Microaggression

I never knew that there was a word for backhanded comments. Thinking back to times where people commented about my race through microaggressions, I am able to think of two moments where people complimented me but also insulted me.

The first moment I remember is when someone told me I didn't have an Asian accent. I don't understand why it mattered though. It was something along the lines of: "Woah... You're English is really good... How long did it take you to get rid of your accent?" Sure, I wasn't born here, but I grew up here for nearly all my life -____-. Of course I won't have an accent and my Chinese/ Burmese isn't even that great.

The second moment I remember is when another person told me that he thought it was rare for an Asian to get below a 90 on a test/ quiz. When he told me that, I was like... "Um. Excuse me?" That day, I had gotten an 89 on one of my math tests and he came up to me and asked me, "What happened? Why couldn't you get that one point?" I wasn't angry at him or anything, but I felt like other people expected too much from me, just because I am Asian. Way to raise the bar.

Personally, I don't take much offense in these comments because I generally do not care about what others see in me. However, I understand that microaggression could be offense to many other people. Society should really just be careful about what they say to others, but we don't and I don't really understand why we don't. The world is just very childish.

What does a good book cover look like?

This is the version I am familiar with.

I feel like this cover really depicts the story of the book. The man in the cover is The Giver and the black and white contrasts with the sunset colors. This first book that Jonas, the main character, see is red. Thus, I thought the cover portrayed the theme of color well.

Wow, I've never seen this cover before.

I do not like this cover as much as the first one because the color red isn't there. I want to know why blue and green are used.

The eye is mesmerizing... 

 I think this cover is okay... But, I think the apple is out of place... Though, the green grass is cool, since the background is the same picture but in different colors.

Apples are everywhere!

I really like this cover too. The slow progression of the red in the apple shows how Jonas can slowly see colors. Like I said, red is the first color he sees.

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The rainbow really drew me in since it was "cracked". This cover gives me a sense about what the book may be about. It seems as if there will be a protagonist who's on his/ her last nerve. To whom ever they are referring to, it is their Last Last Chance before he'll/ she'll break. The space at the top for just the picture makes the audience enjoy the rainbow. I think the black text is what brings in people to check out the book since it's the only thing in black (compared to the colors). The angle on "Chance" causes the photo to seem like it shifted. The shift causes the rainbow to look like it was off and feel broken.

This cover is just so colorful compared to the rest of the covers. I actually love how each word is highlighted by a browser box thingy... The cover clearly shows that the book is something about technology. Also, the overlapping boxes creates a wild feel which is like how viral videos/ pictures spread.

I don't know about you, but this cover is CREEPY. Of course that's what drew me in though. I like how the texts are diagonal and crossed over each other. The cross seems to be in the center of the cover. Also, there's a pink, black, and grey bar on the left which creates a little boldness on the image. The pink and white contrast is really effective for the creepiness... There's also a little fade behind the little girl and she is also aligned to the center. There are spaces below her and on her sides. She kind of looks like she is floating... I think I'm going to have nightmares.

All I can say about this is that the simplicity drew me in. The image, text, and colors are simple and clean. Once I read the title, the light bulb made perfect sense. Although it's just a ball of white with fade in the background, I think I was amazed at how simple an image could be but still be recognizable. There's a lot of space around the light bulb but I feel like that's the reason why we need an interrogation. Everything else is silent. 

His/ her teeth are so sharp... The animal looks so creepy to me and after I saw the word "Taxidermy", I was like, of course. I could already tell that there are going to be many stories about taxidermy in this work. The title definitely caught my attention first because of the bold yellow font color. My eyes then move to the image of the fox and his/ her sharp teeth. The fox isn't real, but the drawing/ painting seems very realistic. I feel that people pick up books because of the artists' talents. 

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Overall, I found it interesting how all of these covers used some sort of image. I think that images are a good way to see what the book or novel will be about because people can remember images better than words. Actually, it may just be because of my preference since I'm more of a visual person. I feel that the picture should be able to explain its purpose. I noticed that two of my books used the center alignment and other went diagonally.

I'm not exactly sure if this is a trend, but all the covers I chose had some sore of  black feature. Some had the same alignment as well. Also, they all used the same font type which is sans serif. However, these covers have more differences than similarities. One of those differences is that the texts are in different colors. Also, other alignments are all over the place with diagonals. 

Before + After Announcement Poster

This is my before poster... Yeah, very plain.

Then it changed to...

TADA!

Logo Pres Reflection

Questions:
1. What was the most challenging aspect of creating your Logo design?
2. How did you overcome the challenge?
3. What was the most successful aspect of your Logo design?

Answers:
1. The most challenging aspect of creating my Logo design is confirming my ideas. Even though we started out with many sketches, I still had a lot of effects and colors to choose from. Also, the type of texts and font styles were hard to choose. I needed to make sure that every decision had a meaning to it. The decisions I made also had to relate to the club itself.

2. To overcome this challenge, I thought about the club once again. I choose Earth's colors, blue and green, for an earthy look. The reason why I added a sprout was because the club does a lot of planting activities. I also softened the world and the sprout to create a calming feel. Lastly, I wanted the text to be fun, but also clear to read.

3. I think the most successful aspect of my Logo design is it's simplicity. I think even from afar, the world symbol is clearly recognized. Also, the text evenly surrounds the world (sort of like a hug). I'm happy with my final logo design :).

Whatcha do? - MidWinter Break

Uh... I didn't do anything. On the second day of break, I got sick... So as you could probably guess, I was in bed all day for the entire week. I had a fever which lasted about three days (WHY? TT^TT). As of today, I am still sick. Why do we have school...?  In the middle of the week though, I was dragged out to my grandparents' place for Chinese New Year. Happy Ram Year everyone! So much hong bao (red envelopes)! The last day of break was pretty much hell. Since I was sick, I really did not have the motivation to do work. So on the last day, I decided to do all my homework (of course that was not the smartest thing to do). The exhibition outline was overkill. I spent about 7 hours with research and brainstorming my topic... Life is wasted TT^TT. Needless to say, break was way too short and the next one isn't until April... Curse you March.

Looking at Art - MoMA

Free Admission!

"I knew it was an animal!"

Not exactly sure who the artist is...

MY REACTION

 A. This artwork was somewhere around the MoMA... I forget the floor (lol). It was also clumped together with artworks with a similar style.

Like this!

The top right one is the Angry Cat artwork... and below that artwork is one of a goat. I don't remember the one on the far left...

B. This piece drew my attention because from a far distance, I saw an animal. Even though the piece was black and white, the contrast of the colors make the animal stand out. I didn't know what animal it was, but I clearly saw four legs, a head, and a tail. Actually, I lied... My first thought: Woah... Is that a demon? 

C. After reading the label of the piece, I learned that the animal portrayed is a cat... In fact, an angry one. I learned that the artwork is a lithograph, which means that it is a legal copy of the original. It was printed in the Mourlot Studios, located in Paris, France. Lastly, it was from 1953... by I do not know who... Since the label only says "the artist", the artist is not clear... Thanks label :/ .

*After matching the artwork on MoMA's website... I believe the artist's name is Jean Dubuffet, who is a French painter, sculptor, and writer.

Sources: 

http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_id=73184

http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3AAD%3AE%3A1633&page_number=&template_id=6&sort_order=1

Some other artworks :D

This piece was in the music section :O

So big! So detailed!

So cute :3

Close up!

I see you...

I think it's wax... but seriously, it's so gross...

I feel like this could be in a horror scene...

Pretty :)

.......... A wall?

BIRDIE!

Ohh... Lights...

I don't know who that person is (she would not budge...) but the monkey looks awesome :D 

Trippy :)

I don't know but reminds me of murder ._.
Since the lines and curves look like slashes...

You can hear Cindy at the end :)

This hall... Woah......

Finding Type!

Here are 6 typefaces I found around me ^^

1. Oldstyle, slab serif, and maybe decorative?

2. This was a poster of this movie I found in the East Broadway train station.

3. I believe this typeface was appropriate for its purpose because I believe this movie is a horror and the text helped the poster create a creepy feel.

1. Modern

2. I found this book in the school's library.

3. Cokie Roberts... I think it's the author's name. I do not think it's a bad typeface to use... but it's a little hard to read at a first glance.

1. Slab Serif

2. I forgot which room it was but I found this student's work on the 11th floor (I think).

3. I believe this font is Times New Roman... So yes? Since this is a school project (a different class other than art, where you usually use Times New Roman), most teachers require this font so this student did an excellent job of following the rules. \(^  ^)/

1. San Serif

2. The sign that labels the train station at Delancey Street Station

3. I do believe this choice of typeface is appropriate because san serif is really easy to read, especially when you look out the train's window as it arrives at the station.

1. Script

2. I found this poster in the GD/ Fishbowl/ 1113 room

3. I do not exactly know what the purpose of this poster is... but it looks very nice and fancy. Maybe it's about people/ reality first before technology.

1. Decorative, script

2. I found this at MHS's 11th floor senior birthday wall/ cabinet thingy... 

3. I think this fun sort of typeface serves its purpose well because birthdays are supposed to be fun!