Carson Cole

When thinking about how to create my self portrait, the biggest challenge I had was figuring out a way to incorporate all of the required elements in a meaningful but aesthetically pleasing way. What I have come up with so far is to place the pictures of examples of my "digital self" over the image of myself as some kind of mask or blindfold, and apply an effect to it to make it look torn or fragmented. I also plan on using the selection tools to outline and create a silhouette of myself and layer in the concepts that are important to me within the space. Some of the things I still need to think about are what kind of color scheme if any I want to use, as well as how to implement the pictures in a way that looks balanced and not too crowded. When I googled my name I came up with few results so I thought it would be fun to create the image of someone with a minimal online presence so I want to include pictures that highlight that. I think using the images as a mask can send t...

What I found most interesting in this reading was the way that the author related the way we look at art as having a "message" or meaning, to the way machines and technology have a "message" that alters human affairs in some way. The way I understood this was that in the same way a paintbrush and canvas can be used to create an infinite number of messages, the mediums of an electric light bulb or an airplane can be used in a myriad of ways to alter the lives of humans. I thought this was a relatively simple point to understand, but I had a little bit more trouble deciphering the significance of this knowledge. The author points to companies being able to improve their business by knowing the message of their product, rather than just its physical characteristics. I agree with that sentiment completely, and think it could be especially useful when applied to marketing, by focusing on how a product affects society at large, you can create a very effective advertisemen...