Gustav Klimt

We were shown this image at the beginning of the semester.

I don't know if any of you remember seeing it but I have not been able to forget. I had never seen this painting before or heard of Gustav Klimt before.

Out of curiosity and really enjoying this piece of art I looked further into Gustav. I have discovered how much I love his work! I have started pricing out prints because I want one of the three pictures I have shown.

Being more and more interested in Gustav Klimt, I started reading up on him a little bit more.
His history is long but here's a few points about Gustav Klimt

-born in Austria-Hungary, was one of seven children and lived in poverty for most of his childhood.

-In 1876, Klimt was awarded a scholarship to the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts, where he studied until 1883 to be an architectural painter.


-In 1894, he was commissioned to create three paintings to decorate the ceiling of the Great Hall in the University of Vienna. Not completed until the turn of the century, his three paintings, Philosophy, Medicine and Jurisprudence. All of which were criticized for their radical themes and material, which was called "pornographic". As a result, they were not displayed on the ceiling of the Great Hall. This would be the last public commission accepted by the artist. All three paintings were destroyed by retreating SS forces in May 1945.

-1899 −1910 the golden phase and critical success phase, where
many of his painting use a gold leaf or prominent gold.


-Klimt died in Vienna on February 6, 1918,having suffered a stroke and pneumonia due to the influenza epidemic. Many of his painting were left unfinished.



 

It's like the plague!

A few weeks ago now I was feverishly editing my portfolio for COM308W…another class where I burry my head into a computer screen, only it's not design, its all writing. 

I was typing away in the library, working on my portfolio, I found myself just staring at my word document. I was so troubled by the terribly ugly, awful, hideous kerning. Not only was I not using a Mac, as if that alone wasn't bad enough,  this PC didn't even have helvetica! Helvetica is now my typeface of choice and new obsession. #helveticadomination 

Again as I said in my last post, I've become so much more aware of designs, messages of the design, effectiveness, typefaces, all of it! Design snob in the making… its like the plague.

If I look at this any longer..Ill put my head through the screen

This semester, this course, I've spent so much time staring into a screen. There comes a point I'm so close to putting my head straight through the computer screen, that I just have to walk away. I'm sure by this point, end of the semester, we have all experienced this.

Just finished up my brochure, the critique is in about two hours and I am so thankful to have to done. On to the next…. more work to be done. By the end of CEP week I will run myself into the ground, that sure of it. 

My brochure focused on Parkside Community Association's (PCA) Welcome Program. PCA is the same organization I used for my COM 308W portfolio, so I had a lot of background and information from this organization already. Having spent so much time dealing with this same organization, you would think would be helpful. However, at times I found myself at a creative block with stale information I have seen and dealt with for months. 

By the end of this course I am starting to really find my inner graphic designer, I'm finding my own style. I found myself referring back to the Type on a Grid exercise for one section of my brochure when I was lost on how to organize the page. That was exceedingly helpful. All the things we have been exposed to from the movies, to the exercises, to links post on blog have really stuck with me. I am now a conscious viewer of the designs, posters, advertisements, etc. around me. Although we are not design majors, I think this course was very beneficial. It, at times, was tedious but the nonverbal messages in the world are just as important than the things we as communication majors say or write.