Declan Ward's Blog

  I loved Anne’s evolution from the gallery to the street and how she highlighted that it was a special transition for her as she begun to think of her new audience and the diversity of it. I think it’s also very suiting of her personality and design points as she mentioned the importance of positivity, representation and joy. I think design that implements those themes is the most important to be showcased on our streets and for the public, because it can have such a strong impact upon the viewer. And it might make an impact upon an audience member who never would’ve though about attending a gallery or art museum in the first place. Anne’s shift actually prompted a connection with me to a recent movie I watched with my girlfriend called “The Menu”. Without giving away any spoilers, the movie was about a world-class chef, someone who had surpassed all of his peers to be considered the greatest of all time. The chef was so good that an investor gave him a private island restaurant t...

  First Impressions: Julia Campbell Right way color stands out to me in Julia Campbells images and website. They are softly, friendly, vibrant and so much more. It really makes her work jump out at you and she does a wonderful job utilizing multiple colors without making the composition feel like a cluttered-epileptic mess. Her stationary posters felt very fluid, and almost as they were in motion with the waviness of "Pride" and the woman casting shadows as she walked, so it was wonderful to see that they are in fact animated on her website. I think that her use of color could be a personal expression of her personality or mannerisms.  Shanell Martin I love the welcome page for Shanell Martin's portfolio. I like how it's blown up to fit the entire screen and so there is nothing else your eyes want to focus on but the image of her and it's contrasting background. I think it provides for a very centered interaction/introduction to the artist. I think her use of the ...

  Antionette Carroll’s presentation Equitable Design is successful for a couple of different reasons. For one she was able to recognize a problem within the field of design, and the content that it produces. The discipline itself is disproportionately skewed demographically, and as a result the outcome of design is often centered around one community while disregarding others. After identifying an overarching problem, she began her work alongside various teams and professionals within the discipline to further identify exact issues and systems that needed redesigning. This concept of “redesign” arose when she determined that: “All systems in our life produce what they are designed to produce”, which means that the problems she identified were actually by design. As a result she determined that if oppression, inequalities, and inequities are designed, they can also be redesigned. Her actual experience and dedication to the work surrounding the issue created further development and i...

 After reading "Some Rules and Hints  for Students and Teachers or Anyone Else", by John Cage it is easy to see how the list of suggestions is targeted at scholars and educators. It is essentially a cheat sheet at how to get the most out of one's college experience. The rules follow a general theme of throwing oneself into the process and bringing the best out of fellow peers and instructors. It argues for pursuit over production, and stresses that there is no fail or success only make, and that the people who consistently follow that law will be the ones who actually achieve success.  An interesting aspect regarding the text is that although it is credited to John Cage, it was actually written by a talented woman who was an educator, silkscreen artist, and nun named Corita Kent. It is said that John Cage had the list composed by Kent, which he later distributed and popularized.  Both were very talented artists, but I found Kent's work more interesting for it's us...