Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Silhouette Project- Parker Sheppard

I found this project somewhat easy for me. I went through my daily routine and observed what I need and want I like. The results I found were very interesting. The items which I needed were seemed a little dull and boring, compared to what I wanted. The items I wanted appeared very bright in color and appealed to my eyes. This could be a reason that I typically buy them. The inside of my silhouette describes the items which I like and not technically needed. These are mainly my favorite snacks and food. The outside of my silhouette are items which I need instead of wanting. Body wash, gas, clothes, and golf balls are some of which are included. For the most part, I had fun doing this project and I look forward to the next project!

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Silhouette Project - Cam Thompson




I began my silhouette project by keeping a consumption journal for two weeks (September 28th-October 9th); and over this time, it became quite clear that I was a creature of habit. I tend to buy the same brands and I am very loyal to certain product lines, Tazo tea, Numi tea and Kin’s Kitchen for Chinese takeout. Surprisingly, I discovered that I was fairly predictable in shopping, even for new items I tried this year, like Ile De France, Yoplait, Quaker oatmeal, Jif peanut butter, Inter-American select nuts and Mike’s hard lemonade. Because of my consistency, I decided to create my silhouette using the most frequent items I have consumed over my life span (depicted as the background) and my latest obsessions (as my silhouette). Apparently, I have consumed more Chinese takeout and green tea than anything else in my 21 years. I also noticed that the majority of the products I have and continue purchasing come in green packages, which happens to be my favorite color. Is it shallow that I try new items partly due to color? I don’t think so in the least, since the color is what attracted me to them in the first place!
I feel that my consumption pattern reflects my personality and how I approach most aspects of my life. I enjoy a busy and fairly predictable schedule, and I am conscientious of what I consume in a health sense.

nike shoebox



My blog was based on the items I use the most and the items I will e remembered by the most. The hardest part about this project was figuring out what I wanted to use on my poster board. I finally decided to do my background with a NIKE shoe box. If you know me, you know that I have a large amount of shoes. On the inside of my outline I used pictures of shoes and basketball players and just basketballs in general . I think I did a pretty good job on picking the materials I would use to do this project. I think that my silhouette poster will be unique because of the background is cardboard. The shoes on the outside represent who I am the most.
The inside is what I am and what I do the most. I love basketball so much and I will always love basketball so that's why the basketball items are on the inside.

Caitlyn Carmony - Silhouette

I found this project difficult. It was hard for me to find brands to fill up an entire poster. I think this means I am loyal to the brands that I use. I stick with the same few things. Inside my silhouette I put clothing and other personal brands such as make up or perfumes, etc. On the outside I put other random things I use such as food, gum, cell phone, etc. I thought it was hard to see the difference between the two so I outlined my silhouette and colored the outside orange and in the inside purple. The things that I use a lot, I tried to make bigger than others. I think that I wear a lot of American Eagle, so that is why it is on there twice. I also put a big Butler Bulldog logo because Butler is important to me. I feel that my silhouette accurately describes the brands I buy and which are the most important to me.

Silhouette Project- Michael Park


I did my project on the food I buy for my house and the food that I buy when I go out to eat. Before I started this project, I knew that I liked to eat many different things, but I did not realize that it was to this extent. It was kind of amusing seeing all the foods I consume right before my eyes. Obviously my tastes influence on which foods I choose to consume. One particular thing I would point out is that I love any kind of spicy foods. Hence, there are four chili peppers in the "figure" portion of the project.
The basic organization part of this project is everything I consume for my home I have in the "figure" portion and everything I consume when I eat out is in the "figure" portion. Some of the aesthetic features of my project include the gum wrappers I chose to put it. I always chew gum at home so I decided to put actual wrappers to give that textural effect. I also exploited some of the shapes to. For example, I took a few "Chipotle" logos and I made it into the shape of a burrito. Another aesthetic design were my burger place logos. The two big McDonald's signs represent the buns and the Wendy's and Steak n' Shake represent the meat in the burger. As you can see, as a consumer I love food!

Gabe Hulecki - Silhouette Project - Self Portrait as a Consumer

I never realized how many name brands I use throughout the day and it has brought to my attention how many items I possess which have a name brand. This silhouette project has shown me materials I do not think about during the day, but I use them on a daily basis. We as consumers are constantly promoting a brand name and advertising it wherever we go. My silhouette describes the type of person I am and the types of brands I use on a daily basis. The inside of my head, the figure, includes the basic materials I use everyday. Things such as soap, hair gel, clothes I wear and the food I eat. The outer part, the ground, includes Butler University and the campus I belong to. I enjoyed learning about myself and will continue to be consciously aware of the brands I promote and advertise.

silhouette project



When originally assigned this project, and explained that it should show two sides of ones self, I knew exactly what I wanted my halves to represent. My life is like any other. During the school year I live in a city but in the summer time I travel thousands of miles into the bush to work at a fishing lodge in northern Canada. I can think of no starker contrasts. This project shows a unique separation. On the inside are brands I frequently use during the summer. I love the outdoors and this is why I chose to put it on the inside. Fishing equipment, outdoor clothing, boats, and other equipment are all staples of my summer life. On the outside is reflected my time in the United States. Restaurants, computers, videogames, and society are all shown here in the brands and logos.

These two sides are vastly different and almost none of the brands are reflected in the other side. This project shows exactly who I am. A person who lives in two very different, very exciting worlds and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Silhouette Project - Grant Lewis

For my silhouette project I decided to focus on the things I use during the week (inside the green) versus the things I use on the weekend (inside the black). I thought that this would give me an interesting point of view to see how I change as a consumer during the week as compared to the weekend. While creating this project I decided against cutting labels and advertisements out of magazines and decided to focus purely on products that I had in my room and at my fingertips so I could actually take the logos off of them. I felt that this approach would do a better job of showing me what I really use each day instead of what I think I would use or would rarely use. So since I didn't have enough logos to fill the entire page I decided to cut up two different colors of construction paper and glue them as a collage on the poster board to clearly highlight where the lines of my silhouette are. This also made the silhouette more unique and created an interesting texture throughout the entire piece.
It surprised me to find that I use more products during an average week day compared to the weekend. I think this may be due to the fact that I have a lot more to do during the week and enjoy relaxing on the weekends. I decided that many of the things I purchase are very simple and don't make much of a statement about who I am individually. I believe that you would find many of the same goods in the majority of college students rooms. However I feel that it is a good thing that all the logos and brands don't make much of a statement about who I am as an individual because I believe that these aren't extremely important or 100% necessary in my life.

Silhouette Project


I found this project fairly hard to do. First off, I spent alot of money on magazines in order to search for the brands in my project. Due to the Internet, I haven't bought a magazine in years, and I found out that they are like five or six bucks a pop. So, as I was thinking of ideas on what to do with my project, I came up with the idea of doing all durable goods inside the silhouette, i.e. things that last like clothing, or apparel. I used the outside space for goods that are used for some type of consumption, either food, alcohol, or medications. Along the edge of my silhouette, I wrote in different colored Sharpie markers the things that I aspire to purchase later in life. I wrote them in permanent marker due to the fact that they are goals, and I don't want to not achieve them, so this way they cannot be erased. As you can see from the inside, I have a variety of different brands for clothing or items. This is my life in a nutshell and all of the brands listed represent a piece of something that I have purchased and used in the past month.

Lili Kyurkchiyska- Silhouette Project


My project represents the two consumers in me. Outside of the profile, on the background I put the brand names and products that I use and buy in the United States. Inside the profile, I pasted the Bulgarian flag and then on top of it I glued a few of the brand names that I use when I go there. Some of these brand names overlap though. For example, there is still the brand Orbit in Bulgaria but I connect it more to the United States. Some of the Bulgarian brands that I consume could be bought here too but in special stores where they are imported from Bulgaria.
This project shows two of my sides as a consumer in two different countries.

Silhouette Project- Courtney Reynolds



My silhouette project represents me as a consumer now versus the consumer I hope to be in the future. The brands and the colors and shapes that represent certain brands are those that I feel represent the primary brands I consume regularly. The background of the project as you can probably notice from the photo is almost void of brands and is rather full of shades of green and blue. In the future I hope to buy less and use nature as provision more, hence the green. I do however have some luxury items on the outside of my silhouette.

Silhouette Project - Phil Schroeder


My silhouette project focused on the items I consume on a daily basis and how they affect me personally. On the outside of my project are all of the items that I use externally. This includes my clothing, entertainment, and car to name a few examples. On the inside are all the items I use internally or on my body such as food items, shampoo, and toothpaste. This project has brought into the light the extensive amounts of products that I consume on a daily basis. As a consumer I purchase many name brands like element clothing, Underarmor apparel, orbit gum, and Gatorade beverages. This project has also helped me to discover the amount of different products I use just in my every day life. I never really tried to make a list of every name brand item I used in a day and as the day went on the list grew larger and larger. I also noticed how I tend to only purchase name brand products such as Axe products and American Eagle clothing, even when these products are generally more expensive. This project helped me to understand the power of design and name brands because it is considered the social norm and better to wear clothes from Nike, Underarmor, or American Eagle even when a person could buy much more generic clothing for the same prices. Overall this project has helped me to understand myself as a consumer and how the world of marketing helps to add value to many different name brand items.

Ashleigh Schneckenberger-Silhouette Project


For my silhouette project I showed how I buy things as a consumer and what others buy things for me. On the inside of the silhouette I put the products I have bought for myself and on the outside I put products that other people have bought for me. For instance, I put a snowboard on the outside because one of my friends bought me tickets to Perfect North to go snowboarding. I lined the outside of the silhouette with string. This shows how I purchase string for myself to knit scarves but on the flip side I make the scarves for others. I found out that I buy a lot of necessities for myself and other people buy me more luxury items that I do not necessarily need. I buy things if and when I need them, for the most part. I put pictures of deodorant, pants and shoes. I think my silhouette makes a statement about myself. It shows how other people perceive me and buy things for me. My friends and family have bought me items that are athletic based almost. I think people perceive me as more athletic then anything. I also noticed that I buy things when I need them not just for fun. I think this showed a lot about how I value you my money.

T.J. Sansone - Silhouette Project

From my collage, I learned much about myself as a consumer. I decided to include the brands and products that I buy for fun and enjoyment within the silhouette of my head, or the figure, and the brands and products that I buy out of necessity outside of the silhouette, or the ground. This duality allowed me to reflect upon the items I buy and use out of the pursuit of pleasure versus those simply out of necessity, which I do not particularly enjoy but are required for me to remain alive and to accomplish the tasks that I am obligated to complete.

In the figure, one will see that I am quite the connoisseur of technological products, such as gaming systems, games, television, websites, and all sorts of techie gizmos. In addition, the figure contains many of my favorite clothing brands and choices of food and beverage, including alcohol and tobacco. Some of these vices are worse for me than others, particularly my use of beer, liquor, and cigarettes, but seeing them on my collage has allowed me to recognize some of these unhealthy choices I make.

Within the ground outside of the figure, one will see a wide assortment of products, from stores I frequent for groceries or household supplies to hygiene and cleaning products to brands and products that I buy, even though I may not particularly enjoy them. Some notable inclusions are Kamchatka, a cheap brand of vodka that I buy for guests but never drink myself due to (numerous) bad experiences, as well as computers and software that I use primarily to complete schoolwork or work for my jobs, as a web and graphic designer and blog writer. There are also some brands of food and beverage included that I do not really consume out of enjoyment but out of necessity, such as Starbucks, to keep me awake when I am studying, and Trix, which I usually eat for breakfast since it is quick and easy to prepare.

Overall, my collage has given me a lot to think about and I am already in the process of applying its lessons to my spending habits as a consumer. I have noticed some brands and products that are not very healthy for me, as well as others that I can do without. I am also very happy with the way my silhouette project turned out. I was worried about not using all of the space allotted, but I found that there are more brands and products in my life than I had previously realized!

Silhouette Project - Katie Clark


As I was gathering materials to piece my collage together, I came to realise that I am possibly the least faithful consumer imaginable...I am a nightmare of a customer! I found so many of the same type of products that I use, however often from a variety of brands. I am therefore, a bargain shopper. The inside space of my silhouette represents me and the products I am in the habit of consuming now, as a college student, while the outer space signifies the products I imagine I will use in the future, or at least ‘aspire’ to use in some cases. Despite some of the slightly pretentious products I decided to place in the future space of my collage, a deeper reflection on my piece reveals that I am not a huge fan of big brands, although it is undoubtedly nice to own a few really nice, quality products and items, I can see myself being more into ‘brandless’ products. Back home in my market town of Beverley, I would buy fruit and soap etc from the market that was set up every Saturday, I like the idea of local produce and hand-made (as opposed to large scale factories/sweatshops) items, however it was hard to find illustrative examples of such consumerism in the magazines that I had.

Silhouette Project - Aisha Townsend


Even though this isn't a fascinating image that shows you every detail of my silhouette, you can get the idea. My background images that make up collage of logos and brands are those of my past. Some of them multiplied because I either used them more than once or was involved with them more than one year. My silhouette is black triangles and they all represent the unknowns of what my future holds and all of the different possibilities (hence the question mark). Therefore, I used my silhouette to represent my life.

Trent Miller - Brand Silhouette

Stephanie Hodgin-Brand Silhouette Reflection



My collage is meant to represent me as a consumer and as a person. The outside of the silhouette is covered in Starburst wrappers, lined up in a geometric design. The Starburst wrappers themselves serve as the consumer part of me, because they are my favorite kind of candy that I eat daily. (This made it convenient for me to find the materials for my design). But the geometric pattern also had another purpose. Though it may be hard to see without pointing it out, the wrappers are aligned to look like the music bars that jump up when someone is listening to music. This represents how I communicate with myself; listening to music. For every situation in my life, there is always a song or artist that fits in perfectly with that particular moment.


The inside of my silhouette represents the other part of me; communicating with other people. The grid of Facebook logos shows that my ideal and constant form of communication with others is that particular networking site. It's how I learn about other people, and how other people learn about me. The exclamation point in the center is taken off of the Yahoo! logo in which I communicate with other people through emailing. I decided to use just the use of the exclamation point instead of the entire Yahoo! logo to create more simplicity in the otherwise confusing and busy portrait, but also because it's a logo that everyone recognizes without having to spell it out.


Overall, my duality was that of communicating with myself versus communicating with others. While I could have used a greater amount of labels and different kinds of labels to add diversity to the portrait, I felt that it wasn't necessary to adequately illustrate my point. I think my portrait defines who I am, both on a superficial surface as well as a deeper meaning.

Jenny Green-Collage


My collage represents my two different lifestyles:my sports' day versus my non sports' day. The outside of my collage is filled with various sports' logos and brands. The inside is filled with make-up, clothing, and shoe brands. My collage has shown me how much I really purchase throughout my two main lifestyles. I am always purchasing items for my soccer needs, fan apparel, and workout equipment. Additionally, I spend just as much on clothing, make-up, and shoes. I am now more aware of what I spend most of my money on. Involving the aesthetics of my collage, I wanted to make sure there was a main distinction between the two areas of my collage. I made the sports area more colorful and creative, while my non sports usesblack and darker colors. I did this because it is hard to overlap my two different lifestyles. Most of the time, they interfere with each other and it is hard to make them balance.

JoJo Ciancio- Brand Silhouette Reflection


The purpose of my silhouette was to represent me as a student-athlete at Butler University. I am on the football team at Butler, but first and more importantly I am a student. I wanted people when they looked at my silhouette, to see all the brands that I use for school and for football. I divided up the silhouette into two parts. The inside of my head, “the ground,” represents the brands I use for school versus the outside of my head, “the foreground,” which represents all the brands I use for football.
My silhouette project represents me as a consumer who is brand loyal. From the pictures on my silhouette, one could tell that I used multiple pictures to represent the same brand. For example, if you look in the region outside of the outline of my head, the foreground, one will see the brand Nike used for the majority of the space. It is the brand that I use the most in my life as a consumer. This shows that I buy a lot of athletic wear because I need it to play football. It also shows that I am very brand loyal because I use the brand Nike the most for football. I keep buying from Nike because I feel that they produce a good product to help me play at my best. Also, in the foreground, you will see brands used that I need for nutrients to help my body grow and recover from playing football. If you look in the top left hand corner of the silhouette, you will see brands for protein, water, Gatorade, multivitamins, and fish oils. All of these brands help to improve my performance on and off the field. Each play a vital role into helping me receive the nutrients to keep my body going.
On the inside of my head one will see all the brands I use for school. These materials consist mostly of brands like Bic, Papermate, and Jansport. Most of these brands I have been using since I was a little kid. This once again reiterates the idea that I am a loyal consumer. I sometimes buy things because of their brand name, but most of all I buy things based on their reputation and performance. If the performance is good the first time, I will keep going back to that brand. Overall the brands of my project should represent the idea that I am very brand loyal.
The reason for why I divided up the brands into two different parts, school and football, was to represent the idea of a student-athlete. The reason for the colors green and brown on the outside of the silhouette is because the colors brown and green are associated with football. The color of the grass is green and the color the dirt is brown. There is more green than brown because grass is more visually abundant on the field than mud. The use of these colors is to give the idea of using colors to symbolize football. I also categorized the products. I put all the supplements and diet brands in the top left hand corner. On the right hand side of the poster, I put all the products I use when I am getting dressed. On left hand side of the poster is all of the miscellaneous stuff that I use for football.
The inside of my poster has the color blue to represent me as a student at Butler. I put the logo for Butler in the center because academics are the main reason for why I go to school here. I am here to get a degree. I put Jansport at the top of the head because it represents my backpack. My backpack carries all the products that I put on the inside of my poster. So it represents how the backpack contains all the other products. The arrows drawn inside and outside my head represent the idea that a student-athlete works together. You can’t have one without the other. However, the academic brands are on the inside because school is more important than sports.
Overall this silhouette shows an interesting concept. I really like the way my project turned out. It took a lot of time and effort but it was very rewarding. I felt so accomplished when I finished it. In the artistic sense it shows me as a student- athlete. In the business sense it shows me as a loyal costumer. Both are an accurate assessment of me and that is why I liked how I designed my silhouette.

Rachel Heck - Silhouette Project


From this project, I have discovered that I do not buy a lot of unnecessary things. I mostly buy food and health care products; items I consider to fulfill my biological needs of cleanliness and energy replenishment. The inside, or the figure, of my silhouette demonstrates the products I consume to fulfill these biological needs. On the outside, or the ground, of my silhouette I have put the brands of the technological products that I use most often. These products represent the more expensive items that I use, but also the items of which I do not own more than one at any particular time. Some of these items I did not buy directly; some were bought for me and some are items that I have been allowed
to use on a regular basis. The technological items displayed on my silhouette that I bought include my iPod, my Sony camera, and my antique sewing machine powered by Westinghouse Electric. My iPod represents my love for music whereas my camera represents my fancy for photography. My antique New Home sewing machine powered by Westinghouse Electric represents my fondness for antiques and older technological items.
As for the creative aspect and aesthetic appeal of my project, I took advantage of the shapes and colors of the products I consume to fabricate a distinctive design. The ground of the silhouette, where my technological items are displayed, is mostly composed of circles. Most of the technology brands I sue have logos of a basic circular shape. Aside from the obvious representation of the brands by their specific logos, I use the colors of the logos to color in the circles that fill the rest of the ground of my silhouette. As for the figure, or inside, of my silhouette, I used the logos of the brands of items I consume for my biological needs to create a flower shape. The Kraft and Yoplait logos were perfect for the petals of the flowers and the quadrilateral and ovular shapes of the Suave, Crest, and Clean & Clear logos made for perfect leaves, whereas the Jif and Dole logos were perfect for the construction of a stem. The rest of the inside of my silhouette is filled with yellow to represent the sunlight providing a means for the flower to grow, as well as the color of the Wal-mart flower-like symbol representing the store where I buy all of these products.

Collage


My collage is based on outside versus inside. The outside or the background is what can be seen on me or what I wear. The colors were kept more neutral with a few exceptions. The inside is what cannot be seen but also makes up who I am. These items may include food or drinks, but also Itunes to represent the music I hear that comes inside to influence without being physically seen. The base on the inside is all water because I am mostly made up of water and that is the base of me. The color scheme is blue and it styas pretty close with a few exceptions. There are exceptions to both color schemes because there are always things that are slightly out of place in my life and it is meant to provide a certain chaos away from the unity.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Collage Written Explanation


I learned a few things regarding my consumer habits as I went about this project. First of all I organized it as things I need and like to buy within the silhouette; and then all the different types of edible things I buy either for my dorm--like snacks--or things I get when I eat out on the weekends. A lot of my spending goes on food and that's because the food at Butler is hard to survive on. Every time I ran to Target this week I realized I was restocking the dorm with food/snacks. For the inside I arranged it by placing cool colors as the background before I collaged over the top of it. That kind of symbolizes that I tend to buy things that are green, blue, or violet because those are my favorite colors. Then the objects that overly the background are things I enjoy buying like clothes or shoes. I also put in things that I need and use on a regular basis such as a toothbrush, face wash, and makeup. I usually decide what I'm going to buy by what I feel is needed or sounds useful at the time.