Final Blog Entry- How visuals affect my life.

Monday April 25, 2011
This is a video I found in the past week Guy wows crowd! It really helped lightened the mood for finals week.
Monday May 2, 2011
Visual literacy can include many different things. To some people visual literacy is something that they can connect in their mind for something else for example:

1. Adding Additional Rooms
If you’re looking to add an extra bedroom or two to accommodate your growing kin (or some imposing houseguests), you might want to look to this subtle home expansion as an example. Without knocking out a single wall, this crafty architect has expanded their homestead and proved that seven mobile homes are truly better than one.
you can find more of these examples at redneck home remodels. Other things that visual literacy can help myself is the color red when I am looking at my online banking account. Other visuals that I can think of is one that was recent on Facebook.  You do not need to read the posts people are putting on Facebook if you look at this picture this picture is showing the fact that yesterday the USA shot and killed Osama bin Laden the person who gave us the unfortunate opportunity to have this picture you do not need to know where this picture came from it is an iconic picture of September 11, 2001! 
   There are other visuals that affect our day to day lives. Visuals at a store include price signs, advertisements of upcoming products or holidays, and where departments are located in the store. 
In a project I recently did in another class forced us to visually think of what things on the box were to represent. For example the bottle caps were to indicate buttons:.

Throughout this course my idea of visuals have increased. One thing that comes to mind is that artwork in the classroom does not just show artwork but it can show the student's progress. 

April 3- April 9

Monday March 21, 2011
Chimamanda Adichie: The danger of a single story | Video on TED.com

   This was a very good Ted Talk to watch. Which is why I have posted a link above. I think that being a white female and being American I do not view the books I read as the way Chimamanda does. Even though she talks about enjoying the books that she read, I can really see her point of wanting to have books that have girls or women like her in them.
   The other topic she touched on was preceptions. I really liked the examples that she gave. The first one was about how she grew up. She lived in a middle class family and had hired help in the house. But when she came to the U.S.A. she was viewed as the way Africans are portrayed in the U.S. A paper that she wrote for a class was critized because the professor did not think that it represented her life, even though she had an upbringing similar to many people who live in America. Another example she gave was also from college. When she first met her roommate, her roommate wanted to listen to the music Chimamanda listens to in Africa. It was to the surprise of her roommate that Chimamanda listened to the same music she did.
   As I said before, I think that this TedTalk was a great one to watch. It showed how people's perceptions can be shaped based on books or other forms of receiving information.

Monday April 4, 2011
I wanted to share an activity we did for our team presentation. (with two members). These billboards were made at values.com

billboard

Friday April 8, 2011

I found some bad commercials that I would like to share. They come from the superbowl. We were suppose to have shown them in class but I do not think we had time for all of them. I would like to share them now. I think they are really self explanitory of why I feel they are bad.

 

 

February 27- March 5

First I would like to add some links that were shared in class by other classmates. They really stood out to me and I hope you enjoy them as well. http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1VxRPe/freespace.virgin.net/markr.rowe/fb-history/fb-history.htm This link will take you to " If History Had Facebook" This one I am not sure where I found it but it is really funny!

This video is funny. Just enjoy it! It's called The English Language in 24 Accents. It is by a man from the UK.

Wednesday March 3, 2011

tedtalk
This talk is about how schools kill creativity. One example that he talked about that really stood out to me. He was talking about an instance of a girl who could not concentrate in class and was a problem in class. Eventually her mom found out that she needed a way to express herself. When she was enrolled in dance class she excelled in school. It was as way to express her creativity and be able to move around. She had a problem with sitting still in class.
Ken talks about what if schools killed creativity for William Shakespere or any other great writer. How would we have the great writers that we have now? We would not have the classics that we can go back and read and enjoy.
I think that Ken is right. Schools do need to let the students express themselves creatively. I think even if we want to focus on what is important subjects we should let the students engage in the class creatively not just reading from the book or watching what is being written on the board.

Week Three 1/30 to 2/4

   In the movie, Killing us Softly 3, I was not surprised as to what the speaker had to say. But I also, did not feel offended by what was being shown. I think that when there are images around us that promote sexuality, etc especially when we are young, I think it is our parent's responsibility or a mentor or a guardian to help guide the young men and women. Teach the young men to not take those images as that's what all women should look or act like and for young men to know that's not what all women should look like or act like. These girls have a choice to take on the job. They have the choice to walk away or stand up for themselves. However I do think that the time the speaker/presenter took to show what is being done to open people's eyes to notice what is happening is a great thing. After seeing this video I have been paying more attention to what is being said in a commercial I do notice more of the references to women and their bodies. And for that I think that this video was helpful in being more observant.
 

Week Two: 1/23- 1/29

January 23: Fun Commercial
I seen this commercial and I had to post this. It is for a Volkswagon Jetta, I thought it was so neat how they made the two people from an old film, TV show, or whatever they are from and they place them in the backseat to show how much room the backseat has. It visually appeals to the consumer as being fun to ride in and very roomy.

I hope that you enjoy it as much as I do!

January 28: Favorite Movie Scene

My favorite scene from a movie comes from The Notebook. This is a love story about two young people in love. She is from wealth and he is not. During a summer the two fell in love but were separated by her parents. After 7 years Allie comes back to see Noah. In the scene I chose it starts out nice and sunny and loving. But when the rain comes in and it pours on them. When they come back to the dock Allie starts to walk off fast. At first I thought it was because she wanted to get out of the rain but when she turns around she starts to ask him why he didn't write. I feel this is a great example because not only can you tell looking at them they are both still in love with each other but you can also feel the hurt of being a part for so long. I think that the Sun symbolizes the happiness between the two of Allie being back and connecting with Noah again. When it rains I feel that symbolizes all the hurt and longing the two have felt. It is during the rain scene that she asks why didn't he write her in an angry voice and hurt look, and it was also the end of the romantic rowing in the pond where it was just them and no one else and nothing interrupting them.

Week One: January 10, 2011

   Visual symbols affect my life everyday.  Because some symbols happen on a regular basis I really had to think about it. Such as on my way to and from school the ride is full of visual literacy such as the stop signs(image from miamiduiattorneyblog.com) , turn signals ( when people use them), the traffic lights, and the pace of the cars ahead of me. Another visual that I have to pay attention to when driving is lights on emergency vehicles. At work there is visual literacy such as looking at the food I am cooking or displaying I can tell if a hot dog for example is over cooked or undercooked. When I bake cookies I can also tell if the are over or underdone. To make popcorn I know that the kettle is ready with there is steam rising from the inside of the kettle and I know when the popcorn is done when less popcorn comes out of the kettle  ( image from popcornmakes.net).