Paravel Web Design

     Paravel is a web design and branding agency comprised of three men- Reagan Ray, Trent Walton, and Dave Rupert. They all contribute to the web projects in their own ways, but it seems that Reagan Ray is the graphic designer of the websites, judging by his individual portfolio site where he displays a lot of his branding designs. I was attracted to the "handmade" feel to his artwork, especially on the first page of the Paravel website because I intended to have the same effect for the homepage of my own website.

Home Page of Paravel

    

      Within the site is a portfolio of different sites that the team has worked to create. The layout of the site is very simple, using black and white rollover images in a grid layout to organize their works. After clicking on their images, you are taken to a new page where they have a large image capturing the design of their sites. 

      Below the main image, the page is divided into several small sections by a simple gray line. Each section contains small captures of aspects of the sites they create, and then simply describe the process of their designs. Their images are very clean, but they add in elements of "homemade" which is most likely Ray's doing. 

       They create responsive web sites, which are supposed to be very easy to use and available to resize on several different technological appliances, so they make good use of Div Tags, as opposed to AP Div Tags, which is a good choice in a time where smartphones and tablets are becoming more popular in use. Their simple and sleek web layout is attractive, easy to read, and easy to negotiate. 

      I hope to design a website with a similar design. For my homepage, I have an image with a homemade feel, like theirs, comprised of rollover images that will take the viewer to a new page elaborating on each section of the site. Below that, I hope to take inspiration from their site and create small sections in which I take sections of my art pieces as visual representations of each section of my writing. I will be more cautious about the size of my font, however. I think that the font size of Paravel is obnoxiously large, and distracts from the display of their work. 

The Queen of Jazz

My take on Ella Fitzgerald using Illustrator for the meat of it, and Photoshop for the blur effects. Listen to "All the Things You Are" to get the full effect/hear the inspiration.

The original

Life=Game=Life

Much of the article "Identify Yourself" by Krystal South repeatedly alludes to the sexual experience on the Internet. This experience has larger roots in that it is easy to recreate your identity online and to interact with other people without the added pressure of dealing with preconceived notions about your identity, or emotional (or lack thereof) response, or awkwardness.  Because of this, the Internet creates a forum where people can feel safe exploring the taboo or the uncomfortable with little consequence.

Jon Rafman's Kool Aid Man in Second Life- Tour Promo and Daniel L. William's Sweet Treatz successfully display the disturbing, but the very real experience of fulfilling a fetish online, whether it be bestiality or celebrity worship. In the Life=Game section, South says that"[The Sims and Second Life] involve the transference of identify into a virtual space that, in effect, mirrors our own. The control of the user is complete; he or she can create, manipulate, or destroy their characters without consequence to their real lives. They can engage in play and socialization that may be restricted in their real lives, providing cathartic experiences that are free and open-ended. They push the idea of escape, present in all media consumption, to an active role over which they have control."

In thinking about Jung's interpretation of the psyche, he outlines five archetypal characteristics within a person. In these are the persona- the mask one wears for society, the shadow- the aspect of the self that is not socially acceptable, and the self- the true individual identity that helps to reconcile these different archetypes.  In applying these ideas to the concept of finding control within a world that is not real to everyone else, one could argue that the person who finds his niche in a gaming world is letting the shadowed aspect of himself take over for a while, satisfying his disappointed need to have autonomy over his Earthly life within the Internet life. Sex can be a taboo subject, and one in which people attribute to their darker personality. Having virtual sexual experiences reconciles this socially unacceptable desire with proper social conceptions, resulting in the creation of a normal persona not soiled by taboo fetishes and a second self that is able to fulfill them without consequence.

The section about how game=life This section of the article reminded me of the lecture with Brock Rough about how video game criticism is difficult.  Rough and South both seem to draw upon a similar conception of experiencing video games as a finite world in which the player has a certain level of autonomy, and can self-create fictional interpretations about the fictional truths presented in the world of the game. South says, "Playing games online, competing against other human beings, means that there is no clear pattern. New opponents have their own strategy, strengths, and weaknesses. Every game has its own goals and measures of success. Some games require teamwork while others require the player to think alone on their feet." There are several variables to the reality of the game world that influence the paths that the first player can take just as his own decisions influence the outcome of the game. There are finite options, but knowing all of the outcomes can never occur even with life regeneration in video games.  The experience of choice and options is similar to an "Away from Keyboard" experience or IRL.

That South notes how playing video games is an avenue for people to regain a sense of autonomy over the outcome of their experiences notes a sense of insecurity in away from keyboard life.  The video games provide a second life for the gamers that gives them a semblance of control over that life in a way they cannot be confident in applying to their lives outside of the computer.  Now, is this sense of control false? It is certainly real for the players, but it is not necessarily applicable for others outside of this world.  

Tying this with the other section, it seems that one's experiences away from the keyboard give reality and purpose to the world of the Internet, but the Internet also gives the same back. There is a deep interconnectivity between the two, which makes it hard to dichotomize the ideas of determining reality and identity away from and involved in the computer.