PSA

Topic: Hispanic Parental Engagement
Sponsor: Hispanic Scholarship Fund

1. The main target of the campaign would be Hispanic parents. The language barrier could be an issue.

2. They need to understand the role and influence they play in their child's decision regarding college. Hispanics who have gone to college rank their parents as being most influential in their decision to continue their schooling. However, recent studies have shown that more than 65% of Hispanic parents do not have the knowledge to guide their children as they seek to apply and enroll in college.

3. The call to action is to get Hispanic parents better involved not just in their child's education, but to also get them to understand how important attending college is. There also needs to be a better understanding of how to apply to college and apply for financial aid and scholarships for parents.

4. The issue is important because it's not just a way to get more Hispanic kids in college, but to better help Hispanic parents understand the process of going to college. 65% of parents do not currently understand this process.

Bruce Mau

Q: What advice would you give a cynical designer?
A: Get out of the way.

That's probably what I really appreciated and took away from Bruce Mau's lecture. According to Mau there is no room in design for cynicism. Mau is one of those people who's a genuine optomist. But not in an annoying "things will get better" kind of way. It's more of a "things will get better, because I will make them better". While blinding optimism can be a bit much, Bruce Mau energized the crowd and reminded us all how powerful design can be.

Sample

For the opening title sequence I wanted to do an animated piece. I wanted to play with old detective/noir conventions but also add some humor as well. Since the main character has Tourette's and rearranges words in his head, each credit will be spelled incorrectly and then rearrange itself into the correct name.

Inspiration

Title Sequence assignment

This is one of the best books I've read recently. This is because it combines a lot of genres that I love. It's a half-satirical cross between a literary novel and a hard-boiled crime story that is narrated by an amatuer detective named Lionel Essrog, who has Tourette's syndrome.

Plot:

Lionel Essrog is an orphan who has Tourette's syndrome (the often uncontrollable urge to shout nonsense, touch every surface in reach, and rearrange objects). In the 1970s he and a small group of other boys were "borrowed" from St. Vincent's Home in Brooklyn by Frank Minna, a local small-time crime boss and fixer, for odd jobs.

Now, some years later, they're the "Minna Men," who work out of their mentor's "detective agency/limo service" but mostly receive stolen goods, smash up things when ordered to, and occasionally serve as weak guards. But one terrible night Frank Minna is fatally stabbed and thrown into a dumpster, and Lionel must become a real detective.

His search for Frank's killer leads through Frank's bitter wife Julia, who leaves town fast; the strange storefront Zen Buddhist temple that was Frank's last stop before he died; and ultimately to a small town on the coast of Maine where powerful Japanese business interests have revived the local fishing industry due to their willingness to pay big money for urchin eggs. And through it all, Lionel must try to control his Tourette's.

Characters:

Lionel Essrog
Frank Minna
The Minna Men (Tony, Gilbert, Danny)
Matricardi & Rockaforte
Roshi
Polish Giant
Kimmery
Julia (Frank's wife)

Locations:

Brooklyn
Upper West Side
Maine

Text Animation

Typeface and storyboard

For this project I chose the typeface Les Bains. I liked the simplicity of the typeface and I thought it gave me some options to play around with. As for what sound, I feel like it has a light, airy sound. But also, kind of futuristic and droning. But nothing too annoying or heavy.

Ummi Logo v2

Song quote

Assignment 1

Assignment 1 from Mike Grau on Vimeo.

Motion Design 2 - First Assignment

So this is the work for my first assignment in Motion Design 2. I originally started to work on a different piece, but I got completely lost. I thought technically it would be fairly easy, as I've used different kinds of masking in the past to make it seem like a line is being drawn or growing. But this time it was much more complex and it became a complete mess.

I made an executive decision and decided to scrap this idea and do something else. There was no way I was going to finish my first design. So I'm not thrilled with the current piece, but it's something to build off of. I have attached both storyboards. One for the failed piece, and the second, easier one.