Shantell Powell

Scratch Marks Photoshoot

Thu, 12 Apr 2018 19:50:56 GMT

The scratch mark photo shoot was one which incorporated both the model's skin and its relation to her metal-tipped flogger. The photo I chose for this composition was a simple one, showing the marks on her back. Lighting was afternoon sunlight, and I stood overhead, shooting directly down for this shot:

My first idea was to create a photo montage with the model's skin providing a backdrop (no pun intended) to her portrait.

I ultimately chose against this idea and decided to instead do a bodyscape. I rotated the image and cropped it, leaving the model's waist contrasted against the blanket she was lying on. Then, in order to make the photo match the rest of the editorial spread, I played with curves in Photoshop to shift and distort the colours. The texture of the blanket was too distracting, so I used a smudge tool to change its texture.

The end result is a graphic bodyscape/skyscape/landscape image.

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Fire Play Photo Shoot

Wed, 11 Apr 2018 23:54:33 GMT

I'm thinking of calling my collection "Graphic Content" on account of the colour treatments paired with the subject matter. I'm gradually learning my way around Photoshop and have been playing with curves and colour balance in order to distort my images and make them much more graphic and high-contrast.

Here's a detail shot I took during a fire play session. Lighting was a bit tricky. I had a blue LED overhead, and the light from the fire itself. I turned off my white LED rim lighting for this one. I had to take photos in bursts because of the nature of the shoot. Fire doesn't pose, and it doesn't want to stay in frame. In addition, the fire top's hands were moving quickly, and it was difficult to obtain a clear photo without a lot of blur.

Here's my original, unedited image.

I cropped the image in order to tighten up the composition. The position of the leg/flame and the arm create an intersection at the centre of the image, directing the eye to the action. The focal point is the tip of the fire wand, which, in turn, directs the eye toward the fire cup.

I used curves to create colour distortion and increase the contrast. The colour treatment and contrast makes it connect with the other photos in the series, even though the colour palette is different.

Here's what I came up with:

This is closer to what I want, but not quite there, so I repeated the process, tinkering a bit with hue balance.

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Piercing Photo Shoot

Sun, 08 Apr 2018 21:36:52 GMT

I set up a photoshoot with a play piercing top (Voralis) and bottom (Kai) in Toronto. The plan was to photograph a piercing session in which Voralis would be using shark hooks on Kai's back. The photos were taken in their dungeon, and for lighting, I had coloured LEDs and my portable LED light table. The background was a neutral grey wall. I ended up taking approximately 150 photos during the session.

The room is small, and the ceiling is low, so it was tricky to find good angles with uncluttered backgrounds, so I did the best that I could manage. It was difficult to be far enough back to get full scenes in frame, so for the most part, I did tight shots.

The first photo I chose to work with from the shoot is a portrait in which Kai has ribbons attached to the piercings. The ribbons are attached to a ceiling rig, applying tension to the skin. The light at this time was blue LED with rim lighting and backlighting on the wall done with the portable light table.

Here is the unedited shot:

The preview on my camera showed this in finer detail than it came out as on my computer. In this image, the backlit wall is blown out, and the details on the face are too dark. The architecture of the room is distracting, as well. I played around a bit with Photoshop to see what I could do to correct this. I cropped the image, then used the clone stamp tool to remove the distracting background lines as well as the piercer. Then I started playing with curves on Photoshop to adjust the colour balance and to play with distortion and graininess.

Here is what I came up with:

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Poetry Book Project: Typographical Systems

Fri, 06 Apr 2018 16:42:23 GMT

Axial Layouts
Exercise 1: Axial System: Examples.

Exercise 2: Radial Systems: Examples
Nikola Tesla typography poster: Radial posters

Dilatational Systems: Examples

History:

Apollinaire’s Calligrammes (1918): "A book of poetry by French writer Guillaume Apollinaire, noted for its use of “caligrams” in which typeface and arrangement of words on the page add to the meaning of the compositions. In this way, the collection can be seen as a contribution to the tradition of concrete or visual poetry. Considered as the forefather of Surrealism, Apollinaire described his work as follows:"

"The Calligrammes are an idealisation of free verse poetry and typographical precision in an era when typography is reaching a brilliant end to its career, at the dawn of the new means of reproduction that are the cinema and the phonograph. (Guillaume Apollinaire, in a letter to André Billy)"

The Modernist Era: Concrete poetry: "The term was coined in the 1950s. In 1956 an international exhibition of concrete poetry was shown in São Paulo, Brazil, by the group Noigandres (Augusto and Haroldo de Campos, Décio Pignatari and Ronaldo Azeredo) with the poets Ferreira Gullar and Wlademir Dias Pino. Two years later, a Brazilian concrete poetry manifesto was published."

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Dyslexia and Typefaces: Some Research Links

Tue, 03 Apr 2018 00:15:00 GMT

Sylexiad. A typeface for the adult dyslexic reader: "The investigation concerns a series of typeface legibility and readability studies which have resulted in the creation of a number of new typefaces including Sylexiad. Sylexiad is grounded and informed from a dyslexic viewpoint and is a typeface for the adult dyslexic reader."

Good fonts for dyslexia: "In this paper, we present the first experiment that uses eye-tracking to measure the effect of font type on reading speed. Using a within-subject design, 48 subjects with dyslexia read 12 texts with 12 different fonts. Sans serif, monospaced and roman font styles significantly improved the reading performance over serif, proportional and italic fonts. On the basis of our results, we present a set of more accessible fonts for people with dyslexia."

Special Font For Dyslexia?: "Reading errors like switching letters is a persistent characteristic of errors for
dyslectics (Braams, 2001). This type of error can be explained by the magnocellular theory
(Stein, 2001; Stein, Talcott, & Walsh, 2000). The font “Dyslexie” is developed to increase the
reading accuracy and readability of texts for dyslectics, so that the errors by switching letters
are reduced."

A short introduction to font characteristics: "Serifs make individual characters more distinct. In their sans serif variant many characters look remarkably, if not exactly, like mirror images of each other. During the reading process they are easily confused, especially by persons suffering from dyslexia. The advantage of serifed typefaces over their non serif counter parts, in this respect, is easily seen from the following example:
b d
p q
b d
p q"

Dyslexia, Reading and the Brain: A Sourcebook of Psychological and Biological Research: p. 3: "These were followed in 1900 by a report of “congenital word-blindness” in two boys aged 10 and 11 years (Hinshelwood, 1900) and a further report of four cases from the same family (Hinshelwood, 1907).

In his papers, Hinshelwood referred to previous work by Kussmaul (1877), who apparently coined the term “word-blindness” (wortblindheit) to describe the reading difficulties of previously literate brain-damaged patients. No less a person than the president of the Neurological Society, Sir W.H.(Henry) Broadbent, pointed out (Broadbent, 1896), however, that the condition of word-blindness was not first described by Kussmaul, as might have been inferred from Hinshelwood’s (1895) report. Broadbent (1872) himself had described patients who were unable to read following brain injury, albeit that they also showed some evidence of “verbal aphasia” (p. 150). On the other hand, Broadbent (1896) conceded that it might have been Kussmaul who first described difficulty with reading as “an isolated condition”—that is, as occurring in the context of intact speech (see also Dejerine, 1891, 1892). The word dyslexia was first used (see Hinshelwood, 1896) by a German ophthalmologist, R.Berlin, when referring to reading difficulties caused by cerebral disease or injury (Berlin, 1887).

Inspired by Hinshelwood’s (1895) report, a general practioner in Sussex, W.P.Morgan, wrote to The Lancet giving an account of the reading problems experienced by an apparently normal boy who had suffered no brain damage. Thus it is to Morgan (1896) that we owe the first description in the medical literature of what is now referred to as developmental dyslexia or specific reading disability. His account of what he called “congenital word-blindness” ran as follows:

Percy F.—a well-grown lad, aged 14—is the eldest son of intelligent parents... He has always been a bright and intelligent boy, quick at games, and in no way inferior to others of his age. His greatest difficulty has been—and is now—his inability to learn to read. This inability is so remarkable, and so pronounced, that I have no doubt it is due to some congenital defect...the greatest efforts have been made to teach him to read, but, in spite of this laborious and persistent training, he can only with difficulty spell out words of one syllable... The schoolmaster who has taught him for some years says that he would be the smartest lad in the school if the instruction were entirely oral... His father informs me that the greatest difficulty was found in teaching the boy his letters, and they thought he never would learn them. (Morgan, 1896, p. 1378)

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Fetish Lookbook Process

Mon, 02 Apr 2018 11:54:13 GMT

So far, I have done two photoshoots: one with rope, and one with a metal-tipped flogger. Although I intend to work primarily with less mainstream sorts of fetish, I included rope because I have access to a rope top and a rope bottom who are both willing to work with me for my project.

I planned my photography sessions for the afternoons, because the afternoon sun streams through my window, giving a lovely natural light at that time. I worked primarily with unaugmented natural light, but used reflectors to give some rim-lighting for several shots. In addition, I used an LED portable light table to give a wash in a few of the shots, but the cool white light did not match the quality of the golden sunlight, so I used it sparingly.

Here's the process I went through for one of the rope shots.

I covered the floor with a plush grey blanket and had my rope artist use a light red rope to bind the model's foot/leg. I directed the model to recline on the floor. I climbed a stepladder and shot directly down at the model while my assistant sprinkled polyester flower petals. I shot multiple images in this sequence, then chose the following photo to work with.

Next, I cropped the image and rotated it. I used a clone stamp tool in Photoshop to get rid of one petal which was causing a tangent with the bottom left border of my image.

I then used a colour filter to increase hue saturation.

I chose this image over the other flower petal ones because the petals in relation to the legs/feet create curved leading lines which guide the eye around the image.

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BDSM Fashion/Lifestyle Look Book Research

Sat, 24 Mar 2018 17:52:56 GMT

My next photography assignment is to create a fashion/lifestyle look book. I want to create a look book based upon the fetish community, focusing upon some of the kinks which do not get much representation in the public eye (eg. body piercing, fire cupping, suspension, shibari, pony play) while avoiding some of the more common ones (eg. spanking, blindfolds, light bondage).

The first thing I am doing is researching what goes into making a strong look book. For resources, I've found the following:

How to make a great fashion Lookbook: Touches on context, posing, photo format, image quality, lighting, and detailing.

I found a free template for an InDesign lookbook here: Free InDesign Lookbook Template. This gives me an idea to play around with.

I have also put out some feelers to locate people in the BDSM scene who are willing to model for me.

Some of the ideas I'm thinking about showing include:

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Reflective Photography: Experiments

Sun, 04 Mar 2018 22:17:08 GMT

I'd been hoping to experiment with light painting and reflective photography, but because I've been working so intensely on my studio project, I haven't had any time to make a proper blacked-out room at home. I've had no time to go to campus to use the studio there. So I decided to experiment with natural daylight and with the various lights I have at home.

My first experiment was prompted by our house renovations. Some cans of house paint have been sitting in the upstairs hallway for a while, and when I came upstairs the other day, I saw that the afternoon sun was showing off their reflective nature quite nicely. In addition, the cans were reflected off the hardwood floor.

I tried several shots of this before deciding to add some lamp light from the east to give a little more rim-lighting.

Here's the first shot:

If I'd gone with the can photos, I'd have chosen this one:

Later, while I was tidying up my room, I grabbed an empty chip bag to throw out. Then I thought I could get some interesting textures/effects by photographing the inside of it. I washed out the crumbs and made sure there were still plenty of water droplets for added texture. It took several shots before I could find a way to keep the camera's reflection out of the bag. Ultimately, I went for a shot which took advantage of reflected background. I wrapped myself in a bright orange towel and ended up with this:

I like this one because the chaos of the wrinkled chip bag resolves to a Fibonacci Spiral.

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The Wilhelm Scream: Research

Sun, 04 Mar 2018 21:45:34 GMT

I'm doing an infographic project for my visual design class, and I've decided to make an infographic based upon the Wilhelm Scream.

I've used several sources to compile my information:

Disney Wikia: Wilhelm Scream: lists Disney/Pixar films which use the scream. Gives a total of 23, not counting Star Wars films.
Reading The Scream in Berberian Sound Studio and the films of Peter Strickland by Matthew Melia. Notes there are six variants of the scream. "Among the dense layers of sound effects, music and dialogue of the films is a stock sound affect that has transcended its status as a relic of old Hollywood to become a fixture of contemporary cinema…the Wilhelm scream."
Mario, Sonic, the Eds, and Friends Ride: The Wilhelm Scream: Contains large list of films using the sound and describes the scenes it is used in.
Letterboxd: The Wilhelm Scream: large list of films using the sound. I primarily compiled my list from here.
Filmsound: The Wilhelm Scream: Describes scenes where the sound appears. Explains where the sound got its name (named for character who screams in 1953's "Charge at Feather River"), and who first named it (Ben Burtt).
Hollywood Lost and Found: The Wilhelm Scream. Lists movies and scenes, but stopped being updated in 2010.
The Wilhelm Scream: Discusses the history of the sound effect. Theorizes it is the voice of Sheb Wooley.
wilhelm.wav: Has a good copy of the sound and also has spectral analysis.

I also installed the Movie Filmstrip font from DaFont.com.

And, in order to create my own data set, I made a very short poll: The Wilhelm Scream Survey with the following question:

Do you notice the Wilhelm Scream in movies?
1. Yes.
2. No.
3. I don't know what that is.

After collecting my data from my various sources, I figured out some statistics and interesting points.

Next, I looked up different sorts of infographics. I went to a blog post called 8 Types of Infographics: Which Is Right For You?. It lists the following infographic types:

Visualized Article
Flowchart
The Timeline
Useful Bait
Versus Inforgraphic
Number Crunch
Photo Infographic
Data Vis

My information could be represented well through Visualized Article, The Timeline, Number Crunch, or Data Vis. I decided to go with Visualized Article as it allows for some writing, and some of the points I wish to share are not numeric.

I found a good article on creating visualized articles at The Do's And Don'ts Of Infographic Design.

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Rococo, Neoclassicism, and Romanticism in Graphic Design

Sun, 18 Feb 2018 23:13:11 GMT

In the 1700s, graphic design began to exhibit traits of Rococo, Neoclassicism, and Romanticism.

Rococo derives its name from “rocaille,” which is French for “rocky ground” (Rocaille, 2017). It is used to describe the motifs of rocks and broken shells incorporated into florid and intricate French design work (What are some characteristics of Rococo art?, 2018, para. 1). The ornamentation uses C- and S-curves pulled from medieval sources, classical European and Asian art, and naturalistic sources (Meggs & Purvis, 2016, p. 129). This ornate style is exemplified in the designs of Pierre Simon Fournier le Jeune.

Figure 1 is the title page for Ariette, mise en musique (1756). It was designed by Pierre Simon Fournier le Jeune and is an excellent example of rococo in print. It uses a dizzying and fussy array of geometric, floral, and curvilinear ornaments to frame the text (Meggs & Purvis, 2016, p. 130).

Figure 1. Title page from Pierre Simon Fournier le Jeune’s Ariette. From Meggs & Purvis (2016, p. 130).

While Rococo drew upon classical traditions, it did not draw upon them so heavily as did neoclassicism. Neoclassicism celebrated the clean-lined aesthetics of Roman and Greek antiquity. Illustrators in this tradition sought to “imitate nature in her most perfect form” (Meggs & Purvis, 2016, p. 141). Engravings demonstrated a sharp contrast of value, and engravers strove for a perfection of technique.

During the Napoleonic era, Pierre Didot created a book series called Éditions du Louvre. Figure 2 shows a double-page spread from Voltaire’s 1798 La Pucelle d’Orleans, one of the books in the series. The lavish margins and precise and mechanical typography of this spread exemplify the perfection sought after in neoclassicism (Meggs & Purvis, 2016, pp. 141, 143).

Figure 2. Double-page spread from Voltaire’s La Pucelle d’Orleans. From Meggs & Purvis (2016, p. 143).

Romanticism came about as a response to Neoclassicism. Although it did not remove all references to antiquity, it placed much more emphasis upon personal emotions and imagination than it did upon the natural world. Perfection of form, achieved through drafting tools, was eschewed for more organic shapes. Bright colours replaced the monochromatic pages of Neoclassical literature.

William Blake was a harbinger of the Romantic era. This visionary poet and artist published books of his poetry using relief etchings without using typography. He integrated his letterforms into his illustrations, and his pages were hand-coloured by himself and his wife.

Figure 3. Title page from William Blake’s The Book of Thel. From Meggs & Purvis (2016, p. 145).

Question:
Whereas neo-classicism obviously hearkened back to the ancient world, do you think William Blake, with his hand-lettering and hand-coloured covers, was hearkening back to medieval illuminated texts?

References

Meggs, P. & Purvis, A. (2016). History of Graphic Design (6th Edition). Hoboken, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Rocaille. (2017). In Reverso Dictionary. Retrieved February 18, 2018 from http://dictionary.reverso.net/french-english/rocaille

What Are Some Characteristics of Rococo Art? (2018). From Reference.com. Retrieved February 18, 2018 from https://www.reference.com/art-literature/characteristics-rococo-art-69eab49bb47f192#

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Stop Motion Animation: Baba Yaga's Hut idea

Wed, 14 Feb 2018 13:54:20 GMT

Possible sound ideas.

Here is footage of a one-legged chicken in motion.

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Reflective Photography

Mon, 12 Feb 2018 18:30:04 GMT

My next photography assignment is to do reflective photography. I found what looks like a good tutorial at Photographing Highly-Reflective Products: How to Control Reflections.

Here's a visual excerpt:

I also found a tutorial on how to use light painting with reflective surfaces, so this appeals to me. How To Take Psychedelic Photos of CDs

Here's one of the CDs photographed using light painting.

Here are some other examples of reflective photography that I found interesting.

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ShanMonster Logo Development: The Octomountain

Sun, 11 Feb 2018 17:42:21 GMT

One of the initial designs I worked on for my logo was the octopus mountain monogram idea. I went through a lot of experimentation with this idea, and also learned more about how to use Adobe Illustrator while I was at it.

Although I ultimately did not choose this idea, the process was educational.

I played around with rough design.

And then I experimented with colour:

When I took it into Illustrator, my first attempts were awful.

But it did get better. For the curved part, instead of just using the shapes or pen tools, I used typography. I grabbed a letter S, turned it into a shape, and modified it.

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ShanMonster Logo Development

Sun, 11 Feb 2018 17:19:28 GMT

Creating my thumbnails forced me to think further about my logo ideas. I went from full-on monograms to much more abstract designs. My idea changed from octopus to mountains to monograms to variations on the Egyptian fly. I ultimately went with the fly design for a few reasons:

1. It was something I could more easily recreate with my nascent Adobe Illustrator skills.
2. It's loosely based upon a design I created for a tattoo I got.
3. It abstractly incorporates the monogram for SM.
4. It is based off the concept of the Egyptian fly, whose symbolism is meaningful to me.

When I studied jewellery design and jewellery history, I learned about the symbolism of the Egyptian fly.

The fly amulet was a military honour bestowed upon those who persevered in the face of adversity. Think about a fly. They never give up. They will keep buzzing around your face no matter how much you bat at them. They are a potent symbol of tenacity, and this is a symbol I found inspiring.

I am not Egyptian, so I chose a species of fly indigenous to where I live: the common greenbottle fly. This species of fly may be found all over the world.

The original concept sketch for my tattoo looks like this:

The tattoo artist (Cam at Berlin Tattoos) simplified the design to this:

I played around with the design some more with the thought of turning it into a logo. The swoop of the wings create an abstract M. Viewed from the side, they also produce an abstract S. And the mouth parts of the fly are a much more direct M.

Here's my initial thumbnail sketch:

I took it into Adobe Illustrator and worked with shapes, type, and the pen tool. The colours became even more simplified: Chartreuse, mid-toned green, and black. Chartreuse, black, and green are the distinguishing colours of the common greenbottle fly, depending on light refraction. I chose a transparent background so that it could be used digitally on a variety of backgrounds.

I ended up with this:

Then, to see what it looked like in a physical application, I used Photoshop to place it upon an article of clothing.

I also rendered the design using traditional media: black and grey ink on paper.

When my software skills are stronger, I'd like to revisit this and improve upon it.

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Stop Motion Animation: Different Visual Effects

Fri, 09 Feb 2018 18:42:28 GMT

Light Painting:

Here's a demonstration of how he made the light-painted skeletons.

This light-painted stop motion animation has less focus on the light and more upon what it illuminates.

Ctenophora (Stop Motion Light Painting) from Alex McLaren on Vimeo.

I also love the work being done by Amanda Palmer (and Edward KaSpel).

And I can't talk about stop motion animation without referencing Ray Harryhausen, of course!

And here's a first-person view of diving, which might translate well into stop motion animation.

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Stop Motion Animation: Ookpik Inspiration

Fri, 09 Feb 2018 16:01:58 GMT

I'm looking into representations of owls in stop motion animation and have discovered ookpik stop motion animation movies at Sealskin Stop Motion: Co Hoedeman’s Inuit Legends.

In addition, I found a strange blurb about how the ookpik almost became the national symbol of Canada, rather than the beaver. Ookpik, Little Ookpik but no Song....

I'd like to try making my own impressions of a snowy owl. Here is what one sounds like:

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Stop Motion Animation

Wed, 07 Feb 2018 17:00:50 GMT

My next major project has been announced, and I already have ideas on what I want to do.

I was inspired a couple of weeks ago by this video of a snowy owl chilling out on a frozen lake:

I want to do something based upon this idea. I'm tentatively calling it "Ookpik," and would like to have throat singing as background sound, mixed in with the sounds of wind and water. I'd like to incorporate elements of old-timey puppet show/operetta effects. Something along this line:

But instead of water, I'm thinking of doing water-colour painted blocks of ice, which will be moved up and down.

I'm looking into whether there are owl songs in tradition Inuit throat singing.

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Bat Stamps, Part Deux

Wed, 07 Feb 2018 16:16:58 GMT

Originally, I'd planned on drawing all of my bats in flight, but after studying each of the species, I decided that focusing upon their faces would be the best idea. The species are most readily distinguished from one another by looking at their faces. From a distance, they look more similar. Also, when I showed my thumbnails to other people in person, the portraits elicited more powerful reaction. People are cuted-out by the faces.

Since part of the reason I chose bats is because they're in trouble because of disease and habitat loss, it makes sense that I should endeavour to make them more appealing to the masses. And so I intend on emphasizing their cute side. People are more likely to want to save things they find cute than things which look gross, no matter how important those gross-looking creatures may be.

So, less this:

And more this:

Here are my thumbnail sketches:

From this, I created six linear sketches.

Silver-Haired Bat

Big Brown Bat

Long-Eared Myotis

Little Brown Bat

Red Bat

Hoary Bat

Although I'd love to do scientific illustrations for each of these bats, I do not have the time, so instead I plan on doing soft pastel drawings. I want to do the drawings on black paper to make the colours pop, and also to demonstrate the nocturnal nature of the animals.

Here is a colour test of soft pastels on black paper in some of the colours I'll be using.

As for the hand-lettering, I plan on using pencil crayon, since pastels are too smudgy.

The stamp booklet will be simple. The background design will be minimal, so as not to detract from the bats. I'm thinking of maybe having a moonlit backdrop.

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Product Photography

Mon, 05 Feb 2018 18:37:05 GMT

My next unit in photography class is based upon product photography, so I went searching for tutorials and some images I find interesting.

Several useful-looking tutorials are available at Sale as Seen: 44 Tutorials on How to Shoot Perfect Product Photos for Your Online Shop, so I'll be checking these out in greater depth.

When I was a student at the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design some fifteen years ago, I did a brief unit on photographing jewellery, but I don't remember a whole lot about it other than it was ridiculously difficult to photograph highly-polished silver. I used some sort of little light cube. And before that, I'd been hired by a jewellery shop to inventory all their merchandise for an online store. There was a light box there, but ironically enough, the highest-quality photos came from me scanning the jewellery with a Kleenex background.

Another idea is to go with light painting, a technique I adore. A tutorial for light-painted product photography is available at Using Light Painting (Lighting Brush) Technique in Product Photography.

This product photo was done with light painting.

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World-Changing Effects, Both Illuminating and Dire

Sun, 04 Feb 2018 21:12:00 GMT

The advent of the typographic book had enormous repercussions upon the world. It did not take long for the effects to radiate outward from Gutenberg’s presses in Germany. With books dropping significantly in price and increasing drastically in number, illiteracy began to decline. With that decline came a unification and stabilization of languages: a kind of reverse Tower of Babel effect. When people of a nation were suddenly able to communicate with one another through print, it contributed to nationalism and “the development of the modern nation-state” (Meggs & Purvis, 2016, p. 85).

The most popular book of the time was the Bible, the first book committed to Gutenberg’s presses. Edition after edition was printed, putting the Bible in the hand of the common folk. This resulted in people coming up with their own interpretations of the Bible, something which shattered Christianity into hundreds of sects (Meggs & Purvis, 2016, p. 87). Unfortunately, it also acted like gasoline thrown onto the fires of the Spanish Inquisition, which was sworn to fight heretical viewpoints. It was a time of intense religious xenophobia (New World Encyclopedia, 2014, para. 3).

The second-most popular book of the time was a book called the Malleus Maleficarum or Der Hexenhammer in German (“Hammer of Witches”), written by Dominican Inquisitors Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger. It is unfortunate timing that this book was written so closely after the invention of the printing press. It became a bestseller. With its wide release, the hate-filled misogynistic views of the two Inquisitors spread rapidly across Europe. It became the main handbook for witch hunters between the years of 1486-1600 (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2010, para. 3), resulting in uncountable torturings and excruciating deaths. The influence of the book even made it to the United States years later, informing the views of the Puritans in Salem, Massachusetts, resulting in even more violent deaths.

Figure 1. Frontispiece from 1519 edition of Malleus Maleficarum. From LiveAuctioneers (2018).

References

Encyclopedia Britannica. (2010). Malleus Maleficarum. Retrieved February 4, 2018, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Malleus-maleficarum

N/A (2018). 222: A malleus maleficarum maleficas et earum heresim u. LiveAuctioneers. Retrieved February 4, 2018 from https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/1299361_222-a-malleus-maleficarum-maleficas-et-earum-heresim-u

Meggs, P. & Purvis, A. (2016). History of Graphic Design (6th Edition). Hoboken, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

New World Encyclopedia (2014). Malleus Maleficarum. Retrieved February 4, 2018, from http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Malleus_Maleficarum

Question

Gutenberg printed from Mainz, and Nuremberg became a major printing centre. Both of these regions were also hot spots for the witch craze during this same period. Do you think this is coincidental? If not, how did one affect the other?

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History of Leading Tickles

Sat, 03 Feb 2018 19:49:31 GMT

There is little history to be found online of Leading Tickles, but that does not mean it does not exist. One needs but look at the history of the region to discover some of what happened there. Leading Tickles is nestled in Notre Dame Bay, which was once one of the main areas inhabited by the Beothuk. It seems possible that the Beothuk were the first indigenous North Americans to be encountered by Europeans, well before Christopher Columbus made his murdering way west. When the Vikings sailed west, they encountered folks they called Skraelings. Although it is possible these people may have been Innu or Mi’kmaq, the major Viking settlement, L'Anse Aux Meadows, is in Beothuk territory (Beothuk Language (Beothuck, Skraeling, Red Indian)).

Later on, when other Europeans encountered the migratory Beothuk, they referred to them as “red Indians” because the Beothuk wore furs, hairy side in, with red ochre adorning the outward side (Sketches of Savage Life. No. II.
Shaa-naan-dithit, or the Last of the Boëothics). They were also said to have worn red ochre or iron-rich soil mixed with fat ( Personal Appearance and Items of Clothing ) on their own skin for springtime celebrations (Beothuk). This may also have been used to repel mosquitos (or “nippers,” as they’re referred to in Newfinese).

This is the 1819 portrait of a Beothuk woman named Demasduit.

Newfoundland was considered a British colony until 1949, and colonial sentiment was still found there when I visited and lived there in the 1970s to early 1980s. I recall seeing homes proudly flying the Union Jack. Indeed, the flag of Newfoundland intentionally incorporates elements of the Union Jack. Compare and contrast the Newfie flag with the British one to see for yourself.

Leading Tickles is situated along “Iceberg Alley” and is known for its magnificent views of icebergs in the springtime. It also boasts a lovely walking trail at Ocean View Park.

From my research, I gleaned elements to be represented in the flag to be:

Beothuk history
British colonialism
Springtime
Icebergs
Hiking

The colours for the flag I designed incorporate each of these elements. The red, white, and blue are the same basic colours used in the Union Jack, showing the colonial history, however, the strong horizontal line of red demarcates the break with Great Britain. It also memorializes the Beothuk, for whom the colour red was so important. The iceberg motif is edged in red, symbolizing the Oceanside Trail, and also the ancestral migratory routes of the Beothuk. The blue also has the obvious connotation of sky and sea, and the white the colour of ice.

The iceberg motif is situated on the leftmost side of the flag. This is so the elements are still visible, even if the flag is hanging down on a windless day.

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Leading Tickles Flags in Application

Fri, 02 Feb 2018 20:19:32 GMT

After playing around with Photoshop a bunch (I'm still very much a novice), I came up with the following applications:

Figure 1. Flag on a dory. Adapted from chipps95 (January 2015, para. 1).

chipps95 (2015, January 28). Most beautiful spot in the world [Online forum comment]. Retrieved February 2, 2018 from https://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowUserReviews-g4706286-d4706288-r251471772-Ocean_View_Park-Leading_Tickles_Newfoundland_Newfoundland_and_Labrador.html#UR251471772
Figure 2. Flag on a trucker hat. Adapted from EnvyMyTee (2018).

EnvyMyTee (2018). Retrieved February 2, 2018 from http://www.envymytee.com/product/custom-trucker-hats/
Figure 3. Flag on a t-shirt. Adapted from Relaxed V-Neck Tee for Women (2018).

Old Navy (2018). Relaxed V-Neck Tee for Women. Retrieved February 2, 2018 from http://oldnavy.gapcanada.ca/browse/product.do?pid=810130243&CAWELAID=120299910000044817&cvosrc=cse.google.PLA_Nonbrand&cvo_campaign=772821547&cvo_adgroup=40154407865&cvo_crid=185042107913&Matchtype=&tid=ocpl000004&kwid=1&ap=7&gclid=CjwKCAiAtdDTBRArEiwAPT4y-5f2uSaIY8iaRGN0mV53-46vNYQuECUnIJDq2b_GcnS6pTARSrTEkBoCqA4QAvD_BwE&redirect=true
Figure 4. Flag in the harbour. Adapted from Elliott, R. (2017, June 13).

Elliott, Rosalinde (2017, June 13). Retrieved February 2, 2018 from https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10154602715137411&set=p.10154602715137411&type=1&opaqueCursor=AbqyRPabdsLH2tpP4uRltqujex1URnWfEaW5HIh_u0pG_pEGo-pNdLV0GUApbrH387M4qsLPgI4BjeaP6rZxO-XqpxhEQiiOiNEIWnhNwh-4iNQRHTe3XVRndHQQw5DEpnLY9It7fS7Yhzxj_PMi-Wnp67z0EQiNAt_ADwm7PWliBslRfkOOd3qs6Ze4V3tyNkr-5_OuVcb2DmTp64ZOEeyUokDL8CqF9BcrlfnT_JqB9UGKl06HlHI-xhuc8-YXtbb0TFgolOIKHKk0pk6EkYVhcEAArpfGyvxuIstYCbr406_b3jnnEogfDV5syc6YAcsBgW9OqwIUCysXmEFhLDcUvz1lY14dqlkQDWiliu3ZrP_1QQsPwyLN-IcU3So6q3pG0ogLlEK89P_ig05WVE2pOngePyYBbpwMhFaArug4kUts8g90alGNJTFxtJb0U_rQQRAcZRzJDUVgOoYHSsWM&theater
Figure 5. Adapted from White Flag Peace (2018).

N/A (2018). White Flag Peace. Retrieved on February 2, 2018 from http://pixshark.com/white-flag-peace.htm

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Vexillology: Leading Tickles

Tue, 30 Jan 2018 21:22:40 GMT

After a whack of work, including slowly figuring my way through Adobe Illustrator, I have my final flag design for the municipality of Leading Tickles.

Now to figure out Photoshop so I can put it in contextual photos.

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Na na na na na na na na BAT STAMP

Sun, 28 Jan 2018 21:29:17 GMT

I'm thinking of designing a set of postage stamps based on bats of Canada.

Here's information about stamp design for Canada Post.

More information here about what goes on a Canadian stamp:
https://www.canadapost.ca/web/en/kb/details.page?article=what_are_permanent_s&cattype=kb&cat=sending&subcat=generalinformationps

Batwatch.ca tracks bats in Canada with the help of citizens.

There are 18 known species of bat in Canada. I don't have time to do a series of 18, so I'll have to narrow it down. I'll include the most common species.

The most common species of bat is the little brown bat. It's in every province and territory except for Nunavut. There are no known bat species in Nunavut.
The second most common species is the northern long-eared myotis, which lives in every province/territory except for PEI and Nunavut.
The big brown bat is one of the largest bat species in Canada. They may be found in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick.
The silver-haired bat has silver-tipped fur and is endemic to British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and the Northwest Territories.
The red bat is colourful. The male is red-orange, and the female yellow-maroon. They live in Northwest Territories, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.
The hoary bat is the largest of the bats in Canada. They live in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Northwest Territories.

Here are my thumbnail sketches of these six species.

The Secret Lives of Bats: The adventures of the real batman has nice portraits.

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The Forty-two-line Bible and the influence of illuminated manuscripts

Sun, 28 Jan 2018 16:28:43 GMT

Johann Gutenberg’s Forty-two-line Bible, also known as the Gutenberg Bible or the Mazarin Bible (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2016, para. 1), is the first typographic book. A large book (30 x 40.5 cm pages), it is laid out in two columns of justified type with a 2.9 cm margin dividing them. The first nine pages of the book contain forty lines per column, and the tenth contains forty-one. The remainder of the 1,282-page volume is set with forty-two lines per column, hence the name of the book. With an average of 33 characters per line, “each page had over 2,500 characters set from a fond of 290 different characters” (Meggs & Purvis, 2016, p. 80).

Because so many different characters were used, with a variety of ligatures, the book achieved the same sort of variety and richness seen in the illuminated manuscripts which inspired it. Indeed, illuminated text and illustrations remained part of the book in spite of the use of moveable type. Blank spaces were left in order for decorative capital letters to be hand-drawn by scribes. Originally, Johannes Gutenberg wished to print the book in two colours, but this proved too difficult at the time. Instead, illuminators added illustrations and red text, initials, and headers (Meggs & Purvis, 2016, p. 80).

References

Encyclopedia Britannica. (2016). Gutenberg Bible. Retrieved January 28, 2018, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gutenberg-Bible

Meggs, P. & Purvis, A. (2016). History of Graphic Design (6th Edition). Hoboken, USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Question

I’ve long been intrigued by marginalia (images, notes, and doodlings in the margins), and marginalia was used in both illuminated manuscripts and the Gutenberg Bible. Some examples may be found for illuminated manuscripts here (https://io9.gizmodo.com/5896008/medieval-monks-complained-about-their-jobs-in-the-margins-of-ancient-manuscripts ) and for the Forty-two-line Bible here (http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/permanent/gutenbergbible/ransomcenter/). Why do you suppose marginalia is not discussed in the Meggs & Purvis text when it was a ubiquitous form of textual/graphic communication in books of the time?

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