1. Notes: 4 / 3 years ago 
    For anyone that’s visited the CAL Academy of Sciences before, they would notice that it’s basically broken up into 4 different areas. These are my sub logos for the Academy’s attractions. Although the Parent logo contains elements representing the attractions, These logos hold their own because they become their own identity with their own elements. - - - I based a lot of the foundation for my design in trying to reinterpret the architecture of the Academy. I started my initial sketches as logos that were enclosed in arbitrary shapes. These shapes were representations of the Academy’s heavily visible curves and circular forms in it’s architecture. Instead of having these arbitrary shapes hold the logos, I later evolved them into symbols that represented that the forms of shapes that were enclosing them. A strong logo is considered to be one that can hold it’s own without the use of arbitrary lines/borders. For a better idea of what I’m getting at, I was basically aiming for the Planetarium logo to represent how it looks from the outside. Though the typical Planet with a ring may be a little cliche, it is ultimately representing the angle that the Planetarium theater is actually tilted at. This is the reason why the upper half of the logo is not connected to the lower. Another example is the Aquarium logo representing a Fishbowl or Tank of water. The same is also for the Rain Forest as it roughly represents the dome that it’s enclosed in for the actual attraction. The Natural History Museum is the most rough in terms of interpreting shape. This is only because it is the most tweaked, but the original idea is still embedded within it. I can even say that curved back of the Brontosaurus represents the ceiling of the Museum. It is definitely left open for interpretation and can be a representation of multiple things.

    For anyone that’s visited the CAL Academy of Sciences before, they would notice that it’s basically broken up into 4 different areas. These are my sub logos for the Academy’s attractions. Although the Parent logo contains elements representing the attractions, These logos hold their own because they become their own identity with their own elements.

    - - -

    I based a lot of the foundation for my design in trying to reinterpret the architecture of the Academy. I started my initial sketches as logos that were enclosed in arbitrary shapes. These shapes were representations of the Academy’s heavily visible curves and circular forms in it’s architecture.

    Instead of having these arbitrary shapes hold the logos, I later evolved them into symbols that represented that the forms of shapes that were enclosing them. A strong logo is considered to be one that can hold it’s own without the use of arbitrary lines/borders.

    For a better idea of what I’m getting at,

    I was basically aiming for the Planetarium logo to represent how it looks from the outside. Though the typical Planet with a ring may be a little cliche, it is ultimately representing the angle that the Planetarium theater is actually tilted at. This is the reason why the upper half of the logo is not connected to the lower.

    Another example is the Aquarium logo representing a Fishbowl or Tank of water.

    The same is also for the Rain Forest as it roughly represents the dome that it’s enclosed in for the actual attraction.

    The Natural History Museum is the most rough in terms of interpreting shape. This is only because it is the most tweaked, but the original idea is still embedded within it. I can even say that curved back of the Brontosaurus represents the ceiling of the Museum. It is definitely left open for interpretation and can be a representation of multiple things.

     
  2. 3 years ago 
    "

    Making the simple complicated is commonplace;

    making the complicated simple,

    awesomely simple…that’s creativity.

    "
    - Charles Mingus
  3. Notes: 3 / 3 years ago 
    TypeCrop Exercise. take assigned letter and create 8 figure ground solutions - - - - - effective design is creating stimulation with visuals. retaining a viewers attention for 3 minutes as opposed to 3 seconds. The fact that you are probably a tad confused upon seeing the image above is a step in the right direction. If it took you a little while to realize it was a ‘B’ (or that they were even letters at all) then that’s even better. The easier you could tell what letter I used the less strong the figure-ground would be. - Playing off the psychology of the human mind and it’s abilities of processing visual information. The fact that I can show you the inner parts of a ‘B’ (typographical term-counters) and you can still read that as a ‘B’ is a big thing. Because letters are so iconic and we as humans have rational minds so that whenever we come across something that is incomplete our mind will fill in the blanks. Cropping isn’t just about making things smaller. Knowing how to crop effectively is properly composing your image at the same time. at least that’s what, I believe. but of course it’s what i’m still learning. You can shoot and apple and center it in the image so that upon first glance the viewer will know it’s an apple. OR you can zoom in real close and have the apple take up 70% of the image while you focus on it’s texture.  Offering the viewer with an attempt to process that the texture of the subject is familiar > oh! it’s red > then to, oh! it’s an apple. (well, that’s what I kinda think when I shoot). So I guess, effective design is being able to stretch out the time of processing your viewer will do as much as you can without completely losing them. …design rant. meehhhh.

    TypeCrop Exercise.

    take assigned letter and create 8 figure ground solutions

    - - - - -

    effective design is creating stimulation with visuals.

    retaining a viewers attention for 3 minutes as opposed to 3 seconds.

    The fact that you are probably a tad confused upon seeing the image above is a step in the right direction. If it took you a little while to realize it was a ‘B’ (or that they were even letters at all) then that’s even better. The easier you could tell what letter I used the less strong the figure-ground would be.

    -

    Playing off the psychology of the human mind and it’s abilities of processing visual information.

    The fact that I can show you the inner parts of a ‘B’ (typographical term-counters) and you can still read that as a ‘B’ is a big thing. Because letters are so iconic and we as humans have rational minds so that whenever we come across something that is incomplete our mind will fill in the blanks.

    Cropping isn’t just about making things smaller. Knowing how to crop effectively is properly composing your image at the same time.

    at least that’s what, I believe. but of course it’s what i’m still learning.

    You can shoot and apple and center it in the image so that upon first glance the viewer will know it’s an apple. OR you can zoom in real close and have the apple take up 70% of the image while you focus on it’s texture.  Offering the viewer with an attempt to process that the texture of the subject is familiar > oh! it’s red > then to, oh! it’s an apple. (well, that’s what I kinda think when I shoot).

    So I guess, effective design is being able to stretch out the time of processing your viewer will do as much as you can without completely losing them.

    …design rant. meehhhh.

     
  4. Notes: 3 / 3 years ago 
    The Figure-Ground exercise we did got extended and we had to print out our projects at 400% for a wall paper project in the Fine Arts building. The 2nd pic is the work of me and my partner. I did the bottom 8 squares. Which letter did I use?

    The Figure-Ground exercise we did got extended and we had to print out our projects at 400% for a wall paper project in the Fine Arts building.

    The 2nd pic is the work of me and my partner.

    I did the bottom 8 squares.

    Which letter did I use?

     
  5. Notes: 3 / 3 years ago 
    So Here is my Final Product of the Initials Logo/Self-Portrait 3 different typefaces for 3 different Initials, alternating between Script, Serif and Sans-Serif fonts Below is my Thesis—don’t mind the mistakes, didn’t even bother editing it yet. - - - - - - - - DAI 325 – Graphic Design: 1 Michael John Laygo Yra Self-Portrait/ Initials Personal Logo 02/15/201 - Thesis When I reflect on self I see someone who’s lived but still hasn’t lived enough. Time and change are definitely factors that have brought me to where I am today, but they aren’t the main variables. Realistically, I am a product of many different things and this is my attempt to simplify everything down. When I look at myself I can associate with having a strong sense of family pride and culture. These aspects are the foundation of my design because I hold them on top of everything. Initially, I brainstormed the symbol of a tree. The tree is very cliché and is common for the word “family”, hence the concept of a “family tree”. The idea of representing a tree later evolved into the representation of something plant-like or organic. The main idea is that something organic is natural and living. A tree or plant is always constantly changing over time. Despite its fluctuations in form, color or size, it still manages to stay deeply rooted and well grounded where it’s planted. Although time and change obviously affect me in many ways, I try my best to not forget where I came from and how far I’ve come. Yra is my last name and it has a European background. This isn’t really much of a surprise due to the history of the Philippine Islands. The Spanish colonized the Islands but besides that, Manila and its seaports had heavy traffic in the early times of trade. I chose Edwardian Script mainly because of its letterform. The script typeface plays perfectly into the idea of it being the “roots” of a plant or a tree. This is why the “Y” is on its side. The stem of the “Y” becomes the surface/ground of the image while the rest of the curling “Y” becomes the winding roots. In the Philippines, one of the customs is that you take your mother’s maiden name as your middle name at birth. In this case, my mother’s last name before marriage was Laygo. At birth, my mother still named me Michael John Laygo Yra, with “Michael John” being my full first name. Up until now, I have used only John as my middle name on paper work but still keep Laygo out of respect for my mom. In my created logo I used an uppercase “J” flipped upside down to create the organic figure rooted to the ground. At first glance, many might not notice the letter “J” because of it resembling a lower case “f”.  This is intentional because I know that not many people know of my middle name and only a few people whom I’m close with call me by that. In some ways I consider it my alter ego or the real side of me that people don’t know yet. This is why I chose it to be uppercase as opposed to the lowercase “m”. The “J” can also represent a stamen, or the male fertilizing organ of a flower. I chose the Cochin typeface also mainly because of it’s letterform. Its brackets to the top of the J’s serifs helped in creating the smooth movement into the Y’s stem. This also created the movement of the “L” for Laygo. My intention was to sneak in the Laygo initial without adding an additional letter. This is another gesture of respect just for my mother. At the same time the representation of the L also brings forth the idea of how Women’s last names get lost after marriage when they take their husband’s. The stem of the “Y”, or in this case the base of the “L” ends up decreasing in weight and curling in, thus gesturing the loss of the “Laygo”. Lastly, the “M” is for Mike or Michael. I chose a lowercase “m” to represent myself because I wanted to use something that pushed the idea of young and youthful. It’s also me admitting and understanding that I still have plenty more to learn and grow. My decision for choosing the modern typeface Optima is that I felt it described me well. Although I am young, I still have much respect for the “old school”, and while I understand this concept about myself, it is something that I don’t show or display much. This is why the “m” is melded into the “J” and the parts of the Optima “m” usually used for identifying it cannot be seen. Initially the “m” was going to be smaller to represent a piece of fruit from the tree, but I changed it to being bigger to create the organic figure or flower with the “J” and “M” together. This complete figure is myself, Michael John.

    So Here is my Final Product of the Initials Logo/Self-Portrait

    3 different typefaces for 3 different Initials, alternating between Script, Serif and Sans-Serif fonts

    Below is my Thesis—don’t mind the mistakes, didn’t even bother editing it yet.

    - - - - - - - -

    DAI 325 – Graphic Design: 1

    Michael John Laygo Yra

    Self-Portrait/ Initials Personal Logo

    02/15/201

    -

    Thesis

    When I reflect on self I see someone who’s lived but still hasn’t lived enough. Time and change are definitely factors that have brought me to where I am today, but they aren’t the main variables. Realistically, I am a product of many different things and this is my attempt to simplify everything down. When I look at myself I can associate with having a strong sense of family pride and culture. These aspects are the foundation of my design because I hold them on top of everything.

    Initially, I brainstormed the symbol of a tree. The tree is very cliché and is common for the word “family”, hence the concept of a “family tree”. The idea of representing a tree later evolved into the representation of something plant-like or organic. The main idea is that something organic is natural and living. A tree or plant is always constantly changing over time. Despite its fluctuations in form, color or size, it still manages to stay deeply rooted and well grounded where it’s planted. Although time and change obviously affect me in many ways, I try my best to not forget where I came from and how far I’ve come.

    Yra is my last name and it has a European background. This isn’t really much of a surprise due to the history of the Philippine Islands. The Spanish colonized the Islands but besides that, Manila and its seaports had heavy traffic in the early times of trade. I chose Edwardian Script mainly because of its letterform. The script typeface plays perfectly into the idea of it being the “roots” of a plant or a tree. This is why the “Y” is on its side. The stem of the “Y” becomes the surface/ground of the image while the rest of the curling “Y” becomes the winding roots.

    In the Philippines, one of the customs is that you take your mother’s maiden name as your middle name at birth. In this case, my mother’s last name before marriage was Laygo. At birth, my mother still named me Michael John Laygo Yra, with “Michael John” being my full first name. Up until now, I have used only John as my middle name on paper work but still keep Laygo out of respect for my mom. In my created logo I used an uppercase “J” flipped upside down to create the organic figure rooted to the ground. At first glance, many might not notice the letter “J” because of it resembling a lower case “f”.  This is intentional because I know that not many people know of my middle name and only a few people whom I’m close with call me by that. In some ways I consider it my alter ego or the real side of me that people don’t know yet. This is why I chose it to be uppercase as opposed to the lowercase “m”.

    The “J” can also represent a stamen, or the male fertilizing organ of a flower. I chose the Cochin typeface also mainly because of it’s letterform. Its brackets to the top of the J’s serifs helped in creating the smooth movement into the Y’s stem. This also created the movement of the “L” for Laygo. My intention was to sneak in the Laygo initial without adding an additional letter. This is another gesture of respect just for my mother. At the same time the representation of the L also brings forth the idea of how Women’s last names get lost after marriage when they take their husband’s. The stem of the “Y”, or in this case the base of the “L” ends up decreasing in weight and curling in, thus gesturing the loss of the “Laygo”.

    Lastly, the “M” is for Mike or Michael. I chose a lowercase “m” to represent myself because I wanted to use something that pushed the idea of young and youthful. It’s also me admitting and understanding that I still have plenty more to learn and grow. My decision for choosing the modern typeface Optima is that I felt it described me well. Although I am young, I still have much respect for the “old school”, and while I understand this concept about myself, it is something that I don’t show or display much. This is why the “m” is melded into the “J” and the parts of the Optima “m” usually used for identifying it cannot be seen. Initially the “m” was going to be smaller to represent a piece of fruit from the tree, but I changed it to being bigger to create the organic figure or flower with the “J” and “M” together. This complete figure is myself, Michael John.

     
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"Making the simple complicated is commonplace;

making the complicated simple,

awesomely simple...that's creativity."

-Charles Mingus


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Design and Industry - Visual Communications concentration

San Francisco State University
 
 

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