Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Back to School

So the winter semester has begun with inclement weather that makes me want to absolutely refuse to leave the house. After the misery that was last semester, my motivation factor is back up. That is mostly thanks to Mark who helped me to see the importance of getting to the finish line and the possibilities ahead. To those of you who don't know, I am work out enthusiast. Sometimes over enthusiast. Nutrition, the body, exercise all of it fascinates me. I also find it very important in a country with a growing obesity epidemic. I want to do an independent study this semester translating the body to artistic design. I am thinking about calling it just that. Body by Design. We live in such a visual culture. I want to explore how images we surround ourselves with affect our psyche. I have ordered a book on color theory entitled Contemporary Color. It explores how color effects us but is not limited to painting as many color theory books are, the book explores the colors in graphic design and computer imagery. It is my plan while reading to work on some preliminary sketches focusing on shapes and design related to the body. I then want to take some of those sketches and translate them digitally, applying what I have learned about color theory. My goal is to design a logo or a theme for my upcoming business venture. I am currently studying as well to get my ACE personal trainer certificate. I want to think about colors on walls and images in a gym and how they may affect a person working out. Kind of how music can up your pump factor, or the smell of peppermint can energize you, can art do the same thing? I am thinking about a set of fitness photos too. Real people in black and white. People who fall in a healthy range of body fat. No air brushing, no photo shop, no help. I wonder how that would affect people's perception of how they are supposed to look? Not model perfect, just healthy. Pending time and direction I may also want to re-open my Body Fuel project from Social Design last semester, working purely through rhino, maybe enough to get a prototype. Time to get organized