Push/Pull

push

P U L L

mfa port fo l io P U S H / P U L L

designer W H I T N E Y C L A R K

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Observations of a New Era / 09

The intellectual consequences of technology

The Education Effect / 27

Exploring the positive effects of education on health

Slick / 43

The best magazine James Lick Middle School has to offer

Capture, Interpret , Share / 55

Re-branding Life Magazine

Tomorrow Began Yesterday / 75

A Paul Thomas Anderson film festival

Dancing Through Cultures / 93

Celebrating Canada’s multiple cultural heritages

Cocoon / 101

Notes on finding a home

A Master’s Thesi s : Re/view / 113

A visual approach to classic literature

Selected Works

Contents



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Let yourself be silently drawn by the stronger pull of what you truly love.R U M I

abstract

In design, as in life, there are no rules: we are making it up as we go

along. However, there are certain forces – people, places, things – that

silently guide us along, pulling us near one thing, pushing us away from

another. Design is one of those forces, something regarded as exerting

power and influence, causing change and producing motion. It has

certainly drawn me in.

00 Introduction



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course V I S U A L C O M M U N I C AT I O N S L A B

instructor P H I L H A M L E T T , H U N T E R W I M M E R

t i t le O B S E R VAT I O N S O F A N E W E R A

01



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We look at the present through a rear-view mirror. We march backwards into the future.M A R S H A L L M C LU H A N

abstract

This book is the culmination of a semester-long project that required

in-depth research into a topic of our choice. We were asked to translate

complex ideas into meaningful messages while also considering the

traditional format of a book.

approach

For this project I was drawn to Marshal McLuhan’s apt predictions and

“inventory of effects” of life in the age of digital media. From Plato’s

famous mistrust of the advent of the written word to the wariness of

the screens we now have within arms reach at all times, I plunged

into the debates, the science and the opinions of our generation’s new

technologies. I explored the intellectual consequences of technology on

our hearts, minds and souls, finding that while we should not dismiss

these new technologies as merely distractions, we should acknowledge

their influence.

01 Observations of a New Era



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CONSUMING INFORMATION

Exploring how technology affects our minds naturally involved a modest

understanding of how the mind works. One of the aspects I enjoyed learning about

the most was how our brains processes information through short-term and

long-term memory. When we talk about consuming information, it is helpful

to understand how that information is digested.



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course T Y P E S Y S T E M S

instructor B R E N D A N C A L L A H A N , A R V I R A Q U E L - S A N T O S

t i t le T H E E D U C AT I O N E F F E C T

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Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it.M A LC O M X

abstract

This group project was completed for a type composition class.

Each member of the group was asked to contribute one volume within

a series of books all related to the same topic. We were pushed to

expand on previously learned principles while also incorporating more

advanced concepts such as hierarchy, organization and grid systems.

approach

Our group explored the positive effects of education on quality of life.

My book specifically explored the positive health benefits that correlate

with higher education. However, I proposed considering education not

only as a way to higher learning but as a means of survival: as a place

where life skills are learned, relationships are developed and habits

are formed. It is these skills, friends and habits that lead to a greater

quality of life.

02 The Education Effect



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instructor A R V I R A Q U E L - S TA M O S , B R E N D A N C A L L A H A N




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course D I R E C T E D S T U D Y I N T E R N S H I P

instructor M A R Í A I N É S M O N T E S

t i t le S L I C K

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t i t le S L I C K

Humans are divided between those who can still look through the eyes of youth and those who cannot.D AV E E G G E R S

abstract

As an intern at 826 Valencia, a non-profit organization founded by the

writer Dave Eggers dedicated to helping under-resourced youth with

their writing skills, I created and designed promotional materials as

well as print publications of student work. The following magazine was

created for the students of James Lick Middle School.

approach

While working with the James Lick writers, I was able to visit their

classroom and discuss the design process for this kind of publication.

I worked with the students to find a voice in the photography and

quotes that best represented their interests and concerns. Art direction

for this project was provided by the 826 Valencia Creative Director,

María Inés Montes.

03 Slick



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t i t le S L I C K

WRITINGS ON THE WALL

For this issue of Slick magazine, I picked an article discussing the murals found

in the Mission District of San Francisco to highlight for the cover. The local focus

allowed me to photograph the murals myself.



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t i t le S L I C K



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t i t le S L I C K



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t i t le S L I C K

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course N AT U R E O F I D E N T I T Y

t i t le R E B R A N D I N G L I F E

instructor H U N T E R W I M M E R , G A S T O N YA G M O U R I A N

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abstract

For this project we were asked to re-imagine a dead, dying or defunct

brand. By exploring our chosen brand’s history, personality, heart and

soul we brought these elements back to life through the creation of a

new brand identity complete with programs and extensions.

approach

What better brand to bring back to life than Life (magazine) itself?

While creating new expressions for Life, the identity continued to focus

on telling a story, namely on capturing the narrative that visualizes the

dreams, meaning and significance of our times.

04 Rebranding Life

By the 1930s it was no secret that individuals responded strongly to photographs, though their spectrum was narrow, consisting largely of cheesecake and murder.V I C K I G O L D B E R G & R O B E R T S I LV E R M A N



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A WINDOW INTO THE WORLD

Founded in 1883 by John Ames and Andrew Miller at a studio in New York City,

Life magazine became a window into the world of the arts, sciences and technology.

Photojournalism as we know it today is thought to have been invented by Life.

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NEW LIFE, NEW MARK

The new Life mark is a logo enclosure that houses value-adding content, such as

color or photo elements, allowing it to be remixed in a variety of ways. The mark

was created with this flexibility and adaptability in mind because it aspires to

do more than tell a story but create a shared experience as well. This establishes a

more personal connection with the new Life brand audience.

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course I N T E G R AT E D C O M M U N I C AT I O N S

instructor H U N T E R W I M M E R

t i t le T O M O R R O W B E G A N Y E S T E R D AY

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I had older brothers and sisters who were doing drugs and playing rock music. I was watching.PA U L T H O M A S A N D E R S O N

abstract

Over the course of the semester we planned and designed a film festival

around the works of a director of our choice. One of the first things we

were tasked with was to find a common thread, or theme, throughout

our chosen director’s films. This theme would not only inform our design

decisions but the type of festival we imagined as well.

approach

I chose Paul Thomas Anderson as the director for my festival. His films

are emotionally direct and keenly felt as he shows people as they truly

are: messy, tragic and desperate, and life as it really is: often uncomfort-

able, sometimes beautiful, but always out of our control. The characters

in Anderson’s films attempt to escape their past but find that not only

can they not break free of their personal history, but their past informs,

and often ruins, their future as well.

05 Tomorrow Began Yesterday



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LARGOT AT THE CORONET THEATER

Largo’s understated aesthetic and wildly varied creative legacy was a perfect venue

for Anderson’s film festival. Like the different side of the San Fernando Valley that

Anderson shows us in many of his films, Largo at the Coronet Theater shows you

a different side of Hollywood as well.



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course T Y P E F O R M S

instructor M I C H A E L S A I N AT O

t i t le D A N C I N G T H R O U G H C U LT U R E S

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And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.F R I E D R I C H W I L H E L M N I E T Z C H E

abstract

While building on principles of typography such as hierarchy, scale and

composition, we were asked to create a brochure and poster for a dance

festival of our choice. The folded deliverable needed to be both useful

and usable as an order form as well.

approach

The dance festival I chose focused on modern dance and sought to

incorporate all of Canada’s multiple heritages. I wanted the overall look

and feel to be modern while also showing the idea of many elements

coming together to create a more beautiful and compelling whole.

06 Dancing Through Cultures



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course E X P E R I M E N TA L T Y P E

instructor S TA N Z I E N K A

t i t le C O C O O N

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At a certain season of our life we are accustomed to consider every spot as the possible site of a house.H E N R Y D AV I D T H O R E A U

abstract

With our immediate environment as our subject, we were tasked with

creating a book that explored our visual observations of the world

around us. The result was a compilation of personal writing, research

and photography.

approach

While creating this book I was in the midst of moving from a four

bedroom apartment I shared with friends to a one bedroom apartment

I would be sharing with my boyfriend. I wanted to convey the

logistical side of moving possessions from one space to another while

juxtaposing that imagery with more personal observations. These

considerations were accompanied by literary and historical antidotes

focusing on the concept of a home.

07 Cocoon



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course D I R E C T E D S T U D Y

advisors C A R O L I N A D E B A R T O LO , D AV I D P E T E R S& G A S T O N YA G M O U R I A N

t i t le R E / V I E W

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abstract

The thesis project is the primary means by which graduate students

acquire and demonstrate the advanced abilities that set them apart

from their undergraduate peers. After proposing an idea for a complex

design project in front of a review committee, graduate students

complete the goals they set for themselves through a series of one-

on-one advisement with designers in the community at large. Over the

course of completion, emphasis is placed on resourcefulness, risk-

taking, initiative and productivity.

A Master’s Thesis

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Design needs to be about making complex, abstract ideas visible. HUGH DUBBERLY

abstract

While completing my bachelor’s degree, and before I even knew what

graphic design was, I had already begun my thesis journey. My love of

language and books began early and I followed this passion into the

comparative literature and French departments of my undergraduate

university. I was compelled by what the words had to say, but often this

was not so easily discernible and I began drawing diagrams for myself

in my tougher literature and philosophy classes. Whether they were

character maps charting relationships between characters in a novel

or drawing out Plato’s cave allegory, I always found it helpful to have a

diagram to organize, compress and simplify what I was reading. When

I entered the world of graphic design I began thinking about how this

inkling of better understanding complex ideas through visuals could be

transformed into something bigger. I questioned if there were better

ways to teach novice students of literature the abstract concepts that

are sometimes difficult, inaccessible or overlooked.

approach

Re/view, an educational company with a focus on alternative

approaches to literature, is my solution to the idea that written works

can be made more approachable and understandable through visuals.

Re/view acts as an umbrella organization for smaller facets of the

company, such as Re/view Shakespeare or Re/view Melville that focus

on creating materials for specific authors.

08 Re/view



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The tools produced by Re/view act as a way to delve deeper into well-studied themes, to prompt thoughtful, nuanced questioning and to show that there is more than one way to approach and access literature.

see what you’ve been mis s ing

Since the advent of television and the photojournalism of Life magazine,

we have been transitioning to a more visual world. We have come to

favor pictures over words, sound-bites over novels. This cultural shift

parallels a recent study done by the National Endowment for the Arts

that documents not only a decline in both book and literary reading

over the last 20 years but an increase in the rate of that decline as well.

Over this same period, young adults have gone from being those most

likely to read literature to those least likely. This is not to say that we

should abandon our Austen and our Faulkner, but we should take this

opportunity to explore how we can put these new tools and insights to

work for our old information, poetry and prose.

While it has been shown that supporting written or spoken language

with charts, diagrams or photographs, learning can be facilitated and

retention reinforced this is not very common in literature classrooms.

Re/view Shakespeare is a collection of visual tools for novice students

of the Bard. The tools are intended to provide a highly visual, and

alternative, approach to the written word and focus on problems often

faced by readers of Shakespeare such as language, plot, structure as

well as character hierarchy and relationships. The tools produced by

Re/view are in no way a replacement for the text; instead they act as a

way to delve deeper into well studied themes, to prompt nuanced and

thoughtful questioning and to demonstrate that there is more than one

way to approach and access not only this text, but any text.



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VISUALIZING SHAKESPEARE

Other than the educational tools and classroom resources, the Re/view brand hosts

lectures, conferences and events focused on how technology, social media and reading

can combine to create better learning.



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advisors C A R O L I N A D E B A R T O LO , D AV I D P E T E R S

& G A S T O N YA G M O U R I A N




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THAT’S WHAT HE SAID

The cards featured on this page are intended to be used in classrooms as a way for

teachers to support their instruction of Hamlet. Shakespeare’s language can feel

intimidating and inaccessible. This language game, based on the same idea used

in the game Mad Libs, shows students that the text is not sacred and that it can

be more manageable when it’s played with and made to be their own.



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READY TO SLING SLANDER

Whether you are new to Shakespeare or simply eager for another way to approach

his work, 55 Insults: Ready to Sling Slander from William Shakesepare provides a

visual interpretation of the best expletives and abuse the Bard had to offer. While

not a complete index, this book supplies both the novice and the aficiando with a

novel rendering of many of Shakespeare’s insults.

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SHAKESPEARE IS JUST THE BEGINNING

While Shakespeare is a start, Re/view provides those reading and teaching any text

with resources to approch that text in a new way. Whether you’re reading Moby

Dick or The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Re/view demistifies the text through

a visual and alternative approach.

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Selected works_ W H I T N E Y C L A R K

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Portfol io_ P U S H P U L L#$!@!

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Course_ V I S U A L C O M M U N I C AT I O N S L A B Instructor_ H U N T E R W I M M E R , P H I L H A M L E T T Title_ O B S E R VAT I O N S O F A N E W E R A

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It takes a whole village to raise a child.N I G E R I A N P R O V E R B

my family

While I am no longer a child, this journey would not have been possible

without the love and support of my own village of people. I want to thank

my parents, Merri Sue and Richard Clark, for instilling the pursuit of a

passion and of happiness above all else. Thank you for alleviating my

many moments of doubt and fueling my few moments of confidence.

my other hal f

To Matt for keeping me grounded and laughing at my stress, you give

me perspective and truly save me from my self. I imagine that you didn’t

know what you were getting into with this master’s program but I can’t

thank you enough for your patience and understanding while I followed

my dreams.

my instructors , advisors and peers

Thank you for always pushing me to do better, for offering insights and

sharing frustrations. A special thanks to my thesis advisor, Gaston

Yagmourian, who never ceases to instill a child-like sense of excitement

in me, and my portfolio instructor Mary Scott, whose endless dedication

and genuine interest in each and every one of her students makes this

grand feat not only possible, but enjoyable.

Thank You



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W H I T N E Y C L A R K

email W H I T N E Y. C A . C L A R K @ G M A I L . C O M

te lephone 5 4 1 2 0 6 4 2 3 5

website W H I T N E Y C A C L A R K . C O M

academy of ar t univers i tyS C H O O L O F G R A P H I C D E S I G N

7 9 N E W M O N T G O M E R Y S T R E E T S A N F R A N C I S C O , C A 9 4 1 0 5

department chair M A R Y S C O T T

department director P H I L H A M L E T T

assoc . dept . chair H U N T E R W I M M E R

course P O R T F O L I O S E M I N A R

instructor M A R Y S C O T T

t i t le of book P U S H / P U L L

typefaces G A R A M O N D , D I N

photography W H I T N E Y C L A R K , E R I C LO

printing G I A N T H O R S E

binding & stamping T H E K E Y

text s tock 1 0 0 L B F I N C H

© 2012 All r ights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced without the express permission of Whitney Clark.

Push/Pull

Documents

new era01mfa port fo

new eramfa port fo

observat ions

pushpullmfa port fo

introductionmfa port

new erawe

generations new technologies

hunter w immert