Trap. The combination of the genres of trance and rap usually through sound mixing and editing, has become a staple of parties and festival shows. They share similar use of synth, heavy base and spoken words to create music. But what interests me out of these is the artwork and how the artwork mimics the mixing of themes between rap and techno much in the same way the music does.

Here we have two separate albums, one from a single artist and the other a collection of
trance music from multiple sources. but they both demonstrate characteristics demonstrative of album artwork from this genre. The use of psychedelic shapes and colors tie into the long history and association between trance music and drug culture. They sparse use of text and very modern, usually sans-serif fonts are present here also. There is a feeling of otherworldly-ness to these covers, in a way they try to touch on the shifting adaptive and full feeling that is found in trance.

Here now are some examples of rap album covers. They have radically different themes, pallets, imagery and text. With the theme focusing around "urban" life and it's ups and down, there is use of urban settings mixed in with hard street life, loneliness and the like. this isn't to be mistaken for more popularized rappers that have been stereotyped as the "drugs, guns and women" group. I picked this subset of rap as I see it as a more "pure" form that has mostly stayed away from the influence of other genres ("nas" is a great example of this) This has also lead to there album artwork to maintain the same stylized lettering, with a heavy focus on the artist that was common with earlier records by Public Enemy, Sir Mixalot, Ice-T, etc. Where the trance albums had psychedelic colors, the color schemes are more subdued here using monochromatic color schemes and a more complex presentation. This captures better the type of music these record have: hard, biting, angry music with heavy drums, little treble and a focus on the spoken lyrics.


What we have so far are two different sets of cover art accomplishing two separate things; on one hand, we have rap music and the other we have trance. now when brought together you have music that takes elements from each and can be best described with the word "bangin". But does the artwork follow? Left is a album cover from Cashmere Cat, a premiere dj who specializes in live shows and mixes trap. I chose to start with this one for the fact that it bucks my thesis. The most important thing to remember is that as much as they are blending two previous genres they are changing and adapting and creating new things that are separate and will start to exist in ways its predecessor could not. But we still haven't moved out of the formative years for this music so there are  plenty of examples of the combining I spoke of earlier. The album cover pictured below is an example of how  combining the two different art styles and typography into one piece can work.

On the left we have a dj duo called RUN DMT's latest album cover that uses psychedelic imagery as well as the more moderated pallet for their album. The text is very modern, but the name is a pun on the oldschool rap group called RUN DMC turning it into a reference for the illegal drug DMT. This is on multiple levels a blending of rap and techno culture, and perfect does it job of representing the type of music found on the album.

So does this hold? Guess if the genre is rap, techno of trap of the album covers below and see if you are right.



Album 1

Answer: RAP        

Album 2

Answer: TRAP      

Album 3

Answer: TRAP      
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In class, we discussed Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics," which is really the seminal work in well, understanding comics.

Trap. The combination of the genres of trance and rap usually through sound mixing and editing, has become a staple of parties and festival shows. They share similar use of synth, heavy base and spoken words to create music.

Arguably one of the most recognizable symbols in the Western cultural lexicon, or even that of Eastern cultures, is the silhouette of Mickey Mouse.

The above comic by Robert Berry appears in his Ulysses “Seen” adaptation of the James Joyce novel Ulysses.

We watched "The Machine is Us/ing Us" and had an interesting class discussion on whether it was a scholarly work or not. It was not, perhaps, “scholarly”; but it was an argument, and it made me think about the sociology of internet communication.

During our in-class discussion of Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art," the composer brought up gutters, the space in between frames of a comic (or newspaper, cartoon or other media).

When we talked in class about usability and the internet, it sounded like the conclusion as to what makes a usable website is simplicity. Creating a website to serve a very obvious purpose is the key to usability.

In Vitaly Friedman's article "10 Usability Nightmares You Should Be Aware Of," the first item listed is  problematic hidden login links on websites.

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Of the recent readings for this course, I feel most compelled to comment on the writings of Jakob Nielsen. I had heard of him before, touted as the leading expert of usability.

Professor John Logie teaches us that comics have a place in academia. He teaches it in Visual Rhetoric. Why not? Comics are visual and they are graphic and they are certainly full of rhetoric. Comics teach us to engage ourselves with the comic we are viewing, on our own time, in our own space.

As of 2013, most people have encountered or used PowerPoint in a business or academic setting. Anyone who has sat through a PowerPoint presentation can most likely recall an instance when it was ineffective, i.e. too little or too much information; watered-down content; reliance on poor visual aids.

Many product images and icons with the color combinations red, white and black have been constructed throughout modern history: The Target bulls-eye, Coca-Cola and Wisconsin’s Bucky Badger are just a few examples.

Every day we are faced with multiple typefaces: the good, the bad and the ugly. Some help us to read faster and more clearly, some to invoke a specific feeling or emotion, all the while persuading us to do something (or buy something).

The very same day after we discussed Edward Tufte's "The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint", I was subjected to a PowerPoint presentation in which the student committed many of the mistakes this comedian points out in the video "How NOT to use powerpoint".

Web site usability

While discussing web design and website usability, the websites that were deemed “most usable,” all had one common trait, and that was simplicity. Simple web designs allow the visitor of the website to be in total control over the page.

... and how clashing implications continue to shape our reactions to these colors.

Depending on the region and cultural upbringing, one may have different connotations associated with the colors black, white, and red.

In our recent discussions of usability of websites, I can’t help but want to critique the website of Pine Lake Pastures, where I take horse riding lessons.

For the previous two assignments, I have analyzed typography, which has proved very interesting to me. However, this is the last blog, so I thought I would try a different media.

This is an advertisement from a non-profit organization in reference to second hand smoke.

I think that one of the flaws in data display is the lack of devotion to showing the visual verbal interdependence of the Cognate Strategies. (Kostelnick 326) There is so much data is in this world to display.

When talking about the ethics and rhetoric of data displays in class, I brought up the example of geographic information system (GIS) and their technique of interpolation.

"The Cognitive Style of Powerpoint" makes the assertion that:

The core ideas of teaching- explanation, reasoning, finding

things out, questioning, content, evidence, credible authority not patronizing

authoritarianism-are contrary to the cognitive style of PowerPoint.

When I first pulled out Tufte's packet on Power Point, it looked like one of the most boring texts on the planet. 30 pages on the style of Power Point? But as I read, I started to see his point and even found myself laughing at certain parts (talking about the “stupefied audience”).

Maybe it's just me, but as I read Tufte's "The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint," I couldn't help but feel that it was directed at me, especially between the ages of eleven and fifteen.

VISUAL ARGUMENTS BLOG  (Understanding Visual Rhetoric in Digital Writing Environments.)

Mary E.

Updating your company's logo: prepare to hit or miss

In Richard and Davis's article " "Decorative Color as a Rhetorical Enhancement on the World Wide Web", the authors say "Omnipresent on the World Wide Web, decorative logos appeal both to ethos and pathos because they attempt to generate a positiv

Posters featuring the slogan Keep Calm and Carry On, once distributed throughout London during World War II, have seen resurgence in popularity. The iconic design is recognized by its recognized by the capital lettering set against a bold red backdrop with a crown atop the text.

April 8th, 2013

To Display, or Not Display, Data that is the Question?

When choosing to represent data in graphical form there are many options one has at hand. There are pie charts, Gantt charts, bar charts, line graphs, linear regressions, normal distributions, and countless others; the list really is endless.

In "Understanding Visual Rhetoric in Digital Writing Environments," Hocks discusses the importance of transparency when creating digital and visual documents.

Since media technology has advanced past the typewriter, the capabilities of visual, and eventually digital, rhetoric using images have grown exponentially. By appealing to different human attitudes and emotions, digital images have the ability of persuasion and gaining compliance alike.

After reading the article “The rhetoric of black, white and red: Responsibility and aesthetics to persuade with color” by Jose Luis Caivano and Mabel A. Lopez the section on ritual and religious persuasion and intimidation stood out the most.

Despite my better judgment I watched the Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards show on CBS last night. The band Little Big Town performed their “Your Side of the Bed” song with interesting theatrics.

The song is a slow-moving traditional ballad with predictable lyrics.

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The colors black, white, and red have been associated with human feelings since the beginning of time.

I couldn't help but wonder, when the class was viewing those videos on Wednesday and debating what counts as being scholarly, if we aren't a bit biased.

Edward Tufte’s The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint lobbies some legitimate criticisms. The medium of visual presentations has always been one that I have found difficult to approach, execute, or understand.

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