choosing the right cutting plate

What is happening next… is the design of the box for the Demography cards… design not included right now but it will be in print ‘v’ soon.

Demography playing cards with traditional Monopoly playing cards

The Commercial/ Social Tree, finished and sent to print… no going back or redesigning now (well not without great expense).

Commercial Tree

Authors Note: this article like the others in this category are part of my Masters Degree in Art and Design and are works in progress, so you’ll have to forgive the bad grammar and spelling in places.

Building the social tree

The short animation bellow shows the construction of the Social Tree in its second attempt, you can see the first attempt here. The social tree uses social demographics supplied as free to the public samples by ACORN and CACI, developing a structure in order to make a social comment to this information was first conceived in rough form and then each Category and Type was printed on paper slips to be used in the construction.

sketching social tree ideas

This method of structuring the Social Tree came about due to necessity.

The wealth of information needs to be structured in such a way that it can relate to each category in turn much like a family tree, each link will drill to another link which in tern shows its relationship and result. An evolution of the categories need to be clear in order for this social jamming piece to work. Stylistically the social tree is quite dull however in principle it does try to emulate a the style of Nick Felton and his Annual Report designs, bellow is the cover  of his 2010 report. The lines trace his movement across the planet during the course of a year (well duh), its this style of tracing which the social tree is trying to emulate.

Feltons 2010 Annual Report Cover. ref: http://feltron.com/ar10_01.html

After the construction was completed it became far easier to design a more sophisticated graphic of the social tree. Using photographs as a reference, a tracking of lines between each question was simple enough in order to create a the graphic below (this again is just an experiment to the style of the design ‘nod to Nick Felton’).

Experimental Social Tree Design

This design, as great as it is, still needs developing to really look or resemble a Family Tree, purely because of the concept that ‘we’re all connected’ via the products in which we buy and need. Looking at Family Trees available to download for free and use personally it clear there are two main types, your leveled tier graph like structure and a more visually appealing fan/ tree like graph. The next development takes on the fan style for the Social Tree design.

Family Tree Examples: ref: http://www.maxbal.co.uk/2008/images/charts/heirloom/hloomA3_3_400.jpg, http://www.thetreemaker.com/images/328-family-tree-template.jpg, http://www.melickprofessionalgenealogists.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/GenealogyFanChart.jpg

More coming soon…

• family tree template

Empire State building and Absinth Poster by Leonetto Cappiello. photo ref: http://www.barewalls.com/i/c/378274_LIFE-Photographer-Margaret-BourkeWhite-atop-Eagle-Gargoyle-of-the-Chrysler-Building.jpg

Leonetto Cappiellos work ahsd been the main influence of the conceptual style, his poster designs use negative space give an air of unease or darkness that suites the mood of the game. The movement or speeding lines used iconicity in all Art Deco architecture has been incorporated in to the logo, along with silhouettes and geometric patterns. Heres a few type concepts.

logo concept design using typography only

logo design using image and graphic elements, with the alternative name soc-emo

back to using "demographic" and exploring typography and the graphic element

Here is the final logo design ready to rock and roll… and now its 2:10am monday, i’ve been up since 6am sunday, i’m off to bed.

Final Design

• leonetto cappiello influence
• poster design architecture
• typography graphic elements
• game logo design

Do we choose the product or is the product chosen for us, and can we choose our choice to choose?

Marketing and consumer demographics are bed buddies for corporations looking to increase their profit margins. Its no surprise that if you’re looking to improve your sales you need to understand your target audience and in turn taylor your product to appeal.

Authors Note: this article like the others in this category are part of my Masters Degree in Art and Design and are works in progress, so you’ll have to forgive the bad grammar and spelling in places.

Understanding the consumer is the first step in order to influence the cause for desirable products beyond personal budgets and generate more sales to wider audiences by tapping in to those impulses. But are we preordained to purchase products that are suited to our Social Grade… or can we more often choose to obtain the unobtainable? This (in part) essay explores the relationship between Consumer Classifications (ACORN Consumer Demographics) and the concepts of Determinism and Free Will.

Determinism and ACORN

Determinism, or more suited to this essay “Causal Determinism”, is an idea used often in physics as the notion of cause-and-effect. The concept of Causal Determinism defines the state of events being bound by a casual relation to prior states. As the theory of determinism does throw up many pit-falls and questions which would spin the main point in the wrong direction, we have to accept the idea of Determinism or Causal Determinism at least for the benefit of of this essay.

How could we ever decide whether our world is deterministic or not? Given that some philosophers and some physicists have held firm views—with many prominent examples on each side—one would think that it should be at least a clearly decidable question. Unfortunately, even this much is not clear, and the epistemology of determinism turns out to be a thorny and multi-faceted issue. Hoefer, Carl, “Causal Determinism”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2010 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.)

Given the influences we’re constantly bombarded with by exterior and interior methods of marketing its surprising we’re not all zombiefide to buy gray products, manufactured to the same dull, functional standard, day in day out.

Thankfully we’re aware of our choices and as individuals we have our own standards and a willingness to be individuals within society. Social Types can be blanketed by a classification that offers a holistic opinion of a particular group of society however, its those individuals within the group who make the decisions to buy certain products for themselves. So how do these Social Types choose individually and still fall within the classification? Obviously money and available funds has a lot to do with it, if a lower social class has less disposable income than a higher social class, product is purchased on the value of price not function or quality.

Other factors can be taken in to consideration such as Social Influence, the exchange of information as where to find the latest bargains and BOGOF (buy one, get one free) offers, also Location and Health of that individual play a major part in the type of product bought. Peers also within Social Types govern the products we buy, arriving at a golf club with less than (perceived) adequate quality clubs, can isight ridicule within higher social types or expensive jewelry and gadgets can raise the status in lower social classes but consequently identify them as a target for crime. Perception of an individuals self is mainly conceived by surrounding and supportive influences (friends and family) and a relative level of acceptance. Education also plays a major part in product purchasing, its highly likely affluent social types are well educated, which determines later wealth and readiness of disposable income, therefor product is purchased on the value of quality not price.

ACORN understand this perfectly well and realise that a combination of Health, Education, Income and Social Scene govern and direct consumers towards their choices of purchase, below are two extreme examples from ACORN’s Categorised Consumers.

Category 1 - Wealthy Achievers

These are some of the most successful and affluent people in the UK. They live in wealthy, high-status rural, semi-rural and suburban areas of the country. Middle-aged or older people predominate, with many empty nesters and wealthy retired. Some neighbourhoods contain large numbers of well-off families with school-age children, particularly the more suburban locations.

These people live in large houses, which are usually detached with four or more bedrooms. Almost 90% are owner-occupiers, with half of those owning their home outright. They are very well educated and most are employed in managerial and professional occupations. Many own their own business. Car ownership is high, with many households running two or more cars. Incomes are high, as are levels of savings and investments. These people are established at the top of the social ladder; they are healthy, wealthy and confident consumers.

Social Type A

It needs to be noted that ACORN is used to understand customers’ lifestyle, behaviour and attitudes, or the needs of neighbourhoods and people’s public service needs. The information gathered is used to analyse customers, identify profitable prospects, evaluate local markets and focus on the specific needs of each local community.

Category 5 – Hard-Pressed

This category contains the poorest areas of the UK. Unemployment is well above the national average. Levels of qualifications are low and those in work are likely to be employed in unskilled occupations. Household incomes are low and there are high levels of long-term illness in some areas.

Housing is a mix of low-rise estates, with terraced and semi-detached houses, and purpose-built flats, including high-rise blocks. Properties tend to be small and there is much overcrowding. More than 50% of the housing is rented from the council or a housing association.

There are a large number of single-adult households, including many single pensioners and lone parents. In some neighbourhoods, there are high numbers of black and Asian residents. These are the people who are finding life the hardest and experiencing the most difficult social conditions.

Social Type E

From these classifications its clear there is a definite distinction of Social Types, if the concept of Determinism is applied here its likely that Category 5 and Category 1 are predetermined to perchance items of particular quality, style, fashion and price, also location plays its hand too. Although in some instances its acceptable that Category 5 will perchance items beyond their average annual income, this is likely to be due to unpredicted variables such as short term monitory wins, Bingo, Betting, National Lottery and so on. Also in comparison Category 1 are not fixed to spending in the above average price range for common items, however both these variables are likely to be uncommon, except in exceptional and individual circumstances.

explanations of human behavior have generally favored unidirectional causal models emphasizing either environmental or internal determinants of behavior. In social learning theory, causal processes are conceptualized in terms of reciprocal determinism. Viewed from this perspective, psychological functioning involves a continuous reciprocal interaction between behavioral, cognitive, and environmental influences. The major controversies between unidirectional and reciprocal models of human behavior center on the issue of self influences. A self system within the framework of social learning theory comprises cognitive structures and subfunctions for perceiving, evaluating, and regulating behavior, not a psychic agent that controls action. Bandura, Albert. The self system in reciprocal determinism. Vol 33(4), Apr 1978, page 344-358.

Any marketing hand of a successful corporation will realise the advantages of Determinism or Casual Determinism when predicting or projecting sales forecasts, its the predetermined lives of social types that shape the prediction (to dam near accuracy) of profit.

Free Will and ACORN

Free will is the notion that individuals can make choices free from of constraints that amy otherwise persuade or influence a ready decision. If there is an opposite to the metaphysical constraint of determinism then free will would be it, the concept has religious, ethical, and scientific implications which can disrupt or even shatter the concept of a Social Type. As ACORN demographics are categorised to cater for social types they look upon the type as a collective, ignoring the individual which chooses to break from that category, and consequently included in a higher or lower demographic. Its these anomalies within the system which are discounted because of the uncertain possibility or likelihood of exceptional circumstances. However repelling as the concept of free will and consumer demographics may seam there are issues that fall in line with determinism regardless of the contradictive nature of free will.

Free choice is an activity that involves both our intellectual and volitional capacities, as it consists in both judgment and active commitment. A thorny question for this view is whether will or intellect is the ultimate determinant of free choices. O’Connor, Timothy, “Free Will”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2011 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.)

ACORN demographics cover a wide range of variables within specified categories, an anomaly rising or lowering within ACORN’s or CACI’s demographics, still fall within a category, class or sub category. If free will is real, then aren’t the choices and decisions influenced by rejection or defiance of the norm? If this is the case, then its interesting to think that Casual Determinism is specific to that individual, and two types of control over supposed free will are applied, regulative and guidance. O’Connor explains the differences “Regulative control requires alternative possibilities open to the agent, whereas guidance control is determined by characteristics of the actual sequence issuing in one’s choice”.

ACORN has a strong hold of variables for all social types, these classification for sometimes obscure types are highly detailed and provide a fundamental insight in to understanding the speeding patterns of that type. for example ACORN classifies wealthy commuters who “live in villages as affluent, well-educated professional people employed in senior managerial positions. There are also more working from home in this type”. they’re investigations also go on to state that in “this wealthy type, unemployment has traditionally been very low, however the recession has brought a larger-than-average increase in unemployment, including a quadrupling of the number of unemployed managers”.

Individuals can fall between any variable in the classifications which suggests free will as not applicable to consumer demographics. An individual can make decisions, regulative or guidance, that shape their course of life, however they’ll always fall in to a demographic that suits their applied efforts. Like the story of rags to riches, the individual will rise from Category 5 (Hard – Pressed) to Category 1 (Wealthy Achievers), the motions or methods of changing category are insignificant to the application of the demographic. Fundamentally the pattern of spending is reflective of the materialism that individual uses to identify themselves. An individual may have grown up in a deprived area but worked hard to achieve a wealthy life style in adulthood, may be reflective (in some ways) of free will in the regulative control, but they’re still likely to shop in patterns of a higher social type.

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Authors Note: this article like the others in this category are part of my Masters Degree in Art and Design and are works in progress, so you’ll have to forgive the bad grammar and spelling in places.

We’re always looking to understand complex theories and using charts and diagrams can be a handy method understanding that information more conceptually, this method of presenting information is greatly suited to those Kinesthetic and Visual learning types, like most visually creative people, this is very much the case.

In a way, we’re all visual now. Every day, every hour, maybe even every minute, we’re looking and absorbing information via the web. We’re steeped in it. Maybe even lost in it. So perhaps what we need are well-designed, colorful and - hopefully - useful charts to help us navigate. David McCandless – introduction to Information is Beautiful. 2009. Collins.

Taking influence from Nicholas Felton who’s an Infographic Designer, basic at the beginning stages charts and posters were produced as a possible rout to displaying the demographics.

Nicholas Felton (graphic designer) image borrowed from: http://terremotobcn.wordpress.com/2012/01/16/nicholas-felton-feltron-com/

Interestingly  Felton produces Personal Annual Reports that present his own previous years activities into a tapestry of graphs, maps and statistics, much like the wealth of percentages of Affluent to Low Income consumers the charts aim to indicate growth or dominance of a particular social type.

The charts below organise and present the information supplied by ACORN and CACI ltd, kindly put in to table by Business Balls (dot) com, in the form of posters.

Poster attempt 1

Poster attempt 2

Getting more detailed…

Poster attempt 3

In conclusion this experimentation has been beneficial enough to realise the advantages of formulating the demaographics in to infographic posters, visually they take on their own appeal however the seedy nature of consumer demographics is lost.

• what is the demographics for a graphic design studio

This essay looks at two sets of published information of the UK Social Class Structure, the Published and widely used classification from the Office for National Statistics and the openly public ACORN Consumer Demographics published by CACI.

Authors Note: this article like the others in this category are part of my Masters Degree in Art and Design and are works in progress, so you’ll have to forgive the bad grammar and spelling in places.

The sourced information is intended to be used as an aid to visualizing the UK social class structure and show the relationship in education, wealth, health and location to consumer classifications.

Consumer Demographics and the UK Class System

If you are unaware of the CACI and the ACORN Consumer Classification, read on otherwise skip to the next paragraph: CACI collect and aynalise consumer data and preset their findings as formative insights in to understanding a UK consumer, in the areas of Living, how much they earn, where they live, how they socialize and so on, to build a holistic and accurate category of that one body of consumer “types”. This information is then sold to retailers and corporations looking to improve their profitable relationships with their customers.

‘ACORN is a geodemographic segmentation of the UK’s population which segments small neighbourhoods, postcodes, or consumer households into 5 categories, 17 groups and 56 types. ACORN provides understanding of the people who interact with your organisation. It helps you learn the who, what, where, when, how, and why of their relationship with you’. Direct Quote from - http://www.caci.co.uk/acorn2009/whatis.asp

First of all we need to clarify what the current definition of the UK Social Classification is. In 1707 during the formation of the United Kingdom, England and Scotland used basic categories to categorise the majority of the UK population, this Archaric classification was divided in to Cottagers & labourers, Husbandman (or other tradesmen), Yeoman, Gentry/Gentleman, Knight, Baronet (hereditary, non peer), Peer (Noble/Archbishop) and the Royal.

The 20th Century has widely used a classification that although superseded, is still used today by older generations of consumer classifications. With the definitions being more than 50 years old its unlikely that modern generations fit the class criteria, however, hangovers of archaic social bigotry are still embedded within both higher and lower classes, preventing the current class system to be primary.

The National Readership Survey social grade classification achieved widespread usage in the 20th century for government reports, statistics and marketing.

The National Readership Survey Social Grade Classification

The UK Office of National Statistics (ONS)  Socio-Economic Classification made in 2001. The reasons for publishing a new classification were to cater for the dynamic restructuring of the modern social classes, its apparent the upper classes are becoming less dominant, and middle and lower are broader in their classification, this is likely to be due to freely available credit (during mid to late 90′s) and successful start-up business.

Office of National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification

To gain an accurate insight in to sociological structure of the UK from a marketing perspective its far more realistic to realise a differentiation between both 20th and 21st century class structures. These factors and classifications benefit marketing campaigns to profitable levels, whilst under the guise of customer support, layman consumers are unaware of their own classification, the 21st class taxonomy identifies individuals as a number, reflection the cult 1960′s television program The Prisoner .

Visualising the Class System

Aesthetically the Class system is ineffective, offering little design structure with its pigeonholing.

It also doesn’t allow for changes in stereotypes affected by geographic issues. So a holistic visual stereotype needs to be assigned in order to clarify its. Looking at the current social stereo types its easy to point the finger at certain members of society and speculate their position in either of the modern social taxonomies. However its harder to realise we’re all influenced by those agendas to pigeonhole by informed corporations to profit from consumerism, our very perception of one-another is often misled by materialism and our association (often obsession) with its cultural values.

A Semiotic Analysis of Stereotypes

National Readership Survey Class Structure Poster

To visualise the perceived social stereotypes a poster was developed (National Readership Survey Class Structure Poster), taking influence the 2oth century social classification, the other poster loosely looked at Guerrilla Semiotics of social stereotypes in the areas of “driving” (A Semiotic Analysis of Stereotypes). These posters although simply practice pieces used to illustrate a direction, are also examples of Culture Jamming which is further practiced in the flowing examples. To reasons for developing a Cultural Jamming experiment, is to simply explore the potential of this subject, taking influence from number 5 of Bruce Mau’s Incomplete Manifesto for Growth…

Love your experiments (as you would an ugly child).
Joy is the engine of growth. Exploit the liberty in casting your work as beautiful experiments, iterations, attempts, trials, and errors. Take the long view and allow yourself the fun of failure every day. Written by Bruce Mau in 1998 - http://www.brucemaudesign.com/4817/112450/work/incomplete-manifesto-for-growth

With this firmly in mind, Cultural Jamming experimentations were started, closely looking at the UK’s cultural need desire (?) for materialism and corporations capitalising on this notion with affordable products. Interestingly this need or want to be “somebody” via the projection of materialism is not a new concept to socialism. Post WW2 saw the rise of commercialism and the desire for all things new, promoted by icons of the time, which in turn over-accentuated the importance for unnecessary goods. Painter, filmmaker and major figure in the American Pop Art movement Andy Warhol identified commercialism as desirable and obtainable in 1975.

You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coke, Liz Taylor drinks Coke, and just think, you can drink Coke, too. A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. Chapter 6 – Work, The Philosophy of Andy Warhol: (From A to B and Back Again) (1975).

Using the idea of obtaining and possessing products promoted by our cultural icons, warning signs were developed to illustrate the acceptable ignorance we as a sociality so often embrace. These warning signs identify the corporation (using their logo, colour brand and slogan) and present a fact, rumor or hearsay which intended to deter the consumer away from the product.

Warning Signs Collection

McDonnell's Warning

KFC Warning

BT Warning

This method to revealing the hidden undesirable nature of popular corporations, had to be taken further if just to see the warning signs in situ as a pleasing experiment. Faked or Photoshopped examples of the McDonnell’s Warning sign were created to visualise the impact it they might have been used as intended. these images are for experimental preposes only and not used as promotion, profit or resale means.

!!!! Images not available from this blog !!!!

 Structuring The ACORN demographics with Social Classifications

With three important pieces of information, these being the social classification of the 20th and 21st century and the available ACORN demographics, a system of tracking or tracing lines through the ACORN social demographic was attempted. The tracing lines follow a perceived rout through ACORN Education, ACORN eUsers, ACORN Education and ACORN Social Scene for the 6 20th century social classifications. This experiment aims to discover a rout thorough the demographics which follows the life-line of those Social Types and ultimately highlights the marketing strategies used by corporations to sell to those Social Types more effectively.

Making sense of the wealth of information made freely available by ACORN was a challenge in itself, 52, 000 words were collected from public PDF Files and ordered in to their own specified devisions, each division and sub-devision were colour coded and printed as small tickets, indicating their Social Demographic and description of the devision within it. Those tickets were then tacked to a wall and string traced through them to find a typical rout of a Social Type.

Building The Social Tree

The Social Tree

Although, messy and somewhat confusing, visually the routs offer a unique insight in to the journey of a particular social type.

Linked Social Tree

In conclusion the Social Tree concept needs refining and focus has to be made in the definition of social groupings, also a clear start/ finish needs to be added in order for the routs have substance. What has been beneficial and surpassingly informative are the demographics which has been encompassed by the Social Type rout, its clear that following a particular (perceived) rout for that Social Type predicts eventualities for monies, social networking, geographic issues and health. For example the 20th century classification for Social Type A, is likely to live within a large family home which is established, dine out frequently to socialise, have a moderate to high level of health, be highly educated, and frequently shop on-line. Although this may seam obvious when considering the common stereotype, its apparent that advertisements can use this information to accurately taylor the product from price to availability for its consumer audience. For example, a potential urbanite client with a high level of health, is far more likely to be affluent and well educated, which in turn determines shopping habits, this type is likely to pay more for products because of location and frequently perchance items online. Where as a Social Type C2, is likely to live in low income rural and urban households, be self employed and be of moderate to low level of health (due to smoking) and shop frequently in low priced bargain stores and are reluctant to perchance items on-line. This information is highly valuable to any marketing team or corporation looking to target their audience. Its unsettling to think that society can be so accurately categorised as a number or Social Type, perceiving folk in this way strips that individual of the qualities that distinguishes him or her within society and places them in a pen for “farming” profit. This anti-social categorisation of people is and has been the backbone of successful marketing for decades. This information is esoteric enough to go unchallenged and arguably important enough as a social document, however the challenge still remains to present this information in a visually coherent and engaging way.

To see the next part of this article, take a look at The Social Tree 2.

• social class
• social class uk
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• social classes
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• acorn demographics
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• social tree

Let me explain; you’ll always meet folk who are in the most part humble, grounded and self-assure of their own creative abilities and confident in their chosen specialism. These people need to be adored and rewarded with friendship, not just within your social network but your professional one too. However, thankfully the minority are a self perpetuating one-man-shows, hell bent it seams on flooding social media with endless announcements of mediocre achievements in order to improve their professional coverage.

Don’t get me wrong these people are often highly talented and well practiced, however they lack the basic function to recognise the value of their creativity, favoring the promotion of themselves, what they’re doing, what they’ve done, or what they intend to do next. Its a real shame that the work produced comes a poor second to the person producing it, its apparent to me when meeting these people (and i’ve met a few) the focus within those few initial days is to forcibly inform you of their own personal philosophy to who or what they are. This for me sadly demotes the otherwise interesting works, just like a chef with a dripping cold preparing a fantastic meal, I’m somewhat reluctant to eat it.

A particularly fine head on a man usually means that he is stupid; particularly deep philosophers are usually shallow thinkers; in literature, talents not much above the average are usually regarded by their contemporaries as geniuses. Robert Musil

My advice to those who continue to use my creative space as a fucking networking session, is to let your work speak for itself, only then will you realise the true value of your work. Sadly, I understand those who are of this nature are unlikely to read this, but in the off chance they do, I want to say your work is awesome but your last 3 awards amount to nothing if you’re a giant arsehole! In conclusion I realise the title of this post is misleading, but “My views on self obsessed dick-heads in the world of photography and design” just doesn’t have the same ring to it!

• a particularly fine head on a man usually means
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Download the PDF for this Tut

This Tut uses Photoshop CS3, however the principles and methods are the same for current versions, so lets get on with it.

The end result is a Cinematic Phoenix Photo Manipulation

Finished version

1. Open both images the Fire Flames and Indian Eagle, I have renamed the image files appropriately for this Tut, you can do the same but it’s not necessary.

Part 1

2. Ok, minimize the Flames image for later, we’re going to start with the Indian Eagle (Phoenix). Next duplicate the background Layer. By dragging it to the New Layer icon in the Layers panel and rename it phoenix.

Part 2

3. From the Files panel select the Background Layer, next make sure your using a black and white Background and Foreground colours from the Tool Palette. Make sure the Black is the Background, select the whole image choosing Select > All or Cmd + A (for Mac) or Ctrl + A (For Windows). Then hit delete on your keyboard to black it out completely.

Part 3

4. Select the phoenix layer and choose > Adjustments > Hue/ Saturation or short-cut Cmd + U (Mac) or Ctrl + U (Windows). When the Hue/ Saturation dialog appears reduce the Saturation down to –100% this will remove the colour information.

Part 4

5. Next invert this layer by choosing Select > All then Select > Inverse to “negative” the image, or use the short-cut Cmd + I (Mac) or Ctrl + I (Windows).

Part 5

6. Duplicate the layer we have just inverted, next we’re going to add a filter, choose Filter > Stylize > Find Edges.

Part 6

7. Invert the Layer by choosing Select > All then Select > Inverse to “negative” the image, or short-cut Cmd + I (Mac) or Ctrl + I (Windows).

Part 7

8. The layer needs punching up a little in intensity so chose a blend mode of Hard Light from the Blend Mode drop down menu in the Layers panel. I’ve chosen to duplicate the layer again and choose a blend mode of Screen to enchase the feather detail, if you miss doing this its ok, your image will still look awesome .

Part 8

9. Now open the Flames image we minimized earlier, position it beside the Phoenix image, using the Move Tool from the Tool Palette, drag and drop the Flames image to the Phoenix image.

Part 9

10. Now choose a blend mode of Screen from the Layers panel, next duplicate this new layer and blind the original version (make it invisible by clicking the eye next to the layer thumb). The reason for this is we’re going to be using this image over and over again to build the flames of our mythical bird.

Part 10

11. Next choose Cmd + T (Mac) or Ctrl + T (Windows) or choose Edit > Free Transform to transform the flames image. Rotate it so the flames are following in the direction of the bird’s feathers.

Part 11

12. Right click (Ctrl + click, for Mac) on the image selection and choose Warp from the menu, or choose Edit > Transform > Warp from the main menu.

Part 12

13. Use the sizing handles at the corner and sides of the selection, bend and pull the grid to follow the grain of the bird’s feathers (If Warp is new to you, you can also push and pull anywhere inside the grid to manipulate the position of the flames, hit Enter to action the change.

Part 13

14. Now choose Filter > Liquefy, and use the Bloat Tool to push any flames away from the eyes of the bird, I’m also using the Bloat Tool to smudge the flames in the direction of the birds feathers.

Part 14

15. Duplicate Layer 1 again and repeat steps 12 – 14 to build up a body of flames around the back of the birds head. Keep repeating these steps until you have a good overall converge. Try to resist the temptation to cover the bird’s feathers, stick to the edges as much as you can.

Part 15

16. Again repeat steps 12 – 14 to build up a layer of flames along the bird’s back and shoulder, cutting slightly in to the neck to add the sense of three dimensions.

Part 16

17. Now un-blind Layer 1, choose a blend mode of Vivid Light and then choose Cmd + T (Mac) or Ctrl + T (Windows) or choose Edit > Free Transform to stretch Layer 1 covering the whole of the bird, double click on the selection when your done.

Part 17

18. Improve the quality of this blend by adding a filter. Choose Filter > Gaussian Blur, choose a Radius of 40 pixels, to really get the best from this effect.

Part 18

19. Next create a new Layer (above the phoenix and below the flames layers) by clicking the Create New layer button in the Layer Palette (name it black), then we’re going to fill it with black, choose Select > All then Edit > Fill and choose the colour Black from the drop down menu.

Part 19

20. Add Layer Mask from the Layers panel, if your layer mask is white, choose Select > Inverse, or short-cut Cmd + I (Mac) Ctrl + I (Windows), to reveal the image underneath.

Part 20

21. With the Brush Tool and White selected as the Foreground colour, paint over the background to reveal the black layer mask. If you mess up at anytime, swap the foreground and background colours to paint back the layer mask.

Part 21

22. Almost done! Add a Hue/ Saturation Adjustment Layer from the by clicking the Yin-Yang icon from the Layers panel, drop the Saturation to –30 and the Lightness to –10.

Part 22

23. Click the Yin-Yang icon again from the Layers palette and choose a Levels Adjustment layer and intensify the contrast until the image is brighter, I’ll let you choose your own setting for this.

Part 23

24. Lets tidy up before the last part, select all the layers by clicking the very top layer, holding down Shift and clicking the last layer (not the Background Layer), drag the selected layers to the Folder icon in the Layers panel. Name the folder Phoenix.

Part 24

25. Create a New Layer and call it sparks.

Part 25

26. Now with the Brush selected from the Tool palette, and a Brush Size of 9, a Hardness of 0% and a Foreground colour of Yellow. Dot the sparks layer with random daps of the brush.

Part 26

27. Next we’re going to add motion to the rising sparks, choose Filter > Blur > Motion Blur and choose an Angle of –90 degrees, and a Distance of 13 pixels, click OK.

Part 27

28. Duplicate the layer and reduce it in size over again and again, until you build up coverage of rising sparks all different sizes. Be careful here, sometimes less is more, use the layer Opacity to reduce the layers opacity, giving it a feeling of distance.

Part 28

29. The last part is creating a cinematic quality to the Phoenix. Create a new layer and call it flare, choose Select > All then Edit > Fill and choose the colour Black from the drop down menu. Then choose a blend mode of Screen to reveal the image underneath.

Part 29

30. Lastly, choose Filter > Render > Lens Flare, choose a Brightness of 100% and check the 105mm Prime option. Next you’ll need to do this blind from the preview window, however with a couple of goes position the flare on the Phoenix’s back, click OK.

Part 30

And you’re done, save as a .psd, and should you notice any imperfections just open the document and make your changes.

And Finally

And Finally

I’ve cropped the image for a final version as a panoramic view to add to the cinematic quality. Hopefully you’ll be able to use these techniques in your own experiments and projects. Enjoy!

Finished version

If you liked this Tut, please share it and subscribe for more as and when ! make em!

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Authors Note: this article like the others in this category are part of my Masters Degree in Art and Design and are works in progress, so you’ll have to forgive the bad grammar and spelling in places.

Siebren Versteeg (Art piece: Affirmations)

Siebren Versteeg, born in 1971 in New Haven, Connecticut, is coined as ‘every Harry Potter loving/Hackers­ watching/anti-capitalist computer geek’s idol,’ by New York Magazine, or as he likes to call himself a ‘Programist’ rather than an Artist. His work is mostly based in multimedia installations where he writes and manipulates his own computer programs to use algorithms that guide the flow of information to create artworks. Versteeg uses Mirosoft primarily, ASP programing language with Adobe Director. The video work he produces (I think, this how he does it) gathers RSS Feeds from selected websites, loops the text back to a display (in this case its a Plasma Screen), overlapping a looping or live video cast. The result is a live blog feed, presenting organic news written from Internet in real time, displayed over a mainstream TV News Program. Versteeg wants us to see the balance between ‘outside news’ or world news with ‘inside news’ personal journals and blog entries.

Dynamic Ribbon Device and Not Dynamic Ribbon Device

Dynamic Ribbon Device, made in 2003 and later Not Dynamic Ribbon Device, made in 2006, used Versteeg’s own program to gather live Word News Feeds from arbitrary selected News agencies and output them to an LCD screen. This continues feed of information is displayed into Coca-Cola’s cursive red and white typography, which scrolls through the screen as droplets of ice water drip across the surface. Versteeg explains the piece’s purpose is ”to visually present them (news/ information) in the branding style of global corporations which mediate our consumer and info worlds.”

Versteeg was inspired by Slavoj Zizek’s essay, ‘The Super-Ego and the Act‘, he makes a relationship between Coke’s slogan ’obey your thirst’, cited in the essay and the desire to know and create news. Versteeg is using Zizek’s dialogue as a depiction of the troubles in society, to be a part of the world you have to be seen.  I personally feel the piece explains, quiet plainly, the branding of world news and thus depersonalising events in to digestible chunks. Everything looks good in red and white! Its the use of style and trend to convey world affairs in order to stimulate its viewers, that helps us reflect on the emotional control we’re accepting via branding.

Dynamic Ribbon Device

Not Dynamic Ribbon Device (2006) supersedes Dynamic Ribbon Device, and flips the news feed using Diet Coke’s branding to depict the “not” or “with out” in his rewritten program.

Versteeg’s program selects the words “is” or “are” that appear in the RSS Feeds and changes them to read “is not” or “are not”. These pieces of art a continuum, the future is as yet to be seen, and the past (on a conceptual level), scroll through disappearing unlogged, out of the artwork and out of existence!

Not Dynamic Ribbon Device

The Chicago Humanities Festival

Here is Siebren Versteeg discussing his work and the role of being an artist in the digital age with Naomi Beckwith, curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago during the 2012 The Chicago Humanities Festival.

The Satan Drawings

Siebren Versteeg also uses his programing skills to manipulate image feeds and not just text. Versteeg created a series of drawings called The Satan Drawings (created in 2007), where he reprogrammed popular drawing software to strip and reassemble the results of a Google Image search for “Satan.” The results are a sketchy, spidery impression that looks very much like etchings. This effect just adds to the rawness of searched keyword and programing. However the search Keyword ‘Satan’ throws up a number of cultural ideas in its meaning, you could say, the birth of Google is the death of religion through discovering the truth in visual evidence. Or culturally, we’re drawn to iconic representations, particularly in Western society, that influence or decisions and desires, the Keyword Satan is arbitrary, from this notion another search keyword might have been “Sex” and then what would the drawings look like!? The whole series is printed on Inkjet archival paper.

The Satan Drawings 1

The Satan Drawings 2

The Satan Drawings 3

The Satan Drawings 4

100 Years of Google Images

100 Years of Google Images (created in 2007) is an archival inkjet print mounted to aluminum, which maps of the quantity of images returned from a Google image search of each day of the past 100 years. The vertical spikes represent time. This piece depicts the cultural importance of Google Image searches and societies technological evolution for requesting information, also playing on the notion, we were all blind before July 2001.

100 Years of Google Images

100 Years of Google Images (Close up)

Heaven and Hell

Heaven and Hell (created in 2009) uses a similar search program to The Satan Drawings. Versteeg’s program gathers realtime image searches for ‘heaven’ and ‘hell’ and intermittently places the results respectively above or below a horizon line. Because the artwork is displayed via a Plasma Screen, “live”, the results are aggregated into a continuously evolving composition.

Heaven and Hell

Heaven and Hell (Close up)

Sources of this info are: www.vulture.com/2007/08/the_devil_inside.html, www.siebrenversteeg.com, www.meulensteen.com/artists/siebren-versteeg/, weirddeermedia.com/2008/05/freeproseland-a-conversation-with-siebren-versteeg/, strp.nl/nl/

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Now, there are plugins you’ll be using that are plenty good enough at protecting your site like Askimet or WP Security Scan and thats fine, but beefing up your .htaccess file will dam near bulletproof your site and aid traffic more efficiently, so that can’t be bad!?

How to use the code

Create a blank .htaccess file. You can do this with your current FTP software (if you now how to create a new file), Dreamwever, Notepad, Textedit, or my choice of weapon… Coda.

Create a new file and call it .htaccess

Next drop in the code below chunck by chunk and TEST your site in all verables, like comments, the 404 page, ect, ect… Depending on the theme you’re using and the plugins you’ve installed  there might be some compatibility issues, however you’re only going to find out if you test the dammed thing and then test it again.

Again my advice is to try one chunk of code at a time, refresh your site and if it breaks, remove the last chunk of code and move on to the next.

Protect the htaccess file

Whatever happens, you’ll always want to protect the very file you’re using to protect all the other files… makes sense huh, so drop this in there!

# BEGIN Protect the htaccess file
	<files .htaccess>
	order allow,deny
	deny from all
	</files>
# END Protect the htaccess file

Disable the server signature

Server signatures contain valuable information about installed software and can be read (and exploited) by worms and hackers. Using this will hid that information from prying eyes.

# BEGIN Disable the server signature
	ServerSignature Off
# END Disable the server signature

Limit file uploads to 50mb

OK, so not one that’ll protect your site but a real handy one. using this will increase or limit the Media File Upload to 50MB for those large video files or heavy pdfs’, just drop this into your .htaccess file to get the most from your WP site. If you’re a purist about code and use the conversion of bytes to megabytes or whatever, you can make the conversion here, matisse.net bit calculator.

# BEGIN Upload Limiter
	php_value upload_max_filesize 50M
	php_value post_max_size 50M
	php_value max_execution_time 500
	php_value max_input_time 500
# END Upload Limiter

Protect you wp-config.php file

This chunk of code is an absolute must, it protects your wp-config.php file from being viewed by unwanted eyes.

# BEGIN Protect wpconfig.php
	<files wp-config.php>
	order allow,deny
	deny from all
	</files>
# END Protect wpconfig.php

Limit access to your wp-admin (login)

A very handy bit of code if you’re always blogging from a static IP address, insert this code and change ’000.000.000.000′ to your IP address, and only you will be able to access your blog. Not good if you like to post your latest thoughts from Starbucks!

# BEGIN Who has access who doesnt
	order allow,deny
	#deny from 000.000.000.000
	allow from all
# END Who has access who doesnt

Custom error documents

Personalise your error docs and specify the url where they’re held, you can add more error documents as you see fit.

# BEGIN Custom error docs
	ErrorDocument 404 /error-docs/notfound.php
	ErrorDocument 403 /error-docs/forbidden.php
	ErrorDocument 500 /error-docs/error.php
# END Custom error docs

Disable Hotlinking of images with a custom warning image

If you’re one of those people who just hate it when someone uses your bandwidth to hijack your image urls to use on their own site, then this is the code for you. Add this to your .htaccess file, create a warning message ’get-your-own.jpg’ and upload it to the fist level of your sites root folder.

# BEGIN Disable hotlinking of images with warning message
	RewriteEngine on
	RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^$
	RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://(www\.)?yourdomain.com/.*$ [NC]
	#RewriteRule \.(gif|jpg)$ – [F]
	#RewriteRule \.(gif|jpg)$ http://www.yourdomain.com/get-your-own.jpg [R,L]
# END Disable hotlinking of images with warning message

Stop those spam comments

This is really handy however use it wisely, as it could prevent some plugins from working correctly, my advice Test, Test and Test again!

# BEGIN Protect from spam comments
	RewriteEngine On
	RewriteCond %{REQUEST_METHOD} POST
	RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} .wp-comments-post\.php*
	RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !.*yourdomain.com.* [OR]
	RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^$
	RewriteRule (.*) ^http://%{REMOTE_ADDR}/$ [R=301,L]
# END Protect from spam comments

Lastly If you are already using a custom permalink structure to format page names, you’ll need to keep that code in the htaccess file in order for that to continue working.

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