Wednesday, February 29, 2012

#3 Hieroglyphics and the Egyptians| 3,000 BC

In the sixth century BC, what three civilizations invaded Egypt? Persians, Romans, and Greeks.


Post an example of the inside wall(s) of an Ancient Egyptian temple. (ABOVE)


What was discovered on the inside of the temples? Carved and painted images on every wall and surface.

Scholars believe that Ancient Egyptians were inspired and influenced by which written language? Combination of logographic and alphabetic elements.

What is the difference between logographic and alphabetic elements? One represents objects or ideas.

The term Hieroglyphic derived from what two Greek words? Hiero= sacred and glyphics= engraving/ writing

What is a scribe? A person that reads and writes.

Who else was trained to read and write? Why? Military leaders so they could communicate better while in battle.


Post an example of hieroglyphics on papyrus.(ABOVE)


What is papyrus and how was it made? Substrate made from reeds native to Egypt. They wet the reeds placed cross over each other and flattened them so they can dry then rubbed with a stone until it becomes smooth.

What is a substrate?

What were the Books of the Dead? Writing a set of scrolls for Pharaohs and other important Egyptians.

How did Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics become a forgotten language? Roman emperor closed down Christian temples.


Post an example of the Rosetta Stone.(ABOVE)


What is the Rosetta Stone? Where was it discovered? It was discovered in 1799 and in Egypt.

What three languages are included on the stone? Egyptian hieroglyphics, demotic, and Greek.

Why couldn't the text on the Stone be deciphered? A chunk of the stone was missing.

Who finally deciphered the text? What was his breakthrough? Jean Francois Champollion and when he was able to match up the missing pieces of the stone.


Why does the interpretation of the Rosetta Stone have such significance? Because we know a great language that was brought by the Egyptians.

Monday, February 27, 2012

#2 Cuneiform and the Sumerians| 3,000 BC

The Sumerians were one of the earliest types of this kind of civilization? What does that mean? They created part of southern Iraq.

Why is the region of Sumer considered the Cradle of Civilization? So many bodies of water in the area.

What could the Sumerians practice year round because of the regions climate? Getting food to stay in the region.


Post an example of early Cuneiform (Sumerian pictograph). (ABOVE)


Why was Cuneiform created? So they could keep up with the business transactions.


What medium was used to "write" Cuneiform? Explain the process of preparing and writing on this surface? First they chose to write on clay tablets, then wet the clay and form it into flat surfaces, used wedge shaped sticks to make imprints onto the clay, put them out on the sun so they could dry.


What did Cuneiform begin as a series of? A series of pictographs.


Post an example of evolved Cuneiform (wedge-shaped).(ABOVE)


After it evolved over time, what shape did the characters of Cuneiform evolve into? Into a wedged shaped language.


Post an example of Akkadian Cuneiform.(ABOVE)


After the Akkadians conquered, what happened to the Sumerian culture and written language? It caused a target for many invading civilizations.

What is a pictograph? A pictorial representation of an object.

Why did the creation of Cuneiform allow the Sumerians to become a sophisticated culture? They made a new language.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Assignment 14- Inspiration Research

I like how they put the ribbon of colors through the words London and 2012.

I like the way they made the girl's bathing suite bright so your eyes went directly there they made the back round black which makes the body look 3D.

 I really love how they put this ad together because the waves going up make a picture of a parrot and Fifa World Cup in white so the audience knows what exactly they are talking about.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

visual organization

not directing the audience through a design is misdirecting them


eye movement-left- right then up and down


controlling eye movement        
eye tends to gravitate towards areas of complexity first. in pictures of people, the


light will attract especially when its something dark


lines will guide eye movement


optical center- spot where human eye goes to on image. tends to be mathematical (or exact).
pulls your eyes away from a compelling element


Z Pattern- our visual pattern make s a sweep of the page in the shape of a z. leads the human eye through the image to import info or elements. Ex: Cigarettes


Fonts- no more than two fonts throughout composition. should complement together when used, avoid caps, choose right font, don't overuse complicated fonts (use as headline), www.typography.com/email/2010-03/index.htm


visual hierarchy- focal point on the message sent to the audience


ask yoursef: 
what do i want my viewer to view first second third and fourth and last?


must come together


grid- way of organizing on a page such as columns, rows, margins, or guide lines


modernism was when we started seeing simplified designs, breaking info into chunks and creating relationships between text and image (50's)


distinct set of aligned based relationship that act as guides for elements across a format


different structure also means different grid


helps the message go through

Monday, February 13, 2012

#1 Cave Paintings | 35,000 years ago

What are cave paintings? Beautiful, detailed and colorful representations found on the inside of cave walls and cielings.

Name several common themes found in cave paintings? Large animals such as Bisons, Horses, and Deer.

How were these paintings created (tools, pigments)? Mixing water, plant juice, animal blood, soil, charcoal, and a form of iron oxide.

What is the most famous cave painting site? When was it discovered and by whom?
Post an example of cave painting(s) from this cave. Most famous site was in Lascaux, France. Discovered in 1940 by 4 teenage boys.

Why did this cave have to be closed? What was done to satisfy public curiosity? It was being damaged by the carbon dioxide by the tourists.
Post an example of cave painting(s) from Altamira cave. (ABOVE)


In Altamira cave, why do most of the paintings have a red hue? It is caused by the red clay in the soil.

Who discovered this site? How old are the paintings confirmed to be? It was discovered bt Marceline Sanz De Sautuola and his daughter Maria. The paintings are to be 19,000 years ago.

What is the oldest known cave painting site? When was it discovered and by whom?
Post an example of cave painting(s) from this cave. The oldest is known as Chauvet Point Arc. It was discovered by three speleogists in 1994. (On the left)

What was different about the painting techniques at this site? The walls were scraped clear of debris and a 3D effect was created.

What is "speleology"? It is the scientific study of caves.

What three reasons do archeologists and historians believe prehistoric man created cave paintings? To tell a story that already happened, to teach techniques for hunting. and created for religious reason that if an image of something that will come true.