKS logo stamped on the apple sends a strong message of compliance and acceptance of the test iteslf.
Judgment
The khaki panels seem drab to me and create a sad, opressive tone. Admittedly, this may just be my own persoanl bias, and others may not be affected this way. The apple graphic with the TAKS logo in it is offensive to me as a teacher, as it seems to imply that the best way to please your teacher is to do well on the TAKS test. The message is that nothing else matters in school anymore outside of this one test.
Accelerate Your Life
View Video at http://www.navy.com/
Description
This video appears in the upper right section of the homepage of the US Navy.
The title screen of the video depicts two navy pilots in the left foreground and an airplane descending in the upper right. The white words “accelerate your life.” are continually bouncing right and left over the word NAVY in the lower right corner.
Lines play an important role in the composition. The designer used two sets of three moving white lines, one set bouncing down from the upper left corner and the second set bouncing against the lower right and left edges of the screen. All across the very bottom are white marks that resemble the ones on a ruler. The entire screen in marked off in a subtle grid with two of the squares over the plane an opaque white. Strong rock music plays as pictures of planes landing on ships and a sailor tracking with a periscope flash by, blending into a recorded radio transmission between a ship and incoming plane’s pilot.
Analysis
The rule of thirds is followed on the title screen as the main focus, the pilots, appear on the left with one looking out of the picture and the second one seeming to look down into the lower right corner where the words appear. Only one picture deviates from the rule of thirds, one with a plane appearing to burst through the center of the screen.
The moving lines and grid appear throughout the video, a repetition that lends consistency to otherwise disjointed images and sounds.
Interpretation
The effect of the strong music and pictures is edgy, aggressive, and challenging. Continual motion and a sense of controlled danger are communicated. The words flashing in and out of the screen “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of those who threaten it” send a strong emotional message of doing one’s duty to protect liberty.
Judgment
The video is very professional and effective at drawing an emotional response of patriotism and excitement.