TopMod

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While I think TopMod is a really neat program, I had a lot of trouble with it. I first started playing around with the program Tuesday night- watching tutorial programs and getting the hang of the program. I designed several different compositions, and had a huge problem of having the program crash on me. I tried saving my work after every couple of minutes, but I still managed to lose most everything. Now my program won't even open. My favorite thing to learn with the program was how to make twists and turns using the handle tool. I mainly used cube extensions in my designs and deleted several edges. Then I added handles to various edges, creating spirals.

*Ambient Occlusion is a shading method used in 3D computer graphics which makes models look real by taking into account attenuation of light due to occlusion.

Ambient occlusion is most often calculated by casting rays in every direction from the surface. Rays which reach the background or “sky” increase the brightness of the surface, whereas a ray which hits any other object contributes no illumination. As a result, points surrounded by a large amount of geometry are rendered dark, whereas points with little geometry on the visible hemisphere appear light. (Wikipedia.com) *

*I do not like having a time limit for our homework. It makes me feel rushed and makes me not be able to spend the time I should on my homework. Due to other organizations, classes, and studio, I feel like I can't give everything my best, when I am trying to meet this deadline. I really did try on this assignment, and because of the time restraint, I will not be able to finish.*

Revised and Final Menu

http://xavier.tamu.edu/students/eac5133/web/cf/finalmenu.pdf

This is my final menu with all of my revisions.

Final Menu

I kept this basic design of my menu for my final design. I made some minor changes, such as I made "Coffee Station" read horizontally, instead of vertically, and I moved all of the text out of the coffee beans on the second page. I was very pleased with my outcome. I think it looks simple- yet very nice. The menu is easy to read, and conveys the information clearly.

CombinFormation is a really cool idea! It makes a collage of pictures and text based on words you enter into a search engine. You can make the photos larger and smaller, however, you dont have the capability to crop them yet. You can also change the font and size of the text, toggle the pictures between translucent and not, and move pictures from the front to the back and vice versa. Each picture or excert of text is from a site online and you can visit those sites when you click on an image.
I did my collage over architecture. I typed in the word architecture and several different images came up. I made a collage by overlapping the images and text. I also made some pictures translucent. When CombinFormation saves your collage, it does so in 4 different files, all of which i have put on my Langford web space. There was a jpeg, another jpeg thumbnail, one html, and one xml file. I went to Langford, opened MyComputer, then went to 'xavier\home' (z, then the web folder which was empty. I right clicked and made a new folder, labeling it cf, opened that and dropped all four of my CombinFormation files into that folder. So my image up top is really from my Xavier webspace.

http://xavier.tamu.edu/students/eac5133/web/cf/170homework.html

Coffee Station Menu

After playing around with several different ideas, I finally came up with this idea for my menu. It was different than what Ryann and I had talked about originally, but I seemed to have better luck with this layout, than anything else I tried. I took the comments made last class about the cons of having a really busy background, and I simplified. I liked the idea of something simple and basic. I chose a picture of coffee beans from http://www.sxc.hu/ and then put it into photoshop. From there, I lowered the opacity of the picture and made it fit the size of my document- 8.5 by 11. From there, I placed my photo into InDesign, and began working on my menu. I played with the fonts, spacing, and borders of my menu, and I hoped to have come up with a better product.

Architectural Digest

In Architectural Digest, I read an article over several different buildings in various locations of the world. While the article was interesting, the layout of the article was also appealing. With each new building, the article had several pictures to go with it. The pages were pretty basic- white backgrounds with Times New Roman font and a white border. This allowed for easy reading. While it is hard to tell with just one page showing, the pictures in the article are what made the article appealing. The pictures used lots of color that attracted the reader to stop and look at the pages.

Menu Revision

After my first attempt at making my own menu, I have come up with several ways to revise it. First of all, I need to find a better picture that is not from google images. Secondly, I am going to play with the fonts and colors and try to get everything to flow together better. I like the theme that Ryann and I were going for- the 1920's, but we obviously need to take it to the next level.

An Architect's Future...

Coffee Station Menu

Ryann and I decided that we wanted to use a 1920's theme on our menu. We chose an old black and white picture of a train and each took a spin off of the theme. Mine was a more simple/classic look, while Ryann's was more modern. We changed the fonts and played with the postioning of the title. It is still a rough draft, but as we go along, it should look how we want it too.

Why Did I Pick this Major??

After reading, Notes for Those Beginning the Disclipline of Architecture, I was extremely discouraged and frustrated about the upcoming years. In his article, Michael Merideth explains the frustrations and hardships architects face, such as architects are not socially accepted or respected by their families or non-architectural friends, the frustrations of designing, and determining the problem you are trying to solve. Architects also try to explain their work, but are frustrated because architecture can not be explained in words. Therefore, most architects do not know how to convey their work into writing very well. Now I am wondering if I am insane to want to stay in architecture, or if I am going to be happy with my decision in later years.

Life of the Rich and Famous... Or Not?

When I toured the University of Texas' Architecture school and the University of A&M's Architecture school, all I was told was that I would start at a six figure salary, and eventually that would grow, and I was pretty much guaranteed a job. Now after reading this article http://groups.google.com/group/ends170/browse_thread/thread/608c0ffcf5275593, I realize just what being an architect really means.

Even as a freshman, I have already pulled several all nighters in hopes of finishing a project. After reading the article, I realize that I may be doing that for the rest of my life. While some firms have strict 9-5 hours, most firms just work until the project is complete. Also, architects do not get payed very much. They may start out around $30,000-$80,000, but you have to work for the right firm and on the right projects if you hope to increase your salary over time. Finally, once an architect is out of school, creativity will no longer be a major part of his life. In school, the architect is constantly taught how to think outside the box, come up with original ideas, and expand his mind; but once in the real world, he has to follow exactly what his clients tell him to do.

I found this article to be a little discouraging, even though it gave an honest point of view about an architects future.

The Illusion of Certainty: The Art and Science of Seeing

Dr. Gul A. Russell's lecture over The Art and Science of Seeing:

• Do you believe what you see?
• Do you see what you believe?

Vision:

• do we see a representation of reality?
• Do we change reality of what we see?
• Eye movements

What does the eye tell the brain?

• inversion
• size
• shape
• two dimensional
• two images

• Perception and Vision (ex. Kanezsa Triangle)
• Interpreting Sensory Information (ex. Ron James)
• Expectations determine perception (You see what you expect to see.)
• Not knowing how to see- a scotoma of knowledge
• Do we see the same thing?

InDesign Workspace

InDesign is an excellent program if you are trying to enhance your quality of work. InDesign is made for newspaper articles, yearbooks, and magazines. InDesign is easy to use and very beneficial.

The Music Box

The Music Box, the new Music Centre scheduled to open in 2006, will become home to the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Chorus, the BBC Concert Orchestra and the BBC Singers, bringing them together in one place for the first time.
"The design by Foreign Office Architects majors on openness with emphasis on public space. This will ensure that the Music Box not only becomes a centre of excellence for music making at the BBC but will also be an integral part of our commitment to involve the local community."
John Smith BBC Director of Finance, Property and Business Affairs. (http://www.arcspace.com/architects/foreign_office/bbc/bbc_index.htm).

This new facility will provide space for two studios for rehearsal, recording and live performances, and audience capicty up to 6,000 people. This modern auditorium will allow London to thrive and remain at the center of musical life and culture in the UK.

Seattle Art Museum Expansion

Allied Works is currently completing work on a major expansion and renovation of the Seattle Art Museum. The expansion will provide additional public, exhibition and curatorial space while keeping the same concept of the original structure, which was designed in the late 1980's by Scott Venturi.

Through the expansion, the museum will grow vertically over 20 years. “The particular context of the project, a multi-use building that must adapt functionally as the museum grows, is critical to understanding our design. The new expansion manifests change, transforming the museum experience by capturing light, connecting the visitor to the Pacific Northwest landscape, and creating a beautiful and rich experience with the art and the city.” Brad Cloepfil (http://www.arcspace.com/architects/allied_works/sam/index.html).

The design provides a series of five interlocking double-height galleries, creating a continuous experience of upward circulation. The gallery is stressing open circulation which enables the landscape around the building to be apart of the collection inside the museum. The expansion will include a new entrance at First Avenue and Union Street and a significantly larger restaurant and store that will better connect the museum to the activities of downtown Seattle.

Thoughts on Music

In today's society, music is a very important thing. Everywhere you go, you see people listening to music on i-pods and other music contraptions. An ongoing battle between the public and music companies is the battle of music theft. Music piracy is escpecially common since so many different music companies only work on their specific music player. Several consumers have suggested that Apple "open" the digital rights management (DRM) system that Apple uses to protect its music against theft, so that music purchased from iTunes can be played on digital devices purchased from other companies, and protected music purchased from other online music stores can play on iPods (http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughtsonmusic/).

I-Pods are free of any DRM. They allow the user to burn music from cds and other sources, and can also be used on a Mac or a Windows PC. Since Apple was able to negotiate with the other major music companies, the user can play DRM music on I-Tunes, as long as the user does not break the DRM code.

To prevent illegal copies, DRM systems must allow only authorized devices to play the protected music. If a copy of a DRM protected song is posted on the Internet, it should not be able to play on a downloader’s computer or portable music device. To achieve this, a DRM system employs secrets. There is no theory of protecting content other than keeping secrets. In other words, even if one uses the most sophisticated cryptographic locks to protect the actual music, one must still “hide” the keys which unlock the music on the user’s computer or portable music player. No one has ever implemented a DRM system that does not depend on such secrets for its operation. Of course, there are several technological savvy people out in the world, who try to figure out how to get around DRM codes, so they can purchase it and allow everyone to obtain stolen music. Therefore, DRM must constantly update their system and try to make it harder and harder for people to break through.

Therefore, there are several solutions to the problem of stolen music. First of all, each manufacturing company can continue with the system that he has now. Secondly, Apple could licence their version of FairPlay DRM technology. While this seems like a good idea, it could have several consequences, such as it's "secrets" leaking out over a period of time. Finally, each company could get rid of the DRM. With this system, any player will be able to play music from any music store. As of now, DRM has not worked perfectly and may never work perfectly, therefore allowing piracy to happen every day.

While DRM's are a good idea to a certain degree, I feel like abolishing the DRM would be the best solution for everyone.

Customizing my Blog...

Once looking at other student's blogs, I got a great website off of Taylor and Jennifer's sites- http://www.photoshopsupport.com/tutorials/jennifer/blog-templates.html. This site gave me a great tutorial on how to change the header in my blog, along with other details. I also looked at the website http://www.csszengarden.com/ and got ideas on how to put images into my background. I decided that I would like my blog to have an old movie theme because I love old black and white movies.

Open Source

When I first read these articles, I was pretty confused. I had a hard time understanding the concept of open source for various reasons. From my understanding, open source is software that has its code available, for free, so that users can change and adapt the program to better suit their need. Open source is an excellent program that is beneficial to others, but it also has its drawbacks. Open source is created by technical people who already know how to work the software. Open source was not designed for average users who do not know the language of the program.