Photoshop Edits..

I am going to be using photoshop as the medium for editing the final images for 'advertising'. To be able to be confident with these I will have to practice / learn the techniques. Here are a few I've been working on:

1. Hand colouring on photoshop.

Using a greyscale image, converting it to RGB, applying filters and adjusting the colours.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Note: This image was grayscale BEFORE. I coloured it in myself.


2. A basic room, with a wooden textured dining table. Also, five chairs around the room. In gradual stages of development. ..This is the scene I hope to use for the final image, although it is obviously still being developed and modified. All items made from scratch in Adobe Photoshop, with the exception of the wood textures.

I will continue my developing and photoshop manipulation.

Disney Edit / Manipulations :D

I'm basing my research now on REAL people posed into Disney situations..

Alternative Advertising for movies and billboards. Making people question things...

Here are some links for my research:

1.Disney / Marvel Hybrid Photoshopped Pics

2. Mermaid Photo Manipulation Inspiration

3. Mashup Disney Images / Advertising

4. Santa Comes To Town

5. Childrens drawings into photoshopped images

6. Fallen Princesses

7. Abandoned Theaters

8. Superheroes in a nursing home

..Need to find a theme!

Skeleton...

I played slightly with the placing something in Barbie idea... (as just a test of course, I'd use a 'real' person for the final images) and chose to do a skeleton..

It looks pretty weird, I'm sure with more practice, thinner 'peels' and more gaps in between peels that it would look more effective..

Above: Click image for larger picture

I do, however want to capture some organs, with fat dripping down the inside of the models leg, perhaps accumulating on the floor. With a caption somewhere along the lines of 'Its not the beauty on the outside that matters'.

Here is the advanced peeling technique in photoshop:

Above: Click for larger image

And this is the original:

Effective or not? I dont know if I can use this in the project some way?

Amy had some fun!

I've learnt two new photoshop tricks / tools, one being size distortion using photoshop, and the other.. Peeling skin, I'm learning another, more advanced peeling tutorial now...

But here are the examples I've played with so far!

I started off trying to think of how I could show body image in an advertising format.. And something that hasn't already been done...

I thought about healthy foods, and apples popped into my head, the bite mark someone leaves in an apple was the perfect shape for the above picture, where i have been 'eaten away' via eating disorders.. 

Obviously this is only a test piece and the image isn't perfect, captions would be added etc.

I then moved onto body size, and how I could incorporate body dismorphia / body shapes (apple, pear, column, hourglass etc) into an image without the generic woman staring into a mirror... Blahblah.. 

So, as you can see I experimented with different sizes in photoshop using a tool that every image editor will use on women before putting them into the medias spotlight. I took a picture of me, and changed my body shape to extremities, and it's really shocking how things can look so different!! I want to use this in some way - it was fun too!!!

Moving on, I was looking for more 'apple bites' and stumbled across this beauty. The skin has been peeled back in one go (VERY HARD TO DO! lol) revealing an inside layer to the apple. I investigated this 'peeling' technique and found a few tutorials on it, the first being for a lightbulb and second for a hand - but I only tried the lightbulb..

The effects are pretty coool if i do say so myself! Shockingly executed, but then again, it was only my first attempt. Feeling pretty confident with myself I attempted one of my own, so I dug out the Barbie, took pictures of her again and started photoshopping away..

Here are my results!

Above:

First image: Original picture, second image: Partially edited picture, third image: Apple inside the layers to show what I'm attempting to do next.

The next stages:

- I'm hoping to somehow include a slightly shocking / disturbing / thought provoking element within the inside of the barbie. I'm going to try a skeleton and other stuff.. See what I like best!

- Attempt another, more advanced peeling tutorial and more improvisations of its use.

- Try a 'breaking away' effect on a human body, possibly with the aid of some tutorials first, with insides visible maybe?

- Attempt some more images of different sizing..

- Ask Robin tomorrow about modelling silicone head 'mask' to place over a mannequin head (easily acquirable), then I'll peel back the skin (silicone) to reveal something not so nice underneath? A bit like this image, but... not. If you get my drift!

Summary of workings currently:

I think I've found what I'm going to potentially show at the end of the year, and I'm really quite excited about it. I've got the UMPH back in the project again, finally!

Heart Attack Grill

God knows how this place is allowed to survive..

But, I do like the frank-ness of the Heart Attack Grill owner. Follow the link to their website and you can see you can order 'Quadruple Bypass Burgers', 'Flatliner Fries' and other disgustingly fattening foods. The Quadruple Bypass Burger contains 8000 calories and the muffin is soaked in Lard.

Here is a little video on the Grill presented by Bill Geist:


If you want to go and eat in the restaurant and are over 350lbs (25 stone) then you can eat as much as you like for free. This surely cannot be allowed? Also they have a second Grill opeining in Orlando, Florida near the Disney theme park where I will be spending summer 2010 - I need to check this place out!! (Though, I won't be eating anything... ewwww).

As if those girls ever eat any of that. 

It all comes down to body image again, sex sells. The guys who go there wouldn't want to be served by a 25st woman, so why reward a 25st man who walks in with all of the free Fat and death he wants?

Another battle of the sexes and body image fueld lifestyle....

Body Image: Issues / Reasons / Fears

I have finally narrowed down what I want to focus on in this project (D2.3) and that is the issue of Body Image. All my research has been pointing this way and I know from personal experience first hand what it's like to have an eating disorder, to want to be size 0, to be size 0, to not be able to keep down food through fear of becoming fat; and doing everything possible to try and combat this fear.

The trouble is with disorders like this, is that you never really recover fully. I battle every day with my fear, I'm obsessive at making sure all the fat is off of my food and will stop eating when I feel too stressed.. Through this project I want to address the issue of body image, fear, possibly dieting and other surrounding issues. Those aren't particularly clear yet.

Today I have been trawling Youtube for videos on body image and how the media affects the way we think, clothes we buy, personalities, moods and compulsivity. I have found a few interesting and at times disturbing videos:

1. 12 year old Natasha - weighing 4st.


2. Dove - Beauty Pressure

I love this advertisement, especially the part with the woman on the scales, and the shooting through hundreds of existing advertisements around cities. This advert is trying to show real women for what they are, and that being - beautiful.

3.Dont Die For A Diet

The sad thing with this video, is that it seems to be 'known' information to everyone going through this. I myself confess to all of those things; it wasn't a good time.

Your stomach shrinks and cannot hold vast amounts of food. Hair, nails and skin show signs of malnutrition, so even though you're achieving your thin goal - you still hate your appearance. Its a terrible catch 22. You feel pushed to exercise because it's 'healthy' and pass out randomly almost everyday. There are many many more things, although you get the picture.

Silhouette Playing

I had a go at a reallllly basic flash movie of silhouette images on a screen, but i really would like to tween an image where the images of the people changed shape into the following image.. I'm going to have a play with this tomorrow.

But for now here is the first attempt of the flash movie:


Something has happened to the video quality when it was embedded to the blog, although I'll change and update this properly tomorrow!
I think I could quite easily develop this a lot more with a little more practice and more images of females.

Fat: The visuals

I have been collecting the fat from the foods I have been cooking for the past two days now, and this is the result so far:

The container has fat that was released from the food whilst in the cooking process. I then poured it into this container and left to set. Hopefully I will leave this for a week, and by next wednesday will have a substantial amount to work with in other potential experiments.

In the meantime I found another form of 'fat' to work with - the oil used in the deep fat fryers in restaurants. I asked if I would be able to use their discarded, used, oil/ fat for my University project and they let me have the two containers below:

The trouble with this form of fat is that it is in liquid form, so as you can see in the picture below, I have decanted a small amount into a container (with a lid) and placed it in the freezer. I will find out whether this helps to solidify the substance in the morning, or in a couple of days.

Then I guess I will need to see how the substance reacts when left in a room at normal temperature, I could play around with this and show the fat 'melting' off of the Barbie at room temperature in a short film - or something.

If not then I will dip some clothes or material in the substance, soak them and monitor, then Hang on a 'clothes line' and see what happens with this experiment as it's being conducted.

I have another idea for an alternative fat substance to mould with which is quite light in colour; Lard. Animal fat may have a translucent property so that I could silhouette the desirable figure underneath; much like that of the silicone casing around a Wii Remote:

Above: Remote and silicone casing

Above: Wii remote inside casing with light shining behind

- Showing translucent properties

Barbie Manipulation #2

Me and my housemate have been playing around with the Barbies and Play-Doh again and I thought I'd upload some more pictures, the first two are just us messing around with the outfits Barbie might wear, both of which are quite revealing and show off the figure.

Even in this exercise the outfits are a representation of body image and that figure enhancing outfits are important. Interesting...

Above: My housemate is very pleased with her creation!

She wanted to show that "fat" didn't just affect the body, it also affected everywhere else. Below are some pictures of the creation:

Above: Our kids futures?

Above: Fat on the face distorts the facial features. Plumper and less defined.

Above: Showing the fat on the face and double chin.

Barbie Manipulation #1

Following my recent rant regarding the mannequins and the workshop scenario, I went shopping in search of something else to use. Whilst trawling the shops I found two Barbie dolls for £1 each - bargain!

The barbies range in age with a difference of 5 years, the one with the rubber body being the newest and using newer technologies - the other being plastic, with stiff joints.

I aim to use these Barbies as stand-in mannequins for the project so I can experiment with different materials to play around with 'body image' and give me an idea of what materials I'll be able to use for the final piece(s).

First of all I headed to Argos and bought a Play-Doh set for £9.99 and then I started experimenting with it creating different forms on the Barbie dolls. See the pictures below:

 

I then decided to compare the more realistic womanly shape to that of the older Barbie (below, old barbie is on the left, newer on the right) and this picture just shows how ridiculous the Barbie figure is. The mannequins I have been trying to get hold of also use unrealistic measurements in an attempt to make the clothes look nicer and the shape of the mannequin more 'sexy'. 

Above Right: Showing the larger, fuller, more realistic bum of a woman

Above Right: Pregnant / 'fat' 

Above Right: Showing the 'Saddle Bags' most  middle aged women have

Above: Showing the shape of a woman's leg once they are of a larger, fuller figure

I then wondered what it would be like to 'wear' the "fat" on myself. There was a problem with regards to the Play-Doh sticking to my skin, so I put on a pair of basic surgical gloves. Below is the picture of my original hand:

I wondered what it would be like if my hand were to have extra layers of fat, as if I were a larger person or I perceived my body to be larger than it actually is. Below is the picture of this experiment:

The gold areas on the above picture are the Play-Doh manipulated areas and one thing I found from this experiment was that my hand / wrist were so much heavier even with that little amount of "fat" applied to them. 

This has opened doors with respect to weight (as in gravitational weight, kg, lbs etc) that I could explore for another experiment and possible final piece. Though I will have to consider how relevant it will be to design, and that it isn't crossing over into Art territory. 

What learning style am I?

I've taken several of these tests, and have just taken this one [link] because our styles can change as we get older. Apparently I am a combination of visual and kinesthetic, more emphasis on the visual aspect.

Here is a breakdown of the two styles:

Visual Learners

• take numerous detailed notes
• tend to sit in the front
• are usually neat and clean
• often close their eyes to visualize or remember something
• find something to watch if they are bored
• like to see what they are learning
• benefit from illustrations and presentations that use color
• are attracted to written or spoken language rich in imagery
• prefer stimuli to be isolated from auditory and kinesthetic distraction
• find passive surroundings ideal

Kinesthetic Learners

• need to be active and take frequent breaks
• speak with their hands and with gestures
• remember what was done, but have difficulty recalling what was said or seen
• find reasons to tinker or move when bored
• rely on what they can directly experience or perform
• activities such as cooking, construction, engineering and art help them perceive and learn
• enjoy field trips and tasks that involve manipulating materials
• sit near the door or someplace else where they can easily get up and move around
• are uncomfortable in classrooms where they lack opportunities for hands-on experience
• communicate by touching and appreciate physically expressed encouragement, such as a pat on the back

You can find the three learning styles here [link]. I think that these aspects both describe me really well. I often find myself becoming bored and fidgeting, I get frustrated and decide to bake or play with something creative and get bored stiff when I cannot get hands-on on any kind of project. I feel like I've failed if I haven't got a physical element to one of my projects.

Also, I'm forever creating lists and I'm exceptionally tidy and cannot work when the place is a mess, I especially like "this" - the blog - for visually demonstrating my thoughts easily, and they're all linked in one place.

I think this has been productive.

Career Test

I took a free Career Test to see if the job I'm aiming for is suitable for me, and I'm aspiring to be an Art Director, which is in the list! Score! Although, mathematician.. I don't think so!

At least I'm on the right track with regards to my personality and stuffs. :)
Altruism, well.. I'm sure it's correct really, I mean, it is a tough world out there.

Career Inventory Test Results Extroversion |||||||||||||||||| 53% Emotional Stability |||||||||||||||||| 60% Orderliness ||||||||||||||||||||| 70% Altruism |||||||||||| 36% Inquisitiveness |||||||||||||||||| 56% You are a Planner, possible professions include - management consultant, economist, scientist, computer programmer, environmental planner, new business developer, curriculum designer, administrator, mathematician, psychologist, neurologist, biomedical researcher, strategic planner, civil engineer, intellectual properties attorney, designer, editor/art director, inventor, informational-graphics designer, financial planner, judge.

Take Free Career Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

Slamming my head against a brick wall.

Okay, so it's been a while since I last posted on here, but there have been many things going on.

First of all I am monitoring how much 'fat' one person creates within a week via cooking. The fat is being poured into a container and left for the duration. I will then photograph this and use it as research. Possibly extending the amount of time, and / or people involved.

Secondly, I have been intending to make a wax model of a shoe this week. There have been several problems here due to staffing, lack of knowledge on how to make the mould, expense issues etc. These have worn me down a little..

I had the idea of using a mannequin in my final piece for the project, recording it and modeling on it. Although, the cheapest mannequins I have seen are £90, ranging all the way up to £300. I'd much rather not spending that ridiculous amount of money on a mannequin so I've been trying to find alternative methods of achieving what I want.

1. Cast myself. This is apparently going to be costly, and if not more costly than the actual mannequin, not to mention dangerous, stressful and complicated.
2. Making the mannequin myself out of [insert various materials]. All the materials i have researched would be very expensive in the quantity i would need them
3. Taking influence from the Thai food artist and making the mannequin out of bread.. This would be very hit and miss, plus it would go stale and probably not react well to the heat of the substance going on the top of it.

AAAHHHH. To say the least.
I now have to come to terms with the fact that I probably wont be able to physically create / acquire a mannequin and search other ideas.

- I could create the shapes of people from plasticine / play dough. Manipulate them, take pictures and then try a form of animation. Possibly stop frame animation / inverse kinematics and animate in 3DS max.


- I could photograph 'normal' people and their bodies, compiling a book, with the ridiculous "ideal" body shape in the book. Acetate sheets so you could see through the pages, or a flip-style book with the ever changing bodies of today. 


- Rotoscope (? I don't know if this is the correct term) a person standing in a film, every few seconds gradually changing their body shape with sounds playing in the background. An animation of the outline of someone looking confident and slim, then sounds of eating and becoming bigger, sounds of being picked on and them shying away, getting even bigger, sounds of it being horrible for them, then them deciding to change, and becoming thinner, getting pregnant, growing old.. etc.

The animation for that I am intending is like the youtube video below, although with the person changing shape and size as years passed by.


These are just a few ideas swimming around at the moment, but I have a gigantic headache with all of the problems I'm currently facing. I didn't realize it would be so hard to source a mannequin for the project. Sigh.

I will try a few of these and write another blog with my findings.

Fat: Bio-Diesel

Human fat to be a new bio-diesel fuel? There are pages and pages of this all over the internet - I wonder if there are any books. Articles about human fat being sold on the black market for crazy amounts of money, though I suspect this is just chinese whispers of some sort!

The bio-diesel thing however, is true. There is a plastic surgeon who has tested a gallon of human fat against a gallon of diesel and it's as effective, although I think it's pretty illegal at the moment. This is the article. Chug chug!


Sinix, a Korean medical modelling company (makes models for training purposes for doctors and such), has manufactured a "Very soft Fat model with a realistic response to Human Fat". This can be seen below:

I'd like to know what this was made out of, so I could work something using "fat" without actually throwing up from the smell etc. Intrafit is another company who makes and sells the simulated models, and if you have a look at the website, you can see the different ways these have been created. Still, having searched the site there's no answer as to how they've done it.

Ooo. I'm blind, this is what it says they're made of:

"Made of pliable, long-lasting vinyl plastic and  have a profound memorable effect when handed to a client."

My ideas so far are:
- Silicone (the only non-household one)
- Wax
- Jelly
- Plastecine
- Clay

...And I'm working on the ideas still. Though there are a few 'Out-There' things floating around.


What I realllly want to know, is if there is anything I can do with fat?


Is it malleable in any way? Can it be heated.. moulded, liquidated.. Ermmm... And, i suppose, what happens to it as a result of those things? Questions....



I've just found this amazing company, called Dirty Ass Soaps they use vegan methods to create amazing soaps, I had to give them a second look before believing they were just soaps! They say:

"Our claim to fame is taking what would be a boring bar of soap and turning it into a frickin' masterpiece."

And I think I'd have to agree with them.. Now, thinking large-scale and relating it to my project, it could be another medium for experiment! Here are some examples:

1. From the Fight Club dvd cover!


2. Cupcake soap - It even smells like a real cupcake!! Wow..


3. Shot Glass soaps...
 

These designs have opened my mind up again, I could potentially make the 'fat' or even fashion piece out of many materials... Hmm..

Issue: Fast Food

I am very interested in the food industry and it's affect on the population as a whole. Fast food seems to have become a way of life and in some cases an addiction to the salt, grease and additives. Society is faced with fast food advertising everyday with 'sexy' ad campaigns by skinny women. The reality however is so much different. I'm interested in finding a way to exploit this issue and disgust people through imagery, a product, short film or another form of media.

This disgusting ad hosted by youtube was televised in NYC by the government in an attempt to shock, disgust and change peoples attitudes to fast food. It actually made me heave when I saw it; prepare yourself:


I like the way the facts have been simply presented to the audience, with the images of fat - which I'm sure nobody wants to see. On the same website (Link!) there are other similar ads with images of fat pouring out of a fizzy drink bottle, and a large version of Barbie:




Here is the article about Barbie, it explains that there is work trying to combat obesity, but todays youth has no interest and likes the taste of the fast food. I understand what they are saying by using Barbie - that this is the image kids aspire to, but would they aspire to her new, fat image? However, I don't think it's execution was right.

Everyone I know learnt this song (video below) at school or some form of club, this pop group aimed the song at primary school children, and at no more than 7 years old their brains are sponges soaking up information. Therefore, these children are being brainwashed. If there is to be any change in peoples attitudes it needs to happen at young ages, Jamie Oliver has taken a stand and campaigned to give children healthy foods, which can be found on his website.


The most disgusting 'fact' I found is that there is enough grease in 10 burgers to create a massive painting of the mona lisa, watch the video below to find out how:


I have found some good ways of packaging healthy food. They are packaged to look like something else, have a look:





These images were found on thedieline website, this 'series of food packaging [was] created from the observations on personal behaviors' of society. Daizi Zheng likes to challenge peoples preconceptions, and she has created this project based on stereotypes and others of a similar nature.
I found a brilliant video on cooking with unexpected ingredients using flash animation and skilled camerawork, I love the different medias available when exploring ideas and hope to generate weird ideas; hopefully not as strange as Thai art student Kittiwat Unarrom:




Thai art student: Body pieces. (Don't worry, it's made out of bread! Honest!)


If you're interested there is a 'making of' video here: Video
Or, an article about the artist here: Article

Initial and developing research

I have gathered a fair amount of research in terms of 'offbeat design' - design which isn't the considered the 'norm'. It's become apparent that this element is necessary for me to feel excited by the project. After all of the preliminary research, I have narrowed the areas of interest to Fast Food and Fashion (and all the things to do with those categories).

I like the work of Asile Paris and the way issues are highlighted through digital manipulation such as their work to do with Aids. Two pictures below show a terrible visual of how aids can affect you - through sex. Illustrating that you don't necessarily know who you are sleeping with. I like the shock factor these pictures have to them and would like to do a project in a similar way.



Here is an ad highlighting the poverty issue, taking something we use everyday and take for granted. Then playing with digital manipulation and scale to get the message across:





















Focusing more on the Fashion category, I decided to do some more research and found a wide variety of images, the first of which are from a website called Carousel, and the article I'm focusing on is called Blablabla... The article says:

 "In their BLABLABLA-collection the objects have been placed a little bit out of context, and in that way it becomes the perfect accessorise with a little bit of a social comment."

Here are some images I particularly like, please look at the Carousel link for the picture explanations:

1. There is an attachment to the belt (the gold plate) which says size zero - questioning how women perceive themselves and the pressure women are under to stay thin.


2. A business card holder to be used as a fashion accessory, for those who are workaholics and cannot put their mind at ease. Highlighting an issue that we are increasingly becoming work-obsessed.




3. And my personal favorite, the gold plate which reads 'max 20 kg'. This is an impossibly low weight for any woman, and this shows just how ridiculous women's obsession with weight is; even though we still obsess over it.



Having done this preliminary research on advertising and fashion, I will stick with the absurd and impossible issues surrounding it, hopefully finding a shocking / interesting way to highlight the issue in question.