The Imagination Trip.
Gee.. How far can modern imagery go! Remember
when the special effects in our Saturday night movies whilst good, were not enough to convince us they
were real. No one ran for the hills when ET showed
up on our screens, and though I still get chills if swimming in the ocean thanks to the Jaws trilogy,
at least I knew when I watched the mechanical shark
tear up a sizable fishing boat, that someone was just
trying to pull the wool over my eyes.
Modern day digital effects and imagery however are pushing the boundaries of not just our sense of sight, but our senses of movement, design, touch and technology. The ongoing romance with our modern day digital imagery is in full flight, with a vast array of media including movie animation and effects, game machines such as the wii with motion sensors, Play stations
sporting not just games but blue ray technology and iphones.
It is even evident with the sculptured influence it has on our modern day architecture, affecting what we live in and around.
There isn't a Hollywood wannabe who can resist bringing back the classic's from the Baby Boomer and Gen-X generations in series such as Spiderman, Garfield, Astro Boy and Star Trek, to name a few. Star Trek hasn't really dissipated at any one stage but merely moved through the black hole of time and technological advances. We have been influenced by past projections of architecture shown in themes such as Star Trek and Star Wars, as well as devices used within these themes and the social behavior depicted in the surrounding scenes.
Due to the imagination used in the early effects used in our visual media we have continued to dream, create, recreate and push further into the depths of what may be possible as time jumps two steps forward and sometimes one step back through the generations.
Our kids of today will endure the limitations of 3D movies with the blue and red glasses, introduced to many during Expo 88 in Sydney, as well as the 3D effects of game technology and virtual reality, but for how long? The ever growing realization for our internet and game system designers is that many people are willing to spend a great deal of time living in an alternate reality, and also are willing to pay for the experience.
So the circus of visual display continues.. Personally, I find that many emotions can be experienced by simply walking into a $2 shop and being inundated by the limitless colours and items displayed. Maybe try walking down a street in Hanoi (Vietnam) where lanterns show the direction and mesmerise with their
glowing trail of street stalls and street cooking aromas. About the only valuable experience that visual effects can’t imitate at this point in time is smell!!
So.. I will stay true to reality and still also enjoy the experiences that await my maturing body and mind. Whilst I am not unimpressed by what has been technically achieved to date, I question the need for the immediate boundaries to continue expanding too fast.
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It is an ongoing battle that I deal with daily. Does it mean that people will miss out on actually living in the future? Does it mean that past skills such as painting, illustration and hands on crafts are left behind as ancient art forms? I hope not!
The graphic art and imagery I admire is simple and effective. It still has movement in a 2d medium and gives the impression of a surrounding scene that the onlooker can be involved in, much like reading a book.
The onlooker can create part of their own reality and personalisation within the graphic. In the case of a company logo or advertisement, it must not only give off a global feel (no matter of company size) for the company it represents, but also the mindset of the person who has created and formed the company. It must be simple in appearance so that it doesn't age quickly, and be able to project the company image well into the future.
If I were going to state a metaphor for the existence of a perfect graphic it would be much like the cycle of a sun. A sun is a STAR that stays warm and bright for an eternity and then expands into a RED GIANT. Red giants have diameters between 10 and 100 times that of a Sun and ultimately turn in to RED DWARFS. These burn slowly for estimated lifetimes of 100 billion years before finally shrinking and exploding.
A perfect graphic for a company image will never shrink and explode. It will reinvent your company image using the slightest whispers of change so the original design is morphed into the new, and the star lives on.
Simple (smile)!
In conclusion I believe that the dreamers, creatives and image-makers of the past have directly and literally helped shape our current cultures. I acknowledge that there is a strong relationship between those of you out there who are logical in your thoughts, brilliant in your creation of technology, and who open new boundaries, with those who live to dream. This relationship gives the dreamers new platforms to grow into the future.
I dream of meeting people who are skilled in both areas, like the great Leonardo or Michelangelo. Imagine meshing people like Dali and Einstein for example. Let’s keep creating, dreaming, thinking on all fronts, and working together for great outcomes that will last and become the new platforms for human development.
I will attempt to go into more detail on the above article in following issues of this newsletter. I will touch on topics such as the history of art, the birth of special effects, technology and its influence on architecture and social behavior, and where our imagery is leading.
It all leads to the best way to be represented in your working life, marketing that image, selling your image and what the future holds as far as the relationship of visual creation V's technology. Let’s not get too caught up in the visual bed pan of current media and promotions, but instead embrace the ideas that are created within the traditional creative forums so that we can strive to create the technology that is ‘needed’ in the future. Let’s built pyramids instead of social platforms that distance the relationship of those around us and have no real bearing on the importance of humanity.
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