Saturday, 30 April 2011
We Are An Island
Packed Lunch Idea
I have taken the idea of a 'packed lunch' from the lunchtime meal deals that are available at Marks & Spencer's every single day. The idea is that you can pick any main, any drink and any side for yourself, resulting in a wide variety of combinations that can satisfy pretty much anyones tastes. If I could allocate each component of the meal to each sitcom and then create a range of flavours and tastes for each component then it addresses both the 'product' and the 'range' parts of the brief. All that would be left is the distribution aspect, something I could work on slightly lighter. But I would imagine it would involve a few forms of promotion including: advertisements, coupons and perhaps if I have time a short animation intended for web purposes like pop-up windows.
The images below show the type of packaging I could possibly model my ideas on. I think the important thing to remember is the time period for this brief, if the designs put onto the packaging are well considered and professionally designed then the packaging itself does not have to be complex and altered. Instead I could find simple templates and compose my illustrations around these.
Ron Swanson Art
Ron Swanson is a character from Parks & Recreation. He is perhaps the most cartoonish of all the characters so it is no surprise that there is already a lot of Ron inspired art out there. Below are a few examples of the art that I am talking about. This is the type of illustration that I hope to create with my brief, only slightly less detailed as I doubt I could produced something as complex as the first few images. The third design is more the style I will be going with.
Researching Characters
30 Rock, 5 Characters
Liz Lemon (Tina Fey): Liz Lemon is the protagonist of the series, the head writer of TGS with Tracy Jordan. Jack Donaghy accurately describes her as a "New York third-wave feminist, college-educated, single-and-pretending-to-be-happy-about-it, overscheduled, undersexed, you buy any magazine that says 'healthy body image' on the cover and every two years you take up knitting for...a week."
Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin): Jack Donaghy is the decisive, controlling, suave network executive who constantly must deal with and/or causes unusual events at TGS. Donaghy is portrayed as a slick, yet brilliant and scrupulous network executive who directs many overtly backhanded compliments to head writer Liz Lemon. Lemon—whom he always refers to by her last name—and Donaghy are each other's work spouses.
Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan): Tracy Jordan is the loose cannon star of TGS. He is a successful movie star with a reputation for unpredictable, highly erratic behavior. This reputation is well-earned and much of it is an intentional attempt on his part to maintain his "crazy" persona in the eyes of the media. In the pilot episode, Jack Donaghy forces Liz Lemon to hire Tracy as the new star of her sketch comedy program The Girlie Show. To the chagrin of Liz and Jenna, Jack renames the show TGS with Tracy Jordan in the following episode. Tracy has remained the star of TGS ever since.
Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski): Jenna Maroney is the limelight-seeking co-star of TGS and Liz's best friend. A running gag is her thinking she's doing the right thing for her career, only resulting in her humiliating herself in front of everyone, and never learning from her mistakes. Generally, she fits into the "dumb blonde" stereotype as well as the stereotype of actresses being air headed and self-centered. Off-camera, she is conceited, frequently lies about her age and uses her "sexuality" (i.e., flirting) to get her way with men. She tries to seem smart to her fans and to the general public, even going as far as telling Life and Style magazine her favorite book is the Quran.
Kenneth Parcell (Jack McBrayer): Kenneth Parcell is a cheerful, young, obedient Southern-born NBC page, who "lives for television." There is a reference that has appeared more than once that kenneth is actually super old. In one episode he had mad been talking to tracy's character, they had been laughing and everything was fine but then kenneth had mis heard Tracy and had turned around and said, who told you I've been alive for ever.
Community, 7 Characters
Jeff Winger (Joel McHale): Jeffrey Tobias "Jeff" Winger is a 33-year-old snarky, glib lawyer attending Greendale Community College. He was a lawyer until the Colorado Bar Association found out that he did not get a bachelor's degree from Columbia University but, in fact, got one that was "less than legitimate" and "better than real" from the country of Colombia. Jeff returns to college by attending Greendale Community College as a "deal" with the bar in order to prevent him from being disbarred. He consequently hopes to graduate as quickly as possible.
Britta Perry (Gillian Jacobs): Britta decided to drop out of high school because she thought it would impress Radiohead. After dropping out of school, she started vandalizing billboards around the area where she grew up. During the vandalizing she became friends with other people who liked to vandalize. The friends created a small group of "anarchist billboard vandals". When the group grew larger she was kicked out, due the democratic voting system the anarchists used to vote her out. Soon after her departure, the group developed into a high-end advertising firm. After her fallout she joined the Peace Corps, did some foot modeling, got teargassed at a World Trade rally and took an extended vacation in Africa. Realizing she needed to do something with her life, Britta got her G.E.D. and enrolled at Greendale.
Abed Nadir (Danny Pudi): Abed Nadir is a trilingual (English, Arabic, and Polish) Palestinian/Polish-American pop-culture junkie who aspires to become a director and is currently taking film directing classes at Greendale Community College. His original plan at Greendale was to take business classes to eventually help run his father's falafel stand, but this became his backup plan when Britta inspired him to pursue his true love. While he has emotion and sympathy for his new friends, he speaks with a rather detached and emotionless tone, as well as with a distinct straightforwardness lacking a mental filter, leading some of his friends to suspect he has Asperger's.
Shirley Bennett (Yvette Nicole Brown): Shirley Bennett is a recently divorced mother of two who attends Greendale Community College. Shirley is a devoted Christian and is very sweet but also has thinly-veiled rage issues and gossips compulsively. She is proud to be an African American and a woman but appreciates not being defined by those characteristics. She is very friendly to everyone, but sometimes has problems minding her own business or keeping secrets.
Annie Edison (Alison Brie): Annie Edison is a straight-laced Jewish twenty-year-old who is in her second year at Greendale Community College. She lost her virginity to her high school boyfriend "to Madonna's Erotica on the floor of his walk-in closet", but due to him being a closeted homosexual, he refused to let her see his penis, an organ she has never laid eyes on. She lost her college scholarship and dropped out of high school due to an addiction to Adderall, having a nervous breakdown that culminated in her jumping through a window yelling "Everyone's a robot!" Against the wishes of her mother, she chose to confront the addiction and go to rehab, and is currently estranged from her family.
Troy Barnes (Donald Glover): Troy Barnes is a former high school football star who now attends Greendale Community College. Born and raised in Greendale, Colorado, Troy made a name for himself as the varsity quarterback of his high school football team, and was also prom king. He injured himself during a "keg flip" in high school that cost him a football scholarship, an injury he later revealed to be intentional because he could not take the pressure of a talent scout at a big game. He now plays quarterback for the nonathletic Greendale Human Beings, saying he would rather play football for fun. While he starts off hanging out with Pierce at Greendale, he becomes best friends with Abed who shares his peculiar sense of humor. The two spend most of their time at Greendale together and most episodes end with one of their antics.
Pierce Hawthorne (Chevy Chase): Pierce Hawthorne is a moist towelette tycoon attending Greendale Community College. He claims to be a world traveler, a toastmaster, magician, keyboardist and self-styled hypnotherapist, and considers himself a "quality of life person". He enrolled in Greendale looking for companionship and popularity, but is held back by his clumsiness and his lack of tact. Much older than most Greendale students, he is sometimes disoriented by youth culture while still trying to embrace it. He also unknowingly buys into many sexist and racist stereotypes which often lead him to unintentionally make offensive statements, the nature of which he's completely unaware. Much of this is directed at Shirley, whom he sometimes mistakes for other black women; Abed, whom he suspects being a terrorist because he is Muslim; and Jeff, whom he actively tries to insult in an attempt to be cool, despite his inability to do so with wit.
Parks and Recreation, 6 Characters
Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler): Leslie is a "mid-level bureaucrat in the Parks and Recreation Department of Pawnee, Indiana" who hopes to advance her career and improve her town, while working towards her goal of becoming the first female President. Initially, she is shown to carry romantic feelings for her co-worker Mark due to a one-night stand they had six years ago. She is desperate to impress her mother Marlene, who is a well-known politician in the Pawnee government.
Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman): Ronald "Ron" Swanson is Leslie's deadpan superior as the head of the Pawnee Parks and Recreation Department. He possesses strong anti-governmental beliefs, and wishes to privatize the parks department, saying at one point that if he becomes Pawnee's City Manager he will aim to eliminate the entire department. He is usually non-confrontational and gives Leslie a lot of leeway when running the department. He jokingly keeps a claymore and a sawed off shotgun on his desk, so people who ask for things have to stare down the barrel. Swanson lives a double life as a jazz musician using the stage name Duke Silver, which he keeps from his coworkers. He has been married twice; both marriages were to women named Tammy and ended badly. His mother's name is also Tammy.
Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari): Thomas "Tom" Haverford is a sarcastic, underachieving government official for the city of Pawnee. He is Leslie Knope's right hand man in most situations. Tom's given name is Darwish Sabir Ismael Gani; which he deems unappealing for a career in politics. He is often selected to go on field projects with Leslie. He lacks seriousness about his work at the Parks Department, often playing online Scrabble with Ron. He frequently abuses his small amount of public power for self-benefit and constantly pursues women, including visits to strip clubs, hitting on Ann, and judging the Miss Pawnee pageant. He engages in these activities while married to Wendy, his Canadian born college friend, who he protected from deportation through their marriage.
April Ludgate (Aubrey Plaza): April Ludgate is an apathetic college student, who was an intern employed by the Pawnee Department of Parks and Recreation. April is somewhat rebellious and is often annoyed by her fellow parks department workers. Her ex-boyfriend, Derek, is openly gay (or possibly bisexual) and dates a fellow college student named Ben (whom April dislikes). April is of mixed English and Puerto Rican descent, which she claims makes her "lively and colorful"; she also speaks and understands Spanish fairly well. She currently lives with her parents and has a sister named Natalie who has low self-esteem and enjoys taking Ritalin.
Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones): Ann Perkins is a nurse, Mark Brendanawicz's former girlfriend, and a good friend of Leslie. She and Leslie met while working on a project to turn an abandoned construction pit behind her house into a public park. Her ex-boyfriend Andy fell into the pit, making Ann an advocate for its filling. She and Andy broke up when it was revealed that he had been keeping his cast on to continue having Ann at his beck-and-call. She began dating Mark Brendanawicz after he confessed he liked her. They broke up towards the end of the second season because Ann felt the relationship was boring and wasn't going anywhere, despite the fact that Mark was planning to propose. She is usually seen at the Parks and Recreation department, often participating in its duties, while she is not at work.
Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt): Andrew "Andy" Dwyer is Ann Perkins' former boyfriend, an unsuccessful musician, and a Shoe-Shiner at Pawnee City Hall. Andy broke both of his legs upon falling into a large pit near his house while extremely intoxicated. His ex-girlfriend Ann, with whom he was living at the time, became an avid supporter of efforts to fill in the pit. After his injuries healed, he persuaded the doctor not to remove the cast so that he could continue to lounge at home and have Ann at his beck and call. Upon discovering this, Ann dumped him. Andy moved into a tent pitched in the pit and watched Ann, claiming to protect her.
The Office, 4 Characters
Michael Scott (Steve Carrell): Michael Gary Scott (born March 15, 1964 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA) was a fictional character on NBC's The Office and based on David Brent from the original British version. Michael, the central character of the series, was the manager (formerly co-manager) of the Scranton branch of paper and printer distribution company Dunder Mifflin Inc.
Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer): Pam Halpert is one of the office employees at the Scranton branch of the fictitious paper-distributor Dunder Mifflin. Many episodes of the series revolve around her desire to be more assertive and have an artistic career, as well as her relationship with co-worker and husband Jim Halpert. The office pranks she and Jim play on his deskmate Dwight Schrute are a cornerstone of the series, as are the often bizarre tasks, assignments, and advice questions given to her by the branch's boss Michael Scott. At the beginning of the series, she was engaged to warehouse worker Roy Anderson, leading to several story arcs of "will they or won't they" tension between her and Jim. Pam is portrayed as a friendly and generally amicable employee of Dunder Mifflin.
Jim Halpert (John Krasinski): Jim Halpert is a salesman (formerly co-manager and Assistant Regional Manager) at the Scranton branch of office supply distributor Dunder Mifflin (now a division of Sabre). He was voluntarily demoted back to salesperson as he would make more in sales than management as Sabre doesn't cap sales commissions. He spends much of his time conspiring with fellow salesperson, and wife, Pam Halpert, to engineer pranks on his overbearing deskmate Dwight Schrute.
Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson): Dwight is a former volunteer sheriff deputy and has been trained in surveillance. Dwight lives on his family's 60-acre beet farm, in a nine bedroom farmhouse (with one outhouse), with his cousin Mose, where they grow table beets. Dwight also likes paintball, ping pong, survivalism, Goju Ryu karate and weapons. He drives a red 1987 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. At the end of season 5 Dwight introduces his best friend, Rolf. He says that they met in a shoe store when he overheard him asking for a shoe that could increase his speed, and not leave any tracks.
Liz Lemon (Tina Fey): Liz Lemon is the protagonist of the series, the head writer of TGS with Tracy Jordan. Jack Donaghy accurately describes her as a "New York third-wave feminist, college-educated, single-and-pretending-to-be-happy-about-it, overscheduled, undersexed, you buy any magazine that says 'healthy body image' on the cover and every two years you take up knitting for...a week."
Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin): Jack Donaghy is the decisive, controlling, suave network executive who constantly must deal with and/or causes unusual events at TGS. Donaghy is portrayed as a slick, yet brilliant and scrupulous network executive who directs many overtly backhanded compliments to head writer Liz Lemon. Lemon—whom he always refers to by her last name—and Donaghy are each other's work spouses.
Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan): Tracy Jordan is the loose cannon star of TGS. He is a successful movie star with a reputation for unpredictable, highly erratic behavior. This reputation is well-earned and much of it is an intentional attempt on his part to maintain his "crazy" persona in the eyes of the media. In the pilot episode, Jack Donaghy forces Liz Lemon to hire Tracy as the new star of her sketch comedy program The Girlie Show. To the chagrin of Liz and Jenna, Jack renames the show TGS with Tracy Jordan in the following episode. Tracy has remained the star of TGS ever since.
Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski): Jenna Maroney is the limelight-seeking co-star of TGS and Liz's best friend. A running gag is her thinking she's doing the right thing for her career, only resulting in her humiliating herself in front of everyone, and never learning from her mistakes. Generally, she fits into the "dumb blonde" stereotype as well as the stereotype of actresses being air headed and self-centered. Off-camera, she is conceited, frequently lies about her age and uses her "sexuality" (i.e., flirting) to get her way with men. She tries to seem smart to her fans and to the general public, even going as far as telling Life and Style magazine her favorite book is the Quran.
Kenneth Parcell (Jack McBrayer): Kenneth Parcell is a cheerful, young, obedient Southern-born NBC page, who "lives for television." There is a reference that has appeared more than once that kenneth is actually super old. In one episode he had mad been talking to tracy's character, they had been laughing and everything was fine but then kenneth had mis heard Tracy and had turned around and said, who told you I've been alive for ever.
Community, 7 Characters
Jeff Winger (Joel McHale): Jeffrey Tobias "Jeff" Winger is a 33-year-old snarky, glib lawyer attending Greendale Community College. He was a lawyer until the Colorado Bar Association found out that he did not get a bachelor's degree from Columbia University but, in fact, got one that was "less than legitimate" and "better than real" from the country of Colombia. Jeff returns to college by attending Greendale Community College as a "deal" with the bar in order to prevent him from being disbarred. He consequently hopes to graduate as quickly as possible.
Britta Perry (Gillian Jacobs): Britta decided to drop out of high school because she thought it would impress Radiohead. After dropping out of school, she started vandalizing billboards around the area where she grew up. During the vandalizing she became friends with other people who liked to vandalize. The friends created a small group of "anarchist billboard vandals". When the group grew larger she was kicked out, due the democratic voting system the anarchists used to vote her out. Soon after her departure, the group developed into a high-end advertising firm. After her fallout she joined the Peace Corps, did some foot modeling, got teargassed at a World Trade rally and took an extended vacation in Africa. Realizing she needed to do something with her life, Britta got her G.E.D. and enrolled at Greendale.
Abed Nadir (Danny Pudi): Abed Nadir is a trilingual (English, Arabic, and Polish) Palestinian/Polish-American pop-culture junkie who aspires to become a director and is currently taking film directing classes at Greendale Community College. His original plan at Greendale was to take business classes to eventually help run his father's falafel stand, but this became his backup plan when Britta inspired him to pursue his true love. While he has emotion and sympathy for his new friends, he speaks with a rather detached and emotionless tone, as well as with a distinct straightforwardness lacking a mental filter, leading some of his friends to suspect he has Asperger's.
Shirley Bennett (Yvette Nicole Brown): Shirley Bennett is a recently divorced mother of two who attends Greendale Community College. Shirley is a devoted Christian and is very sweet but also has thinly-veiled rage issues and gossips compulsively. She is proud to be an African American and a woman but appreciates not being defined by those characteristics. She is very friendly to everyone, but sometimes has problems minding her own business or keeping secrets.
Annie Edison (Alison Brie): Annie Edison is a straight-laced Jewish twenty-year-old who is in her second year at Greendale Community College. She lost her virginity to her high school boyfriend "to Madonna's Erotica on the floor of his walk-in closet", but due to him being a closeted homosexual, he refused to let her see his penis, an organ she has never laid eyes on. She lost her college scholarship and dropped out of high school due to an addiction to Adderall, having a nervous breakdown that culminated in her jumping through a window yelling "Everyone's a robot!" Against the wishes of her mother, she chose to confront the addiction and go to rehab, and is currently estranged from her family.
Troy Barnes (Donald Glover): Troy Barnes is a former high school football star who now attends Greendale Community College. Born and raised in Greendale, Colorado, Troy made a name for himself as the varsity quarterback of his high school football team, and was also prom king. He injured himself during a "keg flip" in high school that cost him a football scholarship, an injury he later revealed to be intentional because he could not take the pressure of a talent scout at a big game. He now plays quarterback for the nonathletic Greendale Human Beings, saying he would rather play football for fun. While he starts off hanging out with Pierce at Greendale, he becomes best friends with Abed who shares his peculiar sense of humor. The two spend most of their time at Greendale together and most episodes end with one of their antics.
Pierce Hawthorne (Chevy Chase): Pierce Hawthorne is a moist towelette tycoon attending Greendale Community College. He claims to be a world traveler, a toastmaster, magician, keyboardist and self-styled hypnotherapist, and considers himself a "quality of life person". He enrolled in Greendale looking for companionship and popularity, but is held back by his clumsiness and his lack of tact. Much older than most Greendale students, he is sometimes disoriented by youth culture while still trying to embrace it. He also unknowingly buys into many sexist and racist stereotypes which often lead him to unintentionally make offensive statements, the nature of which he's completely unaware. Much of this is directed at Shirley, whom he sometimes mistakes for other black women; Abed, whom he suspects being a terrorist because he is Muslim; and Jeff, whom he actively tries to insult in an attempt to be cool, despite his inability to do so with wit.
Parks and Recreation, 6 Characters
Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler): Leslie is a "mid-level bureaucrat in the Parks and Recreation Department of Pawnee, Indiana" who hopes to advance her career and improve her town, while working towards her goal of becoming the first female President. Initially, she is shown to carry romantic feelings for her co-worker Mark due to a one-night stand they had six years ago. She is desperate to impress her mother Marlene, who is a well-known politician in the Pawnee government.
Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman): Ronald "Ron" Swanson is Leslie's deadpan superior as the head of the Pawnee Parks and Recreation Department. He possesses strong anti-governmental beliefs, and wishes to privatize the parks department, saying at one point that if he becomes Pawnee's City Manager he will aim to eliminate the entire department. He is usually non-confrontational and gives Leslie a lot of leeway when running the department. He jokingly keeps a claymore and a sawed off shotgun on his desk, so people who ask for things have to stare down the barrel. Swanson lives a double life as a jazz musician using the stage name Duke Silver, which he keeps from his coworkers. He has been married twice; both marriages were to women named Tammy and ended badly. His mother's name is also Tammy.
Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari): Thomas "Tom" Haverford is a sarcastic, underachieving government official for the city of Pawnee. He is Leslie Knope's right hand man in most situations. Tom's given name is Darwish Sabir Ismael Gani; which he deems unappealing for a career in politics. He is often selected to go on field projects with Leslie. He lacks seriousness about his work at the Parks Department, often playing online Scrabble with Ron. He frequently abuses his small amount of public power for self-benefit and constantly pursues women, including visits to strip clubs, hitting on Ann, and judging the Miss Pawnee pageant. He engages in these activities while married to Wendy, his Canadian born college friend, who he protected from deportation through their marriage.
April Ludgate (Aubrey Plaza): April Ludgate is an apathetic college student, who was an intern employed by the Pawnee Department of Parks and Recreation. April is somewhat rebellious and is often annoyed by her fellow parks department workers. Her ex-boyfriend, Derek, is openly gay (or possibly bisexual) and dates a fellow college student named Ben (whom April dislikes). April is of mixed English and Puerto Rican descent, which she claims makes her "lively and colorful"; she also speaks and understands Spanish fairly well. She currently lives with her parents and has a sister named Natalie who has low self-esteem and enjoys taking Ritalin.
Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones): Ann Perkins is a nurse, Mark Brendanawicz's former girlfriend, and a good friend of Leslie. She and Leslie met while working on a project to turn an abandoned construction pit behind her house into a public park. Her ex-boyfriend Andy fell into the pit, making Ann an advocate for its filling. She and Andy broke up when it was revealed that he had been keeping his cast on to continue having Ann at his beck-and-call. She began dating Mark Brendanawicz after he confessed he liked her. They broke up towards the end of the second season because Ann felt the relationship was boring and wasn't going anywhere, despite the fact that Mark was planning to propose. She is usually seen at the Parks and Recreation department, often participating in its duties, while she is not at work.
Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt): Andrew "Andy" Dwyer is Ann Perkins' former boyfriend, an unsuccessful musician, and a Shoe-Shiner at Pawnee City Hall. Andy broke both of his legs upon falling into a large pit near his house while extremely intoxicated. His ex-girlfriend Ann, with whom he was living at the time, became an avid supporter of efforts to fill in the pit. After his injuries healed, he persuaded the doctor not to remove the cast so that he could continue to lounge at home and have Ann at his beck and call. Upon discovering this, Ann dumped him. Andy moved into a tent pitched in the pit and watched Ann, claiming to protect her.
The Office, 4 Characters
Michael Scott (Steve Carrell): Michael Gary Scott (born March 15, 1964 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA) was a fictional character on NBC's The Office and based on David Brent from the original British version. Michael, the central character of the series, was the manager (formerly co-manager) of the Scranton branch of paper and printer distribution company Dunder Mifflin Inc.
Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer): Pam Halpert is one of the office employees at the Scranton branch of the fictitious paper-distributor Dunder Mifflin. Many episodes of the series revolve around her desire to be more assertive and have an artistic career, as well as her relationship with co-worker and husband Jim Halpert. The office pranks she and Jim play on his deskmate Dwight Schrute are a cornerstone of the series, as are the often bizarre tasks, assignments, and advice questions given to her by the branch's boss Michael Scott. At the beginning of the series, she was engaged to warehouse worker Roy Anderson, leading to several story arcs of "will they or won't they" tension between her and Jim. Pam is portrayed as a friendly and generally amicable employee of Dunder Mifflin.
Jim Halpert (John Krasinski): Jim Halpert is a salesman (formerly co-manager and Assistant Regional Manager) at the Scranton branch of office supply distributor Dunder Mifflin (now a division of Sabre). He was voluntarily demoted back to salesperson as he would make more in sales than management as Sabre doesn't cap sales commissions. He spends much of his time conspiring with fellow salesperson, and wife, Pam Halpert, to engineer pranks on his overbearing deskmate Dwight Schrute.
Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson): Dwight is a former volunteer sheriff deputy and has been trained in surveillance. Dwight lives on his family's 60-acre beet farm, in a nine bedroom farmhouse (with one outhouse), with his cousin Mose, where they grow table beets. Dwight also likes paintball, ping pong, survivalism, Goju Ryu karate and weapons. He drives a red 1987 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. At the end of season 5 Dwight introduces his best friend, Rolf. He says that they met in a shoe store when he overheard him asking for a shoe that could increase his speed, and not leave any tracks.
NBC Merchandise
I discovered that NBC have an online store that sells often humourous merchandise for all of its programming. I searched for each of the four sitcoms I wish to explore further and found that there is a wealth of memorabilia for each. Some is typical; tshirts and mugs, whilst others are a little more experimental ranging from bobbleheads to iphone cases and baby grows. Below are just a few examples for each show, for the full range click here.
Community
Parks and Recreation
30 Rock
The Office
Arrested Development
Okay, these kind of have nothing to do with the exact subject area that I am researching. However they do relate as they are pieces of graphic design, made purely for pleasure and celebration of the chosen topic, and they are illustrative. So Arrested Development is one of my favourite programmes of all time, and is infamously renowned for having a cult following, mostly due to the fact that it was cancelled before its time, but also because of the outlandish characters and never ending onslaught of comedy. I found these on a great blog called The Flannel Animal, which according to the tumblr site is run by an illustrator from the South who: 'Each week makes a printable paper doll based on a favorite tv or film character and shares it here. New dolls are posted every Thursday night at 8/7c.' This is a genius idea, and I loved this collection so much I immediately printed them off and assembled my own creations. If you wish to do the same or simply explore the range on offer click here.
EDIT UPDATE: According to the website the designer is planning to commence a month long attempt at creating cut out dolls for Parks and Recreation this next week! This is great as it gives me the opportunity to really relate to another designer out in the real world dealing with the exact same subject matter as me. I will obviously post these on my blog as soon as they become available.
Smiles on Our Faces
I stumbled across a blog that could prove very useful.
Taken from the page: 'Designer in Savannah, GA. This blog is a mixture of everything I find great in life. Mainly Community, The Office, Parks and Recreation and 30 Rock- a bit of typography mixed in, as well as some of my own work.'
Anyway below are a couple examples of the work she creates around the four sitcoms that I hope to design for: 30 Rock, Community, Parks and Recreation and The Office.
Taken from the page: 'Designer in Savannah, GA. This blog is a mixture of everything I find great in life. Mainly Community, The Office, Parks and Recreation and 30 Rock- a bit of typography mixed in, as well as some of my own work.'
This woman could actually be me.
Obviously these designs are quite text heavy, with emphasis on the quotes and an accompanying image. In my own designs I want to work more illustratively, but will definitely draw inspiration from these and continue to keep an eye on the blog in case the artist designs any more.
NBC: Thursday Nights
I took the screen cap below from the official NBC website to prove that Thursday nights are well and truly comedy nights. The line up consists of five sitcoms: Community, The Office, Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock and Outsourced. Now to my knowledge 'Outsourced' has not performed well and is in fact on the verge of cancellation after only one season. It is also the only one in the line up that I am not a fan of and therefore it does not feel right to me to lump it in with the rest of the sitcoms, it does not deserve to be surrounded by such genius creations. However the other four are subject areas that I can get on board with and definitely would love to design for. Perhaps I could create some sort of product that promotes thursday nights on NBC? It's definitely a starting point.
When looking for pre-existing promotional material for thursday nights on NBC I found a lot of video material on youtube. Below are a few of the best montages I could find that best represent the comedy filled night.
I also found this pretty cool clip, dated 1988, which proves the historical importance of the Thursday night line up. Shows broadcast on this particular night included: The Cosby Show, A Different World, Cheers and Dear John; three of which I have heard of and well regarded as classics by the rest of the world.
US Sitcoms
For this project I'm pretty confident I want to explore a subject area that greatly interests me: US sitcoms. I have always been a fan and feel confident enough in my knowledge and design capabilities to create a product that well represents this market. Ideally what I would like to do is take a selection of the most currently popular US sitcoms and create something that promotes their timeslots and informs people of their genius. Below is a little background information that details some of the most loved sitcoms of all time, and also some of the most popular current ones.
The list below is taken from this website. I'm not sure I agree with the list in its entirety, but do agree with the number one spot. Obviously it is a person's opinion and therefore objective, but I would say that it is fairly comprehensive. There seem to be a few shows that appear a little out of place, for example I feel Friends should be a few places higher considering its world wide appeal and I for one feel Will & Grace should be much, much higher. Anyway here is the list, with the numbers actually in the wrong order. For example 'My Favourite Martian' is 100, 'Becker' 99 and so on.
Another article from this website deals with a slightly different subject matter. The list below compiles the '10 Best Sitcoms on TV Now', dated the 29 April, 2010. Again there are some points I agree with and others that I don't. It is a lot more current and therefore much more appropriate for the brief I think I will undertake. Please read on for more.
10. Bored to Death (HBO)
Writer Jonathan Ames’ new series features Jason Schwartzman as a writer named Jonathan Ames who decides to advertise his private investigative services on Craigslist. Our favorite comedian Zach Galifianakis plays Ames’ best friend, Ted Danson quickly makes us forget he was ever in Becker, and the guest stars have included Kristen Wiig, Jim Jarmusch and Patton Oswalt. But its Schwartzman’s absurd mix of self-obsession and sincerity that makes the show so fun to watch. Schwartzman told Paste last fall that he loves that the real Ames is “not ever winking at the camera, making fun of the genre of mystery. He has no ability as a human being to detect irony. He doesn’t write his books from a place of mean or sarcastic humor. What I love is that his characters are always trying to do the right thing. They just keep fucking it up and end up hurting people, but it’s never intended.” — Josh Jackson
9. Nurse Jackie (Showtime)
Edie Falco plays Showtime’s latest morally ambiguous protagonist, a cranky ER nurse who’s snorting painkillers and having sex with the hospital pharmacist (how convenient) while the World’s Best Husband waits for her to come home to him and their two girls. Jackie Peyton is a maddening, two-faced character, kind and empathetic with her patients and stoically hurtful to the people closest to her. Her moral code is erratic, but intriguing—she flushes a patient’s ear down the toilet because he stabbed a woman, and then promptly returns to her day-to-day routine of getting high and committing adultery. The supporting cast brings out the worst in her and the best moments in the show: Eager nursing student Zoey worships the ground Jackie walks on; narcissistic doctor Fitch Cooper has an inexplicable crush on her, and fashionista doctor friend Eleanor O’Hara knows about all her transgressions and refuses to judge her, creating a twisted friendship and an unusual dynamic for two female characters. — Kate Kiefer
8. Parks & Recreation (NBC)
Maybe I’m just tired of sitcoms set in New York City. But I’m ready to say it: I like this season’s Parks & Recreation better than 30 Rock. Love me some Tina Fey but Parks wins out overall due to the sympathetic and charming cast of characters. The only Parks character that approaches the overweening narcissism of the average 30 Rock character is Aziz Ansari’s well-intentioned Tom Haverford. The half-hour each week I devote to Amy Poehler’s Leslie Knope, Nick Offerman’s uproarious Ron Swanson and the rest of the city officials in Pawnee, Ind., is tops for pure relaxation and sitcom bliss. — Nick Purdy
7. How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
A replacement for anyone who misses Friends, CBS’ only great sitcom has given us Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris), one of the most egocentric, hilarious TV characters this decade. Once you get past the laugh track, the show is truly, as Barney would say, “legend—wait for it—ary.” — Kate Kiefer
6. The Office (NBC)
NBC’s remake of Ricky Gervais’ masterpiece has certainly seen better days. It’s been a while (since Michael Scott’s last dinner party, to be precise) since the show really made us squirm with delicious discomfort in a way that only Scott’s lack of self-awareness ever could. Still, the characters we got to know back in 2005 were so wonderfully crafted that they show little wear and tear after six seasons, even when the show’s central romantic tension is long gone. Long live Dunder-Mifflin. — Josh Jackson
5. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX)
Blatant nihilism and self-absorption makes for pretty funny television—shows like Arrested Development and Curb Your Enthusiasm are proof-positive of this new maxim. But onscreen celebrations of this emotional insularity are usually somewhat self-aware. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia takes this über-ironic humor to it’s logical conclusion: amoral sociopaths who think they’re lovable sitcom archetypes (whence “The Gang”). Your jaw will drop and you’ll squirm in your seat when you hear Frank dismiss his daughter Dee’s pregnancy with a deadpan “Do yourself a favor and flush it out.” And then, despite yourself, you’ll laugh until your sides hurt. — Michael Saba
4. Party Down (Starz)
Underneath the white button-downs and ridiculous pink bow-ties, the employees of L.A.‘s Party Down catering company are writers, actors, comedians and aspiring restaurant franchise owners—but it hardly matters to the folks they’re pushing appletinis and crudites for. What could easily be a bleak, recession-era tale of thwarted egos—or worse, just another exercise in “awkward!”—skirts both entirely; it surely doesn’t hurt that the cast draws from the Christopher Guest and Judd Apatow universes, or that Paul Rudd is one of the dudes at the helm. Care for a cheese cube with that quiet desperation? — Rachael Maddux
3. Community (NBC)
Community is a show suffused with pop culture. Almost every episode’s plot has been done by a sit-com or movie previously, but Community revels in its referentiality. Nearly everyone watching Community has spent countless hours watching other TV sitcoms and trashy Hollywood movies. The characters of Community have done the same, and aside from Abed’s encyclopedic knowledge of pop culture, they respond to clichéd show tropes in the same way you do. They know that Jeff is the cool guy, that Britta has been set up as a romantic interest regardless of the lack of chemistry between the two characters. They know that Pierce is comic relief and that they’re the center of the universe because they’re TV characters. They’ve managed to take the oldest jokes in the book and make them completely new. — Sean Gandert
2. 30 Rock (NBC)
The spiritual successor to Arrested Development, 30 Rock succeeded where its competition failed thanks to star/creator Tina Fey. 30 Rock never loses track of its focus and creates a surprisingly deep character for the its circus to spin around. But Fey’s not the only one that makes the series. Consistently spot-on performances by Tracy Morgan—whether frequenting strip clubs or a werewolf bar mitzvah—and Alec Baldwin’s evil plans for microwave-television programming create a perfect level of chaos for the show’s writers to unravel every week. It may be a little off its game, this season, but an average episode of 30 Rock is still better than a good episode of almost any other sitcom. — Sean Gandert
1. Modern Family (ABC)
The funniest debut season of a sitcom in a long while belongs to Modern Family on ABC. The story of three inter-related families works because its characters seem familiar to life but fresh to the screen. Not that the show is above archetypes: There’s the rebellious teen seduced by popularity, the beautiful Colombian second wife, the trying-too-hard-to-be-cool dad, the patriarch who doesn’t like to show affection, the flamboyantly gay boyfriend. But it’s not taken long for TV veterans Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan to let each character’s uniqueness flourish through the myriad relationships within the family.
We’ve seen Jay Pritchart (Married With Children‘s Ed O’Neill) struggle to relate with his new stepson Manny and his son-in-law Phil, but surprisingly connect with Cameron—his gay son’s boyfriend—over football. We’ve seen 10-year-old Manny give parenting advice to Jay’s daughter Claire and fight with Claire’s slow-witted, hyper son Luke (technically, his nephew). And then the cameo from Jay’s first wife, played by Shelley Long, took the craziness to a whole new level (as Cameron says, “There’s a fish in nature that swims around with its babies in its mouth. That fish would look at Mitchell’s relationship with his mother and say, ’That’s messed up.’”)
There’s dysfunction here, and while a meanness sometimes creeps in, there’s also as much love for these characters as there is laughter at their expense. Mitchell’s tendencies to get uptight are mellowed by Cameron’s constant joviality. Jay’s crotchetiness is mitigated by his wife Gloria’s vivaciousness. Even Phil, the show’s version of The Office’s Michael Scott—with no self-awareness and a self-sabotaging quest to seem hip—is protected from his own antics by a loving wife.
It’s these relationships that make even a completely messed-up family a valuable thing. No matter how bad things get in this Modern Family, it always beats the alternative of not having each other. They’re flawed individuals, offering only broken bits of love to one another, but that’s more than enough to cling to. As Dylan, the boyfriend of Claire’s oldest daughter so sweetly an wisely said—before breaking into a song about Haley with the lyrics, “I just want to do you, do you” in front of the family—“You’re reaching out, trying to hold on to something awesome… Haley’s got the kind of confidence that you get from having a family like this that’s passionate and accepting of hot foreigners and gay dudes and nutty people—you know, family that actually loves each other.”
And a funny one at that. — Josh Jackson
From the article above it is clear to see that NBC seems to have the best comedy line up. Maybe I could go somewhere with this. After all I watch every one of the programmes above so I feel well informed enough to undertake something of this nature.
The list below is taken from this website. I'm not sure I agree with the list in its entirety, but do agree with the number one spot. Obviously it is a person's opinion and therefore objective, but I would say that it is fairly comprehensive. There seem to be a few shows that appear a little out of place, for example I feel Friends should be a few places higher considering its world wide appeal and I for one feel Will & Grace should be much, much higher. Anyway here is the list, with the numbers actually in the wrong order. For example 'My Favourite Martian' is 100, 'Becker' 99 and so on.
- My Favorite Martian (1963-1966)
- Becker (1998-2004)
- Will and Grace (1998-2006)
- Soap (1977-1981) A parody of daytime soap operas.
- Good Times (1974-1979) A spin-off of "Maude," which was a spin-off of "All in the Family."
- Get Smart (1965-1970) Created by Mel Brooks. Need I say more? Who is Mel Brooks? You ignorant fool. Mel Brooks is the writer/director of such classics as The Producers, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, History of the World, Part I, Spaceballs and Robin Hood: Men in Tights.
- Laverne & Shirley (1976-1983)
- Maude (1972-1978)
- Petticoat Junction (1963-1970)
- Make Room For Danny / "The Danny Thomas Show" (1953-1964)
- The Lucy Show (1962-1968)
- Family Guy (1999-2001 2004-Present) In my opinion the show hasn't been funny since it returned in 2004)
- Silver Spoons (1982-1986)
- Punky Brewster (1984-1986) NBC's programming chief named the series after a girl he had a crush on in his own childhood.
- Two and a Half Men (2003-Present)
- Bosom Buddies (1980-1982) Stars Tom Hanks in drag.
- Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (1996-2003) Based on the Archie comic book series of the same name.
- Hangin' with Mr. Cooper (1992-1997)
- Dinosaurs (1991-1994)
- Green Acres (1965-1971)
- Mister Ed (1961-1966)
- The Addams Family (1964-1966)
- My Three Sons (1960-1972) 380 episodes were produced, making it one of the longest running sitcoms.
- Boy Meets World (1993-2000) The lead actor Ben Savage is Fred Savage's little brother (The Wonder Years).
- The Munsters (1964-1966)
- The Partridge Family (1970-1974)
- WKRP in Cincinnati (1978-1982)
- What's Happening!! (1976-1979/1985-1988)
- Who's the Boss? (1984-1992) Leah Remini actually starred in a short lived spin-off of "Who's the Boss?" called "Living Dolls." Leah Remini is probably best known for Carrie Heffernan in "King of Queens."
- Saved By The Bell (1990-1993) The best of the franchise.
- 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996-2001)
- The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet (1952-1966)
- The Big Bang Theory (2007-Present)
- The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-1966)
- The Nanny (1993-1999)
- Perfect Strangers (1986-1992) "Don't be ridiculous."
- The Honeymooners (1955-1956) "One of these days ... one of these days ... Pow! Right in the kisser!"
- The Jeffersons (1975-1985)
- Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. (1964-1969)
- Family Matters (1989-1998) Did you know this was as spin-off from "Perfect Stranger?" Well it is.
- Mad About You (1992-1999) There are some funny crossovers with "Friends" and "Seinfeld" you can read about here.
- Coach (1989-1997)
- Community (2009-Present)
- Mama's Family (1983-1985,1986-1990)
- Wings (1990-1997)
- Welcome Back, Kotter (1975-1979)
- The Odd Couple (1970-1975)
- ALF (1986-1990) Similar premise to "My Favorite Martian." ALF is an alien life form that somehow knows English and grasps sarcasm.
- The Golden Girls (1985-1992)
- Newhart (1982-1990)
- Night Court (1984-1992)
- The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990-1996) Previous to the show, Will Smith was a rapper and was bankrupt, owing the IRS a lot of money.
- The Flintstones (1960-1966) The Flintstones is actually based on the sitcom The Honeymooners.
- Growing Pains (1985-1992) In Latin America the show was called ¡Ay! Cómo duele crecer (Ouch! How painful is growing up), and in France it was called Quoi de neuf docteur? (What is new doctor?).
- Mork and Mindy (1978-1982)
- The King of Queens (1998-2007) Jerry Stiller made this show great (who by the way is Ben Stiller's dad).
- Charles in Charge (1984-1985/1987-1990)
- The Beverly Hillbillies (1962-1971)
- Futurama (1999-2003/2008-Present) From the creators of The Simpsons. Bender is one of the funniest characters in a long time. I'm so glad it is back.
- The Love Boat (1977-1986)
- Sanford and Son (1972-1977)
- Married With... Children (1987-1997) Al Bundy, classic. Not to be confused with Ted Bundy, not classic.
- The Office (2005-Present)
- Gilligan's Island (1964-1967)
- Modern Family (2009-Present)
- Bob Newhart Show (1972-1978)
- Malcolm In the Middle (2000-2006)
- That 70's Show (1998-2006)
- South Park (1997-Present)
- Home Improvement (1991-1999) Did you know Tim Allen had been arrested a long time ago on drug offenses? Interesting.
- I Dream of Jeannie (1965-1970)
- Murphy Brown (1988-1998)
- News Radio (1995-1999) I can't believe anyone would kill Phil Hartman.
- Beavis and Butthead (1993-1997) New episodes coming in summer 2011.
- Diff'rent Strokes (1978-1986)
- Bewitched (1964-1972)
- Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000-Present) Based on a fictionalized version of Larry David, the co-creator of Seinfeld. Think of a condensed version of George Costanza.
- Leave It To Beaver (1957-1963)
- Roseanne (1988-1998) Honestly, I hate that fat broad (broad in both senses), but it was the top sitcom of the decade, so here it is.
- Full House (1987-1995)
- Mary Tyler Moore (1970-1977)
- Everybody Loves Raymond (1996-2005)
- The Andy Griffith Show (1960-1968) Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C was a spin-off of this show.
- Three's Company (1977-1984)
- The King of the Hill (1996-2010)
- Happy Days (1974-1984) Happy Days, itself considered a spin-off from "Love, American Style," spun off five different series: Laverne & Shirley, Blansky's Beauties, Mork & Mindy, Out of the Blue, and Joanie Loves Chachi. It also spun-off two animated series.
- The Brady Bunch (1969-1974)
- Arrested Development (2003-2006)
- Taxi (1978-1982)
- Frasier (1993-2004)
- Friends (1994-2004)
- The Facts of Life (1979-1988)
- The Cosby Show (1984-1992)
- Cheers (1982-1993) Of course the show "Fraiser" was a spin off of "Cheers."
- M*A*S*H (1972-1983) Sitcom? Maybe not, but there was a laugh track.
- All In The Family (1971-1979) Hilariously racist.
- Family Ties (1982-1989) Michael J. Fox as a hardcore Republican with hippie parents? Yes please.
- The Simpsons (1989-Present) #3? Doh!
- I Love Lucy (1951 - 1957) #2? Lucy! You got some spanin' to do!
- Sienfeld (1990-1997) Seinfeld is master of it's domain, with Jerry's Jewish mullet and all
Another article from this website deals with a slightly different subject matter. The list below compiles the '10 Best Sitcoms on TV Now', dated the 29 April, 2010. Again there are some points I agree with and others that I don't. It is a lot more current and therefore much more appropriate for the brief I think I will undertake. Please read on for more.
10. Bored to Death (HBO)
Writer Jonathan Ames’ new series features Jason Schwartzman as a writer named Jonathan Ames who decides to advertise his private investigative services on Craigslist. Our favorite comedian Zach Galifianakis plays Ames’ best friend, Ted Danson quickly makes us forget he was ever in Becker, and the guest stars have included Kristen Wiig, Jim Jarmusch and Patton Oswalt. But its Schwartzman’s absurd mix of self-obsession and sincerity that makes the show so fun to watch. Schwartzman told Paste last fall that he loves that the real Ames is “not ever winking at the camera, making fun of the genre of mystery. He has no ability as a human being to detect irony. He doesn’t write his books from a place of mean or sarcastic humor. What I love is that his characters are always trying to do the right thing. They just keep fucking it up and end up hurting people, but it’s never intended.” — Josh Jackson
9. Nurse Jackie (Showtime)
Edie Falco plays Showtime’s latest morally ambiguous protagonist, a cranky ER nurse who’s snorting painkillers and having sex with the hospital pharmacist (how convenient) while the World’s Best Husband waits for her to come home to him and their two girls. Jackie Peyton is a maddening, two-faced character, kind and empathetic with her patients and stoically hurtful to the people closest to her. Her moral code is erratic, but intriguing—she flushes a patient’s ear down the toilet because he stabbed a woman, and then promptly returns to her day-to-day routine of getting high and committing adultery. The supporting cast brings out the worst in her and the best moments in the show: Eager nursing student Zoey worships the ground Jackie walks on; narcissistic doctor Fitch Cooper has an inexplicable crush on her, and fashionista doctor friend Eleanor O’Hara knows about all her transgressions and refuses to judge her, creating a twisted friendship and an unusual dynamic for two female characters. — Kate Kiefer
8. Parks & Recreation (NBC)
Maybe I’m just tired of sitcoms set in New York City. But I’m ready to say it: I like this season’s Parks & Recreation better than 30 Rock. Love me some Tina Fey but Parks wins out overall due to the sympathetic and charming cast of characters. The only Parks character that approaches the overweening narcissism of the average 30 Rock character is Aziz Ansari’s well-intentioned Tom Haverford. The half-hour each week I devote to Amy Poehler’s Leslie Knope, Nick Offerman’s uproarious Ron Swanson and the rest of the city officials in Pawnee, Ind., is tops for pure relaxation and sitcom bliss. — Nick Purdy
7. How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
A replacement for anyone who misses Friends, CBS’ only great sitcom has given us Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris), one of the most egocentric, hilarious TV characters this decade. Once you get past the laugh track, the show is truly, as Barney would say, “legend—wait for it—ary.” — Kate Kiefer
6. The Office (NBC)
NBC’s remake of Ricky Gervais’ masterpiece has certainly seen better days. It’s been a while (since Michael Scott’s last dinner party, to be precise) since the show really made us squirm with delicious discomfort in a way that only Scott’s lack of self-awareness ever could. Still, the characters we got to know back in 2005 were so wonderfully crafted that they show little wear and tear after six seasons, even when the show’s central romantic tension is long gone. Long live Dunder-Mifflin. — Josh Jackson
5. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX)
Blatant nihilism and self-absorption makes for pretty funny television—shows like Arrested Development and Curb Your Enthusiasm are proof-positive of this new maxim. But onscreen celebrations of this emotional insularity are usually somewhat self-aware. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia takes this über-ironic humor to it’s logical conclusion: amoral sociopaths who think they’re lovable sitcom archetypes (whence “The Gang”). Your jaw will drop and you’ll squirm in your seat when you hear Frank dismiss his daughter Dee’s pregnancy with a deadpan “Do yourself a favor and flush it out.” And then, despite yourself, you’ll laugh until your sides hurt. — Michael Saba
4. Party Down (Starz)
Underneath the white button-downs and ridiculous pink bow-ties, the employees of L.A.‘s Party Down catering company are writers, actors, comedians and aspiring restaurant franchise owners—but it hardly matters to the folks they’re pushing appletinis and crudites for. What could easily be a bleak, recession-era tale of thwarted egos—or worse, just another exercise in “awkward!”—skirts both entirely; it surely doesn’t hurt that the cast draws from the Christopher Guest and Judd Apatow universes, or that Paul Rudd is one of the dudes at the helm. Care for a cheese cube with that quiet desperation? — Rachael Maddux
3. Community (NBC)
Community is a show suffused with pop culture. Almost every episode’s plot has been done by a sit-com or movie previously, but Community revels in its referentiality. Nearly everyone watching Community has spent countless hours watching other TV sitcoms and trashy Hollywood movies. The characters of Community have done the same, and aside from Abed’s encyclopedic knowledge of pop culture, they respond to clichéd show tropes in the same way you do. They know that Jeff is the cool guy, that Britta has been set up as a romantic interest regardless of the lack of chemistry between the two characters. They know that Pierce is comic relief and that they’re the center of the universe because they’re TV characters. They’ve managed to take the oldest jokes in the book and make them completely new. — Sean Gandert
2. 30 Rock (NBC)
The spiritual successor to Arrested Development, 30 Rock succeeded where its competition failed thanks to star/creator Tina Fey. 30 Rock never loses track of its focus and creates a surprisingly deep character for the its circus to spin around. But Fey’s not the only one that makes the series. Consistently spot-on performances by Tracy Morgan—whether frequenting strip clubs or a werewolf bar mitzvah—and Alec Baldwin’s evil plans for microwave-television programming create a perfect level of chaos for the show’s writers to unravel every week. It may be a little off its game, this season, but an average episode of 30 Rock is still better than a good episode of almost any other sitcom. — Sean Gandert
1. Modern Family (ABC)
The funniest debut season of a sitcom in a long while belongs to Modern Family on ABC. The story of three inter-related families works because its characters seem familiar to life but fresh to the screen. Not that the show is above archetypes: There’s the rebellious teen seduced by popularity, the beautiful Colombian second wife, the trying-too-hard-to-be-cool dad, the patriarch who doesn’t like to show affection, the flamboyantly gay boyfriend. But it’s not taken long for TV veterans Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan to let each character’s uniqueness flourish through the myriad relationships within the family.
We’ve seen Jay Pritchart (Married With Children‘s Ed O’Neill) struggle to relate with his new stepson Manny and his son-in-law Phil, but surprisingly connect with Cameron—his gay son’s boyfriend—over football. We’ve seen 10-year-old Manny give parenting advice to Jay’s daughter Claire and fight with Claire’s slow-witted, hyper son Luke (technically, his nephew). And then the cameo from Jay’s first wife, played by Shelley Long, took the craziness to a whole new level (as Cameron says, “There’s a fish in nature that swims around with its babies in its mouth. That fish would look at Mitchell’s relationship with his mother and say, ’That’s messed up.’”)
There’s dysfunction here, and while a meanness sometimes creeps in, there’s also as much love for these characters as there is laughter at their expense. Mitchell’s tendencies to get uptight are mellowed by Cameron’s constant joviality. Jay’s crotchetiness is mitigated by his wife Gloria’s vivaciousness. Even Phil, the show’s version of The Office’s Michael Scott—with no self-awareness and a self-sabotaging quest to seem hip—is protected from his own antics by a loving wife.
It’s these relationships that make even a completely messed-up family a valuable thing. No matter how bad things get in this Modern Family, it always beats the alternative of not having each other. They’re flawed individuals, offering only broken bits of love to one another, but that’s more than enough to cling to. As Dylan, the boyfriend of Claire’s oldest daughter so sweetly an wisely said—before breaking into a song about Haley with the lyrics, “I just want to do you, do you” in front of the family—“You’re reaching out, trying to hold on to something awesome… Haley’s got the kind of confidence that you get from having a family like this that’s passionate and accepting of hot foreigners and gay dudes and nutty people—you know, family that actually loves each other.”
And a funny one at that. — Josh Jackson
From the article above it is clear to see that NBC seems to have the best comedy line up. Maybe I could go somewhere with this. After all I watch every one of the programmes above so I feel well informed enough to undertake something of this nature.
Recent Movie Posters
I think since I have recently identified the areas of graphic design that I am really interested in, I should keep my context blog up to date with contemporary examples. For example I have always had an interest in creating promotional posters for film releases; so below are three posters that are incredibly contemporary.
Title: Rubber
Release Date: 26 February 2011
Designer: Olly Moss
Synopsis: When Robert, an inanimate tire, discovers his destructive telepathic powers, he soon sets his sights on a desert town; in particular, a mysterious woman becomes his obsession.
My Opinion: I love this incredibly simple yet clever concept designed by one of my favourite artists; Olly Moss. The unique way the designer gives this inanimate object a personality by placing an eye in the centre is genius. I also like the typography choice as it reminds me of old grindhouse film posters, even more so because a texture has been added. This is perhaps my favourite film poster in a long while, and fits perfectly with the wild and wacky plot of the feature.
Title: The Bleeding House
Release Date: 20 April 2011
Designer: Unknown
Synopsis: A stranger with mysterious intentions comes to stay the night at a secluded country home, but what he finds inside is a family torn apart by a violent past and a secret more deadly than he expected.
My Opinion: This is amazing. The simplicity is overwhelming, yet the more you look the more you discover. At first glance I did not notice the woman inbetween the legs, and wondered what the transition from white to red represented. Then my eye followed the figure down to reveal the title, which implies the red represents blood. It's obviously inspired by Saul Bass, and carries on his legacy incredibly well.
Title: Hobo with a Shotgun
Release Date: 22 July 2011
Designer: Tom Hodge aka The Dude Designs
Synopsis: A homeless vigilante blows away crooked cops, pedophile Santas, and other scumbags with his trusty pump-action shotgun.
My Opinion: This is a fantastic interpretation of old school film poster design to create a contemporary piece. What's even more interesting is the story behind the designer choice and process which can be found here. I think what's so great about this design is the strength of each individual component from the type to the illustration, and bringing it together makes it just so visually strong. I would proudly display this on my wall.
Release Date: 26 February 2011
Designer: Olly Moss
Synopsis: When Robert, an inanimate tire, discovers his destructive telepathic powers, he soon sets his sights on a desert town; in particular, a mysterious woman becomes his obsession.
My Opinion: I love this incredibly simple yet clever concept designed by one of my favourite artists; Olly Moss. The unique way the designer gives this inanimate object a personality by placing an eye in the centre is genius. I also like the typography choice as it reminds me of old grindhouse film posters, even more so because a texture has been added. This is perhaps my favourite film poster in a long while, and fits perfectly with the wild and wacky plot of the feature.
Title: The Bleeding HouseRelease Date: 20 April 2011
Designer: Unknown
Synopsis: A stranger with mysterious intentions comes to stay the night at a secluded country home, but what he finds inside is a family torn apart by a violent past and a secret more deadly than he expected.
My Opinion: This is amazing. The simplicity is overwhelming, yet the more you look the more you discover. At first glance I did not notice the woman inbetween the legs, and wondered what the transition from white to red represented. Then my eye followed the figure down to reveal the title, which implies the red represents blood. It's obviously inspired by Saul Bass, and carries on his legacy incredibly well.
Title: Hobo with a Shotgun
Release Date: 22 July 2011
Designer: Tom Hodge aka The Dude Designs
Synopsis: A homeless vigilante blows away crooked cops, pedophile Santas, and other scumbags with his trusty pump-action shotgun.
My Opinion: This is a fantastic interpretation of old school film poster design to create a contemporary piece. What's even more interesting is the story behind the designer choice and process which can be found here. I think what's so great about this design is the strength of each individual component from the type to the illustration, and bringing it together makes it just so visually strong. I would proudly display this on my wall.
Thursday, 28 April 2011
Lucy Knisley
I love these little illustrations that were created to celebrate (and summarise) the plots of the Harry Potter series. These are great examples of the type of graphic design I am interested in, combining something from popular culture and a unique approach to illustration. I particularly like the compositions and how jam packed they are, but yet don't overwhelm you too heavily. I also appreciate how a different colour scheme has been utilised for each design.
Oil'd
From the Designer:
'A year ago, a massive oil spill began in the Gulf. The entire country was glued to the news until the well was capped, and then we forgot about it.
As the year anniversary was fast approaching I became curious, just how much oil was that exactly? Where would it have gone? What I found was shocking.
So in an effort to further our discussion on oil dependency I created this short animation. I've spent all of my free time in the last month putting this together to help illustrate just how dependent we truly are on oil.'
This is a great 2 minute animation that I thoroughly enjoyed watching. The graphics flow so smoothly from one to the other, and the transitions are incredibly clever. The simple vector imagery fits the theme and the use of subtle textures is inspired. The typeface also suits the topic and seems very similar to the sort of typeface used in several other short animations like this, and the ones found largely on infographics.
Wednesday, 27 April 2011
50 and 50
Description taken from web: '50 AND 50 IS A CURATED PROJECT WHICH ATTEMPTS TO CONSTRUCT A HANDSOME NEW WAY OF LOOKING AT OUR COUNTRY. FIFTY DESIGNERS, ONE PER STATE, HAVE ILLUSTRATED THEIR STATE MOTTO, CREATING SOMETHING STEEPED IN HISTORY BUT COMPLETELY MODERN AND UNIQUE: A KIND OF DESIGNER'S ATLAS.'
The whole collection can be found on this website, whilst a few of my favourites respresenting Ohio, Wisconsin and various others are below. I love the minimal red, blue and white colour schemes and the retro looking graphics. Each one brings something different, which is true to say of each actual American state.
This is a perfect example of the kind of design that I would love to do. The content is irreverent, there is no real reason behind the existence of the these pieces. They exist purely to entertain and engage an audience, perhaps there is a small aspect of promotion but for the majority they are fun and frivolous designs.
The whole collection can be found on this website, whilst a few of my favourites respresenting Ohio, Wisconsin and various others are below. I love the minimal red, blue and white colour schemes and the retro looking graphics. Each one brings something different, which is true to say of each actual American state.
This is a perfect example of the kind of design that I would love to do. The content is irreverent, there is no real reason behind the existence of the these pieces. They exist purely to entertain and engage an audience, perhaps there is a small aspect of promotion but for the majority they are fun and frivolous designs.
Tuesday, 12 April 2011
Functions/Purposes
When it comes to thinking of a purpose for the work I create I find myself a bit lost. I don't think I have ever really been driven by the purpose or function of a brief, for me it's all about the audience and the visual side of things. I know this shouldn't be the way that I work, and I always consider the purpose before I even begin working on a new project, it's just something I'm going to have to learn to do. Perhaps by identifying the five key areas as I have done below it will help me in the future. Despite what I have written below, the one things above everything else that takes priority is a light hearted approach. So when I have written 'educate', for example, I don't mean giving someone a complete lesson in a subject matter or a similar idea, but instead a subtle nod to educating or informing. This will become evident in my further descriptions below.
Example 01: Inform
This first example is a piece of branding that has been used across a range of products and promotion. I'm not going to lie the first reason this stood out to me was because of the bright colours and bold visuals, however once I read the description of what had actually been designed I began to appreciate it for a complete piece of graphic design that is not only informative, but effective. It is a also a great example of the approach that I would take in order to reach a specific audience and then get across the required information. It is obvious that the first thing this designer did was create a logo and designate a colour scheme, followed by the appropriation of information to the correct mediums. It is a great example of playful design with a professional finish, and shows how you can take quite a bland subject matter and make it more interesting and visually appealing.
Example 02: Promote
Promotion is most important to me. When I think about all the design that inspires me and gives me motivation to continue when I feel disheartened with my work it is usually promotional. This is probably because when it comes to promotion it's all about using attractive visuals, something to draw the audience in, to the catch the eye if you will. The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of work that has been created in order to promote are film and music posters. However considering I have showcased a lot of work so far that deals with film, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to mention the work of 'Methane Studios'. Below is a just small collection of posters crafted by this amazing studio. They may all promote different events but they all have one thing in common; they are visually stunning. They are perfect examples of graphic design I am interested in; irreverent and memorable.
Example 03: Educate
When I think about incorporating graphic design with educating an audience the first thing that I go to are infographics. They are a fantastic example of how you can use visually engaging imagery and a good eye for composition to communicate your message. Below are just a few examples of effective infographics taken from good.is that best incorporate information graphics and a clear visual style. If I where to follow a career path of using design to educate people I would most definitely aim to create work like below. The examples use bold colours, vectorised illustrations and a non cluttered composition to create successful pieces. I particularly like the first example as it uses visuals that relate to the subject matter and twists them into appealing aesthetics.
Example 04: Package
Creating packaging is probably tied with creating promotional work in terms of importance for me. I love to create work that is not just 2D, but 3D and interactive and something memorable. Below is an example of simple, clean and efficient packaging that follows current trends of using neutral colours to communicate benefits to the environment and harmless production methods. However they're not the reasons why I chose this particular example. The reason I chose it is because if I where to forge a career out of packaging this is most likely a brief that I would love to work on. The most popular current products with inventive packaging seem to include: confectionary, alcohol, food and drink and health and beauty. These are all things that I can get on board with and would love to design for. What I love about the example below is how he has taken the idea of packaging design and used it as a form of promotion for himself. At first glances it just seems like your run of the mill coffee package, it's only when you look further into the design that you realise the ingenuity behind it.
Example 05: Celebrate
This is another area that I am interested in; creating visuals purely to celebrate subjects/areas of interest. To any one who knows anything about graphic design its obvious that the pieces below were designed by Olly Moss, a designer who I greatly admire. What I love so much about them is the fact that they hold no real purpose. They where not created in order to boost sales of a new DVD release or pack people into a cinema in order to pour even more money into the pockets of a faceless corporation. They where created purely in celebration of a groundbreaking franchise, and would be purchased by both fans of 'Star Wars' and general appreciators of fantastic design. In other words, me. Maybe that's why I feel such passion towards artists like Olly Moss, Tyler Stout, Ken Taylor etc; I feel as though they are designing for me. And if I could reach just a fraction of the people that the above artists have then I would be elated.
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