New site

Heres a view of my new website www.balphotography.com

FInal Cover Page

Final Contents

Book cover

My Bio

Ben Lipowitz is a 20 year old photographer from Baltimore, Maryland. Ben is currently a sophomore in the Art and Design school as
a Photo Media major at the University of Kansas. He works for the University Daily Kansan (UDK) as a correspondent photographer. Ben has been taking photographs for 6 years. 

Annie Quotes

"I've never liked the word celebrity. I like to photograph people who are good at what they do. I think the real problem today is, the Internet has created the demand for so much more information that we need to almost drum up more celebrities. We've run out, and now what we're doing is, we're making them up."

"I work so much, I get the opportunity to photograph almost anyone you would want to photograph. I can only think of dead people who I wish I could've photographed--Martha Graham or Elvis Presley. I just missed Elvis Presley."

"Some of the most difficult subjects in entertainment are people who have been in show business for a very long time. I think they have no sense of reality. You know, like Sammy Davis Jr. or even Michael Jackson. The other way I answer that question is that I do want to continue in this business, so I'd be an idiot to talk about anyone who's alive."

I've heard you're not easy to work for. Would you agree with that?

"I've heard that too, actually. I came from a place where I was working by myself, and as I started to use assistants, I couldn't understand why they couldn't see exactly what I saw. I would be very frustrated. I'm happy to say that I have a really great group of people now who've been with me for a long time. They know that I'm pretty demanding."

More Side Images

As I finished my project I decided to take some of the images I took for it and use them for a side project for fun. Here are a few examples.

Final collage

This is my final collage. It turned out differently than I had planned but was ultimately successful.

Side project

Here are a few images that I took for a side project of the model who helped me out with the collage.

Change of plan

Here is my most recent idea. It is a little different than my original as I added space between each image. When printing, each image will be the same shape and size therefore it will be more organized.

Prototype

Here are some of the early few images of my idea being tested on photoshop.

Idea

For my collage I am documenting the transition between being clothed and nude. To take my pictures I had a model pose for me clothed as well as nude as I took photos of each part of her body. Each individual image will make up her whole body as some images will be her body parts clothed and others will be nude.

David Pye

This reading is mainly about how money and the access to material should be irrelevant when designing. There is always a way for it to work. One must use the resources around them and alter them into what they need by using various techniques. If one were to say that there is only one way of doing something, they are wrong. The example used in the text is of a factory. If someone said there is only one best way to do an operation in a factory, they would be wrong. It may be true that there is one cheapest way. There are plenty of techniques out there to make designs work. Some of these techniques include wasting, forming, casting, and constructing. One can alter the properties of a material to make it work. One can cut any material and attach it to any material to make it work. The whole point of the reading is saying that in society today, economics is the largest influence of design. For example the shape of every design is not influenced by technique but by the cheapness of technique. The reading finishes by saying that our art is for the generation to come. The generation’s art before us was for us. The cycle continues with every generation as it influences society. 

Final Design

My final box.

Grey

This was my final idea for my album.

Album Cover

For my VISCOM class we were assigned to create an album cover. My album is called the Grey Album. It is a mashup of Jay-Z and The Beatles. These are my 5 Ideas for a front and back.

Basketball

Here are a few photos I took at the basketball game vs texas tech on senior night.

Camera

My box will hold a film camera I received for for my birthday. Because the box holds a camera, I thought it would be fitting to make the shape of the box into a camera. This photograph was taken before I glued the box together.

Wayfinding project summary

For my project, my group and I came up with a solution to improve the wayfinding of Budig Hall, specifically room 110. As Budig Hall is a beautiful building in itself, it can be difficult to navigate due to its white walls which are the same everywhere in the building as well as the shape of the building being a circle, therefore each side of the building is identical. This is a problem because as one walks into the building from the entrance it is hard to tell where exactly you are in the building as well as where one is supposed to go from there. To improve this, my group and I attempted to separate each lecture hall with the use of color. We placed a color coated map right at the entrance of the building which explained where one is as well as which color to follow for each lecture hall. The color red was the color used for room 110. Once one were to see this, they would easily see the red signage above the hallway adjacent to the map. The sign has three arrows with the number 110 filled into them. Once one follows the signage through the hallway, he or she would see another set of arrows with the number 110 within them. This time there is a red stripe that runs through the arrows and directs you straight to the destination. The color is the most important part of our solution. The colors that were chosen were made sure to fit in with the buildings beauty as they weren’t too bright or ridiculous looking. Because of the colors being different for each lecture hall, one would know after the first time experiencing the building which color is for which room. If one saw that one was in a red themed hallway he or she would instantly know they are being guided towards room 110. If one saw they were in a purple themed hallway they would instantly know they were heading towards room 120. Our intention for this wayfinding is to make it quick and easy for students to navigate to their classes. 

Reading Response

Interaction Design Sketchbook by Bill Verplank

This reading emphasizes the importance of sketching, interaction, design, and paradigms when it comes to creating interactive products and systems. The reading starts off by explaining the importance of sketching. With computers now a days, one may think sketching is less important. This reading begs to differ as sketching a huge brainstorming tool. Sketching is very important for capturing preliminary observations and ideas. Sketches can literally be in any style you want them to be. They can be very neat and organized or they can be the exact opposite and be chaotic. Drawing out ideas can really help one see his or her vision much clearer. Drawing can be a straight depiction from the brain. The reading also talks about interaction design. Interaction design would mainly be used to describe industrial design. It is how to design for the user’s needs whether they are mental or physical needs. There are three questions interaction designers must answer when going about their work. How do you do? How do you feel? How do you know? Most simple designs require one to do, to feel, and to know. An successful interaction designer makes these three concepts of feeling, doing, and knowing easy and convenient. The third concept that the reading talks about is the actual design. The design for the product is the blueprint. The design must address all of the issues and concerns that have to do with the product. The design brings all of the interaction together and to life. For it to be successful it must be user friendly and easy to navigate. The last concept that the reading talks about is paradigms. A paradigm is a pattern or a model. This section of the reading emphasizes the importance of computers and how we use them. Over the last 50 years, computers have become a huge part of life. The reading explains that if we create computers to think more like people, it will be easier to design. It is very much emphasized that computers are tools as well as media. Computers have almost invaded every medium there is today. The media is where people express themselves. Computers allow us to represent whats real, what could be real, and whats imaginary. This idea creates so many possibilities for design. 

America

For this project I had to redesign the American flag. I did not want to get political with it. I just wanted to simply modernize it. I did so by making the red and blue in the flag much brighter and neon like. I also wanted to create the illusion that the flag was always waving. I did so with the way the stripes move through the flag. Lastly I included the US Marine camo as it is very iconic in America and around the world.

Maryland

For this project, I was supposed to choose a design that inspires me and make a poster out of it. I chose the Maryland flag because of its unique colors and patterns that are iconic to Marylanders who take much pride in the flag. I chose the crab in the center because crabs are a huge part of Maryland as Maryland is sometimes known as the big crab cake. 

Wayfinding testing

Here are some images of our testing of our wayfinding through Budig using tape.

beginning Wayfinding

For my groups wayfinding project we chose to help navigate Budig hall to get to room 110. Our original ideas were to color coat the building and have a specified color for each lecture hall. This was the original plan.