My Hyper Haiku

http://fmundergrad.hunter.cuny.edu/~mayangelica

This semester in a nut shell.

I am so glad that Hunter made it mandatory for all media majors to register for this course!  Over the last few months my knowledge of photography and blogging has been enhanced, while learning about other new aspects of media creation like Photoshop and video editing.  The lecture classes I felt really coincided nicely with the once a week labs.  I do understand why the production course has been broken down into two separate courses.  At times I felt like we were slightly rushing the material, and wanted to spend more time on a specific project in lab.  Luckily, Angela always gave us a little more time to grasp and use what we were learning to the best of our capabilities.  Down the line it would be nice to have a three hour lab once a week, the extra hour would allow the class to get more done.  I also found that it was sometimes difficult to work on specific projects at home, because I didn't have certain programs (Photoshop), or I couldn't open certain applications (TextWrangler).  That being said, I am looking forward to taking part two of the production series next semester.       

Kraftwerk Music Festival at PS1 MoMA

MoMA PS1 hosted a two day music festival showcasing the work of Juan Atkins, and Francois K on April 14 th and 15th to celebrate Retrospective 12345678, an exhibition of Kraftwork. Kraftwork, noted one of the forefathers of Techno is preforming at the MoMA, but this two day festival was ment to highlight two of the industry's most influential djs. I attended on April 15th and witnessed Francois K spin. Francois is one of New York Cities most legendary djs and has worked with Kraftwerk multiple times. Momaps1.org discusses his relationship to Kraftwerk, and his own musical history. Francois was behind legendary New York City parties such as "BODY & SOUl" and Deep Space Mondays nights at Cielo. The shows introduction was good. The music was enjoyable, and it was easy to hear. I could definitely relate this type of "original" techno to what we call "modern" techno. The base of the music was very rich and could be used in many different generals of music such as hip hop rap dance and electronic music. It could be related to darker forms of music like speedcore. The background images related to the tone of the music, but at times were slightly stranche. A lot of the images related to radioactivity, and machinery, but the political message behind the images never came together. Visually it was nice to look at in the 360 degree dome, but the music and the images were very repetitive. I was waiting for the show to really get going, and it never fully picked up. The MoMA PS1 website doesn't give an artist statement in respect to what the two day festival was trying to accomplish, so it was really up to me to interpret the work, and because it was very abstract I do not know exactly what to make of it.

The chaotic nature of spring on Park Avenue.  

Photoshop Assignment

Starbucks and its Siren

Starbucks has had the same logo since 1971, when the famed coffee company began selling product to the public. The Starbucks logo showcases a double tailed siren, which is supposed to represent a strong connect to the both, the company's first store in the seaport roots of Seattle, and the image it wanted to portray. The Starbucks webpage describes the image as "a seductive mystery mixed with a nautical theme that was exactly what the founders were looking for. A logo was designed around her, and our long relationship with the Siren began".
The logo, although meaningful, does not represent coffee at all globally. In Seattle the image might have been accepted and understood, but globally the logo does not fit the description of a coffee house. As the years went by the logo changed slightly. the circular shape was kept, but the logo itself was changed from a neutral brownish color to a sea green color. the siren herself was also cropped. The part of the logo which focuses on the siren was enlarged, so the people concentrated more on her face, and the top part of her tail. "Starbucks Coffee" which outlined the picture of the siren was enlarged, and the "tea" part of the logo was dropped, thus giving a clearer description of who the company was as a whole. As of 2011 the logo no longer includes "Starbucks Coffee", it is comprised of merely the up close version of the siren. Because the company is so renown, it no longer needs text within its logo, those who see the green siren's face know the logo belongs to Starbucks. The company has been so successfully branded that even if the logo was changed again, people would recognize the company.