Module 6.1: Writing Task – Representing The Self
The Zomboy Avatar
This is an avatar that I have created from a t-shirt design I made in 2008 using Adobe Illustrator for my t-shirt brand. For this reason there are no copyright issues as I am the creator of this image. It contains silhouette art of mini men flying with the aid of the mighty dandelion! This image represents my brand having a strong connection with nature and its interaction with people. This image represents friendship, community, love, people, and spirituality. The image that I want to create for the brand is the harmony of person and nature. Because the image is simple people will remember it.
Reference
Dandelion Flight [Image] (n.d.). Retrieved February 06, 2010 from http://www.redbubble.com/people/zomboy/t-shirts/4055895-1-dandylion-flight-reversed-circular
Module 6.1 Discussion Questions: More than Words Can Say
How much do you find user avatars contribute to your perception of the people behind them?
I agree with what Nowak and Ruah when they state that avatars provide observers with more information about that user. Giving a ‘face’ to the name so to speak. My perception of the person is increased; I am more likely to retain what they say. It gives the user much more personality.
How is your perception of people affected by avatars within different contexts (i.e. discussion forums, games, instant messaging, social networks etc.)?
Within discussion forums I am more likely to retain what people say if they have an avatar. I can also relate messages with previous messages, particularly because I have a strong visual memory. Within a gaming arena it gives the character more personality. Some players may have a dark persona while others are more light and bubbly. Your mood changes according to the way the avatar looks.
How do you think the lack of recognisable avatars within the Blackboard environment affects your relationship with others in this course?
It has had a profound affect on my interactions. I cannot remember people from one module to the next. I know that there must be some people that have made numerous responses to my postings however I have found it very difficult to make the connections. As I said I have a strong visual memory, to me this is very important. I feel the lack of avatars makes the blackboard a dull place to be.
Reference
Nowak, K., & Rauh, C. (2005). The Influence of the Avatar on Online Perceptions of Anthropomorphism, Androgyny, Credibility, Homophily, and Attraction. Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, 11(1). Retrieved 06 February 2010, from http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol11/issue1/nowak.html
Module 5.2 Writing Task – Remediating for 140 Characters
Using just 140 characters is a challenge, particularly if you include a link with your tweet. However, I found a handy tool at http://bit.ly/ that takes your pasted long link and converts it to a shorter bit.ly link.
# Tags
The # tags that are most relevant to my topic include #tshirt, #t-shirt, #tee, #amazing #art, #fashion, #design, #blog, #artist, #portfolio, #illustration, #graphicdesign. Combining tags for example #art and #blog in a search came up with some informative links for artistic inspiration. Combining industry related words with positive adjectives helps to find out what people like.
My Tweets
My first tweet links to an article I wrote for module 5 for Creating Generative Value called “Peace Pop and Politics”:
Tweet: My personal experience of how the #Haiti earthquakes and #Relief has affected t-shirt art and fashion http://bit.ly/cCX5TF
My second tweet links to a blog article I wrote about my latest t-shirt design called “Banana Nirvana”. This design is a parody of the Nirvana album cover Nevermind. Therefore I included a #Nirvana tag for the generative value and #t-shirt tag.
Tweet: Here is an article about a t-shirt design called Banana Nirvana. This is a parody of the 90s #Nirvana album Nevermind http://bit.ly/9NWNNp
My Retweets
I retweeted the following two tweets showcasing some artwork
Tweet: Great inspiration! AIGA design archives: http://designarchives.aiga.org/#/home
Tweet: #Amazing 3D Chalk #Sidewalk #Drawings by Julian Beever http://bit.ly/bNT0Tm #Design #Pictures #Art
Reflection
Unfortunately neither of my tweets or retweets inspired anyone to retweet this week. I have used twitter before and do not particularly like it. I find that it is full of ‘junk’ twitters from people advertising.
Having said this I can see the potential twitter has. It can be used as a research tool, particularly for design, you are able to find links to other peoples art portfolios and archives. From a marketing perspective I can locate people that have a particular interest and select them to follow.
Module 5.2: Discussion Questions – Flows
Although termed ‘micro-blogging’, how do you think Twitter differs from blogs in terms of the practices, conversations and experiences it produces?
It is still an asynchronous form of communication that moves beyond geographic constraints (Boyd, Golder and Lotan 2010 p.1). However, more traditional blogging is ‘bounded’ by a common interest. Microblogging involves following individuals, not topical threads (Boyd, Golder and Lotan 2010 p.1). Multiple microblogging Users often write about a particular topic at the same time, the content of which reflects what is happening in the world at that time (popular culture, current events). Twitter allows users to ‘retweet’ messages, ie. Sending them onto their followers, and this process continues through the network of users. So from this perspective there are many more repeats of the same information compared to traditional blogging methods (Boyd, Golder and Lotan 2010 p.1).
Reference
Boyd, d., Golder, S., & Lotan, G. (Forthcoming, 2010). Tweet Tweet Retweet: Conversational Aspects of Retweeting on Twitter. Paper presented at the HICSS-42, Persistent Conversation Track.
Retrieved 02 February 2010 from http://www.danah.org/papers/TweetTweetRetweet.pdf
Following Johnson’s article, what do you think of the various claims he makes that contribute to his assertion that “Twitter will change the way we live”?
I think this places too much emphasis on Twitter itself. There are many other microblogging services available like Facebook and MySpace that have also contributed to this change in the way people communicate or publish information.
Reference
Johnson, S. (2009). How Twitter Will Change The Way We Live. Retrieved February 2nd, 2010, from http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1902604,00.html.
What influences do you think have given rise to the enormous success of Twitter as a communication platform?
Twitter is a promotional tool that is utilised by marketers, celebrities and politicians (Boyd, Golder and Lotan 2010 p.1). Employees of famous people work behind the scenes to ‘drive’ social networking technology on famous people’s behalf. They can essentially manipulate the system to get a wider audience. Ellen Degeneres is an avid promoter of Twitter. She invites her viewers on TV to follow her on Twitter on a regular basis.
Reference
Boyd, d., Golder, S., & Lotan, G. (Forthcoming, 2010). Tweet Tweet Retweet: Conversational Aspects of Retweeting on Twitter. Paper presented at the HICSS-42, Persistent Conversation Track.
Retrieved 02 February 2010 from http://www.danah.org/papers/TweetTweetRetweet.pdf
Soulkreed
zomboyshirts is always looking out for new t-shirt brands. I try and find shirt designs that bring something new to the table and just today I stumbled across this little gem called Soulkreed. Soulkreed was founded in early 2009 by Ashley Moore. Ashley’s passion for his work is obvious when you take a look at the artwork he has here. The designs incorporate art, fashion, culture, music, mythology and spirituality. His designs contain a variety of printing methods keeping it true to form as an underground style of clothing. Ashley designs, prints and airbrushes all the work himself. From this perspective the clothing has a personal touch that is not easy to find these days. The fact that his designs cover the whole of the shirt simply maximises the t-shirt canvas to its full potential. Stunning stuff Ashley.
Reference
Indian Skull [Image] (n.d.). Retrieved February 01, 2010 from http://store.soulkreed.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9_13_18&products_id=17
Module 5.1: Writing Task – Consolidating Your Presence
Reflection on the alterations and additions
After exploring the various functions on WordPress I was quite impressed with the changes I could make. I changed my “Gravatar” from the standard image to my most successful t-shirt design to date: “dandylion flight”. Dandylion Flight is a silhouette design of tiny men flying the aid of the mighty dandelion.
I added a link to my redbubble.com account where my t-shirt designs are for sale. I added a link to The T-shirt Review as this is the other t-shirt blogger site that I have started to build a relationship with. I also linked my delicious account.
I added the “Gravatar”, “Tag Cloud”, and a close-up image of my latest design “Nature in Motion” in the side bar. This image is stored in myspace account which I use primarily for storing close-up images of my t-shirt designs. I then linked the “Gravatar” to my redbubble home page and the “Nature in Motion” image directly to redbubble where this t-shirt design is for sale.
I added the Tags: ‘t-shirt’, ‘t-shirt art’, ‘t-shirt fashion’ and ‘zomboy’ and ‘zomboyshirts’ to all of my posts. I added the link ‘Haiti’ ‘Peace’ ‘Pop’ and ‘Politics’ to my Creating Generative Value writing task. I aim to try and generate more interest through relating my tags more concisely to the written content.
Before and After Screenshot
Banana Nirvana
Here is the latest t-shirt from zomboy “Banana Nirvana”. This is a parody of the all time great 90s grunge Nirvana and their infamous album – Nevermind. You can purchase this shirt from zomboy’s retail store. In my opinion this nevermind was one of the best album’s of all time. I wanted to try and celebrate this by putting a new spin on it. I find the original album cover quite humourous anyway, so why not try and recapture that humour in a fresh way.
I enjoy working with parody as much as possible. It’s not the easiest form of artwork. It usually takes a bit of brainstorming before drawing phase. Some other artists like Glennz and Rubyred work with this medium very well, particularly cult movie followings like star wars and star trek. I chose to go down the music path as I believe this has not been fully explored yet, there is more room to move/create here.
I find it intriguing that some nevermind covers were printed with the penis while others had it removed. I ummed and aaaahed about this for a while and came the conclusion that the original would have intended to do it this way (with rather than without) so I thought “to hell with it, it’s going in”. I hope people see it as homour and not take offence. It comes from a good place.
Reference
Banana Nirvana [Image] (n.d.). Retrieved January 29, 2010 from http://www.redbubble.com/people/zomboy/t-shirts/4556207-1-banana-nirvana
Module 5.1: Activity Discussion Questions (Links)
Has your own Blog/Web presence hub attracted any comments beyond those of other students? How do you think you might encourage conversation through your writing?
Yes I’m proud to say that zomboy shirt’s blog has attracted one comment from another reputable t-shirt blog called The T-shirt Review. I mention in my blog that I often refer to the t-shirt review and the creator of this blog kindly referenced my blog saying that he was “happy to be included in my shortlist with two other major t-shirt bloggers”. I have allowed comments, trackbacks and pingbacks to encourage more communication between myself and this blogger.
I think I can encourage more conversation by writing more about other reputable t-shirt blog sites that I refer to in my creative process. I want to encourage “Shared opinions, insights, experiences and perspectives” (Hinchcliffe, 2007). I see this as an opportunity to expand my understanding of the t-shirt art and fashion.
I am planning on releasing a brand later this year and as part of this release I can offer an exchange of exposure, links and trackbacks and general knowledge regarding the online t-shirt community.
Reference
Hinchcliffe, D. (2007). Social Media Goes Mainstream. Retrieved September 4th, 2009, from http://web2.socialcomputingjournal.com/social_media_goes_mainstream.htm.
In your own tracking of Blogs on your chosen topic, how much of the conversational nature of the blogosphere have you directly observed?
I have observed a lot of t-shirt related blogs that are conversational in nature. For example, all of the blogs that I previously mentioned, The t-shirt Review and Tcritic speak in first person. When people reply to each other on sites like textile.com, teefury.com and t-shirtforums.com they often ‘quote’ what previous people have said in their response. T-shirt forums and teefury have a ‘quote’ button that allows users to quote a response and then write underneath that previous response.
Given the broadly social and participatory nature of Web 2.0 technologies, is the term media still appropriate to describe these emerging forms?
Hinchcliffe refers to blogs and other networked media including message boards, podcasts, wikis and vlogs as “social media” largely due to the participatory nature. This also includes video social media on sites like youtube.
Reference
Hinchcliffe, D. (2007). Social Media Goes Mainstream. Retrieved September 4th, 2009, from http://web2.socialcomputingjournal.com/social_media_goes_mainstream.htm.
Module 4.2: Writing Task – Entering the Conversation
The following response was posted on t-shirtforums.com. I posted in regards to get advice on locating screen printing equipment in Melbourne. My post is under the name zomboy99 at:
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/screen-printing-equipment/t100978.html
Hello,
My name is Stephen, I live in Melbourne as well. I am in the process of researching screen printing equipment for my own t-shirt brand. I am considering doing the screen printing myself because I think in the long run this will save me money and also give me more control and flexibility with the printing process. Predominantly I plan to be doing one and two colour designs.
I read that you are trying to source screen printing equipment in Melbourne. I’m also in the process of trying to locate screen printing equipment. I managed to locate these guys through Google search. They are called All Australian Screen Printing Supplies – http://www.allaustsps.com.au. They are based in Bayswater. I imagine that because they are retail they would probably ask top dollar for equipment but it’s probably worth going to have a look to see what they have available.
Did you manage to locate any other suppliers here in Melbourne? I would even consider second hand if you could point me in the direction of a second hand screen printing dealer of some sort. I do not know if something like this exists? Any assistance here would be much appreciated.
Thanks.
Module 4.2: Activity – Discussion Questions (A New Media Audience)
Are you actively involved in any online interest groups or communities? What elements do you think define engaging writing in this context?
Yes I am actively involved (on a daily basis) with the redbubble.com community. Redbubble is an open and inclusive website where people can post and sell their t-shirt designs online. Each design contains its own running blog where people discuss what they like about a design. I have noticed that the following elements help to engage users:
- Knowledge Sharing – sharing artistic techniques, resources, tutorials and tools.
- Having a friendly manner and encouraging good humoured responses.
- Collaborating ideas (brainstorming) artistic concepts with other users and also collaborating artwork.
- Providing insight into who you actually are – ‘the face behind the mask’ (Rheingold 1998). While gaining insight into other users as well.
- Make new comers feel welcome by providing positive feedback for their artwork and assistance when requested.
Rheingold, H. (1998). The Art of Hosting Good Conversations Online. Retrieved October 5th, 2009, from http://www.rheingold.com/texts/artonlinehost.html.
Are there approaches to, or styles of writing that actively encourage conversation and dialogue from an audience?
- Concise writing appears to generate more response. People are reluctant to wade through a lot of text.
- A writing style that asks the reader a question can invoke response.
- A sense of humour can go a long way.
- Voicing a strong opinion about a topical or popular current event polarises audience members and encourages rebuttal.
What sorts of impact can the audience have on online media texts such as blogs? What difference does this make to the media landscape in general?
When an audience member responds to a blog they are leaving a time stamped message regarding that topic. The public are voicing their opinion relative to what is happening in the world at that time. This adds depth to the media landscape because members of the public have varying opinions, and these are non mediated opinions. So if a person is to search for information regarding a topic they will not only get mainstream news but they will also get the varying opinions of others. Overall the media landscape is made broader with more individualised depth.
Zomboyshirts's Blog 