Think Pink

http://hometestingblog.testcountry.com/?p=9771

This pink breast cancer ribbon is quite possibly one of the most easily recognized symbols in today's society. Without any words or context, the ribbon is understood to represent hope and support for victims past and present of breast cancer. This symbol has taken on various forms, from a plain ribbon pinned onto a jacket, to jewellery, to travel mugs, to bumper stickers. By simply typing in "pink breast cancer ribbon" in a google search, an endless list of options will present itself. 

To my knowledge, when products that have been branded with the pink ribbon are sold, a certain percentage of the sale will go towards a cancer research foundation. For example, when I was working at a Suzy Shier location, we sold pink mittens with the ribbon embroidered on, and 10% of the proceeds went to the Canadian Cancer Society. 

On the one hand, I think that the donations are an excellent resource for the Canadian Cancer Society and that it is very generous of the retail stores to donate proceeds in light of today's economy. That being said, when the pink ribbon is emblazoned on absolutely everything, I think it becomes more of a trend than a supportive gesture. This absolutely does not mean to say that I do not support the charity, I just feel that it somewhat takes away from the gesture when someone puts the pink breast cancer ribbon on their car because its "cute". I think breast cancer survivors are completely deserving of support, admiration, and respect for what they have undergone, and I hope that when people see this pink ribbon that they remember that, and not the last cute pink ribbon t-shirt they saw. 

Topic Proposal: Personal Narrative Essay

I have chosen these three images from the website Pinterest that I feel are well-suited to my personality:

http://pinterest.com/pin/153122456050200441/

http://pinterest.com/pin/128000814378776432/

http://pinterest.com/pin/155726099584896187/

I chose to do the personal narrative essay on images that describe my personality, because I think that you can actually learn a lot about yourself when thinking of the main reasons why you gravitate towards certain images. When looking through these websites, I did not have a specific theme in mind, or anything that would connect the images together, I was simply looking for images that I like. While at first glance there appears to be relatively little that connects a map-purse, a chair, and scrabble letters in a mug, I think that the images all have elements of creativity in the sense that they are someone's art work, or they have been "repurposed".

I chose the purse because I always carry a purse, and I seem to have a growing collection. Travelling is one of my many favourite things, and the map represents my various trips and aspirations for future endeavours and adventures. The recovered office chair is fabulous because it is green, my favourite colour, and I think that recovering chairs is an excellent and cost effective way to change a boring study space. I did a similar project, but it did not turn out as nicely as the one pictured above. The final image of the scrabble pieces in the coffee cup represent my love for words and writing (and perhaps competitive board game tendencies). 

In all of these images, the pieces in question are all set against a plain background, so that the viewer's eye is not distracted. The pieces are all very simple looking, there are no words to describe the process of the creation or why they were created, the pieces must be strong enough to speak for themselves. I find all of these images are visually appealing in colour, with one bold colour that stands out: blue in the map, green for the chair, and brown in the coffee. The pieces in all three are very rounded, with few straight lines or hard edges.

Day 1: Its my first blog... this is a big deal.

Hi everyone!

My name is Nicole and I am in my fourth year of completing an honours specialization in English, a major in Spanish and a writing certificate. The purpose of this blog is primarily to track my experiences in analyzing visual rhetoric, but also to share images that I find inspiring, funny and provoking. As we are constantly bombarded with images in our daily lives, I think that it is important to take a moment to think about what we are seeing, and how it affects our mood, curiosity and thought process. The images I will post have done just that: made me think critically about them whether it be in their layout, placement or intended purpose.

This is an image I absolutely love:

http://pinterest.com/pin/126593439495340816/

I found this image on a website called Pinterest.com. I feel that this image really represents me well because it combines two things that I value: fitness and determination. First of all, fitness is extremely important to me, and a part of my life that I take very seriously. I think that it would be pretty accurate to say that I am determined to the point of being incredibly stubborn, and if there is something that I want to accomplish I will work hard to do so. I find the basic play on words in this image to be inspiring in its simplicity. 

The simplicity of the wording is what originally drew me to the image. The very last word the viewer is left with is "possible", and the resounding message that the reader can accomplish their goal (whether or not it be fitness related). In a larger sense, the short message is urging the viewer to look at images or words or circumstances for what they really are: if something seems impossible, look further into its components and it may very well be possible. 

The way the girl's facial expression is frozen mid movement, makes her look very intimidating, which definitely works in favour of the ad's motivational intention. The boxing gloves indicate that she is in the middle of exercising, and again with the shot being frozen in mid-movement, the viewer can really appreciate the force of her body. Also, her right had seems to be punching the word impossible, indicating that it can be broken apart into its components "I'm possible". 

One thing that could make this image slightly stronger, would be to change the colouring of the words possible and impossible, to further engage the reader's senses. 

Hopefully the images motivates you too!

Nicole Alexandra