Saturday, April 30, 2011

Reflectioning on Visual Symbols

Most people think they know about the visual symbols they see in their life; I know I thought I did. I think the mistake I made was taking it too literately. I thought of photography and movies, but visuals are really everywhere. We all know the art work for our favorite brand of soda, chips, or even the make-up you wear! They all have very specific visual brands.

A couple weeks into class I had a discussion with a roommate that really helped this whole idea click. We were talking about the classes I was taking and he scoffed when I mentioned Visual Literacy. And I realized, not many people realize how much they SEE. Visual literacy is just another form of reading, which is something I know enough about. We talked about reading road signs and cover art for books, music, and shows. Even when you see a logo or a brand with words that doesn't mean you have to read them, you already know what you are looking at. I feel like I'm look at these things more now that I did before.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Movie Clips

Okay, the following list started as a way to keep track of what everyone shared in class this evening. But i thought some of the comments were fun enough to share so here's what I thought about class tonight. Some comments I'd rather keep to myself, but I've decided to turn off my edit "button" for now.

Jurassic Park x2 ~ how great was this movie?! If the music is great, odds are John Williams had a hand in it!

American Graffetti ~ great soundtrack; different movie!

How to Train Your Dragon ~ need to see it.

Phantom of the Opera ~ I have totally been to that opera house!

Star Wars ~ rude people talking...still talking...John Williams!

Legend of the Guardians ~ owls kind of freak me out.

Quest for Camelot ~ lead singer from Journey is totally sweet!!! For having so many famous people in this movie, I don't think I've ever heard of it before now.

Coach Carter: Our Deepest Fear ~ quoting from??? I feel like I know that quote, but can't put my finger on it.

Big Fish ~ Here I Go by Yellowcard was written about this movie, but not FOR the movie.



The Lovely Bones ~ book to movie...LOVE Stanely Tucci, but she's right; this is a creepy movie.

Up ~ sad...tear. :-(

Hear and Now ~ deaf movie! gotta watch this with the Sievers (context: the Sievers all know sign language and Mrs. Sievers use to be in charge of deaf services at the Bettendorf Public Library)!

Dexter ~ first season, opening scene...yuck. I've been told I need to watch this show, but I'm not sure I want to watch a show with so much gore on a regular basis.

Sweeny Todd ~ I should really watch that sometime!

Ad ~ backseat dancer, I didn't notice those were famous dancer faces!

It's a Wonderful Life ~ Mary?! Kids! :-) How many times has my mom made me watch this movie?!

Meet the Fockers ~ funny scene!


My scene was from the musical 1776 because I'm kind of dorky! Here are a couple more really good scenes from that excellent movie.







Wednesday, April 13, 2011

The Future continued

One thing I'm not sure we can work into our project, but would love to see...is the outdated versions of "the future." Science fiction has been around for a while and there have been some great movies, books, and television shows set in futures that are happening right now! I mean what is happening now compared to what people THOUGHT 2011 was going to look like? Now that looks like a lot of fun.


Hmmm...let's see what I can find!



The easiest to poke at is Back to the Future II (1989). Set in 2015, I'm pretty sure we won't be driving flying cars or go cursing around on hover boards. But wouldn't that have been great! The way the future is portrayed in this movie is really funny, but considering this was a comedy maybe we can forgive the inaccurate predictions for the future. Could we maybe count the Segway as being as close to a "hover board" as we want or will get to? I'm not sure that it's as cool as a hover board, but they are all over the place now! You can see Epcot, Paris, Amsterdam, and just about any tourist location by Segway.


Another favorite of mine would be the Terminator movies. The first Terminator (1984) sees a future controlled by machines after a major nuclear blast takes out most of the human race. The "Judgement Day" as it is named in the second movie is set to take place 1997. So far as I know we have not achieved artificial intellegence yet with computers, and with this kind of theory of what could happen who want to? Other than Steve Jobs returning to Apple and Dolly the cloned sheep being presented to the world I think 1997 was nuclear war free... But considering the 6 years between the first movie and the second, the special effects in the first movie were beyond laughable. I like the story in the first movie, but watching it can be tough sometimes between the clothing (accurate enough for the time) and the bad effects!




Finally, I'll take a look at a movie that was based off a graphic novel: V for Vendetta. Most of the "present" action of the original book was set in 1997. Although at the time it became a film they were not using actual dates. It was set "in the near future." The idea was that after narrowly escaping a nuclear war a more totalitarian government would take over. While none of these events have even remotely come true, it's the idea that this is one person's theory. There was a quote from one of the original authors of the novel that I really enjoyed: "The simple fact that much of the historical background of the story proceeds from a predicted Conservative defeat in the 1982 General Election should tell you how reliable we were in our roles as Cassandras" (taken from imdb.com). The quote refers to Cassandra from Greek Mythology and how she was doomed to see the future, never to be believed (sometimes the telling changes the outcomes). For some reason I really enjoyed this movie. The images and the storyline were amazing. I'm not usually in for the "heavy" stories, but this was different.


Monday, April 11, 2011

The Future

I wasn't in class today, I had a job interview in Bettendorf. My family is from the Quad-Cities and they wouldn't let me go in time to get back for class! But I am excited by the ideas for our final project that were added to our Google Doc. Our project word is "Future." I think we are going to have so much fun with that. So, for this blog I thought I would share some of my visual thoughts on the future. Not necessarily to do with our project, but my thoughts in general. I am after all an avid reader of Science Fiction/Fantasy for both the adult and young adult market!


Space travel: sign me up! But apparently only if it involves any of the future that Anne McCaffrey envisions. My very favorite author is Anne McCafrfry and she has some amazing ideas about space travel and the future. My favorite series, The Dragonrider's of Pern, is about a planet that has been settled by earthlings. Another series she writes is "the Freedom Series" about another planet that gets colonized, in a slightly less "friendly" way. She also write about the future of Earth and the development of "Powers" in The Powers Series. These powers are moving objects with your mind or reading other people's minds. It's really interesting! She is really my FAVORITE author of all time. I think because she captures the adventure 0f the future. That is part of the thrill, you just don't know what' going to be coming next or where we will be going. There are more space travel movies that I enjoy than books, which seems odd to me. One of the most visually interesting movies when I first saw it was Gattaca. It's about a man in the future who desperately wants to be a part of the space travel program, but isn't one of the "healthy" genetically created people. It's about much more than space travel, but it's definitely one vision for the future. Unlike some other futuristic movies I had seen at the time this future wasn't all bright and shiny. I think future movies like to picture things as bright and shiny as a way of visually tricking us. Look everything is great, then they hit us with the "ugly truth." But Gattaca was a "dark" movie from the start. I liked that, it seemed more direct. But if you really want to talk about space travel you can't avoid Star Trek. I am a Trekkie by default, my father is a Trekkie so it's unavoidable! The most recent movie had some of the best visual effects I've ever seen used in a Star Trek movie. I was watching the "extras" on the DVD and it seems like the way the director got all the cool flashes to work was just randomly flashing lights at different angles into the camera. It was so awesome! Star Trek, no matter which "generation" you are watching can definitely give off the "bright and shiny" future vibe. Everything is sleek and simple, at least they try to make it simple. These movies date themselves easily by the special affects that are used, but I think they try to off set that with keeping to a general look or theme for every incarnation.




Post-Apocalypse anyone? Another favorite theme of young adult science fiction especially, but also comes out in the adult market is the post-apocalypse theme. "Oh no the world as we know it has ended due to: nuclear war, global warming, over population...the list goes on and on. These books can seem depressing when you don't know how to look at them. It depends on where your imagination takes you when a book starts to describe the ruins of society literally or figuratively. "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins is set "in what use to be known as the Unites States of America." The government may not have survived the apocalypse but the people did, you've gotta take some comfort in that, right?! There are also some great movies within this theme as well. Titan A.E actually fits into space travel AND post-apocalypse themes! It was an animated movie about a race of aliens that took over earth and a small group of people who were trying to fight back even though the Earth was gone. The movie was okay, but I was impressed with the animation.

These are only two themes found in science fiction genres today, but I think that's more than enough to mull over for now. Really, it doesn't matter if the future is in your head while reading a book or if you're watching the latest sci-fi movie, the future always looks visually interesting!

Monday, April 4, 2011

Saving the World and Final Projects

So today our Visual Literacy class "Saved the World!" There were 5 teams, which surprised me, for some reason I thought we had 4 teams. Either way I liked that every team chose a very unique way to use their little yellow stickers to save the world. The "SunSpots" were fun, but I had to vote for the group with the full skit. Mostly because they played a Queen song at the end of the presentation! Scientific process...highly over rated! I really liked the visuals we saw in all the presentations. Even though it was only a poster, I really liked what the last team came up with. I couldn't vote for them though (see the above mentioned reason). Most of the teams used a variety of media including music, video, live performance, and pictures. It was kind of a fun class, but my group's bribes didn't seem to work in our favor! We came in third place. We used Google Sites to create a partially interactive "game." We used pictures, props, videos, participation, candy, and prizes! I thought our project was pretty great, and I have several ideas of how to make it better if I want to use it myself later! The Eco-Bunny videos that Lindsey found were just awesome. Our group worked well together overall and I think we'll do okay on the final project too.



The final project selection went well. I think having one group be able to chose their word gave everyone else the opportunity to select the word they wanted. My group ranked the words in order of what we wanted before the selection, and I'm happy to say we got our first pick. I think everyone got their first or second pick actually. Which is nice. We chose the word: FUTURE. It's gonna be a fun project. We had lots of great ideas being thrown around right away, and I think the momentum will continue! What I want clarified is the actual number of visuals required. I know the title of the project is "a word is worth a thousand pictures," but do we actually need to document 1000 different visuals? I'm not sure. I know there was a lot of talk about getting the project description posted so that we all had a better idea of what was required. I think having some guidelines for this project will make it a little less stressful than the Save the World project, THANK GOD!

Monday, March 28, 2011

Gaming presentation


Gaming is something the library has really embraced! Getting kids to the library can be half the battle so it's important to have events and activities that patrons are interested in. Today's class was really interesting. I know that Rock Band and a lot of the Wii party games have been used as big draws for library events. The ratings are acceptable for all patrons to participate and they are very interactive! I myself am a fan of the Green Day Rock Band game since I don't own a Wii. A friend of mine bought the Wii and we have really enjoy playing the Sports Games as well. Only in a video game could I be a tennis Pro! I never think of myself as a gamer. I don't play an excessive amount of games online or through a console. I enjoy playing several games, but have never "won" or "finsihed" a leveled game. Games have long been a learning tool in school, and like everything else they are becoming better and better as technology evolves. I really like that gaming has become interactive as well as visually engaging!

Monday, March 21, 2011

Cultural Considerations and LOVE

We (Michaela and I) gave our presentation in class tonight. I think it went well, the discussion seemed to go well at the very least! And we finally got to fit in a conversation about the movies we have been watching. So far I've really liked about half the movies we've seen, but on the other hand I haven't hated the other half...it's more a feeling of "meh." Speaking of "meh," I saw the BEST thing ever on shirtwoot the other day! I seriously may have to buy that shirt. I am a BIG fan of shirtwooting. Sometimes the visual gags are easy to spot, but sometimes it's important to read the description. They really have a way with words...and sarcasm on that website.

Now that we've talked over the movies for class, let's think back to Valentine's Day...we were talking about favorite romantic movies, which I have plenty, but I couldn't think of any great love scenes to share with the class. For me it's usually the bigger picture I guess. Not that the scenes we saw were not part of movies with a good "bigger picture," if that makes sense. Still, I thought I'd share some of my favorite love stories as well as the American Film Institute's (AFI) list of the 100 best romantic films! First a moment to comment on the list provided by AFI: Casablanca is ranked #1, I find this amusing because when they are ranking the greatest film ever Casablanca always comes in 2nd to Citizen Cane. I HATE Citizen Cane and feel it's a big waste of time, and they usually put Casablanca in the #2 spot (vindication at last). This list was created in 2002, which sadly means we don't know where The Notebook would fit in...that being the current #1 love story according to every girl and most boys that I have ever met. Several of my favorite love stories appear on the list, which isn't surprising because I feel like I have very classic taste!

Now Voyager (#23 on AFI's list) is one of my all time favorite love stories, even though they don't end up together! I know it's tragic, but I fall for it every time. I'm always surprised when this movie pops up because I had never heard of it until it was mentioned in a book. I highly recommend it if you like old movies. And seriously, I think everyone should watch the Quiet Man (#76) at least once! It's a John Wayne movie, but don't let that stop you. I really must thank my dad for introducing me to the movie. Of course for years I only ever saw the end, an excellent fight scene. Watch it, I know you'll like it! There is something for everyone.

A funny movie that I like is Sabrina, the new version. The original version is #54 on the AFI list. Don't get me wrong I'm a big fan of Audrey Hepburn, but I saw the new version first. Speaking of Audrey, they put Breakfast at Tiffany's at #61! There's a mistake if I ever saw one. But back to the Sabrinas compare:








I like the original, but not as much as the new! One reason the new is better is how much more Paris is a part of the film. In the original it's an exotic location where the main character goes to cooking school. It's not part of the story, it's just a name. In the new version it is a wonderful escape for a hopelessly naive young girl in the exciting world of fashion. Paris enables the character to grow and experience new people and places. Paris is like another character in the film! It's a really beautiful movie. I love Paris, so of course this makes my list of favorites.

To name a few more of my favorites from the AFI list: #4 Roman Holiday, #27 The Sound of Music, #50 Shakespeare in Love, #93 Dirty Dancing, #81 The Goodbye Girl, #46 To Catch a Thief, and of course # 34 Beauty and the Beast (the Disney movie).

I feel like I've spent a lot of this time talking about how much I love old movies, but I love movie today too! One of the best romantic movies I've ever seen is Pride and Prejudice! The whole movie is elegant and beautiful. The scenery is amazing! Have you ever looked at the trees in that movie?! They are wonderful. The music and the costumes were detailed and delicate. I thought everything looked accurate on top of the story being perfect. I loved the whole movie. It really is visually stunning.



I picked the video with the best picture so please excuse the foreign language subtitles!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Monday, March 7, 2011

Save the World

So in class today we made crazy stories and tried to share them with the class. My favorite has got to be the last skit from the second round: too smart! At the end of class we were given the Save the World assignment, with only a sheet of yellow stickers to clue us in. I'm not the most creative person around, but I know my group will figure something out. Thinking about saving the world always makes me think of The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. I don't remember when I first read the book, but I do remember the first time I watched the movie. 7th grade science class with Mr. Hartz! He showed us the FILM STRIP! Everyone by that time was too cool for cartoons, and way to cool for Dr. Seuss, but I LOVED it! That was the first time I really thought about saving the world. We talked about recycling and reusing, it was the beginning of the recycling craze! So in honor of our assignment to Save the World please enjoy this video from Google. The quality looks pretty similar to the original film strip version I saw in class. I was given the DVD of the movie recently and it was nicely "cleaned up." However, I LIKE to watch it in all it's original glory, so I hope you can appreciate it too!

Monday, February 28, 2011

Visuals in Schools


This is a presentation I would have liked to be a part of! Of course the visuals I see in schools as a librarian may not be what others think of first. I think of the display cases full of student work, from any subject. I think of signs telling you about fundraisers and up coming activities. I think of shelf labels and Dewey Decimal numbers! But mostly, I think of book covers!Cover art is an interest of mine. Because the old saying "you can't judge a book by it's cover" is wrong. You can, and will judge a book by it's cover. I've even seen a little research about this very topic. As books are published in each generation the covers change, and there are some very specific trends that have been found. I don't know much about those trends, and I can't remember where I saw that article but I have definite opinions about book covers! If you want a young adult, or a child to read a book it has to look appealing. I'm sorry but it's the truth. The books above and below this paragraph are the same book with different covers. Doomed Queen Anne is about Anne Boleyn and was written with a young adult audience in mind. The first cover seemed to be too juvenile for the young adult readers for which the book was written. The new cover appears to be more sophisticated.



I read a lot of young adult and children's literature. There are some good books kids won't touch. It's got to be appealing! I know one librarian, who does a Brown Bag Book Grab. She takes some classic older books from her library, good books that she can't afford to buy new copies of. She book talks each one and the students "bid" on a book that sounds good to them. The challenge is to take it home, open up the bag and read the book. They are NOT to open the bag until they are home and to read at least the first chapter. For some kids it works, others don't really get into it. But it's a great way to deal with judging books by their covers.


No matter if it's a young adult, children's, or adult novel I'm always looking at book covers. Currently I am looking at a lot of science fiction book covers during my Master's research. I am looking at current trends in young adult science fiction. So far I have read Peeps, Taken, and Candor (in that order) for my research. Can you tell which cover I like the best? The look of the book has been a consideration as I read. I take one that I like the look of, then one that doesn't "look" as good. That way I am not reading all the "good" books first. I ended up liking the book Taken a lot more than I thought I would, but I sandwiched it between Peeps and Candor for a reason...


PS
Here's an AWESOME trailer for The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. The trailer is actually narrated by the author as well. This book won the Newbery Medal in 2009.


PPS
Read the book Candor by Pam Bachorz and then check out this website! Ever want to know what makes a "good book?" When you HATE the ending, but still LOVE the book...that is a GOOD BOOK.

Post for Monday, Feb. 21, 2011 Visual Symbols Take 2 Part 2

So we were supposed to update our first post about visual symbols in our life when I posted about music. Music doesn't really reflect current symbols in my life though, so I'm taking the time now to talk about some of the visuals that I can't escape right now.

I will be graduating this May. Unless my research project slows me down, but at the very latest I will be done with everything by the end of the summer. I WILL be "walking" in May. So right now I have a lot of thoughts about the graduation process...leading to the job searching process...yikes! It seems like my time as a student is flying by at an alarming rate. I have notes everywhere reminding me to finish this application, or send transcripts to "that school," or don't forget to update your portfolio! Everything is coming together, but I don't feel ready!


Finding a school library job is the priority now. Although, I'm applying for public and academic library positions as well. With budgets being what they are these days, if it says "library" I'm there. I've been using the Teach Iowa website to look for school library jobs as well as a website called indeed, a job search engine. To start I am searching in Iowa for library jobs, but if I need to I am willing to expand that search to Illinois and Wisconsin. Although teaching or working for the state of Wisconsin right now seems to be a risky idea...but I have family there...so for now I'm searching in Iowa!

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Visual Symbols Take 2 Part 1


I enjoyed class tonight. Seeing the different visuals that were used in the presentation was fun. It's funny how seeing certain pictures or images will affect people. I saw a treble clef. Which reminded me of reading music.



Which reminded me that I miss playing my violin! I've never been a very good violinist, but I enjoyed it. However, I don't have the money for the upkeep. The last time I looked at my violin the bridge had been compromised and I needed a completely new bow or to re-string the old one. A new bow would probably cost less. Besides the fact that I don't keep it in the best case or take care of the climate around it I really think I should pass on my violin to someone who would take care of it. However, I still want to be able to play. A friend of mine had a very small electric violin at one point. I wonder if I could keep that in the proper condition so that I could play when the feeling struck? I don't want to forget how to play completely! I may not be very good, but I do enjoy it.
All of these thoughts ran through my head during class. I probably missed another picture or symbol that could have triggered a completely different "tangent" in my mind. But the treble clef is what caught my attention.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Perspective



Among other things, we talked about Perspective in class this week. These first couple of pictures were taken for a class. I was trying to use perspective to help illustrate a word choice. I like playing with perspectives, but sometimes it works great, while other times I just don't catch it. For the cookie making picture I was standing on a chair, trying to get a sharp angle down...it kind of worked.

Other times I'm not even trying and the outcome will actually be better! I like perspective pictures that happen naturally. For example, Notre Dame Cathedral. The height, angles, and the character of the building really do all the work for you! Just keep snapping shots and you'll end up with some great stuff when you get home.





Can you tell Paris is my favorite city in the WORLD to visit? Really, if it wasn't that every time I visit the city it's usually with someone who has never been, AND we are always there for a short period of time...I would just wander around all day taking pictures. I mean literally wandering with no real purpose other than to snap a shot when I feel like it.

Monday, January 31, 2011

Killing Us Softly Video Response


I enjoyed watching the video in class. The author/presenter was good at walking the line between funny and serious. In response to the content; I think right now we are beginning to see better TV adds, there are certainly more that have a positive message or use "real women." However, I don't see much changing in print adds. That seems to be a bigger problem maybe in part because the audience is more specific when you are looking at print adds. Either way I don't think the problem will ever go away, because somewhere, somehow, the adds must be working...otherwise why would they keep getting used? One year my sister decorated her bedroom with different ads from magazines. Anything she found interesting, funny, or beautiful. She had an add for jeans using the cast from "That 70's Show" because we were big fans. It was just the cast in "costume" wearing jeans and looking normal. However, I did recognize an Evian water add from the video as being in my sister's room at the time! It was the lady in the bathtub with the Evian bottles all over. It was simple and pretty, I'm not exactly what the problem with this add was. It's a "normal" too skinny model, but that's hard to avoid in most magazine adds. I feel like going back and finding some pictures of her room at that time so I can compare the images she picked to the ideas presented in this video! I know she wasn't picking ads with a critical eye for the types of "messages" presented in the video, but by what she liked at the time either what the add was selling or maybe who was in the add. My interest is piqued!

The following commercial has good points and bad. Yes it shows off "parts" of the woman's body rather than the whole, but it also shows a body that isn't the unattainable crap you normally see. I worked for Lane Bryant for 5 years, it was a great way to earn money and get a great discount on professional clothes that fit! This add came out and caused such a stir because Fox decided not to air it during American Idol, after seeing it. The amount of free press that Lane Bryant got from the controversy, I'm sure they sent Fox a thank you card. But really, I don't see anything wrong with it...judge for yourself. I thought the commercial was nicely done and similar in style to others I had seen on television at the time. I know that some commercials are made for the basic networks and others are made for cable, but I'm pretty sure you can see a lot worse than this on any of the basic network programs, let alone the ads!


Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Perception!

Perception. As I read chapter two and again while watching the videos in class I was amazed by the power of perception. It really is amazing that different people can see the same exact picture and see completely different details. So this whole thing reminds me of one thing, and it just keeps popping into my head so I feel I have to share.

"Once you can name something you have power over it."

I'm not sure who said this during class, if it was in one of the videos or came from the reading, but this just clicked with me. I think of this in terms of my car. Yes, my car. I am by no means a "car person." I don't really know one model from the next. I do know the basic manufacturers: Chevy, Ford, Pontiac (sadness that it's gone now), Olds (again, sadness), Toyota, and so on. I never knew how little I paid attention to cars until I bought my first decent car after finishing my undergrad degree. I bought my dad's old car, a 1998 Oldsmobile Regency silvery/tan. By this time Oldsmobile had been out of business for a couple years, but this was still a pretty decent car. As soon as it was mine I saw them EVERYWHERE! I couldn't drive to the grocery store without seeing at least one other car that looked exactly like mine. It was insane, and don't get me started about finding it in the mall parking lot! It was nuts, but I had never "known" a specific Olds before. They were all alike to me. This whole thing was a little crazy, but I thought "hey it's a popular car." Wrong, it was just a car like any other. Last year my poor Olds was "killed" by an accident, no one was hurt. My dad helped me find a "new" used car. I ended up with a 2000 (I think) Buick Lesabre, I like full size cars if you hadn't caught that yet! I started driving it around and after about 2 weeks I noticed my car was everywhere! This car is green, which I thought was a lot less common! But, my next door neighbor has the EXACT same car right down to the color! Why did I never see this before? Because I had no image of a Buick Lesabre, I just knew "Buick." I couldn't name it, I couldn't find one in a crowd. Now I see at least one EVERY day...

This is just one example of how perceptions change and affect everyday life. I have a friend who is an artist. It always amazes me how differently we see things. While watching the first video in class, the man with the interesting art, I thought about my friend. She sees thing differently similar to the way the speaker saw things differently. I was very impressed with how he could make regular items look extraordinary! I don't often think about my friends art, it's something she does because it makes her happy. It's not something she gets paid for or purposely shares with the world. But she shares it with her friends and family, and her art makes me look at things differently. Sometimes we influence each other. While taking photos for a class I took a picture of her reflection in her tuba, she is also a musician. She loved the picture so much that she made it into a self portrait for one of her classes. It is really neat, we both have a copy of the picture, and I love to see her portrait up on her wall when I visit!

Monday, January 17, 2011

Martin Luther King Jr. Day



This week I found some beautiful visual art at home. It also happened to be the edible kind! I live with friends from college, Megan and Chris Kremer. Megan runs a small cake making business from her home. Right now it is all the rage to order cake pops. I have been gone for a while so today was my first time to see what a cake pop meant. For something so simple Megan really knows how to make a statement. I was watching her as she worked today, and realized that she really has a talent for visual art as a cake maker. I love to watch her as she is making cookies, cakes, frosting, or anything really. She truly has a talent. Not only are the cakes much tastier than any of the pre-made cakes you would find at the store, they tend to be prettier too! Megan is very detailed and has high standards for her work. She seriously looks at perspective, complimentary colors, shading, size, and any other feature that would be important to the quality of her product. What I would normally think of as great, Megan can usually spot a problem. If something is off center or not the right shade Megan will find it and fix it! She goes to great lengths to put out a delicious and beautiful product every time. When making a cake for her grandmother's 80th birthday she decided to create a cake with a wine theme. She created a label to put replace the real label on a bottle of wine and added supports to the cake so that the bottle could be part of the cake! It was an amazing idea that really did more than just a picture could have. She made the cake a 3-d piece of art! Her grandmother got to enjoy the beautiful cake as well as "her own vintage" of wine. It was a really special touch.

Her business is really starting to grow! To help it grow she has done an excellent job of showing off her work through different media. You can find her on Facebook by searching Megan's Cakes or go to her website here! She has taken the time to purchase a camera that will take quality pictures so that her work is shown to the best advantage. She also continues to update and acquire new cake making supplies. She is currently working on creating a logo for her business.

Her business is about making great cakes, which you might think is all about taste, but that's not necessarily the case. People will buy a crappy tasting cake if it looks fabulous! So it is important that Megan create a visually perfect cake, more so than a tasty cake. Megan being the perfectionist that she is,does indeed make a very tasty cake, but I think she would still do well in her business if the cake was the same old stuff you would find from Hy-Vee. I think she is just that good at presenting the perfect visual. I don't have the same "eye" that she has. I can't look at a cake and know what will make it perfect. I can't be told a "theme" and think of a design...it's not my talent. If I had been told to make an M & M cake I would have made a normal round cake with the normal sides, but Megan thought too make the actual shape of an M & M and to take a little from the recent add campaigns as well! It was awesome!


*All pictures taken by Megan Kremer and used with permission.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Visual Symbols in my Life





This blog has been created for my Visual Literacy class. I hope by keeping this blog up to date, a graded assignment is hard to forget, I will be able to do a little better with my original blog as well. Cross your fingers.

I need to be able to express and expand my knowledge of visual literacy. I know that I enjoy visual things in my life. Even though I have no talent for it, I regularly enjoy photography. While working in Germany last semester I had some great opportunities for picture taking. I had a camera in my hand almost every day. However traveling in a group, we always seemed too rushed and hurried to stop and take a picture! While there I was able to visit different countries such as the Czech Republic and France. I also got to see a lot of Germany. The fests and markets abound! There was a lot to see and I like to think that I did a good job of catching some special pictures, but it takes a lot of practice to take good pictures on the go. For every picture that came out beautiful, I'd say there were 5-10 that just plain failed!