Because You're Worth It?

You may be tired of my cosmetic and beauty approach to everything in this class, but you'll learn to love it ;)

My goal with this project was to highlight the beauty ads that we are bombarded with in our day and age.  Like most companies do, all of the major cosmetic retailers have taglines and slogans that they employ to help set their company apart from the competition.

Maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's Maybelline.

Never Dries - it Beautifies!

With the introduction of TV and radio ad spots, companies now have the chance to drill their slogans into our heads relentlessly.  These days when we walk past their products in stores, chances are we're going to be singing their jingle in our heads while simultaneously being annoyed that they were able to get their silly slogan engrained in our brains.  It's almost as if "everyone [is] psychologically attuned to memorization" in an aural sense (McLuhan 113).  Actually, I'm pretty sure that's exactly what's happening.  Although everyone has their preferred or most effective method of learning whether it's visually, orally, or tactile, oral methods of memorization are almost always effective.  There is something about the rhythm of sounds and words that our brains automatically tune into, so hearing a slogan over and over again is no doubt going to cause it to stick with us. Oh, and this is all in the hopes that you'll buy their products forever and ever and ever... because you're totally worth the advertising money they spent.  Right? Right.

My soundscape was focused on the repetitive nature of a few cosmetic company's slogans. I wanted to string together repeated slogans in a way that was harmonious to my ear, but somewhat disrupted by the odd placement of some of the repetitions so that the listener wouldn't necessarily be inclined to naturally internalize the slogan.  I hope you enjoy!

Overload | Escape from Hoarders

As part of my digital processes class, I was tasked with expanding my Flickr Overload photo set into a photo book.  I pieced my photos together in a style that tried to remain true to the Flickr set.   It's hard for me to say if the narrative had more of a say in the process of placing the photos, or if the consumerism had more of a voice.  Maybe they were both equally heard. Who knows…

I wanted the viewer to simultaneously experience my everyday routine that I go through when it comes to beauty and to also be gradually overwhelmed by all of the brand names and logos that I tried to portray through the photos.  The photos that are spread over two pages at the end are photos that I felt drawn to aesthetically.  After all, someone(s) did sit at a desk and design these products for us!

Some lovely design humor, poor guy/gal

As a result of this process, I realize I've seemingly become blind to my own consumerism that I'm totally giving in to.  But at the same time, it's my job as a makeup artist to be familiar with new products and current trends in the fashion/beauty industries.  How do I find a healthy balance between these two problems?  Is there a healthy balance? Is it worth looking into?  Should I start looking into contacting an space organization specialist?  So many questions, so little time.

You can view the photo book here on the Mixbook website or watch the cute little slideshow below.  (If you watch it below, you won't be able to get the full effect of the photo spreads.)  I wanted the theme of the book to remain relatively simple with the emphasis on being this sensation of being overwhelmed as a viewer.  I tried to listen to my intuition, as suggested by Sandy Dyas, to puzzle my narrative together with some semblance of a flow.  Hopefully my intuition was right.

I hope you enjoy :)

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Overload | A Makeup Artist's Antisocial Routine

For this project, we were challenged with capturing the notion of our environment and our own antisocial actions.  I set out on capturing an antisocial environment that I create daily, my very own morning routine.

During my morning routine, I am faced with countless products screaming for my attention.  Whether products new or old, the cry for attention is the same across the board.  The amount of products that I have for one person is pretty ridiculous, but one can't help buying shiny new things when the opportunity presents itself!  My Flickr set is focused on capturing the essence of a quote from "The Medium is the Massage,""When faced with a totally new situation, we tend always to attach ourselves to the objects, to the flavor of the most recent past" (p 73).

When planning which products to photograph, I found that I gravitated towards the ones that I choose almost everyday.  Although I probably have over a hundred products to choose from, I consistently use only around fifteen of them.  I realized that I am "liv[ing] imaginatively in Bonanza-land."  I hope to expand on this idea and photograph other people and the routines that they run through in the morning, with a focus on the brand name overload.

Why so much?!

Consumerism and our obsession with new products coming to the market almost daily are not only problems concerning our pocketbooks, but the waste that we are seemingly blind to.  Consistently using the same fifteen items means that the countless others I have are wasting away to no use at all.  How many other people are living like me?

Blind

Smoking Causes Film Ideas: An Experimental Film

When presented with the prompt for the experimental film project, I was initially worried because of my inexperience with this type of media.  Or any kind of media project for that matter.

"We thought it was one of those new fancy candle warmers! Oops!"

However, I was not ready to give up solely based on my inexperience with Final Cut Pro!  Armed with a Sony Nex-5 camera and our somewhat trusty friend Google, of course, Zain and I set out to explore the space created when smokers need their separation from the anxieties of the 21^st century life.  What is the 21^st century life like, you ask? Just watch and listen to this.  If you’re not convinced, it’s sung by a cute Australian guy, Sam Sparro.

Mr. Sam Sparro

The song shares some of the sentiments expressed in “The Medium is the Massage.”  Sparro sings about having “21,000 things [he] has to do today,” which I believe can be related to the constant buzzing of iPhones, Twitter, Facebook, etc., that many first world country citizens can relate to.  McLuhan suggests that we have been deceived by this constant technological buzz into believing that we’re somehow being soothed and satisfied by the connection between our thumbs and the Internet, when in reality, we’ve merely been conditioned to be anxious for the latest status update or CNN headline.  “Smoking Creates Film Ideas” examines the zone of silence and solitude that smokers enter when they flick the lighter, exhale, and allow their minds to wander without a screen in front of their face.  Even in sub-zero temperatures. 

We hope you enjoy our experimental short film. :)