zer-o-one studios '_' blog

Future Technologies

2007-08-06T18:07:00.000+01:00

The future of images

Photosynth Live Preview Website

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Microsoft Surface

More videos @ Microsoft Surface Website

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Welcome to the future!

Photosynth

2007-04-30T15:28:00.000+01:00

Photosynth takes a large collection of photos of a place or object, analyzes them for similarities, and displays them in a reconstructed 3-Dimensional space. With Photosynth you can:

* walk or fly through a scene to see photos from any angle;
* seamlessly zoom in or out of a photograph even if it's gigapixels in size;
* see where pictures were taken in relation to one another;
* find similar photos to the one you’re currently viewing;
* explore a custom tour or see where you’ve been; or
* send a collection to a friend.

For futher information and to view a demonstration video visit the Photosynth web site.

zero

2007-03-20T23:21:00.000Z

although slightly on the expensive side, something that i would love to have.

click the image for more info

Afterparty turns one!

2007-03-14T20:22:00.000Z

To help celebrate Afterparty turning one for the business they have given us we have made a complimentary, commemorative desktop wallpaper. Click the image below for the fullsize wallpaper.

zer-o-one studios gets design agency international listed

2007-03-14T20:18:00.000Z

Yes we are now listed by design agency international in the world wide design directory!

Click the image to see our page.

Amen

2007-02-12T03:29:00.000Z

I’m a self-employed graphic designer. In the old days, when I was greener than a leprechaun’s testicles, nothing would make me contemplate suicide more seriously than a potential client who was, in fact, no more than a deluded jackass. The hook was usually, “If you do this job cheap, I’ve loads more work for you!” and I bought that line more times than anyone with an ounce of sense ought to have.

This morning, the following was posted on CraigsList. It’s been doing the rounds on design boards and blogs in a big community whoop because it captures and excoriates so perfectly the ignorance and arrogance inflicted on designers by design morons.

The post was quickly flagged and removed (i.e. censored) by CraigsList users, but not before it became the gift that keeps on giving. Who was that masked crusader? Designers everywhere owe him a hot coffee and a big hug.

Post from CraigsList

Every day, there are more and more Craigs List posts seeking “artists” for everything from auto graphics to comic books to corporate logo designs. More people are finding themselves in need of some form of illustrative service.

But what they’re NOT doing, unfortunately, is realizing how rare someone with these particular talents can be.

To those who are “seeking artists”, let me ask you; How many people do you know, personally, with the talent and skill to perform the services you need? A dozen? Five? One? …none?

More than likely, you don’t know any. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be posting on craigslist to find them.

And this is not really a surprise.

In this country, there are almost twice as many neurosurgeons as there are professional illustrators. There are eleven times as many certified mechanics. There are SEVENTY times as many people in the IT field.

So, given that they are less rare, and therefore less in demand, would it make sense to ask your mechanic to work on your car for free? Would you look him in the eye, with a straight face, and tell him that his compensation would be the ability to have his work shown to others as you drive down the street?

Would you offer a neurosurgeon the “opportunity” to add your name to his resume as payment for removing that pesky tumor? (Maybe you could offer him “a few bucks” for “materials”. What a deal!)

Would you be able to seriously even CONSIDER offering your web hosting service the chance to have people see their work, by viewing your website, as their payment for hosting you?

If you answered “yes” to ANY of the above, you’re obviously insane. If you answered “no”, then kudos to you for living in the real world.

But then tell me… why would you think it is okay to live out the same, delusional, ridiculous fantasy when seeking someone whose abilities are even less in supply than these folks?

Graphic artists, illustrators, painters, etc., are skilled tradesmen. As such, to consider them as, or deal with them as, anything less than professionals fully deserving of your respect is both insulting and a bad reflection on you as a sane, reasonable person. In short, it makes you look like a twit.

A few things you need to know;

1. It is not a “great opportunity” for an artist to have his work seen on your car/’zine/website/bedroom wall, etc. It IS a “great opportunity” for YOU to have their work there.

2. It is not clever to seek a “student” or “beginner” in an attempt to get work for free. It’s ignorant and insulting. They may be “students”, but that does not mean they don’t deserve to be paid for their hard work. You were a “student” once, too. Would you have taken that job at McDonalds with no pay, because you were learning essential job skills for the real world? Yes, your proposition it JUST as stupid.

3. The chance to have their name on something that is going to be seen by other people, whether it’s one or one million, is NOT a valid enticement. Neither is the right to add that work to their “portfolio”. They get to do those things ANYWAY, after being paid as they should. It’s not compensation. It’s their right, and it’s a given.

4. Stop thinking that you’re giving them some great chance to work. Once they skip over your silly ad, as they should, the next ad is usually for someone who lives in the real world, and as such, will pay them. There are far more jobs needing these skills than there are people who possess these skills.

5. Students DO need “experience”. But they do NOT need to get it by giving their work away. In fact, this does not even offer them the experience they need. Anyone who will not/can not pay them is obviously the type of person or business they should be ashamed to have on their resume anyway. Do you think professional contractors list the “experience” they got while nailing down a loose step at their grandmother’s house when they were seventeen?

If you your company or gig was worth listing as desired experience, it would be able to pay for the services it received. The only experience they will get doing free work for you is a lesson learned in what kinds of scrubs they should not lower themselves to deal with.

6. (This one is FOR the artists out there, please pay attention.) Some will ask you to “submit work for consideration”. They may even be posing as some sort of “contest”. These are almost always scams. They will take the work submitted by many artists seeking to win the “contest”, or be “chosen” for the gig, and find what they like most. They will then usually have someone who works for them, or someone who works incredibly cheap because they have no originality or talent of their own, reproduce that same work, or even just make slight modifications to it, and claim it as their own. You will NOT be paid, you will NOT win the contest. The only people who win, here, are the underhanded folks who run these ads. This is speculative, or “spec”, work. It’s risky at best, and a complete scam at worst. I urge you to avoid it, completely. For more information on this subject, please visit www.no-spec.com.

So to artists/designers/illustrators looking for work, do everyone a favor, ESPECIALLY yourselves, and avoid people who do not intend to pay you. Whether they are “spec” gigs, or just some guy who wants a free mural on his living room walls. They need you. You do NOT need them.

And for those who are looking for someone to do work for free… please wake up and join the real world. The only thing you’re accomplishing is to insult those with the skills you need. Get a clue.

Internet Explorer 7 and MSN Messenger/Windows Live Messenger

2006-09-07T16:04:00.000+01:00

When Windows Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2 shipped chat logs in MSN Messenger/Windows Live Messenger stopped opening when Internet Explorer 7 is installed on the system; users receive:

The XML page cannot be displayed
Cannot view XML input using XSL style sheet. Please correct the error and then click the Refresh button, or try again later.

This is due to a bug in Internet Explorer 7 trying to render XML files when the fully-qualified path to the XSLT contains spaces. So, as a work-around:

Move your chat logs (Tools>Options>Messages>'Message History'>Change) to a folder path which does not contain spaces, e.g.:

%systemdrive%\chatlogs
Note that Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2 is, of course, still Beta material - this is what Betas are for, to find and fix bugs!

USB Portable Apps

2006-09-06T17:36:00.000+01:00

Soon i will be back at UNI and one of the most annoying things is logging on to a generic, locked down computer at uni or the workplace and not being able to do what you sat down to do in the first place. Today i have discovered something that will eliminate that.

Portable apps!!
What Is A Portable App?

portable - carried or moved with ease
app - a computer program like a web browser or word processor

A portable app is a computer program that you can carry around with you on a portable device and use on any Windows computer. When your USB flash drive, portable hard drive, iPod or other portable device is plugged in, you have access to your software and personal data just as you would on your own PC. And when you unplug, none of your personal data is left behind.

My Recommended Portable Apps
7-ZIP - An archiving tool
Abiword - A Microsoft word processing tool
Clamwin - Portable anti-virus software
Firezilla - A capable FTP client
FollowMeIPLite - A handy app to display your external ip
FoxIt - A portable PDF reader
FTP Server Lite - A portable FTP server
Great News - A highly efficent news/rss reader
Miranda - A multi IM + IRC capable client
NVU - Portable web editor
VLC - A handy media player
Firefox - Portable firefox. (cont below)
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Pstart - This will sit in your taskbar and act as a handy launcher for all of these tools.

You can download of these files ready zipped from here
Then simply install to x:\Apps\ (x being the letter of your portable drive). Load PStart last and add the above applications manually.

NB When adding the applications to PStart add the portable version . There will be two different EXE versions of the application I.E. Firefox.exe and Firefox_Portable.exe.

Improving Firefox further

So now you've made your applications portable, you'll want to take your bookmarks, blog, notebook and everything else with you. These are my suggestions for extensions for Firefox:

Fasterfox - Caches and preloads pages thus speeding firefox up. Ability to tweak network settings
Foxmarks - Will store your bookmarks serverside so when you load your portable firefox you will always have your bookmarks!
IE Tab - Embeds internet explorer into a Firefox tab for viewing a Firefox incompatible page
PDF Download - Allows you to choose to download the PDF or view it in a tab
Performancing - Allows you to post to your blog(s) from within Firefox!
Video Downloader - Allows you to download embedded video
Stumble Upon - Will revolutionise the way you surf. Randomly stumbles the net according to your preferences

You can download all of these zipped from here

Google Notebook - Store snippets of information serverside so you always have that important info with you + the choice to make publically available.

Available here
Google Browser Sync - Will resync your Firefox Tabs. IE. If i browse at home and leave to go to UNI when i load my portable Firefox, the same pages that i were browsing at home would appear!

Available here

Please note that when you install these extensions, that you install them to your portable version of firefox and not your local one.

Gemma

2006-09-01T01:14:00.000+01:00

my latest piece of work with a new techinique to it:

Skyscrape

2006-08-08T03:11:00.000+01:00

A collection of images i found interesting..

2006-08-08T02:40:00.000+01:00

ehshell.exe error application has generated an exception that could not be handled - FIXED.

2006-02-15T19:46:00.000Z

The cause of this on my machine was due to an error loading mscorwks.dll when re-installing MCE 2005, however, I understand that quite a few people have had this error for other reasons. Here’s how I fixed it.

Basically everything installed fine when I repaired my MCE2005 except I received an error, ‘Error loading f:\windows2\microsoft .net\framework v2.0.50727\mscorwks.dll’ then it told me to check the medctroc.log file.

Apparently this error may also appear when trying to install a .NET Framework hotfix if you are simply updating windows MCE. I guess my install CD has this slipstreamed so it's not something i encountered.

Firstly I tried to reinstall the .NET Framework 2.0 as I thought it sounded like the registry thought that media centre was still installed but the files might be reverted because of how the OS was repaired. You can find the .NET Framework 2.0 at http://msdn.microsoft.com/netframework/downloads/updates.

However, this did not work for me but it could be one of the solutions for you, so I would try it. I then installed the .NET 2.0 SDK and attached the debugger to ehshell.exe (media centre). I received the message:
‘An unhandled exception of type 'System.TypeLoadException' occurred in Unknown Module’

Additional information: Method ShowCPRecordingStop in type MediaCenter.Common.TenFootUserXPAdapter from assembly ehshell, Version=6.0.3000.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35 does not have an implementation.

I tried to update my system via Windows Update with the KB900325 update (Rollup 2 for MCE2005), but it always failed. NOTE. This update contains other updates, including itself. These are; KB900325.exe, WindowsMedia10-KB895572-x86.exe, WindowsXP-KB888795-x86.exe, WindowsXP-KB891593-x86.exe, WindowsXP-KB895961-x86.exe, WindowsXP-KB899337-v2-x86.exe, WindowsXP-KB899510-x86.exe, WindowsXP-KB902841-x86.exe, wmfdist95.exe. I then downloaded the update (WindowsXPMediaCenter2005-KB900325-usa.exe) and tried to install it and found that it failed on installing a specific update, which was the kb900325 hotfix. (NOTE that when it fails you will need to reboot and it will do a system restore on your machine. Let it do this BEFORE you carry on with the following.)

To resolve this I extracted the file WindowsXPMediaCenter2005-KB900325-usa.exe to a folder using WinRAR (Click the link to install. Then right click on the file and do 'extract to' under the winrar menu). I then manually installed all of the hotfix’s individually. Except one which is WindowsXP-KB891593-x86.exe (which failed stating that it had failed to migrate dependant packages), even the above hotfix that failed during the automated install, (KB900325) installed ok. Anyway...media centre now run's, although it now crashes out when I try to close it, this should be the same case for you too. I don't know however, which hotfix actually enabled media centre to run as I didn't try to run it after every hotfix. You should now reboot your machine and visit Windows Update. This will then download two updates, KB910393 and KB913446. Then reboot your machine again. Now back to the one hotfix that failed earlier, to sort this you will need to go to; Start/run/appwiz.cpl . Make sure the updates box is checked. Scroll down to Windows XP – Software updates. Remove the file KB904706 (it will prompt you that it is not advised as certain files/programs depend on it) and then go back to the folder where you extracted the rollup to and install KB891593, it should now install fine. You will then need to download and install the update KB904706 again. Then go to Windows Update and install the latest update KB912067. Reboot your machine and everything should work fine!
I personally thought that I’d never manage to fix it but I have.

I can now use my media centre remote again woohoo! Plus I don't have to use some crappy imitation like Nero home...pfft!

I’d like to personally thank Aaron Stebner from Microsoft with his assistance in helping me to solve this problem. You can view his blog which if you haven’t managed to sort your media centre out with my solution, he might have one. His blog is http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner

2005-05-05T21:35:00.000+01:00

Spacial and Visual Culture
Presentation Review
Research
Intro

When I was handed the topic ‘Secrets of the Human Face’, I was initially a bit weary as it was something I was only vaguely familiar with. However, once I started researching the topic I was actually amazed about the different “sub-topics” involved. The different areas of the topic that I thought were relevant were:

Digital Replication / Representation of the Human Face
Facial Expressions
The Strive for Beauty Perfection

One of the reasons why I found this topic interesting is due to the fact that it is very relevant to regular people that you see in the street every single day. The human face is a fundamental part of the human body, not because of beauty but because of the way that we use our faces to communicate, be it intentionally or on a sub-conscious level.

Digital Replication of the Human Face

Virtual Representation

Click the image to enlarge.

As technology advances so do the virtual graphics. Although useful for several reasons, such as resurrecting characters, vast crowd scenes and more, still…..upon close examination, the difference can be told. One of the main reasons for this at present is because the human skin cannot be replicated properly, as there are too many layers of light being absorbed and reflected. So until a graphics engine can replicate an anatomical model that shows the interaction between bones, cartilage, muscles, nerves, blood vessels, tissue, skin and hair, the difference will still remain visible.

“The research done at MIRALab (University of Geneva) on Facial Animation is aimed at real-time applications (as opposed to pre-calculated animation), which adds the possibility to interact with a virtual human. We have done research in order to interactively (and partly automatically) create and prepare a face model for animation. Moreover, the face model should be portable, so that facial animation can be performed on different platforms such as PC or mobile platform (PDA or pocket phones), and on different data transmission processes (network).
Consequently, the MPEG-4 standard is used for Facial Animation since it allows to precisely animate a complex mesh with a minimum number of parameters (in order to minimize the data transmission process) while still keeping a certain degree of freedom and realism. Many deformation techniques depending on the platform request and capability have been developed at MIRALab to animate the overall mesh using control points: from totally automatic computation of face deformations with only Facial Definition Parameters data, to a very simple computation of deformations based on Facial Animation Tables.”

“Smiles, which have fascinated artists from Leonardo Da Vinci to Francis Bacon, still elude digital artists”

Digital Replication

As with all of the aspects that I covered in this presentation, the initial research I sought was from the magazine ‘Secrets of the Human Face’. One of the points that I found of interest especially, was that of the University College London’s medical imaging group’s physics department’s 3D scanner. This was intended for medical purposes, for the ‘screening’ of patients before and after surgery to see how their body had coped with the treatment applied. However, the scanner is a very intricate, precise piece of machinery, capable of scanning up to 50,000 co-ordinates of the human face to an accuracy of ½ a mm. The maps are made of numbers, making them examinable.

Views of 2 sets of averaged faces: L:cranio-facial microsomia males aged 9-12; R normal controls 9-12.

The next part of this research is relevant to ‘The Strive for Beauty Perfection’.

The next point that I was particularly interested in was a text on a website that I had found. Again, along the same lines:
“3dMD’s soft tissue images are medically-accurate 3D digital representations of the patient at a specific point in time during the period of treatment. The 3dMD image sequence can remain an integral part of the patient’s permanent health record. Clinicians can use 3dMD’s imaging technique on a routine basis as there is no radiation or other side effects usually associated with invasive imaging techniques. Pre- and post-operative soft tissue conditions can be monitored in a variety of patient postures and expressions throughout the treatment cycle. 3dMD’s systems are simple to use by all members of the clinical support team and can be easily integrated into any standard patient documentation protocol. With less than a 2-millisecond capture speed, 3dMD’s systems are effectively instantaneous and especially suited for imaging young restless children. Our leading-edge technology captures the human form in 3-D using a technique known as Digital Surface Photogrammetry (DSP). This unique approach employs projecting a random light pattern on the subject and capturing him/her with precisely synchronized digital cameras set at various angles. By filtering different wavelengths of light, 3-D surface geometry and surface texture are acquired simultaneously, resulting in a very accurate texture map when applied to the surface data. With the capability of 144 digital cameras shuttering simultaneously, our scalable capture systems can overlap the random light pattern to let you digitally capture a full 360° view of the subject in a single shot.”

As I read this snippet I was amazed at the innovation in modern surgery. Again this is something that I had never really thought about or seen before. Although I think that this is still quite specialist and not the norm in surgery.

Facial Expressions

The naturalness of the face is all dependant on timing. A smile can only be replicated only if the spontaneity is maintained and the timing of the animation of all the parts of the face is perfect. When researching this area of my given topic I came across a long argued point which involves Charles Darwin. In the 1830’s Darwin documented that he could easily understand the facial expressions of everyone that he met on his travels, disregarding race or age. He published a book in 1872 entitled, “The Expression of Emotion in a Man and Animals”. In this book Darwin had argued that facial expression were universal, disregarding race, age or gender. However since Darwin, cultural relativists have argued the opposite, until recently that is.

Due to a recent study new evidence has been brought to light. Cards with different facial expressions were shown to a preliterate society with an event explained. These people instinctively chose the correct expression relating to the event in question.

In another study however regarding the west and the east, something novel was again found. In social situations, people manage their expressions, and in public “display rules” are socially learnt and culturally variable. Display rules, once learned, are used exaggerate, diminish or inhibit express specific cultural contexts.

Japanese students in Tokyo and American students in Berkeley, California, were filmed watching clips of unpleasant films. They were unaware of the hidden camera, and as expected displayed virtually identical expressions regardless of culture. Then halfway through the experiment a scientist in a white coat entered the room, sitting with the student while they continued to watch the film. During this stage, in the presence of this authority figure the Japanese masked negative and positive expressions, with just the odd signs of their real reactions to the film sometimes being leaked out. The American students, on the other hand, did not mask their expressions. Thus, in private the expressions were universal, in public culturally different.

Another more recent line of study has identified micro expressions — typically very intense expressions that last for only about 1/10th, of a second, sometimes even less. Micro expressions tend to occur when emotion is concealed, either unwittingly by repression, or deliberately by suppression. Most people do not recognise them, although those who are very good at identifying lies are particularly good at this. I have developed a CD that teaches people in under an hour to better recognise micro expressions.

Vanity over health?

Continuing from earlier…when the maps from the University College London’s medical imaging group’s physics department’s scanner were analyzed they found that men’s and women’s faces from the street look far more similar and average than that of those who are famous and/or models. Apparently what makes a model look so feminine is her smaller lower jaw. However, this is at the expense of their teeth having less space. When offered corrective surgery most of the patients refused. Vanity over health? As for many peoples’ faces, including my own, they probably wouldn’t have them changed because they don’t want their personality or worth being determined by their face.

The Public Eye
Long gone are the days when a person did just as they wanted to. I am not talking about peer pressure or influence. I am speaking of the immersion of western society in the idea of celebrity.
What is a celebrity? At first images of movie and music stars pop into my head. Yet politicians, television news anchors, clothing designers, talk show guests and even magazines have taken on the role of celebrity. In the past 100 years celebrity has replaced religion as the real mover and shaker of this planet.
Celebrity dictates appropriate hair colour, body shape, dress cut and behaviour for both men and women, young and old. It is human nature to gravitate to and strive for what you find attractive. People have a natural yearning to try and reinvent themselves.
It would be a hard task to try and find someone who isn't jealous of another person, even if it's simply over the fact that they have nicer tulips than they do.
Celebrities' influence is neither a positive or negative thing in my mind. Often it simply provides inspiration to strive for what you want. If you see another person living your dream, I believe the fear is removed and you are more likely to follow it because the path has already been trailblazed. In a nutshell the fear of the unknown has been removed. This is a positive aspect of the submersion of life in the ideals of being a celebrity.
Celebrities do not simply exist. They are created. The real brains behind the appeal that draws us all in, are the fashion designers, hair and makeup artists, publicists, producers and media behind the pretty faces.
Few people are lucky enough to be able to sit on the bleachers above the red carpet and watch the celebrities with their own eyes. For everyone else we get our taste of the glamour through glossy magazine pages, television interviews and official web sites.
The real secret to celebrities is not about clothing or hair though; it is about how they carry themselves. I believe that this is what most people envy. It is how they are portrayed that draws the masses, not what they actually do. Through makeup, airbrushing, editing, and real marketing smarts that an everyday Joe turns into the object of the green-eyed monster.
The real secret to celebrities is not about clothing or hair though; it is about how they carry themselves. I believe that this is what most people envy. It is how they are portrayed that draws the masses, not what they actually do. Through makeup, airbrushing, editing, and real marketing smarts that an everyday Joe turns into the object of the green-eyed monster.
Bibliography

Secrets of The Face – Magazine
http://www.sculptor.org/3D/Scanning/imaging.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/onelife/personal/body_image/media.shtml
http://www.snn-rdr.ca/snn/june2001/celebrities.html
http://www.mpi-sb.mpg.de/resources/FAM/
http://personal.miralab.unige.ch:1312/s.garchery/facialanim.html
http://www.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/research/mgi/vis-lasr.htm

Measuring Colour

2004-11-30T09:42:00.000Z

Module Code TFA1110
MODULE TITLE
FOUNDATION STUDIO
BA/BSc MULTI-MEDIA DESIGN & VIRTUAL REALITY DESIGN – Year One
Tutors – Rob Lycett, Dave Goodall, Isil Onol

Measuring Colour

Introduction

Write an essay outlining your understanding of how colour theory can be useful to you as a graphic designer. You will need to research colour wheels, psychology, art history [painting]…….

Illustrate your essay with your own images [compositions] and correctly credited source materials. At the end of the essay provide a bibliography.

Post on your blog and print a hard copy [A4 bound] for submission in week 11.
Assessment criteria
(a) Concept Development
Successful exploration of a problem or theme is demonstrated through the development and documentation of appropriate creative concepts and alternatives (Learning Outcomes A-F)
(b) Aesthetics and Language
Creative decisions are made in response to thematic projects and are based on appropriate aesthetic criteria. The ability to discuss these in relation to the work produced and other diverse sources is demonstrated (Learning Outcomes A-F)
(d) Integration and Synthesis
Demonstrate awareness of the need to reconcile conceptual/critical issues with the contexts of production and use (Learning Outcomes A-F)

Research

Before starting this essay, I did have some knowledge as to what colour theory was. This was due to my background from using imaging applications and the like. In the past my images were made from what colours I thought looked and worked well together and people would usually say I had ‘an eye for colour’. I usually used different shades of one colour with other colours that worked together in harmony without one colour ‘drowning’ the other out, however, on initial research at the beginning of this project, I was amazed as to how much there is to know about colour theory. Many studies have been done on this with vast amounts of pages on different section of colour theory. Colour theory could also be confused with colour psychology, which is actually quite different.

Colour Theory
"Colour Theory is a set of principles used to create harmonious colour combinations. Colour relationships can be visually represented with a colour wheel — the colour spectrum wrapped onto a circle.

The colour wheel is a visual representation of colour theory:

According to colour theory, harmonious colour combinations use any two colours opposite each other on the colour wheel, any three colours equally spaced around the colour wheel forming a triangle, or any four colours forming a rectangle (actually, two pairs of colours opposite each other). The harmonious colour combinations are called colour schemes – sometimes the term 'colour harmonies' is also used. Colour schemes remain harmonious regardless of the rotation angle.

Classic colour schemes supported by Colour Wheel Pro:

Monochromatic Colour Scheme
The monochromatic colour scheme uses variations in lightness and saturation of a single colour. This scheme looks clean and elegant. Monochromatic colours go well together, producing a soothing effect. The monochromatic scheme is very easy on the eyes, especially with blue or green hues.

Analogous Colour Scheme
The analogous colour scheme uses colours that are adjacent to each other on the colour wheel. One colour is used as a dominant colour while others are used to enrich the scheme. The analogous scheme is similar to the monochromatic, but offers more nuances.

Complementary Colour Scheme
The complementary colour scheme consists of two colours that are opposite each other on the colour wheel. This scheme looks best when you place a warm colour against a cool colour, for example, red versus green-blue. This scheme is intrinsically high-contrast.

Split Complementary Colour Scheme
The split complementary scheme is a variation of the standard complementary scheme. It uses a colour and the two colours adjacent to its complementary. This provides high contrast without the strong tension of the complementary scheme.

Triadic Colour Scheme
The triadic colour scheme uses three colours equally spaced around the colour wheel. This scheme is popular among artists because it offers strong visual contrast while retaining harmony and colour richness. The triadic scheme is not as contrasting as the complementary scheme, but it looks more balanced and harmonious.

Tetradic (Double Complementary) Colour Scheme
The tetradic (double complementary) scheme is the most varied because it uses two complementary colour pairs. This scheme is hard to harmonize; if all four hues are used in equal amounts, the scheme may look unbalanced, so you should choose a colour to be dominant or subdue the colours.”
Src : www.color-wheel-pro.com

Colour Psychology

“What is Colour - The Physics and The Biology

In the physical world, there are no colours; there are only light waves of different wavelengths. When our eyes look at an object, we see light reflected from the object. The normal human eyes have the ability to distinguish among hundreds of such bands of wavelengths as they are received by the sensory cells (cones) of the retina. This ability makes it possible for us to perceive the world in colour.

Naming a Colour - The Psychology

But what do we mean when we say the sky is "blue" and the roses are "red"? While our eyes are able to distinguish among hundreds of wavelengths, our lexicon is far more limited. A colour name refers to our perception of the prototype of a range of wavelengths. For example, while the word "red" refers to colours that have more red attributes than orange attributes, and the word "orange" refers to colours that have more orange attributes than red attributes, there really is no clear-cut distinction. Psychological perception of colour is a subjective experience. Therefore, the wavelengths referred to by two people using the same colour name almost always differ. On the other hand, however, due to the biological bases of our colour vision, there is a high degree of universality in the use of colour terms across cultures and languages.

Physiological Effects of Colour

Vision is not the only form of physiological reaction humans have to wavelengths. Preliminary scientific studies show that red radiation is more likely to produce epileptic seizures than blue light. Furthermore, when blood pressure, respiration, heart rate, and eye blink frequency are measured, the colour red resulted in the highest frequency, white lower, blue lowest. But does colour have effect on our emotions and behaviour? The answer is yes. But in terms of what kind of effect and how it effects, findings are inconclusive. Our reactions to colours are led by a combination of biological, physiological, psychological, social and cultural factors.
Certain colour effects seem more universal, such as that of "warm" and "cool" colours. Warm colours generally include magenta, red, orange, yellow, and yellow-green. They speed up our perception of time and produce feelings that are warm, cosy, and inviting. These colours are associated with excitement, happiness and comfort. Cool Colours generally include violet, blue, light blue, cyan and sea green. Emotions associated with these colours range from calm and peace to sadness, withdrawal and repression.
Colours often have different symbolic meanings in different cultures. For example, white is the colour for weddings in western societies but for funerals in traditional Chinese culture; red is associated with rage in America but with happiness in China. In American fashion and decoration, blue is for boys while pink is for girls, which is a symbolic use of colour that are not shared by many cultures.

The Use of Colour - Applied Psychology

In fashion, advertising, and presentations, colour is one of the most effective tools. Psychologists have suggested that colour impression can account for 60% of the acceptance or rejection of that product or service.”

Src : http://psychology.about.com/library/weekly/aa031501a.htm

Implementation

So, the basics of colour psychology and theory have been outlined above, but how could a graphic designer utilise these facts for real? Well depending on what type of design and what target audience you are creating an image for you would utilise different facts, although you should still aim to use what you think looks right, ‘the eye for colour’. For example, say I was to create a flyer for a lively, upbeat night club. I would start using a bright, vivid colour. So, to relate that to the colour psychology, it should, in theory create a warm comforting response. That would be the basis of the image. As I progressed through making the image I would concentrate on using the triadic colour scheme as it continues the theme of a strong colour scheme, but of one that is not too contrasting but more harmonious.

In relation to my compositions

When creating my compositions, I took the three primary colours as a basis for three of the images and then green as the final colour. Throughout each image I decided that I would use a monochromatic colour scheme, as I thought that each image when on its own would look harmonious, yet when placed alongside the other three would still stand out in its own right.

When creating the images I also came along another concept from a quote that I used in one of the images as some basic typography. This was the concept of linking colours and emotions to definitions of words. For example: Devil; passion, aura, lust, hectic, love affair.

Conclusion

My conclusion is relatively simple. If you are starting to work with images professionally, or even if you are simply striving for self perfection, take into account the basics of colour theory and colour psychology until you have learnt and understood them, but always go with what you think looks decent. This will come to you more and more throughout the many images you will create, as with anything, practice makes perfect.

Bibliography

Sites that I have used in this project;

http://www.color-wheel-pro.com
http://psychology.about.com/library/weekly/aa031501a.htm
http://www.color-wheel-pro.com/color-meaning.html
http://www.webwhirlers.com
http://www.worqx.com

Composition_4_Green

2004-11-22T10:23:00.001Z

Composition_4_Green
Originally uploaded by Phunky-J.

"Green is the color of nature. It symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness, and fertility. Green has strong emotional correspondence with safety. Dark green is also commonly associated with money.

Green has great healing power. It is the most restful color for the human eye; it can improve vision. Green suggests stability and endurance. Sometimes green denotes lack of experience; for example, a 'greenhorn' is a novice. In heraldry, green indicates growth and hope. Green, as opposed to red, means safety; it is the color of free passage in road traffic.

Use green to indicate safety when advertising drugs and medical products. Green is directly related to nature, so you can use it to promote 'green' products. Dull, darker green is commonly associated with money, the financial world, banking, and Wall Street.

Dark green is associated with ambition, greed, and jealousy.
Yellow-green can indicate sickness, cowardice, discord, and jealousy.
Aqua is associated with emotional healing and protection.
Olive green is the traditional color of peace."
Src : www.color-wheel-pro.com/color-meaning.html

To me green reminds me of the lake district where there is also a vast abundance of the colour naturally. Green is a peaceful natural colour that relaxes and calms me, although be it synonymous with standard colour theory.

Composition_3_Red

2004-11-22T10:23:00.000Z

Composition_3_Red
Originally uploaded by Phunky-J.

"Red is the color of fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination as well as passion, desire, and love.

Red is a very emotionally intense color. It enhances human metabolism, increases respiration rate, and raises blood pressure. It has very high visibility, which is why stop signs, stoplights, and fire equipment are usually painted red. In heraldry, red is used to indicate courage. It is a color found in many national flags.

Red brings text and images to the foreground. Use it as an accent color to stimulate people to make quick decisions; it is a perfect color for 'Buy Now' or 'Click Here' buttons on Internet banners and websites. In advertising, red is often used to evoke erotic feelings (red lips, red nails, red-light districts, 'Lady in Red', etc). Red is widely used to indicate danger (high voltage signs, traffic lights). This color is also commonly associated with energy, so you can use it when promoting energy drinks, games, cars, items related to sports and high physical activity.

Light red represents joy, sexuality, passion, sensitivity, and love.
Pink signifies romance, love, and friendship. It denotes feminine qualities and passiveness.
Dark red is associated with vigor, willpower, rage, anger, leadership, courage, longing, malice, and wrath.
Brown suggests stability and denotes masculine qualities.
Reddish-brown is associated with harvest and fall."
Src : www.color-wheel-pro.com/color-meaning.html

to me red is a colour of beauty, that reminds me of speed, this is probably due to my love of Italian sports cars and bikes. Red is also a sensuous colour that inspires passion. It also can be quite and evil colour usually relating to disaster.

Composition_2_Blue

2004-11-22T10:22:00.000Z

Composition_2_Blue
Originally uploaded by Phunky-J.

"Blue is the color of the sky and sea. It is often associated with depth and stability. It symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven.

Blue is considered beneficial to the mind and body. It slows human metabolism and produces a calming effect. Blue is strongly associated with tranquility and calmness. In heraldry, blue is used to symbolize piety and sincerity.

You can use blue to promote products and services related to cleanliness (water purification filters, cleaning liquids, vodka), air and sky (airlines, airports, air conditioners), water and sea (sea voyages, mineral water). As opposed to emotionally warm colors like red, orange, and yellow; blue is linked to consciousness and intellect. Use blue to suggest precision when promoting high-tech products.

Blue is a masculine color; according to studies, it is highly accepted among males. Dark blue is associated with depth, expertise, and stability; it is a preferred color for corporate America.

Avoid using blue when promoting food and cooking, because blue suppresses appetite. When used together with warm colors like yellow or red, blue can create high-impact, vibrant designs; for example, blue-yellow-red is a perfect color scheme for a superhero.

Light blue is associated with health, healing, tranquility, understanding, and softness.
Dark blue represents knowledge, power, integrity, and seriousness.."
Src : www.color-wheel-pro.com/color-meaning.html

To me blue is a cold colour that is synonymous with winter and death. It also reminds me of a time when i was young and in primary school on kind of nature expedition, seeing the lilac coloured fox gloves.

Composition_1_Yellow

2004-11-22T10:15:00.000Z

Composition_1_Yellow
Originally uploaded by Phunky-J.

This composition is the first one that i have created. I set out to create four completely different looking compositions for four different colours, with the end result being a composition of images combined with effects and my skills with the overall apearance of my chosen colour. Three of four compositions are primary colours.

I then also decided to go a step furthur by adding certain quotes from various people that i found at the graphic design exhibition in London. These quotes are not necessarily to do with colour theory but grahics in general.

"Yellow produces a warming effect, arouses cheerfulness, stimulates mental activity, and generates muscle energy. Yellow is often associated with food. Bright, pure yellow is an attention getter, which is the reason taxicabs are painted this color. When overused, yellow may have a disturbing effect; it is known that babies cry more in yellow rooms. Yellow is seen before other colors when placed against black; this combination is often used to issue a warning. In heraldry, yellow indicates honor and loyalty. Later the meaning of yellow was connected with cowardice.

Use yellow to evoke pleasant, cheerful feelings. You can choose yellow to promote children's products and items related to leisure. Yellow is very effective for attracting attention, so use it to highlight the most important elements of your design. Men usually perceive yellow as a very lighthearted, 'childish' color, so it is not recommended to use yellow when selling prestigious, expensive products to men â nobody will buy a yellow business suit or a yellow Mercedes. Yellow is an unstable and spontaneous color, so avoid using yellow if you want to suggest stability and safety. Light yellow tends to disappear into white, so it usually needs a dark color to highlight it. Shades of yellow are visually unappealing because they loose cheerfulness and become dingy."
src : www.color-wheel-pro.com/color-meaning.html

To me yellow is a bright lively colour that sometimes, but not purely, symbolises happiness and joy. Yellow reminds me of a time when i was in France as i remember seeing vast amounts of it via sunflower fields, never since have i seen such an abundance of this colour.

Initial Research to colour theory

2004-10-13T13:26:00.000+01:00

It's Getting a bit late so i thought i'd better get on with it.

Intro

>>Colour Wheel Pro Dot Com

"Color Theory is a set of principles used to create harmonious color combinations. Color relationships can be visually represented with a color wheel — the color spectrum wrapped onto a circle." (Colour Wheel pro Site)

This site is quite useful in telling people the basic concept of what colour theory is and what its about despite being a corporate site trying to sell a product. Quite useful for a vague outline.

>>WebWhirlers Dot Com

This is a personal site that a Web/graphic designer has produced to explain colour and colour theory with its' relativity to real life and the world of the computer screen. It avidly describes all the relevant aspects of colour, for example, hues, saturation, tints and shades and colour mixing. What is also important is that it also explains the difference between the classic colour theory with its primary colours and the newer one.

"In classic colour theory, the primaries are red, yellow and blue. However, since here we deal with colours on a screen, it is more practical to think of red, green and blue as primaries. To explain this further we need to introduce two more terms - additive colour systems and subtractive colour systems."(Webwhirlers)

I found this to be quite useful from a Graphic Designers point of view as i consider myself to have adequate knowledge in this field.

The site also talks about colour phsycology and states about what colours provoke what thoughts and emotions from classic phsycology. Also it states about how colours are displayed on monitors which is useful. I found this to be a good site overall, although please note some areas are still under construction but the site is still quite thorough.

>>Worqx Dot Com

This site explains quite in depth about colour,colour theory and the application of colour. This stems from a guy that was also a graphic designer who 'had an eye for colour' but always wondered why two colours went together when others didn't.

This site is very in depth about all aspects including contrast,shade and tint,relevance,how the eye see's colour and understands its, colour schemes and more. It then goes on to comment on different websites and their colour schemes, saying if they work and how they work. An excellent resource!

Spatial and Visual Culture

2004-10-09T05:34:00.000+01:00

Spatial and Visual Culture

Brief

To write a 500 word essay as if it was an online journal. Study and research an item from the exhibitions in London and add comments, cross reference the item with the film ‘The Magic of Meliés’ if desired.

Essay

The item which caught my attention was at the first Exhibition we went to which was ‘Eyes, Lies and Illusions’. The exhibition seemed to tie in with the film ‘The Magic of Meliés’ very well, with around eighty percent of the items at the exhibition being relative to the film, however, there were also some more modern items for example, the grand finale at the end of the exhibition, a huge laser cast through a dark room with smoke.

It was about half way around the exhibition which the item of my interest appeared, a 3-dimensional room with a distorted perspective. This room at first appeared to look quite ordinary when viewed through the intended spy hole. When entered however, the room had a totally distorted 3-dimensional perspective. When two to three people were walking around in the room, the person looking into the room from outside through the spy hole could now see this fantastic illusion. This illusion was enhanced by the black and white checkerboard floor, which also had a distorted perspective. This is a very clever illusion as the perspectives in the room have to be ‘just right’ for the illusion to work and to display the room as a ‘stage’ to the person looking through the spy hole.

The ‘viewer’ of the illusion saw their friends walking around the room, but not in any ordinary way. The people in the room appear to change size, this being mostly in height. As the two or more people in the room crossed paths, on would ‘shrink’ while the other would appear to rapidly grow.

This ‘false’ room, upon sight, immediately to me seemed like something straight out of Meliés’ magic theatre. Meliés’ was one of magics’ founders and what I like to refer to as a ‘boundary pusher’, constantly innovating and creating. If this was Meliés’ creation, which it wasn’t, he would have probably filmed people in this false room from outside through the spy hole and showed people the footage, as well as actually showing them the illusion for real. This would however of been quite difficult because back in Meliés’ time, electric lighting was not too powerful and thus, not useful for a stage. This is why he used daylight and cleverly created shutters to counter the shadows that daylight brought with it.

This illusion generated quite an interest with lots of other people also, usually holding peoples attention for around ten minutes. I guess these people were also fascinated by this room’s anamorphosis – ‘distorted perspective’. I actually tried to recreate the room in a 2-dimensional drawing but this didn’t portray the room’s true perspective properly. To do this I would have to create a 3-dimensional, navigate-able image.

Graffiti - Vandalism or Art?

2004-09-30T13:02:00.000+01:00

Brief

To write a 500 word subjective essay about whether I think graffiti is an art form or simply just vandalism. In this brief essay I will be putting points forward for both of the two and finishing with a brief conclusion.

Why I think that graffiti is an art form

Personally I think that graffiti can be a very ‘cool’ art form, popularly misconceived by the general public to be just scribbles and vandalism on walls, trains and other places. In fact there are many different types of graffiti ranging from simple tagging (bombing) on walls to posting murals, signs or sculptures. This all depends on the artist creating what I would like to call ‘the work’. These ‘artists’ create what they feel and usually, with obvious exceptions such as young teenagers with nothing to do, (although this is slightly stereotypical I believe it to be mostly true from my experience) have adequate reason for doing it, usually trying to get their message across to their intended audience, the public. This link or this one or this is what I believe to be ‘real’ graffiti art, which actually takes a lot of skill not to mention time to achieve. From what I can get from this image, the artist is trying to send the message “young hearts beat free”, which I can say probably means that young people are free to express themselves in anyway they feel necessary but obviously within reason. The artist, from my understanding of graffiti is called ‘Fear 1’.

Why I think that graffiti is vandalism

I think that graffiti becomes vandalism when it’s just simple ‘tagging’ on walls just for the sake of it in the middle of nowhere. It is a form of typography which is good in the right place and context, but when it’s simply scrolled over high street walls along with loads of other ‘tags’ it looks messy and unskilful, not to mention out of place. “In the spray-can world of graffiti, there are artists and there are ‘taggers’. There may be little difference in the eyes of the law, after all, defacing property, whether it's nice to look at or not, is still a form of vandalism. But for graffiti types, there's a distinction between "graffiti art" and "tagging," and it's fairly obvious.

Graffiti artists paint pictures, albeit with Krylon. Something associated with '80s New York subway cars, Keith Haring, and Run DMC. ‘Taggers’, on the other hand, paint only their names with an aerosol flourish the stuff of gang bangers and LA's mean streets”. Quote from www.airmassive.com/ whoisvery.html.

Conclusion

As stated early graffiti comes in many forms, not just simple ‘tags’. People need to open their minds to the world of graffiti rather than just slating it at a glance as with all things in life the other side of the hand should be considered before making a judgement. Graffiti is an art form in the right place, produced with the right materials and right intentions, although I say ‘right’, who’s to say what right actually is? I can only give you my opinion of what I believe right to be and that the graffiti is actually art rather than simple ‘tags’ and the right place being somewhere that doesn’t deface some decent architecture in the middle of the high street. I think that people should also try to work out the message that the artist is trying to get across to the public, (usually the intended audience) and consider what it could mean in what I believe to be the ‘grand scheme of things’. Finally i found this to be very true

Hello all

2004-09-29T11:44:00.001+01:00

Intro
Hi to everyone reading this. Firstly i think a quick introduction. My name is james lashmar, also known in life as Jay or on the web as Phunky - [ J ]. I love digital design but also manga which is something that i've been looking at lately and have been practising and trying to do, although its simply the first step as when i have finished the pencil drawing i will have to adapt my photoshop skills to be able to 'digitalise' the image.

My background
I started using pc's from early windows 3.1 when i was a kid but then didn't really use a pc until i was about 17 when i had my own for personal use. I then went to college and studies a BTEC National in business I.C.T which to be honest was a crap course but i got a qualification with a few side imaging qualifications and a few telematics ones aswell. Through college i spent my time teaching myself basically while progressing through the course. I learnt a lot about hardware,windows and photoshop, so basically now i can do anything with a pc except program efficiantly, which although it doesn't quite interest me now i think it might be cool to learn as before i've only done pascal and delphi which, in my opinion suck.

In the past year though i've been focusing more on designing and digital art as i think its fascinating especially certain 3D art done in apps like bryce,meaya and 3dsmax. If you wish to see some of my works you can check my quite old portfolio site which i apologise in advance for the 'my works' section as the fullsize images were lost by clicking here Absencestudios.com or my deviantart profile, which i think everyone should sign up to seen as it is the biggest online art community by clicking here

Pc Spec
Thermaltake Tsunami Case In Silver with window
Thermaltake Butterfly Psu 480W (7 Colours Flash, SATA, dual fan) + 2 way induction blower fan (separate) with dual fan speed control baybus for the psu and for the blower.
MSI K8 Neo FIS2R Motherboard (800 MhZ FSB SATA 8X AGP)
AMD 3000+ 64Bit Cpu
2 x Crucial Ballistix 512mb Ram DDR 400
Abit ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB DDR3 TV-Out/DVI (AGP) - Retail
Soundblaster Live 5.1 Platinum
Soundblaster Live Drive 2
Cambridge Soundworks FPS2000
Western Digital Caviar 250 GB S-ATA 8MB cache 7200RPM
Sony Double Layer DVD Burner 12 DVD-RW
Memorex CD-RW
Generic Floppy Drive
Fujitsu Siemens Monitor 17" CRT

Thermaltake Socket 754 Venus 12 Cooler (with 3 1/4" baybus adjustable fan speed controller)
80mm Thermaltake case fan
120mm Thermaltake LED Exhaust fan
120mm Thermaltake Induction fan

Microsoft Office Keyboard
Microsoft 5 button intellimouse
Microsoft Sidewinder Joystick
Intel CS110 Webcam
Mustek GSmart Mini DigiCam
256MB Flashpen
64MB Flashpen
Aiptek 8x6" Graphiics Tablet

Windows XP64Bit Edition