Formalism is a theory of art that looks at the “form”, or how it is made. Emphasis is placed on the visual aesthetics such as lines, shapes, colors, and textures of the piece. Formalists believe a particular piece of art should be able to stand-alone based on its aesthetics, without any consideration of constructs, or outside factors such as society or culture. It’s all about the form, and the form alone; nothing else matters to a formalist.  This approach can be summed up as “Art for the sake of art”.

For other theories of art, such as realism and expressionism (which encourages you to seek further meaning behind a piece), formalism only places emphasis on half the story… or at least thats what I thought as I studied this approach.   When I look at a piece of artwork I try to decipher the meaning behind it. I ponder questions such as “what was happening in society when the artist created this piece?” or “What cultural message does the artist attempt to share with this piece?” But then I thought about the people who don’t care what the artist was thinking or what was happening.  Some people are only interested in the elements that come together to make a piece of art, for example, the way lines intersect, or the way colors collide. Even I can relate to that feeling as a digital designer.  I love typography just because…it’s typography. I don’t consider what the creators of some of my favorites typographic pieces was doing, thinking, or experiencing when they created their pieces.  I just admire the juxtaposition of elements used to create the piece.

Let’s look at one of its opposites, postmodernism, or better yet, anti-modernism. Postmodernism is hard to explain.  The ambiguity of the term is purposeful. Some people don’t even know how to categorize it; is it a theory, concept, philosophy, movement, condition, etc.? One thing that can be said about the Postmodernism approach is the assertion that art plays a bigger part in our social, political, and ethical world, and it should be examined beyond its visual aesthetics.

When I think of the philo-theo-concept-ment (my attempt to categorize Postmodernism), I see it as a rebellion against Modernism, which attempts to classify art. It rejects the existence of any ultimate principle, and it disagrees with the Modern notion of a scientific, philosophical, or religious truth that explains everything for everybody.  Some art forms that arose out of the idea of postmodernism include pop art (one of my favorites with the great Andy Warhol), futurism, dada, and surrealism.

Then there is realism and expressionism, which are exactly what their names imply.  These two forms of art share some similarities and differences with postmodernism and formalism. For example, both formalism and realism seem to want you to pay attention to the piece of art and how it’s made. However, for formalism, it stops there, while realism wants you to think about what the piece of art tells you about the world (similar to postmodernism). Expressionism shares similarities with postmodernism and realism because it encourages you to seek deeper meaning behind the world; however, expressionism wants you to look at the emotions of the artist in the work of art.  In addition, expressionism is not limited to portraying the real world like the theory of realism.

Although I am not an art connoisseur, I study art because I enjoy digital and graphic design. Both digital and graphic design are a form of art, and artist have to know the roots of their passions.  When I look at pieces such as Piet Mondrian’s Composition with Yellow, Blue, and Red, I attempt to translate it and use it for inspiration.  With art the inspiration is unlimited. I appreciate Barrett’s attempt to help explain and categorize the medium into four simple, yet complex categories, and can understand and identify with each viewpoint.

Screenshot from the short film “Embrace”

Embrace is undeniably my favorite.  The story builds up slowly, causing anticipation,  The viewer is not immediately aware of the context of the story.  We only see a male and female, breathing heavily, embracing each other.  My first thoughts were, are they breaking up or did they just finish having a make-out session?  The camera moves slowly around the characters, allowing more context.  Following are a series of shots, close-ups of each character, and shots of their hands as they embrace one another.  These shots, coupled with the heavy breathing and short choppy sentences, paint a vivid picture of the two panicking. Eventually we discover the characters are attempting to comfort each other, presumably because something catastrophic is about to happen. It becomes even more clear when we hear emergency sirens in the background.  The two characters seem to calm each other as the breathing becomes a little less heavy and intense. The video cuts of at that point, leaving the viewer wanting more.

Soldiers is another one of my favorites. Something so short and simple aroused emotion. Again Curtis successfully keeps the suspense by not revealing the plot immediately.  There are just two soldiers and an older lady kneeling by a tombstone.  As one of the soldiers begins to walk toward her, he appears to be alive and the viewer anticipates a reunion between the women and the soldier.  However, we eventually discover he is dead.  The scene seems so real, and the music adds to a solemn feeling.

Hillman Curtis mastered the art of compelling story telling. Every time I watch one of his videos, I learn something new that can be translated into my career. I urge any videographer to view his work.

Pica Towers Illustration

In the first scene, two glowing circles slowly come into focus, which we soon find out are the eyes of a captured character hanging upside down (S&M style), coupled with torture mechanisms hanging on the wall (very reminiscent of the horror movie Hostel).  There is a second character with similar composition as the one (metal robotic thingies) hanging upside down, however, elements such as spikes on his body, a zipper for a mouth, and small beady eyes add to the villainous look of the character. Kind of reminds you of S&M. The sound effects in the background are ominous, and the clattering of chains rattling as the captured character is hoisted further in the air adds to the scary nature of the scene.  At the end of the video, the writer uses classical horror music typical of the moment when a character comes face to face with the villain and realizes he is in trouble. However, we can’t see who he sees which adds to the suspense. This happens to the second character mentioned earlier, which is ironic because he was initially the one inflicting torture on someone else. It made me wonder “Who’s the real villain here?”  These types of thoughts are present throughout each video, which encourages viewers to figure out the story by piecing together the details.

In the second video, we see a cute little robotic dog, which adds a little playfulness to the scene, but not for long.  This time the viewer is invited to see more of “Pica Towers.” My first thought upon looking at the scene reminded me of an insane asylum.  The long dimly lit hallways with several doors and rooms added to the chilling effect.  There is one seen in which a blind character (after losing his cane to the dog) is feeling his way down the hallway, and there is a simple digital illustration of flickering light which added extra spook.  But besides all the eerie elements in the video (such as blood on the wall) there is a cleverly crafted scene in which the blind man falls down the stairs.  This is not physically shown, but the picture is painted quite well through sound (a grunting person), a simple shake of the camera (portraying the rumbling effect of falling down the stairs), and a shot of the blind man readjustment his glasses as he walks out the door.  This is an excellent example of how to tell a story without showing every single detail.

The plot continues in the third video.  We see a happy-go-lucky pizza guy driving up to Pica Towers.  In the background there is the sound of high squealing winds which ignite a feeling of desolation and eerie.  Unfortunately, the poor little pizza man is shot with a shotgun, by what appears to be a character in Pica Towers.  We then see the character in the tower being “chastised” by a female character, as a mother would scold her child as he cowers down like a little lost kid.  The scene reminded me of the movie Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

After watching the three videos, I had several questions swarming around in my head: is the young character with the gun the killer? Is his ‘mom’ the killer? Or are their several killers? Why would a blind man be walking through Pica Towers? Who ordered the pizza and why? And why would a pizza man drive to a place that clearly looks like an insane asylum? I decided to draw my own conclusion…Pica Towers is an asylum in which the insane have somehow unleashed themselves (I guess by killing the staff), and have begun releasing terror upon each other. This is just my interpretation. Who knows what the real story is behind Marc Craste’s creation.  I guess that is the beauty of interpretation of art, or in this case, digital art.  But I’m sure everyone can agree the story was successful executed journey to the dark side.

NSFW. A hunter shoots a bear
This fun but comical piece uses some great sound effects.  At the beginning of the video you’ll hear sounds of nature such as birds chirping.  This sets the scene immediately without even seeing the video.  Then you hear a sound reminiscent of someone brushing their teeth and a conversation being held between a few gentlemen.  The excellent sound cues continue with the growling of a bear and a mean cocking his gun in fear.   Without even watching the video, the viewer knows exactly what going on based on the audio elements.

There’s a soldier in all of us 
Call of Duty:Black Ops (a popular video game) released this promotional back in 2010.  The sound effects play a large part in the video because there is not a lot of dialogue between characters.  Instead you hear the sounds of war; automatic weapons, helicopters, bombs, with an iconic song (reminiscent of songs that chronicle war in America) in the background.

Gas powered everything 
This is an interesting video promoting Nissan Leaf.  In the video you’ll hear several sound effects of what sounds like engines firing up.  For example, you hear something that sounds like an engine and then an alarm clock going off.  In the end you hear a calming voice say, “What if everything ran on gas? Then again, what if everything didn’t”

A great example of this is a project done by McKinney (a marketing firm in Raleigh, NC) entitled SPENT.  SPENT is an interactive game created in Flash that raises awareness about people living in extreme poverty.  Instead of just text and images, this game prompts users to make decisions as though they are living with very little income like people living below the poverty line.  I had the opportunity to play this game and I can definitely say I remembered more statistics and information than I’ve remembered from just reading articles about extreme poverty levels.  It also made me feel sorry for people in those situations.  For example, I had to make the decision to go see my child perform in a school play or take a side job that pays $50.  Of course I choose to make money instead of supporting my child which shows how parents living in poverty miss key events in their child’s life because they have to make money any time they can.  This game not only gives you the information but it provides you with an experience common among people living in poverty.

SPENT Game

Another great example of Interactive project is Budget Hero.  This game allows users to  learn more about tax dollars and the federal budget but in a fun way.  For the average person, reading information about tax dollars and spending can be very arduous and boring.  It is also a topic that incites a lot of emotion for people who follow it carefully.  However, for people like me who are not familiar with the debate of tax dollars and spending, this game is very informative.  By making a topic as such interactive I learned more information than I have ever learned about tax dollars.

Budget Hero Game

The underlying theme in these projects is creating an experience that allows users to connect on a deeper level with the information.  This actually falls in line with what I decided to do for my capstone project, an interactive presentation on the Mayan culture.   A lot of people have heard about the Doomsday 2012 theory but many don’t know about the culture behind the myth and their practices.  Therefore I wanted to offer a fun and interactive way for people to learn about the interesting Mesoamerican people.  When people can interact and take part in their learning, they are more likely to remember the information presented to them, and if the topic calls for it, they can use the emotional experience from the project to relate and react.

1. Mass of recognition:  Of course this is one of the biggest factors that makes an image iconic.  It should be so well-known that it becomes the norm for everyone to have seen it.  They are recognizable regardless of their age.  Most iconic photos outlast the other and the person in the image.

   Photo of the first man on the moon

2. Perfectly captures an event or artistic style:  If the image perfectly captures an event or style, it will be referenced when the event or style is discussed.  Eventually the image will become synonymous for the topic.  This could also apply to a person.  For example photos of the supermodel Twiggy made her an icon of the 60s.  According to Julia Deluliis “The key here is that the image becomes so closely associated with the topic (idea, person, event, etc) that the image gets discussed almost every time the topic is discussed.”
   

   This photo of twiggy is iconic of the 60s and propelled twiggy to be an icon herself.

3. Carries multiple associations for many people: Iconic images can appeal to a variety of  people and host multiple associations.  For example, the photo of the swastika can symbolize several different things for people of different cultures and backgrounds.
4. Impact on Public Opinion:  In image that shapes public opinion or directly results in action can become iconic.  However this type of image can be the most difficult to capture and prove.
   

   Lynching; Lawrence Beitler, 1930
   Thousands of whites descended on an Indiana park to hang a pair of black men accused of raping a white woman.

5.  Provokes Emotion:  When an image emotionally resonates with its audiences it can become iconic. These are the images that pull at your heart-screens making your feel empathy, sympathy, pride, etc.
   

   Photo capturing the spirit of America after WWII

These are just some of my thoughts; however there are many opinions and thoughts about what constitutes an iconic image.  Martin Kemp wrote a book entitled Christ to Coke: How Image Becomes Icon.  In this book he chronicles the exploration of the topic and list several images that people consider iconic.  The famous author also wrote

“…there are tendencies that are recurrent to varying degrees in various permutations. Some are concerned predominately with meaning; a simplicity of message that is once definitive and compelling but that is also open to a broad, rich, and varied series of associations; the ability to work with both generic and specific meanings; and openness to varied kinds of individual and collective engagement; a special interplay with shared human values; the focus of devotional or cult practice; the forging of collective identity.”

For more information on Kemp’s book and to see the iconic image detailed in his book, visit here.

Today people easily share reviews, opinions, and thoughts on products through their social circles.  Whether the opinions are positive or negative, they spread like wild-fire, and because of this advertisers have to be “transparent” and honest about their products.  Consumers want advertisers to be sincere, helpful, and knowledgeable, not pushy, deceptive, and desperate.  For example, we have seen the pop ups that feature fake consumers testifying how they lost 100 pounds in 10 days by using a product, or the ads that claim they’ll give you a special discount if you tell 10 of your friends of the product.  What do consumers do?  We easily reject those e-mails classifying them as spam, even though it could be a good product.

Social media platforms allow the professional communicator to get up close and personal with their potential consumers.  They can build relationships which encourages brand loyalty and consumer interest.  Marshall Loeb a writer for Wall Street Journal wrote “With the growing popularity of social media platforms, businesses are embracing the technology to build community and strengthen consumer interest.”

For advertisers there are few steps they could follow to ensure their social media campaigns are effective.

1. Know the Platform:  advertisers should have an understanding of who is using social media and the best practices for specific platforms.  For example, advertising on Twitter and Facebook are very different.  Knowing the differences and best practices allows advertisers to promote their products more effectively.
2. Be Transparent:  Consumers want to know the company behind the product.  The more they know about the people or ideas behind the product, the better the connection.  In the same token, always be honest about your products, even recognizing the negative feedback.
3. Engage:  Consumers are honest and they can give great feedback.  Not only should advertisers listen actively, but they should also inform their audience that they are listening by providing feedback.

Pampering yourself is essential for stress management, your physical health and your emotional well-being.  The relaxation you get from positive activities triggers the relaxation response, which can ease chronic stress.  Therefore finding time to do something nice or relaxing every once in a while is important, even if you don’t have the resources to do it often.  Fortunately there are several places around Elon that can help you, and I’ve had the opportunity to visit a couple of them. The two parlors described below are two of my picks based on their prices and quality of service.  However, I’ve also had moments when I needed to relax but lacked the money to splurge. That’s when I had to be a little thrifty and do it myself.  Check out my tips below.

Day Spas and Massage Parlors

Treating yourself to the warm, experienced hands of a masseuse or to a facial, mani or pedi can be great ways to relax and release those feel-good endorphins.  You can escape from the stressful reality of grad school papers and exams while taking care of your body.   We all know graduate school can be very expensive and justifying spending money at a spa can be challenging.  However, there are places at Elon that offer great luxury-style services at affordable prices.  More importantly businesses often offer “specials” that allow students to get the same services at reduced prices.

• iSalon located just 10 minutes from campus in Alamance Crossing is a day spa that offers a variety of services such as massages and facials.  Here at this relaxation paradise you can receive a 30-minute body massage for $45 or an hour body massage for $65.  If the price is a little too steep for you, try a “Lunch Hour” mini facial treatment for $35.  This spa is also known for the specials they offer, so always check their website for the right deal before you head in.
• Christine Valmy is another great spa in Burlington that offers slightly better prices than its competitors.  For example, you can receive a 30-minute full body massage for $30 or an hour message for $60.  They offer manicures for just $20 and “Express Facials” for $40.  If you can afford to spend a little more money you can try their Select Package deal for $65 which includes an express facial, half hour massage, and a make-up session. Get more bang for your buck here!

There are other day spas and massage parlors located around Burlington that offer some of the same types of deals. Remember, it’s okay to indulge a little!

Do it yourself

For those of you who can’t fathom spending money at a spa or massage parlor, there are other ways to escape the stress-inducing environment of graduate school in the privacy of your own home.

• Set up your own spa with a bathtub full of water, bubble bath, and aromatherapy candles.  To add to the ambiance try setting up some music in your bathroom; the right music can soothe you, taking you to another place far from reality. For an added touch deep condition your hair and deep cleanse your facial pores by adding a clay masque.  Lay in the tub for as long as you like, until you’re all wrinkled up from the water!  This simple treat will leave you feeling relaxed, and all you need is a tub and a bit of privacy.
• After a nice relaxing bath, treat your skin with your favorite deep conditioning skin cream.  For ladies, polishing your toenails and fingernails can leave you feeling extra pampered.
• Recruit the help of your significant other or buddy for a friendly massage.  Even the smallest and shortest ones can work wonders for your stress levels.  If that seems a little awkward or if you’re flying solo, try a self-massager that can make you feel just as good.

Pampering yourself can be the key to less stress during your time in graduate school, but it doesn’t mean you have to get a massage or go to a spa every week.  Simply indulging in the little things that make you happy , like a nice bath or a quick facial, can make a significant difference.   When you feel yourself becoming overwhelmed, take a moment for yourself.  In the end you’ll be glad you did. To find more pampering tips and suggestions look here.

There are some exceptions of course, and those exceptions are the really good web articles that people read in its entirety.  So how do you keep the reader’s attention span and keep them reading?

1)      Start with a good headline: This is the first thing readers see and if it doesn’t peak their interest initially, they are less likely to be excited about the article. In fact, they probably won’t even read it.  A good headline has key words in it, and it promises a solution or beneficial information.  For example instead of the headline “Fat Burning Foods,” one could try “5 Powerful Foods That Will Help You Burn Fat”

2)      Keep it simple: Articles for the web should be concise, only detailing the information promised in the headline.  Eliminate unnecessary words and cut out the boring parts.  Unless you are writing for personal reasons consider the audience’s attention.  Publish what is useful interesting, and most informative for them. As one author put it “Write for the web, not for your ego.”

3)      Use correct structure: Keep your reader reading with web friendly format! A simple rule to remember is use lots of white space.  Don’t overwhelm the reader with lengthy paragraphs. Embrace the line break! You could also use catchy subtitles to break the content up and bulleted lists that provides a visual break for readers.

4)      Add some or your personality: Nobody wants to read a bland, boring, lifeless article!  What makes articles unique is the author’s voice.  Try to have a light humorous tone when writing.  This will compel the reader to keep reading.  Try to use active voice and exciting verbs.   For example, which sounds more compelling (SPOILER ALERT: I vote B):

1. You can lose weight by eating apples, strawberries, and bananas.
2. Blast away the fat by enjoying fresh apples, ripe strawberries, and heart-healthy bananas!

Following these tips can help keep the reader reading, avoiding the fate of most web articles! For more tips, check here.