Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Design Evaluation



This assignment was a bit tough for me, because I could think of a million and one things that didn't function properly, but I couldn't think of anything that stood out to me for bad design. I kept thinking and pondering and trying to reminisce of thoughts I had about something that I thought just looked awful. I finally remember a design that drove me crazy, mustangs. 







 A mustang identity to me is a car that is powerful, robust, sexy and confident. When mustang comes to mind the comes to mind I image something around 1967 to about 1970. 

Looking back into the history and evolution of a mustang I found that the evolution is very drastic and they seem to have had a lot more down than ups (in my opinion) to the design of the mustang. However, the mustang I want to focus on for bad design is about the era starting at 1994 to 2004. In high school there was a black 2000 mustang in the parking lot. I hated it. Part of me could be biased because the girl who drove it hated me, but there was also another black mustang within that era and I thought they were both just ugly. The design to me is nothing what a mustang should be. 

The first Gestalt principle I want to address is the loss in the law of pragnanz and the simplicity in shapes. First the window is framed with all curves, loses those sharp angles. The shape seems to attempt a half circle, but it is lopsided, instead of the distinct figures with a triangle, square, triangle. You can see a similar thing happening in the grill with a half circle again that barely makes up a grill in comparison to the dominant, big bold rectangle on the 1967. The light fixtures as well, where the 2000 takes the shape within a shape and just picks the rectangle instead of keeping that contrast with a circle instead a rectangular frame. 

The biggest impact where the 2000 mustang lost its design is the law of continuity with line. The 1967 protrudes with lines and leads the eye down the body. For me it starts at the hood of the car and drags it along the windshield, across the side window and down along the hip. Or  I look at the grill to the line that leads my eye around the light fixture, jump to the line on the side of the body all the way down site seeing the tires and whole side of the body, up and around the hip to the back. 

But the 2000 lacks that continuity with either the lines being diminished or completely erased in the model altogether. This gives you eye no where to go, it doesn't lead or drag you eye to any place. IThe designers seemed to have taken the cheek of the older models, slapped a tail on the end of it and called it a mustang.    

The 2000 design and the lacks thereof doesn't make the car a "looker"  and the every word mustang has a  demand connotation that you must look or cannot help the desire to look. This highlights my point that the 2000 model loses in the domain of design of identity and what it means to be a mustang.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Evolution of Mustangs
 The Bad, the Good, and the Sexy

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Contrast, balance. harmony with a "Chance of Discovery"

"Chance of Discovery"  2013 Oil on canvas board 11” x 14” 
This painting is my first painting I created outside of all the finger painting in my younger years as a professional. Although I still probably chose to use my fingers in assisting me on this painting as well. The challenge of this painting, beyond being my first and being absolutely terrified of the white canvas even though it wasn't much bigger than a sheet of paper, was that we were only allowed three colors to paint with in order to create an image/s using value. This essentially taught us the value of value. Can you guess the three colors?

The most obvious contrast in the painting is the color of the shell against the ocean, the beach and the night. Along with the then seen highlighting of the ocean foam along the shore. You then also see the fine details of contrast in the highlights of the ocean's surface and the dots of the star illuminating the sky and essentially the scene of a bright night. The contrast in the layout is the position of the shell and the space it creates; positive for the shell and negative for the ocean, and sky. The ocean almost adds a little bit of positive to the beach, being that it covers and uncovers it making it solid. This idea shows the contrast psychologically with the shell and land being knowing and solid against the idea of the ocean and sky always moving and changing filled with wonderment of the unknown.

The position of the shell also creates balance, being that it takes about one third of the frame as a whole. The rule of one third is also seen in the portion of beach exposed, the layout of the ocean and more or less the amount of sky. The asymmetrical shape of the shell, gives the shell its own balance. Lastly I think balance can be seen in the shore line and the highlight of the ocean foam and it forces a frame around the shell and your eye to that point.

Harmony is in the blue hue of the whole scene, again attempting to create the scene of a bright night, when things are visible. I think the position of the shell provides harmony, because it is the focus, where as if it was placed in the back of the frame and miniaturized along the shoreline, it would be enough to look act and would change the overall message of the painting. I think it also plays on the idea that mother nature places things where she wants them and there is harmony in the sense of that is how things are suppose to be.

I titled this piece "Chance of Discovery", because when I think of walking along the beach, there is always an opportunity to discover things, like the beauty of a shell. I try to amplify the size of the shell to exaggerate that the shell wants to be found, that the beauties in life want to be discovered, shared, experienced and remembered. But the key word is "chance", because of the idea that I brought up earlier that mother nature places things where she wants them, and as we are all aware of she is constantly changing things around like a stay at home mom never satisfied with her living room arrangement. I try to play that concept into the painting  as the size of the shell begs to be discovered, but as the ocean begins to slowly push in and surround the shell, the chance is slipping away  as the shell may be submerged or swept away. I think that reflects the chances and opportunities we get in life as they come and go, but like the shoreline that leads your eye into infinity, the opportunities in life are infinite and there will be more along the way as you continue to walk the shore.

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Visceral Response


There are many things I have come across that stupefy me. One of them that ceases to stupefy me is nature. I have an initial stupefy when I first gaze over a landscape and look in awe and it feels almost like unreality. Then as my mind wanders at the thought of the creation I am stupefied again in not being able to comprehend as to how it even began. Though stupefying, peace resonates within me as I am blessed to share that significant moment and experience. 

I am also stupefied by man, at what they are able to create or what they are able to do. When things are created or acts performed it can stupefy me in two ways. First way,  is when the thing created or act performed is so incredulous that the very first initial thought to cross my mind is how I would never be able to do that, it is almost like watching unreality again. The second way is when I am stupefied with inspiration and it feels me with energy to want to be able to do our create that thing.

I love this picture, because it stupefies me in both ways. Being able to capture the amount of beauty in nature at this place is an impossible task. I am not even able to fit the magnification within the frame.  Secondly, it stupefies me that I am able to not only work in this environment, but what I learning to be able to create.


Skagway, Alaska.
In order to experience the image fully you will have to unfortunately travel to Alaska,  but you can at least have a better online experience by clicking on the image. 


The color has value that brings light to the image and creates excitement and almost gives you the feel of you don't know where you want to look first. I think the contrast in the different intensities of green help move you eye along the image at fist glance. Then my eye leads to the shape of the motorcar with the site of the approaching mountain behind it, creating slight space giving 3-D form. Then the ranges behind that mountain give even a little more depth and makes the initial mountain range slight 3-D feel as well. The skyline is organic and highlighted as the sunsets. The skyline is also noncontinuous and pulls your eye again through the whole frame. The ties give and show the pattern and rhythm of the work that goes on the railroad, repetitive and steady. Because there is negative space around the bridge it also shows slight 3-D. The shadows in the south end of river provide the slightest texture in the water. Your eyes will eventually, if they haven't already find the curve and follow it up into the left side of the mountain, giving the image movement, like the motorcar will begin to ascend at any moment to return to work before all light is lost. The shadow adds for the hint of human touch.

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Allow me to introduce myself.

Hey everybody!

My name is Cassandra Roland, but most people know me by Candy and others call me, Candice. You can call me by either name, it quite amuses me how uncomfortable people are with calling me Candy. The fact that I am from Nevada adds a little more humor to the nickname. The nickname Candy came from my Grandpa, who was very ill when my twin and I were very young. He had trouble saying so Cassandra and Miranda, so instead he nicknamed us Candy and Mandy.

I am a communications major with a mass emphasis. I chose this major because I learned while in college I really enjoy watching the news and one evening I thought to myself, while watching the news of course, how fun of a job that would be. So here I am. I currently am a senior in college, but have three more years of scholarship, so I’m taking advantage of that and being a super senior two times over! Most likely I will pursue doing a double major.

I did a lot of traveling this summer. I lived in Guatemala for a month exploring the country and the Spanish language.












Afterwards I made my way back up to Alaska for a round two at my summer job working for a railroad company. 






Needless to say it was a very eventful summer and I wish I would have had a week home before returning back to school, but I am happy to be here.

Some exciting things going on currently in my life are I am a part of the Dixie Sun News this semester, so don’t forget to check us out and I will very shortly begin my tryout for the Women’s basketball team.


Couple things I love to do are tan, hike, cook, Snapchat and about everything else in between. In most cases I will try anything once. I am also a professional iphone photographer….Just kidding but I can get some pretty great pictures with that little camera. Although I am wanting to expand my knowledge in photography and video.


I’m a little nervous for this course, but excited to see how it will go.