Weekly Inspiration #3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5DiJ_Z6-ic&feature=relmfu

One of the YouTube's best champions of Enlightenment values, Thunderf00t has posted this video to promote an artistic and political protest. There is something very important to defend from dogmas of all stripes and this video elucidates exactly what we stand to lose if our civilisation doesn't resist.

"It is the growth of this tower that has allowed our enlightened world to proceed from the Wright brothers to landing on the moon in less than 100 years."

http://www.flickr.com/groups/dmd2011/pool/show/

Weekly Inspiration #2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfDbA48sXis

A beautifully put-together video that offers a moving perspective on life, one we don't hear often enough. Particular credit needs to be payed to the use of 'Surface of the Sun' by John Murphy (Sunshine).

"Stars must die so that I can live... I stepped out of a supernova"

Design by Bureaucracy

As a person with a strong Libertarian inclination, I found myself recently considering the impact of Government interference in my own industry of work. Perhaps despite my better judgement, I'm going to have a crack at a socio-political discussion about Design - could anything be more cringe-worthy?

What set me on this particular train of thought was a talk-back discussion regarding a cigarette company that was seeking compensation from the Australian Government for the claim that the mandatory on-pack health warnings had affected their branding and subsequent sales. There are understandable intentions on both sides of this story, but like many similar stories that have circulated over recent years, I am convinced that the Government is in the wrong.

As introduced, I have a strong Libertarian inclination, that is, my opinion is that the role of Governments in society should be strictly limited from infringing on individual freedom. They of course have a role to play in law, justice, defence, diplomacy, health, infrastructure and education and resultantly their influences do bleed into people's lives through such provisions. However, it seems that Governments can easily over-step their bounds when they begin to interfere in people's choices.

Now, before this becomes an unwieldily broad topic, I am going to bring this back to the cigarette packaging. The intention of the Government with mandatory health warnings is to advise consumers of the known health risks of smoking and as noble as it may be, it's my opinion that the Government has not only infringed on the cigarette branding but also the work of Designers. And now busy-body bureaucrats are moving forward with laws dictating that cigarettes should only be sold in plain packaging, akin to less than a 'No Frills' branding. In effect, this would decimate any local Design studio that serviced the tobacco industry. That this was even proposed raises serious concerns about the arbitrary way the Government can affect the work of Designers. 

I know nothing about Design for tobacco so any further comment would clearly be speculation, but I would like to take these concerns and transplant them to an area of Design more familiar to me. In my own niche of the Entertainment Industry, there has been considerable Government interference which has directly affected the practice of Graphic Design. The greatest area of Government influence has been in their policies on the ratings classification of films. In around 2005 the OFLC revamped the classification system, not in any substantial way, but in a rather garish 'rebranding' - it is the same letter-based rating system, with the same points of consumer advice. Unlike the old ratings however, the new ratings device makes no concessions to integrate into the artwork it accompanies. Sitting there, in it's intrusive bureaucratic fashion, the large white device ensures that the Government's rating is the primary feature of the artwork. 

My Libertarian sympathies are greatly offended by the fact that my profession - to make the most effective artwork for DVD packaging - is impinged by the Government deciding that consumers in a free market need to be overtly educated on what content is appropriate based on whatever arbitrary age/maturity group they want to divide us into.

My Design sensibilities are also offended, mainly by the visual ugliness of this Government intrusion. Perhaps it's a lack of budget to alter the artwork, or perhaps truly no one gives a shit, but the horrible ratings device is usually slapped on in it's mandated position - like the intrusive bureaucratic fingerprint it is - with no thought to the composition of the keyart or what might be covered.

What's worse is the notion put forward that R18 rated films should be only displayed in plain packaging, not unlike with the cigarettes that got me started on this topic. No! No! No! No!!!

DVDs from the US are classified in their own system, however it is displayed on the back of the sleeve, given equal weighting to the rest of the important information about the content of the disc (running time, audio formats, aspect ratio). This is how Australia should label it's film classification, the Government does not need to step in for the Entertainment Industry to ensure films are skewed to the correct audiences, there are people employed by the film companies to do that very thing - it's called marketing. 

As a Designer my function is essentially as a branch of marketing; to visually convey a film in a way that corresponds with the desired direction chosen by the marketers. There are subtle ways in which tone, colour and composition can inform a consumer if a film is right for them, ways which are much more effective than a colour-coded categorization. The Government should not be in the business of marketing because, unimpinged, we professionals will do it better every time.

Star Wars Blu-ray Key Art (continued) The Prequel Trilogy

   

This, I think, will be the last of my commentary on the Star Wars BD artwork for a while; there are plenty of other 'musings' to be done and after 3 fairly lengthy posts about essentially the same topic, I'm getting awfully close to 'beating the dead horse' territory. Naturally, this third post will be the shortest, mainly for the reason that a lot of what I have to say can be gleaned from the previous posts.

Like with the Original Trilogy artwork, I think the artistic style hits the right notes in paying homage to the now-classic hand-painted posters of Star Wars. The style and composition of the artwork follows that of the Original Trilogy, visually pairing the 2 trilogies as an intricate and artistically dynamic collection. The composition is quite literally a reflection of the Original Trilogy artwork, availing one of the few conceptual links with the Saga boxset; the congruence of the two Star Wars storylines.


I mentioned in my comments on the Original Trilogy, that either Vader or Luke were the appropriate options for the featured character in the artwork, well for the Prequel Trilogy Anakin was really the only sensible choice, but instead we have Yoda. As recognisable as Yoda is, his position as the dominating figure for any Star Wars film, let alone a trilogy of them, is an incorrect choice. Yoda is and always has been a supporting character, a means to express the deeper philosophies of the story (at least in "Empire"). To have him as the dominant character in favour of Anakin, conceptually undermines what the rest of the BD artwork has been telling us about the Star Wars saga. Furthermore as a consequence of having Yoda feature on the artwork, the key art has an obligatory tone of green; frankly, red would have been a better choice. Given the near-mythic relationship between red and blue in the Star Wars saga, it was really a missed opportunity to permeate this with the 2 trilogies.


As much the Original Trilogy's composition was its weakest point, the Prequel artwork is much stronger in this regard. The collage of supporting characters (and Anakin) occupy a more structured space; rather than filling in space on Yoda's face the collage quite gracefully frames it, giving the key art a greater sense of coalescence and making it overall the stronger artwork of the 2 trilogies.

Star Wars Blu-ray Key Art (continued) The Original Trilogy

The first thing that can be said for the key arts for the separate trilogies is that they are certainly more dynamic then the artwork for the Saga collection, which I've already talked about in my previous post. Overall, I quite like the art that has been created although it's not without its problems, both separately and as a whole. I am again glad that some level of artistry was implemented over the style (or lack thereof) of the DVD key arts.

I'm going to begin with the Original Trilogy, mostly because I am strongly of the opinion that this is where the experience of Star Wars MUST begin. Without the original films, the Prequels would have even less resonance. The Star Wars Prequels were written, designed, filmed and marketed with the original films very much in front of mind; the full intended effect of those films is inextricable from the iconography of the Original Trilogy. After all, the main hook of a prequel story is that each progression in the story foreshadows what we already know is to come. But back to the artwork...


Like with the Saga boxset, this artwork utilises a style that pays homage to the 1977 posters for Star Wars, but unlike the Saga box the artwork is dynamic, detailed and employs a colour pallet that identifies Star Wars more successfully. In fact, the dynamism of this artwork is so far removed from the Saga box that the 2 seem visually divorced from one another, I count this as a mark against the Saga Collection key art. What I like most about this style of artwork is that it embraces it's hand-painted artistry, it doesn't try to disguise the painting but instead uses bold strokes and spatters, although I think it does over-do this effect to a degree.


Featuring Vader in this artwork is almost an inevitability, and it's actually surprising that an image like this wasn't used for the Saga Collection artwork; Vader is after all the most recognisable and iconic character from the films. The only problem with this choice I find is that the concept introduced by the Saga box is at odds with what the separate trilogies are telling us about the films. The Box key art tells us that the Star Wars films are about the mirrored journeys of Anakin and Luke. It would then seem to make more conceptual sense that the Original Trilogy featured Luke as its focal character, in fact Luke is given hardly any prominence in the collage of characters and I think that is a big misstep.


While I'm on the topic of the missteps of this artwork, the biggest problem with this key art - the one that stops me from finding it as a poster and framing it on my wall - is the artwork's general lack of structure. I like the concept of 'hiding' characters within the image of Vader as it were, but it has been done without a real sense of layout and we really just have various key characters filling in the empty spaces that happen to occur in the Vader image. If the collage of characters had a layout that better fit the available space, then this artwork would be almost faultless.


Before I move on, I'm going to make a prediction (see below) that if this artwork sees the light of day here in Australia, Lando, Leia, Han, Chewy and a third of C3PO will be skillfully and with the greatest of finesse omitted from the front in favour the crucial consumer rating that defines the superior packaging design available to Australian Consumers.*
(*please read sarcasm)

Star Wars Blu-ray Key Art

      

After a long... long wait the official packshots for the Star Wars Blu-rays have been released to what can be described, at best, as a mixed reaction from fans around the world.

Although it will become apparent very quickly, I want to preface my comments with the admission that I am a huge Star Wars fan. For me, Star Wars, commands the largest portion of my fandom over other sci-fi contenders in which my interest is much more transitory. Having said that, I think I need to outline a very specific distinction that I apply to my fandom; 3 of the Star Wars films are far and away my favourite all-time movies, but I by no means consider them to be the 3 best movies I have ever seen. What I mean by this, is that my love for Star Wars exists in full account of the fact that there are other movies that surpass it in many regards. 

Since the BD announcement, I had hoped that Lucasfilm would produce some kind of original artwork, ideally done by the great Drew Struzan in a style reminiscent of his posters for the Special Editions and Prequels. I am very happy that this, more or less, is the direction they have chosen.

Nothing would have been more cringe-inducing than the artistically sterile Photoshopped key arts we had for the DVDs. We have thankfully been spared a collage of clumsily stitched-together promo shots and instead have something that evokes the charm of the illustrated movie posters of the past.

But despite this positive direction, the execution has not been pulled quite off as well as I would have hoped, given the magnitude of this release, but it is far from disastrous.

The Saga boxset has a unique and interesting key art; featuring a melding of Anakin and Luke Skywalker at the Lars Homestead under the twin suns of Tatooine. Conceptually, I love this artwork as it allows so much to be read into the Star Wars story without the art becoming cluttered with a phalanx of support characters and vehicles (more on that in the following post). There are two salient metaphors that I read into this art, both which make me further appreciate the artwork the more I reflect on it. 

We have both Skywalker characters as we see them at the beginning of their journeys. Anakin, with the twin suns behind him, is ostensibly walking away from the light (of the Force), while Luke is walking directly towards it. This effectively frames the direction of the two characters in their respective trilogies, showing their journeys to be separate but also inextricably linked and reflections of one another. 

There is further symbolism as the two Skywalkers part ways in the artwork; a metaphor of the chronology of the Saga itself. The illustrated scene quite strongly references Episode IV, the same point that the Star Wars timeline treats as Year 0. Its from this point where we will make the most crucial decision in owning this Blu-ray collection... do we follow Anakin backwards to begin at the Prequel Trilogy, or do we move forward with Luke and begin at the Original Trilogy?

Like I said, I think this is a brilliant concept and this key art may eventually become an iconic Star Wars image. However it seems to be the style of the paining that has put people at odds; a comment I've read several times goes along the lines of "It looks like a child painted it". I can't say I agree with that particular sentiment. This painting style perhaps seems dated, even primitive, when compared to most modern key arts, which are created digitally, but in context it lends itself quite well to the style and charm of the posters created for the original Star Wars. 

While I can appreciate this artistic homage, I feel it was somewhat a misstep by Lucasfilm to utilise this style for the Saga Collection. This Blu-ray release isn't an indulgence of nostalgia for the 1977 Star Wars (as nice as that would be also) it is a celebration of the entire saga and as such needs to have an artistic style that more appropriately represents the film series over its 30 years in the popular consciousness. Struzan's style of painting would have been a more appropriate homage, his posters spanned all 6 films, carrying us from the Original Trilogy into the Prequel Trilogy. This artistic misstep doesn't necessarily harm the overall impact of the artwork however, as its concept is redeemingly strong. Where I think the key art really lets us down is in the colour palette that the artwork consists of. There is a rather limited range of peach tones, that look rather flat and really don't convey Star Wars. This is crucial, as a piece of artwork and as the packaging for a flagship Blu-ray product, the key art needs to identify with customers instantly and, more importantly, needs to convey the idea of Star Wars in a broad and recognisable way. Light pastel peaches just aren't the colour pallet for this broad statement about Star Wars.

Even with the most rudimentary colour enhancement above, this artwork is already more dynamic than the original and would probably be enough to convince some of the nay-sayers that this key art is worthy of containing the most definitive representation of the entire Star Wars Saga. Of course some people will never accept this image because it reminds them from the outset that Anakin began his journey as a 9 year old.

In my next post I'll have a look at the artwork for the individual trilogies...

Weekly Inspiration #1

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/3167-Gamifying-Education

My first blog post isn't going to involve much Design, or much Musing either as it turns out. 

I hope posts like this will be a weekly segment, of sorts, where I can merely re-post a story or editorial that has made me think. There's a chance that such thoughts may lead to my own take which I'll post if they develop into any kind of interesting talking point.

Expect this quote to be the seed of any future comments on this editorial...

"Without agency, its almost impossible to feel motivated. Rather  than making decisions for the future, people without a sense of agency simply stumble through life, day to day, without any long term goals."

Expect to see the Extra Credits show appearing here quite often. Check them out!