Chathra Weeraman: July 2008

Monday, July 21, 2008

Assignment 1 - Symbol

The final composition of the symbol on Global Warming.
The Green House Effect

Assignment 1 - Process

Created several circles using the Ellipse Tool and transformed them to get the desired shape. Changed the stroke weight of the outer circle to show the region of the symbol.

Added the remaining strokes that would form the outline of the whole symbol. Used the method of mirroring as it is a symmetrical shape to make the process more efficient.

Outlined the world map by using an image of a globe as a reference. The reference image was placed as an template image. Only the Pen Tool was used to draw the outlines.

Coloured the objects, using the appropiate colour scheme, that can be found in the swatches palette.

Put gradients on several objects to enhance the visual quality. Used the Mesh Tool and the 'Create Gradient Mesh' command to achieve that effect.

Changed the stroke colour into some other to get the desired rendering of the symbol.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Assignment 1 - Preliminary Studies

Preliminary Studies
The Green House Effect

The Earth works as a Van de Graaff Generator, covered by a spherical glass. Energy flows from the Sun to the Earth, but the Energy doesn't go out into the space because of the glass, which represents the region of the Earth's atmosphere. The energy circulates within the region of the spherical glass, which is what really happens in a green house.

I've used the standard symbol to represent the sun (Circle and a dark spot in the middle). It was then embedded to the base of the generator and connected it with the Earth to show how energy flows.

The rendering that I had done for the sketch is only for visualization. I will use solid colours most of the time as it should inherit characterizations of a symbol.

Assignment 1 - Precedent Studies

A Mind Map on Global Warming. that helped me to choose the sub topic, The Green House Effect.

When I spotted out this image, I got the idea of Earth being covered by a sphere made out of glass to represent the Green House Effect.

A set of symbols, that inspired me to represent the Sun as a symbol.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Assignment 1 - Background Research

For decades, the main environmental concerns of the world at large have been, without a doubt, global warming and ozone depletion. These are the two known problems which pose the most direct threat to mankind, as they usher in a whole vista of changes in our world. Since we realized the imminent dangers posed by these problems, the whole world has concentrated greatly on eliminating them. It has proven to be a daunting task, and still, global warming and ozone depletion remain the two greatest problems faced by humankind.

Global warming is literally a rise in the world’s climatic temperature, brought on by the Greenhouse Effect. The greenhouse effect occurs when Greenhouse Gases such as Carbon Dioxide, Methane and various Oxides of Nitrogen accumulate above their tolerance levels in the atmosphere.

When these gases are present in the atmosphere in large amounts, they trap the heat from the sun, which is normally reflected and radiated out into space by the surface of Earth. This trapped heat causes a drastic increase in atmospheric temperature, causing numerous problems such as the melting of glaciers in the Polar Regions and consequently an increase in sea level. This in turn could cause the submersion of a large portion of the world’s land.

In addition, global warming could cause worldwide changes in climate and weather patterns. It would eventually result in a massive worldwide extinction, wiping Earth clean of most of its fauna and flora.