Design Elements: Starbucks

For this assignment I looked specifically at Starbucks commercials and YouTube videos. I noticed that there is consistent branding throughout all of there advertisements in color scheme as well as similar background textures. The main video I'm going to focus on for it's use of motion graphics, however, is their 2010 advertisement about fair trade coffee.

The use of stick figure-like coffee cup images allows for a simple easy to view graphic that you follow throughout the video. These Starbucks cups are used to show relationships between topics as well as representing individuals and the numbers of people that this issue affects. There are lines in the beginning of the video linking two cups together with the text "have you heard?" meant to represent old fashioned tin cans and string used by children to play telephone. Lines are also present in the way the text is positioned. Stacking of the cups to not only represent individuals but also to serve as lines to lead your eye from one frame to the next help the viewer remain engaged and follow the relationship between issues. The selection of the upbeat, whistling music also serves to create a positive mood while addressing somewhat serious political issues. The background textures and images change during the video, but help to convey their message. For instance, when Starbucks talking about making choices and choosing to purchase fair trade coffee, the background looks almost like math symbols, which for me brought to mind weighing the pros and cons of a situation and calculating the right choice.

For a look at more Starbucks advertisement videos see links below.
Cafe Estima Blend
Are You In? 
Vote
Green Coffee Extract

Baking Beginners

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aspiringmike/2969277593/sizes/m/in/photostream/

One of my many interests and hobbies in life is baking. It is something that I have loved doing since before I can even remember. Spending time with my grandmother in the kitchen as a child making cakes, cookies, and various experimental creations (some of which turned out edible) are my fondest memories. Now while I in no way consider myself to be an expert in the realm of baking, I do enjoy it quite a bit and I believe it is a way for generations to bond through creating and, most importantly, enjoying these sweet treats.

One day I hoped to be as blessed with talent as my grandmother is in the kitchen; making all sorts of elaborate cookies and fruit pies from scratch. But, I have at least found a few ways to somewhat live up to her expectations, by cutting some corners and using store bought ingredients. I realize that not all of us are Top Chefs and some may view the kitchen as a foreign place, this is why I have decided to choose baking as my topic for the semester. As college students and young adults, learning how to not only cook but to bake is a useful skill that I think everyone should have. I plan on putting together simple, beginner level recipes that just about anyone can master, as well as some useful tips for new cooks in the kitchen. 

Copyright

I believe that current copyright laws protect media producers while also encouraging freedom of the press and other individuals to continue to create content for our consumption. We talked in class about how we are now becoming more of a content consuming society rather than one that creates such content. But to create content, we must first be inspired by what we see and experience. Therefore, in order to keep those lines of communication open and enable the exchange of new ideas and theories, we must carefully examine copyright and its protections and limitations.

For instance, making a book or thesis paper available to the masses online for no charge is a way to get the content into hands of others to promote discussion and further development of ideas. But nowhere in that instance is the content not subject to copyright law. My point being, that copyrights protect these creators, inventors, philosophers, etc. And without such protection and ability for these creators to protect their work as well as profit from it, it stops the cycle of production and inspiration.

Current copyright laws enable creators to profit from their original ideas and ensure that their work is protected. In my opinion, this very rarely limits other creators from producing original works themselves.  

Critical Thinking & New Technology

After reading the Critical Thinking & New Technology document, I believe that the Communications Department at Shepherd University is successfully trying to incorporate our every day usage of a variety of technologies into the classroom. From marketing and advertising to graphic design and video and radio production, Shepherd has always covered the basics, but now more than ever I think that teaching website building skills and how to blog and use other forms of social media like LinkedIn and Twitter to network is also a big part of our curriculum. Critical Thinking is also expected of all students, especially those of us who are communication majors. I have seen this through the assignment of projects, which incorporate the use of new technologies like sound editing and web design as well as blogging that all comm students are required to do in almost all classes throughout the department. Even the newly added class rooms and offices at our own university are yet another reminder that the world of communications is always advancing and quickly growing, resulting in constant and new advancements in the classroom to prepare us and keep up with this competitive job market. 

Cyberspace: A Culture

After reading "Why Cyberculture?" in A Media Studies Reader, I have come to understand how expansive not only the term cyberspace is, but also the ideas and theories behind it which make up the online community we are; a Cyberculture. We all play a role in what Cyberculture is today, whether its just casually surfing the web and using social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, or imputing data and creating websites, or downloading the apps on all of our smart devices. I agree with article on how many of us relate the term cyberspace to have a more nostalgic meaning, but it also leads me to wonder why that is? Cyberspace still essentially exists today, but perhaps we now think of it in a different way, relating that old term to the turning point in technology and online usage by more and more people. Today we all seem to be more technology-literate, having access to computers and software at a much younger age than generations before us. So perhaps it is now not such a far away, somewhat foreign concept to the majority of our population, because children today are living in a time where they were never without such technologies, where as people my grandparents age, for example, lived in a world before computers, cable, color television, even the space program! I believe in this particular case, that technology and our advancement into a Cyberculture is all in the eye of the beholder...or the mind of the reader.

http://www.unc.edu/~unclng/cyber/images/cyberspace_crop380w.jpg

Risks of Reporting

The CNN video “Latest Battlefield in Mexico’s Drug War: Social Media” is about drug cartels and individuals associated with drug trafficking that are allegedly murdering those who speak out against them through social media sites (in this specific case, public and supposedly anonymous blogs and websites). After watching this my first impression was that we as American citizens are lucky that we have laws such as the 1^st and 14^th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution that protect individuals who wish to speak their mind about any issue or voice their opinions. And even though murders and drug-related violence does happen in our country, it is not as prominent or as large of an issue as it is for those who live in countries like Mexico.

I believe that as communications majors and people writing blogs, we all have to be held accountable for what we say and post on the Internet, and also understand that anything on the web is public and available to everyone. However, our freedom of speech really only goes so far once we start making defamatory statements which may possibly be false, or lashing out against individuals or companies with actual malice. This particular video is obviously an extreme case in which someone or some group sought out revenge over something that was posted on the web. But when working in the communication field whether it be as a reporter, blogger, journalist or other media-related career, you need to be aware of the risk when writing about others especially in such a controversial context. 

"SCOTT TALKS"

After watching the Ted Talks video of Scott McCloud’s presentation about his theories on graphic novels and comics, I have a greater understanding and appreciation for the art form. It gave me a new way of looking at these novelists and creators of narrative, and showed me that it takes much more to be a great writer in today’s world than say twenty or even fifty years ago. With new technologies and web design development, writers of comics must adapt to these changes. As Internet users we now expect all information to be just a click of an app away, with all different types of publications now moving to online subscriptions and having apps to access their information while on the go. As a result, comics and graphic novels must also follow suit if they wish to still be as appealing to this new media-hungry audience.

A slide from Scott McCloud's lecture describing the four principals of comics and story telling.

McCloud explains how he and his colleagues must now use this online and digital forum to display their work. I thought one of the most interesting things that he mentions in his lecture, however, was that with comics and graphic novels you have to communicate and stimulate all five senses through only one; visual. But now that this digital revolution has come about, graphic novelists have a little more help. You see you can add motion and sounds to online-based comics and further entertain your audience by more effectively capturing their attention.

A slide from Scott McCloud's lecture depicting the usage of words, sounds, and pictures to enhance meaning.

I also really related to the fundamental theme or idea of enabling your readers to draw their own conclusions or fill in the gaps when moving from one panel to the next within a graphic novel. I never really thought about that concept and how when creating a comic, you’re really leaving quite a bit up to a reader’s interpretation of the action and series of events by how you set up a “scene” and what about of detail or information you provide your audience with. These are all things I tried to take into account when creating my own graphic novel.