Saturday, December 13, 2008

2nd life: Jaidynn Waffle

My 2nd LIFE PROGRESSION:
This whole virtual world stuff confuses the hell out of me sometimes. i didn't like all this stuff when i didn't understand it. It would frustrate me to the point of almost throwing the computer at the wall. It's not even that complicated, I just have bad computer karma (... i can't wait to see how the Rhino class goes next semester).

The goal for all this was to create something in 2nd life that had to do with our outsource project. So I started with huge cubes and uploaded the images of my work onto them.
I moved on to a sphere and more cubes. 



It then progressed to actually attempting to build walls and a ceiling... i forgot about a floor. Thanks Jan, Megan, and Amy for all the help. Once I got some help and actually dedicated a good amount of time, i started to get the hang of it. I was going to keep this exhibit but it didn't look very professional. I thought about how much time i had spent on my actual project that i did not think this did it justice. Plus there were some really nice ones... AMY! Amy's looked amazing, it was unique and creative... i was jealous.

After spending the weekend in a computer lab and today in between classes, i think i have a pretty nice display. Certain peers might not think it's much but for me this is a huge accomplishment! It's definitely better than just cubes. 

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

picnik


editing pictures!
I don't have a sweet mac so I don't have a way of cropping/ editing my photos from my camera. There's a website: www.picnik.com where you can upload a picture, edit, add text, effects, etc. all for free! I really like it and it's easy to use. 
Plus when it's loading it says things like "blooming blossoms... growing grass..." which i thought was a cool little detail.

branding

-Tiffany & Co.
I thought it was interesting to find a brand where the packaging is probably more famous than the actual products.
I'll admit, when i went on my senior trip to NYC i wanted so bad to buy something from tiffanys so i could have the blue box. I like the stamped jewelry because it had the label on it and i wanted to remember that experience. I bought the cheapest piece of jewelry i could find, a sterling silver band ring. i don't know what it is but i felt really cool carrying that blue bag around. 



VICTORIA'S SECRET
-no one wants underwear and bras from walmart when you can go to victoria's secret! This brand has successfully made itself SEXY and that's pretty much what they are all about. Now they have cosmetics, fragrances, loungewear, etc but it's all sexy because that's what the brand has become. Some underwear is not sexy at all but if it's from VS than it is. 


I've just realized that all of the brands i listed are sooooo expensive. I can't afford any of it but i wish i could. I guess that makes them successful because they have people wanting a piece of it. That's why they can have the prices so high because it makes the brand more desirable in some cases. Lower prices can make pieces seem cheap! 

more branding



-Tord Boontje
i 1st heard of him in jewelry I and Megan brought in the book for us to see (right). I thought it was such a cool book so i bought it instantly.   i love the patterns and the different materials he uses. Everyone now knows Tord Boontje's work after he did the christmas decorations for target a few years back. Now I see his work especially his lamps everywhere.




-Ed Hardy
This brand is everywhere! This brand looks like it's based off vintage tattoos. There's Ed Hardy clothing, shoes, fragrances, electronic covers, bedding, purses, etc... i think i even saw bottled water. I like the style but i can't afford anything by them. They've done a good job at getting their brand out there because all the celebrities are wearing it. 


-Juicy Couture
I originally liked this brand because it had dogs in their logo. =) I do like the style of
 jewelry, clothing, purses, dog collars/clothing, etc that they have. Everyone knows the logo and knows that it means $! It's expensive stuff and if someone has it, the show it off. It seems like they haven't been around for long but its a brand that appealed to the public so it became popular pretty quick.



"I love floraly shit"


RING #2 : sheet

-18ga bronze
-nickel silver tube
-sterling silver rivets

As we all know, I look at traditional korean patterns for a lot of my work. I can't help that i'm completely drawn to it.
After i saw Katy and Danielle's sheet rings i was really inspired by their sawing skills. Sawing is something that i've never really been very good at. No matter how much i try to stay on the line it gets messed up. Usually filing and sanding fixes it but i wanted to focus on that skill for this project because i know it was something i had to work on.
I pierced out a floral silhouette pattern out of sheet bronze. I looked at a lot of patterns and kind of made my own up. I like that it's not too obvious that it's floral. I wanted to try to incorporate the finger holes in the pattern, it makes it uncomfortable to wear though. It's more of an art piece than a functional ring. I also thought it would be interesting for the ring to have layers so even though it was a flat sheet, it still had dimension. 


can't sleep thoughts

Actually sitting down thinking about this semester, it's blown my mind how much we've all learned. Of course with every class you learn something new but this semester i feel like so much stuff has been jammed into my head. All of it hasn't even caught up... lists help:
-Raising 
-sinking (taken further than the tea infuser)
- bouging/ planishing
-soldering large forms together
-alittle bit of polishing
-tapering
-stretching
-making utensils
-patinas -> torch, immersion, saw dust, cotton 

-HINGES
-clasps
-etching! yay
-die forming
-some stone setting
-decking
-internal/ external framing

-outsourcing
-2nd life
-illustrator (seems like an easy, simple thing but it took HOURS for me to learn it and do it somewhat well)
-photoshop (alittle)
-blurb

etc, etc. I'm sure there are things that i'm missing but those are off the top of my head. I still feel like i've only had a taste of these things and i definitely need more practice in all of them but it's cool to think that i did all of that. 
This is the first time that i haven't had things done on their due dates in school (going back to elementary school!) I was always the freak out person that had to have things done on time. I still am like that but somehow things got away from me this semester. I was constantly working but somehow got way behind. It makes me feel bad enough disappointing myself but i never want teachers to think that i'm slacking off or don't care. I think everyone has sort of felt this way this semester... completely overwhelmed BUT if you just take a step back and look at all we have accomplished, it's pretty impressive. We are down to the last week of classes then finals but I think we will all be fine. I have definitely turned in projects that I would have liked to have been better but I also turned in some that i'm pretty proud of. Not everyone can be a Taylor and turn in portfolio pieces every time. :)
To all my fellow classmates, i pat you on the back and say "good job! you worked hard!" We can all sometimes feel bad about projects and cry about school but in the end we did our best. So let's finish out the semester still working just as hard and feel good about it.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

branding


My favorite artists/ brands:
-ANTHROPOLOGIE
I love everything about this store except the prices... i wish i
 could buy something in it! Everything from bedding, clothes, to kitchen accessories are amazing. I'd like to think that my style is like that store. They are constantly chan
ging their window displays into classy art installations. I look forward to seeing a different display each time i go to the mall.
-HOLLISTER
Another one of my top f
avorite brands even though i can't really afford it. It's probably one of the top clothing brands for younger generations. Everyone knows the hollister logo and recognizes the $ spent. I like it for the quality and style.





 


-AMERICAN EAGLE
AE is another clothing brand similar to Hollister but more affordable. They have good quality products and usually have interesting pieces. I like the graphics that they are starting to use on t shirts.

Picture time!!

My old Metalsmithing I/ Casting- Blood Diamond project:
-10 bones carved out of wax, made into a mold and cast in bronze
-welded steel chains
-real brass bullet shells
-Copper vultures with "T.I.A."

[detail shot]


I want to fill my blog up with photos of my work!

back in the day...

I finally got around to photographing my first jewelry I project.
The project that started it all....


["Bear" -large dog sculpture: welded steel]

[Detail shot]

[small project]

Design and production

The other 2 necklaces:

design and production

My steel & ponoko- red acrylic earrings

RINGS PROJECT

RING #1:
TUBING
-started with different size tubes
-cut into different thicknesses rings
-saw into varied pieces
-solder together in an organic pattern
-hammer flat
-form into ring
-solder together
-liver of sulfur


I chose to make my tube ring like this because it challenges the notion of a tube ring. The end result looks like it could have been made out of wire or sheet.



Monday, December 1, 2008

packaging for the necklaces:
[recycled paper bags and scrap paper]

Design and production

My series of necklaces for the outsourcing project:  (2 wouldn't upload)