i(Not)Funny

Writing is very important when it comes to the effectiveness of a meme. If the writing is poor or unclear, the meme is virtually useless. For example, in the article about atheism and memes, the very first meme they present is poorly written. This can turn the viewer away completely from the meme. This is especially true in a time where you can consume an unbelievable amount of content on the internet in one sitting. If the writing is too long or not written precisely, the average user will just scroll past it. If the writing is good, however, the meme has a much higher chance of going viral. The most popular memes and meme formats feature simple and clever writing. Many meme formats only have a few words. In those few words, the creator has to write a clear, witty, and meaningful meme. 

Visual rhetoric is also very important in the effectiveness of a meme. Whatever image or images are used must serve a connected purpose. Memes are not just writing alone; they are a combination of writing and visuals. There is a lot of creative freedom in the visual rhetoric of a meme. The images in a meme can be related or even unrelated to the text to create layers in the message. The font of the text itself can even create a layer of meaning; many memes use Comic Sans to add to the joke. Because memes typically have so little text, the creator relies heavily on the visual aspect to add depth.

What is your favorite place to look at memes and why? Instagram, Twitter, TikTok (would they even be considered memes)? 

I have caught myself saying “cram on my jams” on more than one occasion…

Delivery & Accessibility

In Roman times, delivery referred to the physical aspects of a performance, speech, etc. It was the hand gestures, tone of voice, body movements, and more, used when presenting information. It was lost when written presentations became more commonplace, as many did not connect delivery with written information. 

The topic of access and accessibility probably looked very different in Roman times. There may have been limited access to information about a presentation to those who lived in certain areas. As for accessibility, there were much less accommodations for those with disabilities. Porter uses the term “teche” to describe the similarity between delivery in Roman times and now. There is a distinction between mechanical writing and technical writing that is distinguished in this similarity. “Teche” is not merely knowing the steps to create something and repeating it, rather, it requires critical thinking about the purpose of that thing. For example, it is not enough to know general rules about writing an essay; you must have a goal and an audience in mind. In terms of accessibility, this means knowing the possible disabilities or inhibitors your audience might have and working to accommodate that. If you simply follow a set of rules, you may completely disregard a whole section of your audience, especially considering the lack of disability representation we see today. 

I don’t think I’ve ever had to consider access and accessibility in my works so far. I mostly write for classes in which I simply turn the assignment into the professor however they want. There have, however, been a couple of times where I have created a video for TikTok and added subtitles. It’s not like I have a large following, but I see many other people doing it, so I did it as well. 

When have you had to consider access and accessibility in your works, if ever? What are some examples of things (apps, products, etc.) you think fail to consider them?

Interactive Fiction

While I do believe most fiction shares the purpose of engaging audiences, interactive fiction is fundamentally different from other kinds of fiction, such as VR or novels. It is more restricted than a novel in that there is less room for lore and multiple storylines, as was mentioned in the video. IF has to rely on saying a lot with a little; something a lengthy novel does not. While it is more similar to VR than a novel, it is still different. IF relies more heavily on narrative than VR, because it lacks other elements (like visuals) that VR has. All of these mediums may share a goal, but they provide vastly different experiences. 

I do think, however, that elements of IF can be transferred to other mediums. For example, the concept of choose-your-path games has been transferred to TV shows. An example of this is the popular Black Mirror movie that came out in 2018 on Netflix. Viewers had the ability to choose what the actor would do, leading to different stories. This is a perfect example of “ambiguity” that the video mentioned. This choice made viewers feel like they played an important role in the plot, rather than just watching it unfold. By not explaining the choices, the creators wrote a show that let viewers insert themselves into the show itself. This concept of ambiguity in writing as a strength can be applied to almost any medium. By leaving certain details unexplained until the end, or forever, audiences will be more involved in the story because their curiosity is piqued.

Do you have a preference between these types of media? Do you enjoy IF more than a regular old novel? Or are you more old school?

Learning Kerning

I played Kern Type. It focused on correcting the kerning of each typeface. You had to guess the distance between the letters based on the shapes and sizes of the font. The game judged how off you were and showed where the letters should have been.

I did pretty well; I got 100s on more than one and a 91 overall. I did struggle with a couple particular fonts, however, like Quijote and gargantuan. These are unique looking fonts; Quijote being a script and gargantuan being very thick. The combination of serifs and thickness in gargantuan makes it especially hard. Quijote is slanted because it is script, making it hard to determine whether or not the spacing between each letter is equal. This game taught me that the most unique fonts have the most unique kernings, and are therefore hardest to replicate. 

I do think this game is a helpful addition to other projects. I don’t think it loses any educational value trying to be “fun”. The game is short and straightforward, so it’s able to communicate the message easily. Players would likely struggle with the same fonts and pick up on a pattern. The game does not explicitly state why some are harder than others, however.

Using Canva

I had never used Canva before, but I enjoyed it. I appreciated the variety of templates it offers and found some that I would definitely use in the future. I will have to learn how to use the program, but it doesn’t seem too hard to understand. I really liked some of the features, specifically, the ability to search for templates by color. It was a bit restricting, but for someone with very little design experience, that may be more of a pro than a con…

It was slightly harder to break the rules on Canva. Even the tools I wanted to use to make my graphic ugly were pretty (although I did still manage to make a pretty horrific image). For example, the stickers I used may look bad in addition to the rest of the graphic, but those are stickers I really liked and would use on other things. In other programs, it is easier to make a graphic that looks boring AND ugly, with zero redeeming qualities. 

A situation where you would not want to use Canva would be if you wanted to make a very specific graphic. If you know exactly what spacing, fonts, shapes, etc. you want to use, you are better off using something like inDesign. Another situation might be if you are appealing to an older audience. Many of the templates on Canva look like something a millennial would like, or things that are in style right now. 

What are some specific qualities you like about Canva? Do you prefer it over Pages or inDesign?

I tried to keep this one simple and readable. I also tried to make it look similar to the flyer I created for the contest.

I tried to create a distracting, bulky border. I also used as many fonts as possible and used various alignments. Last but not least, I used a busy background. How would you feel if someone unironically posted this on instagram?

Tactical Type

1. When Nichols uses the term “tactical type”, they are referring to the use of typeface as a method of persuasion in the “absence of power” (de Certeau). Writers choose specific typefaces to achieve a goal, whether or not they have any education about those typefaces. One example of this Nichols uses is in the “I can’t breathe” shirts written in Comic Sans. Although many people criticized this, saying the typeface undermines the tragedy, many believed it was purposeful. John Browlee stated that the designers of the shirt “are channeling a lot of our peripheral feelings about a reviled typeface into Garner’s last words.” Whether or not these instances are effective, like Nichols later states, is not the question. These instances encourage us to think about the purpose of the chosen typeface, rather than simply writing it off as “bad”. 
2. While I do appreciate the argument Nichols is making I do not think I would use “bad typeface” in my designs. I agree with the idea that even bad design is purposeful and that even the term “bad design” is problematic. I also wouldn’t criticize others too harshly for tactfully employing typefaces like Comic Sans or Papyrus, rather, I would recognize their bravery. I am not that brave, however. Because I would be more interested in the writing aspect than the design aspect of media, I think if I was going to be tactical, it would be in the content of the piece rather than the design.

My Ambivalence Towards TNR

Times New Roman neither excites nor disgusts me. I do appreciate how passionate Butterick is about it and laughed when I read that “Times New Roman is not a font choice so much as the absence of a font choice, like the blackness of deep space is not a color.” I never paid much attention to font before this unit, so I cannot say I have a fully formed opinion on TNR. It is easy to read and looks classy (sorry to use a vague adjective), but it doesn’t stand out. Depending on the context, that could be a good or a bad thing.

I am going to use ATF Franklin Gothic in my Mini Analysis and Proposal. I like it because it does not have serifs like old style fonts and will be more readable on screen. I like the amount of spacing between letters and the thickness of the lines. It is very easy to read because it is simple, in a good way.

There is Nothing New Under the Sun

Both authors cite the same Picasso quote, “Good designers copy, great designers steal”, to differentiate between “good” and “bad” stealing. They believe that stealing is different from merely copying because stealing requires a more in-depth understanding of who you’re stealing from. Rather than imitating the work of someone you admire, critically analyze the works of many people you admire and apply that knowledge to your own work. The most obvious sign that you’ve crossed the line in writing or design is when you get flagged for plagiarism. Aside from that, it would be if an audience doesn’t associate your work with you. Although they may be able to distinguish your inspirations, your voice should be your own. 

I think it is easier to steal well in writing. There are less visual elements to writing, therefore it is harder to discern what is being stolen. On the other hand, for that same reason, there is more to steal from in design. It generally takes more attention to pick up on details in someone’s writing style. Although it may be easier to steal in design, it is easier to steal effectively in writing. It is more acceptable to steal in writing for this reason as well (this does not apply to plagiarism). In fact, in academic writing, it is expected that you steal. I believe this is because the fact that there are no original ideas is more widely accepted in the academic world.

Believe it or not, I tried to make it worse

The problems with my design are primarily perceptual. The multiple fonts and chunky border are distracting to the eye. The fact that all of the text is center-aligned is perceptual in that it does not create an obvious path for the eye to follow, but the argument that it is “boring”, like the book says, is cultural. Not everyone will agree on what is boring or visually pleasing.

The main sin I believe will not last is the one about warped or naked photos, specifically the naked ones. In some cases, not being able to tell where the photo ends and the document begins could be aesthetically pleasing. Another sin that might change is the one about busy backgrounds. This is dependent on your definition of “busy”, of course. What is considered too chaotic may change in the future.

A couple questions I have from creating this flyer: I was having trouble warping the photo in Pages. I could resize it but I could not just drag the top or side in or out; it would always be proportional. How do I change this? Also, how do you upload a PDF to WordPress? I’ve been converting them to JPGs, but that’s kind of a hassle (I don’t seem too tech-savvy do I…).

My Life and Meme Culture

In this book cover I used all of the CRAP principles to intrigue my audience. I used contrast between the shadow on the white text as well as the transparent green boxes behind the black text to make them more readable. There is repetition in the white text and black text that groups them together. There is also repletion in the alignment; I used right alignment for my name and the quote, and left alignment for the title and subtitle. This makes the reader’s eye flow between texts more easily, beginning the with large title as the focal point. Finally, there are proximity differences between the title and subtitle and the rest of the text, also contributing to the direction the reader’s eye flows. After the reader sees the title, the next thing they will read is the subtitle. I’m still unsure about the image I chose, because there are loud colors and it is obviously photoshopped, but I hope the humor can make up for that.

I used Pages to create this, and I don’t know how to feel about it. It is a little confusing and there is not too much design freedom. Is it worth learning inDesign instead?