Reflection on the movie Helvetica..

            

            Even before, we can never deny the fact that typography is with us in our daily life. It is hard to foresee that we can live in this world without it for it is one way of establishing a communication. And one of the renown typefaces in the society is the Helvetica. This is what the independent documentary film Helvetica is all about. The said movie shows the typography world, graphic designs and the global visual culture that somehow tend to be unnoticed by many. It illustrates the beginning of the Helvetica and the evolution happened as it became the face of modernism.

             In the movie, they documented the history of Helvetica. In 1957, Neue Haas Grotesk was the name of this face. But for marketable purpose, it was initially suggested that the typeface be called 'Helvetia' which is the original Latin name for Switzerland. But then Eduard Hoffmann, one of the developers of Helvetica together with Max Miedinger disagreed to it for it wouldn't be appropriate to name a typeface after a country. So he suggested “Helvetica” as this meant “Swiss”. Helvetica was originated in the Haas Type Foundry in Münchenstein, Switzerland and today it is under the property of the Linotype in Bad Homburg Germany.  

Personally I agree that this typeface was known for its clear type, straight forward, modern type and generated with desire or for better visibility. These were also the reasons of many graphic designers why they love and chose the Helvetica face in their designs. It is to be noted that this face really brings the neutrality of any word. Basing to what Rick Poynor said, Helvetica aroused through the real feeling of idealism among some designers after seeking for rational typefaces which could be applied to all contemporary information whether in sign system or corporate identity. They rebuild and reform styles after the war in 1950’s and present those visual expression of the modern world to the public in intelligible and eligible way. I learned through Massimo Vignelli that the head of sensitivity of a quote is not  between the distance of letters but rather the spaces of the black that really makes it. Also the letter “H” is the base of every letters made as what Matthew Carter, son of Harry Carter said. He added that Helvetica has a horizontal terminal which makes the general characteristic of it.

In this film, they really interviewed many famous graphic designers who in their own way, used and developed the Helvetica face. I liked the way these designers appreciated and perceived the form and style of Helvetica. As what all of them said, Helvetica has a style itself. It run smoothly and brings almost the perfect balance they want. Leslie Savan, a media writer said that the government and corporations love Helvetica because on one hand it seems to be neutral and efficient. And the smoothness of the letters of the face also makes the government seems transparent, accessible, and accountable the way they must look. Thus, Helvetica creates a big impact to everyone. It is already in the culture and you ca never just dump it for it is everywhere. I realized that Helvetica really touches every advertising industry because almost all of the big companies and establishments even those small ones used the Helvetica face. They consider it as the starting point of their businesses because it will then be the basis of the people if they will adopt such products as the way they presented it to them through the attractive styles and designs.   

But  I can say that somehow Helvetica is boring without designs on it like the size and color especially in magazines. Because I can’t imagine the words in the street and reading materials with the same dull letters. So it is still necessary that a graphic designer would add some twist on the Helvetica  letters if printed. Even Rick Poynor and other designers agreed that blending of some effects somehow is more attractive like what Stefan Sagmeister did. Because designers wanted to express their subjectivity and feelings through the design they make. It is essential to bring life to every letters because I also believe that typography can have personality the way you drawn it. It somehow shows who you really are based on the type you choose. As what Paula Scher said, she realized that the typefaces has a spirit that  can convey movement and could be your own medium. Letters speaks different way and I agree to Manuel Krebs that Helvetica contains a design program that will lead you to a certain language.

Thus, it really make sense to know and observe how things were made. Like the typography, it may be very unnoticeable for many but if we weigh the importance of it in our life, we can conclude that this gives affluence to us. It allows us to understand easily the things wanted to be conveyed by anyone. And the Helvetica movie really showed credit to typefaces especially to Helvetica face itself for all its benefits to us. Through this film, I realized that it is never been easy to create and apply any typeface particularly if you think of how it will be adopted by everyone. You should always set considerations in making it. But for sure, like Helvetica, people will learn to take it as part of the culture and it will never be vanished.               

LATE..

Hey people!!.. You know I really hate being late especially in class.But unfortunately I wasn't able to join my 2nd quiz in my 7AM database subject because I was late.I was supposed to run faster because I was already in the school gate but my classmate texted me that the door of the laboratory room was already lock and I can no longer get in because that was our rule "No Entry When Late".

Well I guess I should really make extra extra effort to wake up very very early to make sure I'll never be late again.That's all for now....

How I celebrated the All Souls Day...

              All around the world, November 2 is known for the celebration of All Souls Day. In this day, we commemorates our beloved loved ones who passed by already. We celebrate it through going to the cemetery where they were buried. Having party called "Halloween Party" is one way also of celebrating this day.

               But unfortunately, I haven't celebrated it in public?..Why? Because I failed to go to the cemetery and I didn't even attend any Halloween party. Well  what I just did was to pray silently. Because I believe that  my prayers can somehow help them when the final judgment will come. =)
            





             

5thDay of Fieldtrip (Oct. 8, 2010)

DAY 5

Today, I went on a company visit to Telecommunications Training Institute (TTI ) in Valenzuela City, Metro Manila.

     What I learned?

            I’ve learned that this institute is a very old government establishment that caters services, products,  and courses in line of technical objects in telecommunication. field. I learned that this institute came to have analysis on how to communicate as telecom. They have Digital Multiplex Master Station which they show the algorithms to be noted and plays important role in telecom.

             I learned that the flow of having a successful telecommunication should have Postage – Radio – Multiplexer – Pulse Code Modulation PCM – Switch. In Quantizing, when you need to convert analog to digital  you should use the 421 code. In the institute, they have antennas and in 1 antenna, they have 411 stations. They have 61 TB or Traffic Block which indicates who is calling in the area or station. They use Intracall Card  and every card caters 32 subscribers.

            I also learned about the Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) antenna which is a two-way satellite ground station or a stabilized maritime VSAT antenna with a dish antenna that is smaller than 3 meters. To communicate with the Agila satellite (the first and only satellite of the Philippines), first you have to position your parabolic VSAT antenna to 120º  Southeast azimuth with  50º  elevation. Then you should follow this flow: Indoor modulator -(connect to)- Outdoor modulator -(connect to)- LNA or LNB -(connect to)- VSAT Antenna.

What I liked?

            I liked the data given by this institute because it gave me information about the antennas and the right positions and flow on how to make telecommunication successful. I also liked the machines exposure and I appreciate the speaker Mr. Noel Lorenzo’s knowledge he imparted to us.

   What I didn’t like?

            I didn’t like the building because it is not renovated.


          In continuation of our company visit for the last day of our tour, we visited Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Traffic Engineering in Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila.
 
       What I learned?

    The knowledge I gained in the MMDA visit was really a useful information for me. Because I’ve learned how they monitor accidents and managed the traffic in whole Metro Manila. I’ve learned that they have 16 big monitors in the Metro Base and numerous flat screen monitors in around the base. This helped them in monitoring and checking the situation in the areas of  Manila. They have 128 modems for their connection and has 419 intersections monitored. And the IP camera they have which is bell shaped uses Ymax Antenna They divided the Metro manila into four sections: North-Region 1; West- Region 2; East- Region 3; and South-Region 4. they have two software used: the Nuuo  and  Multipix.

    In the traffic monitoring team, the engineer said that they also have Multiplexes Traffic lights and uses 5 local controllers. The flow of their connection is : lantern – controller – server. In every lane they put loop detection that will detect the speed of the magnetic vehicle, the gaps they have and the mass of each of them. For the whole lanes, the loop detectors are called the inductive loop with 1.5 x 2.5 m which when data were determined and calculated, the current will then determine how long will the light green will stay. After which, the current will then go to the other lanes. The software they use in the traffic lights is the Sydney Conducted Adoption Traffic System (SCATS). The main program used is Fortran and the sub-program is Assembler.

            What I liked?

    I liked the MMDA center itself because there you can see the traffic situation and would record accidents in the road. The software, program and hardware they use are very reliable. I liked their team because they welcome visitors and are willing to share and show the gadgets and hardware they use.

           What I didn’t like?

    I didn’t liked the limited time allotted for the company visit in this company.

4th Day of Fieldtrip (Oct. 7, 2010)

DAY 4

Today, I went on a company visit to Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Philippines Corp. in Laguna Technopark, Binan, Laguna.

 What I learned?

Hitachi is a company having the main center in San Jose California that offers system solution for society providing products, system and solution based in latest advanced technology especially in information technology system. I learned that this company here in the Philippines focuses in making the global storage or their new advanced perpendicular head terabyte hard drive. In these product, they changed the design of the conventional longitudinal recording wherein magnets representing the bits are lined up end-to-end along circular tracks in the plane of the disk.

In perpendicular recording, the tiny magnets are standing up and down. Adjacent alternating bits stand with north pole next to south pole; thus, they want to attract each other more stable they are. I also learned and saw that the hard disk platter is sliced into long strips and the head is only 10nm.

This company also has three stages where they develop their perpendicular hard drive.: the Fab1 – rawstake layer; the Harmony ( needs extra careful because platter becomes sensitive to light ) ; and the Fab2 – slider layer. Also, all of the workers in the laboratories are all females for they say that females has very light hands.


What I liked?

I liked the technology product produced by Hitachi particularly the perpendicular head terabyte hard drive. It is very useful, reliable and convenient to use. I liked also the ambiance inside the Hitachi lab because you should be wearing foot covers and the mini museum gives you information of Hitachi’s history.

 What I didn’t like?

I didn’t liked the moment when we are all inside the waiting room, because we were divided into batches. And it gave me the tiring and boring feeling while waiting.

3rd Day of Fieldtrip (Oct. 6, 2010)

DAY 3

Today, I went on a company visit to the Advance Science and Technology Institute (ASTI)  in C.P. Garcia, UP Diliman, Quezon City.

      What I learned?

            I learned that the Advance Science and Technology Institute (ASTI) is one of the government institution that conducts scientific research and development in the advanced fields of Information and Communications Technology and Microelectronics. They  contribute to the attainment of national development and growth of Philippine enterprises by providing solutions using ICT and electronics technology.

             

            I learned that they also has researches and development programs such as the produced embedded products, educational kits and technicom projects. 

      What I liked?

            I liked the institute itself for they aim to help the Philippines to grow in such a way of using technology. They managed to be existing solution in some Philippine problems in terms of producing technology  products.

      What I didn’t like?

            I  just didn’t like the ambiance of their  conference room because I was tired already for I doesn’t have enough sleep then there goes a not so colorful room where we held our lecture.

2nd Day of Fieldtrip (Oct. 5, 2010)

DAY 2

Today, I went to UP Diliman in Quezon City held in NISMED Auditorium to fulfill our National Seminar. In the afternoon, we continued the tour in Department of Computer Science (DCS) located at U.P. Alumni Engineers Centennial Hall and visited the six DCS laboratories.

What I learned?

For spending my whole day in UP Diliman, I really learned lot of things and met several speakers that overwhelmed me. In the seminar, we have six topics that indeed covers useful facts, ideas and information for us IT and CS students. These were: Writing a Winner Thesis (Rose Ann Sale); Visualizing Wikipedia Article Evolution with Stream Graph (John Boaz Lee); Personal Learning Environment (Michelle Lee Moscatel); Animation (Len de Gracia); Mobile Device Game Development (Prof. Carlo Bott); and Empowering the Nation through Educational Technology (Dr. Ferdinand B. Pitagan).

In the first topic, I learned that we should take note of the five stages in making a thesis. The first one is the “Big Thinking” wherein the stage of knowing your topic. You should be transformed, inspired and challenged to get good topics. Second is the “Proposal Stage”. If approved by the adviser, you will now enter the “Burning the Eyebrow Stage” wherein you will feel the real stress in making the meat of your thesis. Next is the “Nerve Wracking Stage” where you will be able to use comparative test and tester profile. I learned that whenever got bored and drained, you do anything that might give you happiness. It is important for you to avoid breakdown. Then if successful, you are now in the “I Did It Stage”.

About the second topic, I learned that visualizing is a big help in finding the right and correct information of the data you are looking for. Like in wikipedia, if you are about to find a particular lets say meaning of a word, after you click the search button, lots of information will appear. So to be sure if any data is correct, you should learn to identify the unnecessary info. Tips were as follow: Identify data by means of color; Compare two most related information about the data; Get the unnecessary information. I also learned that this link will help you - http://wiki.smallworldgroup.com.

In the third topic, I learned that personalized learning + technology = Personal Learning Environment. In PLE, here you can have your own designed learning environment by taking control and managing your own learning. This is a system where the learners can apply the way they learn things using technology.

The things I learned in the nest topic was about animation. Though we didn’t really had the step by step process on how to make the animation, tips and types of software were given. I learned that as a beginner, one should really focus on practicing and program that can help you is the Maya and Unity 3d is the engine to be used. I just have to believe in the quality of my portfolio, the marketability a have, and gear myself towards my dream job.
The next topic was somehow related to the fourth topic. In the seminar, Prof. Bott discussed very new topics for me. Because it was all about gaming and honestly I am not fond of it. but then designing a game is quite interesting. Same as what Ms. de Gracia recommended, Prof Bott said it is best to use Maya as the program and Unity ad Torque. My learning in the last topic we discussed was that it is still important to have a right education in terms of technology. This only proves that nowadays an individual must learn well in technology.

After the seminar we went to UP Ayala Techno Hub then proceed to the DCS. I learned that UP really assist, mold aand advises their students on hoe to be more realible and competitive IT/CS students. They boost the potential of students through their six laboratories: Computer Vision and Machine Intelligence Lab; Algorithms and Complexity Lab; Networking and Distributed Systems Lab; Computer Security Lab; Web Science Lab; and Scientific Computing Lab.

What I liked?

I liked the wide premises of the UP Diliman . I liked the way thy categorized and equipped every laboratories of high standard facilities. The way they enhance and develop the potentials of their students. I really appreciate the professors they have. And through these, you can be guaranteed of the education they provide. For the seminar we had, iliked the speakers and the facilitators. They chose the right speakers of the suggested topic of our professors. They imparted their knowledge to us as what I expected. I was not disappointed of the topics. I liked the souvenirs and how fortune I am to be one of the winners of UPITTC T-shirts drawn by them.

What I didn’t like?

I didn’t liked the place where we ate our lunch. Please just correct me if I’m wrong but I think its their pathway and because of our total number , they cannot accommodate us in their cafeteria. In the seminar, I was a bit annoyed of Mr. Lee’s actions as he delivered hid speech.i was also bit worried of Prof. Bott’s lecture because we were not able to really participate in his lecture. because he featured top ad professional examples and points while majority of us were just beginners.

Afternoon of Day 2 we proceeded on the UP Ayala Techno Hub located long Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City. We first went on a company visit to SeaChange Philippines, Inc.  

  What I learned?

            Finally I was able to visit the Techno Hub. And one of the companies here is the SeaChange, Inc. I learned that company  provides products of multi-screen video, solutions and services for back office, advertising, content and metadata management, in-home devices and broadcast to hundreds of media companies globally, including blue chips such as Comcast, Virgin Media, AT&T, Hutchison Whampoa, Vodacom and DISH Network. It is one of the largest software companies worldwide I learned it has subsidiaries like On Demand Group originally in London that leads to  interactive media development, content acquisition, service and content management, and television production. The eventIS originally in Netherlands product on Sept 2009 that develops and supports open software solutions for metadata management and video-on-demand VOD, enabling broadband and broadcast television operators to offer advanced multiplatform services. The VividLogic on Jan 2010 which provides software and services to cable television service providers, set-top box manufacturers and consumer electronics (CE) suppliers.

             And now the new application called Gemini App that was being market in USA and introduced here in the Philippines that enables your television to be viewed like computers. This is a three-screen VOD delivery system based on the vendor's Axiom 5.5.

It has features like weather updates, can pause and play movies and so many more. I learned that they program  it in a set-top box which is to be sell in customers then  access their control in a Motorola head-up that looks like a DVD player. Then they sell the set-top boxes to the cable company.

    What I liked?

            I liked the way they produce products because they really experiment and research for what the people are looking up too. I liked the fact that they introduce the Gemini in the Philippines because through that, we can really benefit from what we pay for the cable companies. Its nice to know that even if we are still students, they are still willing to show us what they are in the company, how they do such operation and we were given a chance to talk to some of their heads, staff, engineers, programmers and see the floors where they operate the monitoring team. 

    What I didn’t like?

            What I didn’t like is the limited time allocated to us. I also wanted to really listen to what they all say but I got tired and sleepy a bit so not all they shared were put in my mind.. I was bit disappointed because I was not able to take a picture because its prohibited.

            Another company we visited in Day 2 in UP Ayala Techno Hub was the International Business Machine (IBM) Corporation.

      What I learned?

             I learned that the IBM is now focusing in software, storage and system and servers marketing and not computers anymore. They have software like Information Management, Lotus software, Rational software, Tivoli software, and WebSphere software. IBM's Dynamic Infrastructure strategy and the backbone to a company's means of storing, protecting, accessing, and extracting new insights from its data and information.

           

            They also come up with products that are environmental friendly which they are now introducing and promoting. They called it as the IBM – A Smarter Planet. Which they use environmental storage  and system.

      What I liked?

            I liked office ambiance they have. They are willing to share and show the switches they use and decided to just cover it with glass so that for them also to easily monitor the system. I liked their company because they allow visitors to take picture especially in the IBM logo.

What I didn’t like?

            I didn’t like the way we were firstly gathered in the office because it has limited space only. Because of this, not all of us heard the brief lecture about their system. I also wished to have one souvenirs especially the IBM laptop bag they have. But then even T’ shirts were limited only.