I read Born Modern and I was deeply affected by it. I wanted to express my infatuation with Alvin Lustig with some geometric vomit, but after I assembled the illustrator file, I thought I was close enough to the point of making an AfterEffects video. It was more difficult than I thought. Layers wrestling was tough. I didn’t name my layers, but I was curious if I could handle it. It’s not so bad. I used the eye symbol to toggle on and off the layers to see if the layer I was affecting was the layer I wanted to affect.

I wrote the script and made the outlines. It seemed inspiring at first, but afterwards, thinking on it, there was a bit of frustration in the rendering towards the end. I should make a habit of compressing the files now and again so it isn’t so bad on the thing– whatever the thing that crashes my computer when it’s overworked– thing. This is my second kinetic type video. The first one also being very similar in texture (lack thereof) and emphasis on flat basic geometric shapes. I’m looking forward to more reasons to branch out, but I also appreciated how much I can get without putting so much into it that I feel like I started a project that’s taking more time than it’s worth. I was a little impatient towards the end. I thought about correcting a typo, *repetition, but I kind of liked the way all those i’s looked, so I kept it, though I know some big shot is going to point it out and look down on me for it.

Reaction To Alvin Lustig Video from Katarina Countiss on Vimeo.

Here’s the illustrator image, which contains layers of triangles (I’m really into these dod-gammed triangles.) It was interesting seeing the changes that happened between this layout phase and the final product. I went through a few different songs, too.

The script: 

Today, I read one of those coffee table books. It was a big one. The topic: Alvin lustig.
It made me think about typography
and spacing
and art, repitition, modernism
I’ve been thinking about my stile as a designer.
Or whether I am a designer at all.
Lustig saw a combination of both worlds, art and design.
And it was modern.
And sublime.
It seemed to express restfulness and energy.
The artifice of something man made and yet
an abstract quality that seemed fo the lenegance of the universes’s natural state.
In my mind, I see this union transform what I think about both art and design.
How can I take this and make it something my own?
I have to think about it for a while.
More importantly, create a lot.
It will crystallize into something unexpected.

The music