Microagression

"You're not really Asian."
"hmm...why? "
"You don't act like an Asian."

Book Covers

1. My favorite classic work of literature is Anna Karenina, a novel by a Russian novelist, Leo Tolstoy. I believe the design fails to capture the plot of the book because rather than portraying the central idea or at least the key themes, the cover depicts a woman staring blankly into space, which reveals nothing about the book. 

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2. 

This is honestly the most creative book cover I've ever seen. The book is called The Next Page, and its cover is literally the second page of the book, which is the table of content. Though the book does not have an actual cover with title and visuals, the absences of these elements are what make the book stand out. Rather than intentionally trying to come up with a cover page to express the idea of "a next page", I think what the author did is really creative.

This cover is so cute omg. It looks simple, yet is intriguing, The book is called Oil, and its title is literally expressed in the form of oil droplets. In addition, the cover reveals nothing but the title of the book, which really invokes the curiosity of the readers.

I was actually drawn to the Perma-Bound logo at first....but the visuals on the book cover are really nice, too. The book is called Three Trips, and I like how instead of creating some elaborate designs, the designer simply used three different colors to represent the different memories/feelings brought by each trip.

This book also has a very simple yet clever design. Since the book is called Heat, I like how the designer purposefully distorted the last two letters of the word to make them look like they are melting, which embodies the title perfectly. Aside from the design, I also like how the designer chose to elongate the text.

I didn't find this cover pleasant at all. I chose it simply because it lacks a focal point, which is something that Ms. Lee keeps emphasizing and telling us to avoid. 

Even though it is not appealing, I guess it kind of goes well with the title. Since the title is An Underachiever's Diary, the simplicity and the kind of "throw together" design really embody that. 

_(:з」∠)_

These books as a whole do not exhibit many similarities; most of them have different alignments and placements of the text. The only thing they have in common, I would say, is that they all have simple designs, especially the second book and the last book. 

Poster Design: Before & After

Before: 

After: 

Logo Reflection

1. What was the most challenging aspect of creating your logo design?
The most challenging aspect of the design was confirming and finalizing my idea. Even though I had a lot of sketches to choose from, none of them met the criteria since they were mostly banners instead of logos. Also, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out which combination of the text and symbol would best represent the club. Since I didn't really pay attention to the font of the text during the drafting process and just went for what was pleasing to the eye, I ended up abandoning all my drafts since none of them really defined the club.

2. How did you overcome this challenge?
To overcome this challenge, I reviewed my summary and thought about the activities of the club. Since cooking club revolves around frying, I thought about incorporating that into my logo. Coincidentally, as I was distorting the letters to decide on the font, I realized that the letters began to resemble fire. I then added a pan on top of the fire to represent frying. Lastly, I added a few mushrooms to make it a bit more complex and creative.

3. What was the most successful aspect of your logo design?
I believe the most successful aspect of my logo design is its creativity and simplicity. I think it is simple yet recognizable since you can immediately tell from the pan what the club is about.

Midwinter Break

I didn't really do much over break.....

Well on Tuesday I went to Sake with Cindy and a bunch of my other friends, we were supposed to meet at 11 but I ended up arriving at 2....and we left half an hour later OTL

I actually had a lot of homework over break, but I didn't start any of it until yesterday...Should've cherished my break
Oh, and last Thursday was Chinese New Year!

Art at FIT

1. Where is this artwork? What kind of artworks were around this piece?
This artwork was exhibited in The Musem of FIT. Of the various displays, this outfit attracted my attention the most.The outfit was a parody of the Hermes design. Since it was a parody, it was displayed along with other counterfeits and parodies. To the left of this artwork, there was another parodic design, the "What about Yves" T-shirt, which was an imitation of the brand Yves Saint Laurent. To the right of the "Homies" design was the Moschino Ensemble, a reinterpretation of the McDonald's logo by Jeremy Scott.

2. What about this piece drew your attention? Does it remind you of something else?
The logo of the outfit was what drew my attention. I've seen the Hermes logo many times, but that was my first time seeing the parody version of it. The two logos used the same font and size, the only difference is that the parody replaced the famous Hermes carriage attached to a horse with a truck on hydraulics. Since it's so similar to the Hermes logo, this piece of artwork has raised many debates among lawyers and scholars regarding its trademark infringement. What I found fascinating is that despite the ongoing debates and criticisms, parodic and even counterfeit designs are still popular among consumers and considered as a form of art.

3. What do you know about the artwork or artist?
This outfit was designed by Brain Lichtenberg in 2014, and it is made out of cotton, polyester, and rubber. Aside from that, there wasn't much information on the artwork.

Photography wasn't allowed in the museum, so I took home two brochures.

Typography

1.

1. I believe this is modern typeface, since there is a vertical stress in the letter "O", and also a drastic thick/thin transition of the strokes.
2. This is found on my phone case.
3. I find the typeface really appropriate for its purpose here because it makes the logo neat and legible.

2.

1. I believe this is sans serif, since the letters do not have the small projecting features at the end of each stroke.
2. This is found on my sweater.
3. I believe it is a really good idea to use sans serif here because sans serif makes the logo really simple and noticeable. The elongated "serif-less" letters really stand out against the plain background and easily draws the customers' attention to them.

3.

1. This is decorative typeface, since the letters are more elaborate and have designs on them.
2. This is found on my friend's hoodie.
3. I think it is really creative to use decorative typeface here because by incorporating text within the letters, the goal/purpose of the organization can be expressed just from the logo alone. The decorative font also adds to the playfulness to the logo, making it appealing.

4.

1. I believe this is script typeface.

2. This is found in Bloomingdale's.

3. I believe it's really creative to use script here because it really brings out the elegant feel of the accessories section. 

5. 

                      

1. I believe this is slab serif, since there is little to no transition between strokes and also the serifs on the lowercase letters are very thick.

2. This is found on Cindy's sweater. 

3. I think it's a really good idea to use slab serif here because it's straightforward and not too elaborate.

6. 

                     

1. I believe this is oldstyle typeface, since the serifs on lowercase letters are slanted.
2. This is found on the Merriam Webster's dictionary.
3. I think it's appropriate to use oldstyle here just because I can't picture a dictionary using decorative or script as its logo...