Beyond the Classroom - Day 1

FRAMING


While a common idea for framing is a rectangle, frames can be any shape. A better way to think of a frame is to consider it as an enclosure to a visual image. Framing is actually all around us—from the shape of your computer or phone screen to the windows in your home and the paintings on your walls. It’s an incredibly important aspect of any visual composition and graphic design is no exception.

WHEN YOU HAVE USED FRAMES:

  • Anytime you open up a new document, technically, that is a frame. You are framing an area to work in.
  • Margins are frames. They can indicate a "safe" area in a composition.
  • If you ever create borders, such as those around images or elements, those are frames. They indicate where an image ends and the background begins.
  • Anytime you crop something, that is a form of framing. For example, you can crop a horizontal image to be a square or a circle. This new view of an object with different proportions can change the potential meaning of the object.

WHY WE USE FRAMES (See examples of each below):
  1. to separate objects
  2. to organize information
  3. to unify objects
  4. to contain objects
  5. to distinguish elements or point out their difference(s)
  6. to crop an image


Framing to CONTAIN. The shape of the doorway/entrance way creates a frame around the view of the outside.





Framing to SEPARATE. The frames separate the individual pieces of information.


Framing to CONTAIN. The first "M" and the "E" frame elements to contain them.


Framing to UNIFY and ORGANIZE. The repeated boxes help unify the design. The large one and the top creates a 1st level hierarchy, which helps to organize the information.


Framing to DISTINGUISH or point out a difference.


Framing to CROP. These different cropping variations of the picture change the meaning or each photo






YOUR ASSIGNMENT


MATERIALS NEEDED:
  • A clean piece of paper (can be any color)
  • A pencil
  • A pair of scissors
  • A large glass/cup to trace a circle


TO PREPARE:
  1. Meet Bruce Mau and watch this video. Bruce is like this super amazing crazy design thinker that challenges people to think about how design works and what it can accomplish. He's pretty inspirational -- not just with graphic design but with all design. Remember, while you have been learning about graphic design in this class, the methods we use apply to many different design disciplines. 
  2. Check out some of the things the company he founded does at this link.
  3. Read Bruce Mau's Incomplete Manifesto. Years ago, Bruce wrote a manifesto that is meant to inspire and motivate you to create. It's one of those great exercises if you are ever stuck in a design rut and need some inspiration. Each statement in the manifesto is meant to inspire change and growth.
  4. Take your clean piece of paper and, using your large glass or cup (No bowls -- too big), trace a circle in the middle of your paper.
  5. Use a pair of scissors to carefully cut out your hole. It should look something like this.

TO COMPLETE THE ASSIGNMENT:
  1. Hold out your piece of paper with the hole. The hole will act as your frame. Start looking around your environment through the hole and focus only on what you can see through the hole.
  2. Find 5 examples of statements from Bruce Mau's Manifesto (link in preparation steps above) as you peer through the hole. 
  3. Use your phone to take a picture of what you see through the hole. No digital photos! Also, do not take a photo of a photograph! Look in your environment -- try more than just your room. Try your basement, backyard, garage, car, etc. (while also social distancing!)
  4. In a google document, add each picture
  5. After each picture, type the number of the manifesto statement AND copy/paste the full text of the statement.


TO TURN IN:
Please save your google doc and turn it in through google classroom. Kindly, please don't use the share option, as all of those go to my email rather than to google classroom.