My Campaign Site Plans

   To the best of my ability, I want to give my website a very crisp, clean look that allows the eye to easily find what is most important to my site/campaign. One of the most important pieces of any campaign is contributions from supporters. Therefore, finding where to donate should be extremely easy for the viewer. If the "donate" or "contribute" button should be in plain site and large enough to catch the viewers attention, so that even if they weren't thinking about donating they may be more inclined to after seeing that it is an option. I would like to implement an easy-to-read and attractive bar menu at the top of the page with the pages I will have linked to my sites.

The pages I will include are:

• "Home"
• My home page will include a menu, my campaign advertisement and a donations button
• "About" 
• The about page will inform readers about my "candidate", red licorice, and the positives of it and the negatives of black licorice. Almost like a biography of red licorice.
• "Contact"
• the contact page will include all the ways to contact the campaign staff to ask questions about donations, and the campaign in general
• "Issues"
• the issues page will summarize where the candidate stands on issues in the snack and candy realm
• "Support"
• the support page will offer supporters an opportunity to volunteer as campaign staff, raising money, and other things supporters can do to help the cause

   In order to come up with my ideas for my site I did plenty of research of effective sites and non effective sites. This is what I came up with and why:

Effective Sites:

https://www.hillaryclinton.com/

• This site was effective because of the clean look and complementary colors. Also, it offered a lot of ways for supporters to contribute to the campaign besides donations. 

https://www.tedcruz.org/l/senator/

• This site was very effective because of the attractive and modern look. It portrayed the candidate as a very powerful and kind person at the same time. It also puts the contribute button right under the campaign video that plays automatically.

https://marcorubio.com/thank-you-florida/

• This site offers a balanced design with a campaign video and donations bar on one side and a portrait of the candidate on the other. This is a very attractive and professional look. 

Non-effective Sites:

http://2016.libertarian-party.org/Johnson/

• This site was not effective due to the very scattered, almost empty look. It does not direct my attention anywhere and it looks unprofessional.

https://go.berniesanders.com/page/content/splash?source=homepage

• This site was not effective because it does not offer anything but to donate initially. The viewer then needs to click through to the main site. This is not effective because you do not even get the chance to get to know the candidate before being asked to donate. 

http://www.jill2016.com/recount_graphic_splash?splash=1

• this site is not effective because it is simply not appealing. There is no picture or artwork. Just what seems to be an essay that nobody wants to read due to the length of it, and a donate button on the bottom. 

The Utilization of Typeface

            If I wanted to create a sense of anxiety in a viewer using one word, I would leave no space between the letters. The appearance of the letters being cramped together could cause a sense of anxiety due to the almost “rushed” appearance of the word. Kerning is essential when creating a feeling among viewers and should be utilized when trying to create anxiety. Also, the font size should be small with a low opacity. This forces the viewer to look closely in at the word and analyze it further than if the text was large and bold. By not knowing what the word says initially, this creates a further sense of anxiety.

            In contrast, if the goal was to make a viewer feel content and at peace using one word the text would be generously spaced and appropriately sized. By adjusting my kerning so the letter spacing is just a little bit exaggerated it will create a cleaner and more organized look. This look creates a very content feeling among viewers. The text should be sized so that the text is not shoved in the viewers face or so the viewer doesn’t have to focus their attention or move closer in order to read it. The letter sizing should be purely for the viewer’s convenience.

            When viewing my InDesign portfolio, it is best for viewers to feel happy. It is a proven fact that when people are happy they are more likely to have a more positive outlook on their surroundings. Therefore, if my InDesign portfolio’s text creates a subliminal feeling of happiness the viewing experience will be better. It is important to always consider the viewer when creating any project. Setting their preferences and what would make your work the most appealing to them as a top priority in every aspect of the project is imperative. 

The New Aesthetic

The four artistic works above vary in how old, real, and interesting they look. I chose these four specific images from The New Aesthetic Tumblr Blog not only because of the variation in styles but because of the one similarity they all share. None of these pieces are original paintings or pictures. The top right picture may lead you to believe that it is a 17th century Rembrandt, however it is a computer generated image that was successful in recreating some of the world's best artists work. The bottom two images were both done in photoshop. The highway piece is actually over one thousand images pieced together, and the one on the left is a flock of birds with their path stitched together to create a helix. An unnatural looking object in a very natural image of nature. With art being able to be recreated and manipulated by computer programs, it raises the question that is discussed in Walter Benjamin's essay “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”; whether or not said works should be considered "authentic", and if they carry the same "aura" an original piece does. To that I say it completely depends on the piece. Many famous pieces that are recreated and manipulated develop a whole new aura that may strike the viewer even more than the original piece. Whether or not they should be considered authentic to me is obvious; yes, they should be. Even the smallest changes made to an original piece should be respected as any other piece would. Although it doesn’t take as much talent as painting an original piece all new forms of art should be respected as individual pieces. While they aren’t the original piece they should be thought of as a compliment to the original. In specific, the top right piece that mimics a Rembrandt should be appreciated in the sense that we are able to generate images that a famous artist hundreds of years ago may have created. That to me should carry its own individual aura and appreciated, not criticized. While it’s important that artists keep creating completely original pieces, the mechanical reproduction and manipulation of art is only a plus to us, the viewers.

Mechanical Reproduction's Influence on Art and Society

To predict the trajectory of the advancements in mechanical reproduction of art, and visual media in particular would be almost impossible to do accurately. This is because there is very little historical evidence where parallels could be drawn without seeming far fetched. However, Walter Benjamin in his essay Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction recalls the earliest forms of printing and on to form the prediction that these advancements that are currently happening are to happen in large intense growth spurts.
He also predicts that with these advancements including photography in particular, the originality of works will be affected. One of the largest reasons of this being that a photograph is simply a picture of a picture. This ability to reproduce original art and even alter it begins to bring up questions of what is acceptable and what is not. Benjamin suggests that when a piece is reproduced it's aura is diminished. Now, keep in mind that when he is referring to aura he is simply alluding to the feeling that a piece may give, which is one of the sole reasons of why we all choose to enjoy art in the first place. Benjamin writes that when a piece is mass produced the specific aura you may enjoy when viewing an original piece is reduced to little to none when mass-produced. In this process of being mass produced, the two values a piece may have begin to teeter. One of these being a cult value. Benjamin refers to the cult value as the moral value it has behind it and other legends the people of society may have created in order to enjoy a certain piece. However as these pieces are mass produced the cult value falls and the exhibition value rises. The exhibition value being the actual content and information a piece may have to offer. This is not a bad thing in the eyes of Benjamin. He thinks that the decreasing of cult value is a good thing for it allows for viewers to see pieces in a more realistic light. This is what I find most interesting in this paper. One may believe that the cult value is more important and causes the viewer to feel a specific aura that is the same with no other piece. However the positive side of the rise of the exhibition value is that messages can be heard and received through art. The exhibition value gives a voice to the voiceless and has the potential to reach the highest branches of society, where change is enabled.

The Positive and Negative Effects of Media and Technology on Millennials

         Millennials are the digital natives of the world. While older people may feel confused, frustrated, or just angry with trying to understand the seemingly over complicated media and technology today has to offer, the millennials that grew up in this age of technology take full advantage of it. Often times ignoring the negative effects older people claim these advancements have on them such as deteriorating social skills. Starting with the ability to simply type words into a phone and it will be delivered instantly to the recipient, there is no need to pick up the phone and have a verbal conversation. This has a negative effect on people because the less they communicate using words, the less people are likely to communicate efficiently in a face-to-face context. My father, who is interviews people as part of his job, is one of the people who see the growth of technology and media as a negative thing. As a result, this has been burnt into my brain as well. Everyday he sees 19-23 year old men come in to job interviews without a clue of how to maintain a proficient conversation. While struggling to answers simple questions as easy as, "what do you consider your most desired trait as a worker to be", my father can only turn to blame technology. While I agree with him, as a millennial I can't help but also see the usefulness the advancements in media and technology have to offer. 

        Netflix. The perfect example of a new medium that has improved the lives of people and also forced things to become, or start to become obsolete. While there are many different forms of Netflix, the idea of it is what is driving many types of once start of the art technologies out of the market. A medium such as Netflix is a digital streaming website where you can watch movies and TV shows at any time you want. This technology is pushing DVDs, VCRs, and even broadcasting out of the picture. The reason being; why wait for a TV show to come on or stay up late to watch a show when you can watch in on a medium that will play the program for you whenever you would like. Overall, media and technology has many pros and cons, however the people who grew up with it only see the positives and the people who didn't mostly see the negatives. This is where a conversation should begin, comment below what you think of the quickly advancing technology and media.