Design Safari This week in DS106, we got into the principles of design, and even designed things ourselves. Our first assignment was to take pictures of things or scenarios demonstrating the basic principles (color, typography, metaphors/symbols, form/function/message, minimalism & use of space, balance, rhythm, proportion, dominance, unity). Instead of taking new photos, I went back ...

This assignment called for me to design a minimalist poster of a movie. I was watching Avengers at the time (well, had it playing in the background) and thought it would be perfect for a poster. I took the “A” symbol that you see at the end of the movie on Stark towers, which they had on ...

So, this didn’t turn out as funny or as good as I hoped it would, because I wasn’t really sure how to edit out, my dog, Butters’ face. So, it doesn’t look as good as it could. Anyways, as said, this is my dog Butters–his real name is Tucker, but I call him Butters because ...

Despite my being German, I have never been to Germany–there is hope of this changing soon,though, if my parents move to Germany this year. (WOO!) In honor of never having been to the Motherland, and of potentially going, I did my “Place I’ve Never Been” Assignment on Germany. This particular picture is of Dom, a ...

This is my friend, in his naked and chubby prime, Dan. (Some call him the Stay-Puft Marshmallow, or the Michelin Man, or a plethora of other things). I decided to use this picture for this assignment because I am sitting right next to him, and he inspired me. To achieve this look, I uploaded a picture ...

Alright, so maybe you won’t shit your pants, but you might pee a little–I did. (Plus, the poop reference is just too relevant to pass up.) The first time I saw Bridesmaids, I didn’t know what was happening to me. Seriously. I lost it. One of the funniest movies I have seen in a hot ...

This was the bad guy calling card (2 star) assignment, and frankly, bad guys have been a fascination of mine as of recent. (So, duh.) This calling card is obvious given the recent relevancy of Batman. This is a business card for one of my favorite super villains–Poison Ivy–who uses her love potions and deadly kiss ...

I don’t know if I did this assignment the correct way, but I think this turned out pretty cool looking. Typography is a branch of design that I haven’t really explored before until this week. It is pretty interesting, and there is actually a whole science behind what fonts, styles, etc. marketers use in advertising. ...

The Principles of Design (DesignBlitz) 1. The Color of a Bar I turned 21 this summer, so naturally, I went out to the bars. This place was particularly cool–downtown Richmond, if you wanted to know. There were not a lot of people in it (weird) because check out the color. SO BLUE. I felt like ...

Photoblitz Review This week, we got down and dirty with some visual assignments, beginning with the photoblitz. This assignment was hard for me to get very much done in, because I am kind of a perfectionist when it comes to taking pictures. In the twenty minute time frame I really only got five pictures taken, ...

I picked this visual assignment randomly (by pressing the random button obviously). And luckily, it was two stars–the perfect amount of stars to reach my goal of ten. It also worked out that my friend Enisa was over at my house working on her own digital storytelling shiz, so she helped me out. Yes, the ...

(I hope you get the reference above. If not, google it, and then watch the movie if you haven’t seen it. It’s got some funny one-liners.) I chose Windex for this assignment because I thought it would look cool to manipulate the color of it. I was right. It looks like some kind of neon, toxic ...

Because I am such a perfectionist about the pictures I take, I really actually only got five pictures taken during the twenty allotted minutes. BUT, it worked out because I really like the way all of them turned out (even the time marker ones). I chose to do this assignment in my bedroom/bathroom (all one area) ...

I thought for sure for this assignment I was going to have to crop together a bunch of random letters to create my name, but I forget sometimes how popular my name has become over recent years (especially with movie stars like Emma Stone, and Emma Watson having the same first name as me). So, randomly ...

First of all, I really enjoyed doing this assignment. I liked the randomness of it, and I liked the room for creativity that it allowed me. So, how did I result in this vundabar album cover? Let me tell you. After extracting the random picture/album title/band name that I was going to be using, which ...

Note: Must have an iPhone to complete this tutorial. And have good hand eye coordination. This is a photo of me from this summer. The company that I was interning for had a company picnic, and had several little competitions. One of these competitions was a hula hoop contest. I won–my hips finally paid off for ...

Listening to the Rad Rad Raaaadio Currently listening to the ds106radio, contemplating LYFE, munching on some pretzels, and snuggling with a kitten. First of all, the radio is supah cool. Not for the music though. I like the story aspect of it–the idea of painting a picture in someone’s mind. My own personal experience with ...

Generalities Man, I am feeling feisty today. That is your warning that what you are about to read is thickly laid with sarcasm, and cursing. Anyways, week three is coming to an end already. These days are flying by. It’s nice how quickly I have become comfortable with all of these online gadgets now. Blogging ...

1. See 2. Hear 3. Touch 4. Smell 5. Taste   This is my “Tell a Story in Five Photos.” It is my morning ritual, and also my daily dose of balance. I have also related each photo a sense that I experience strongest when I am making my breakfast.

J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, introduced to me by my dad, is one of my favorite books of all time. When we apply Kurt Vonnegut’s theory of the Shape of Stories, this book has a particularly peculiar shape. I don’t know how many people have read Catcher, but if you have, you probably know that ...