Target's Logo

Q: Choose a company logo and write about its qualities as a picture, symbol, and a sign.


As a picture, the Target logo does not invoke a literal association with an actual target. The circles are too perfect and the lack of a background immediately inform the viewer that this is not something that you are going to encounter in the real world, unless you happen to see a picture of it somewhere, say perhaps in or near a shopping mall. As a symbol, when looked at without the text that says "Target", it is clear that this represents a target. The layered red and white rings of varying sizes are unlikely to represent anything else. Someone might interpret this as an indication that they are on the right track, or that the correct path is ahead of them. As a sign, obviously the successful chain of retail stores has saturated culture with their sign through advertising and prominent placement outside of or near malls, that it effectively lets people know that a flyer with the image on it belongs to them, or that if they follow the sign, they will arrive at one of these shopping centers. Because they clearly thought their logo through strategically, there is no question about what it should be associated with. Had they picked a cube, or a pyramid, the association may not come as quickly, which might have negatively impacted the brand they created.

Blog Post 9/7/2009

Q: How are visuals and multimedia rhetorical? Explain.

According to Foss, Foss, and Trapp, rhetoric can be defined very simply as communication. Although they offer a lengthy description about how communication is broken down as symbols and signs that our brains interpret in certain ways, ultimately what they are saying is that rhetoric is the ability to communicate an idea from one person to another. Visuals and multimedia are an important type of communication in today's world because when we see certain images, our brain gives them certain meanings which are based in cultural context. For example, if we see a big octagonal red sign, we interpret that as stop. When we're driving, it means that we need to stop our car and look for traffic moving through an intersection. When we see a the same sign on a website, or in a book, it usually means that we need to take some extra time to consider something, or to not do something. For instance, a software manual might include a stop sign if there are additional steps that must be completed before moving on. Sometimes the portraits of people can carry special meanings as well. For example, Martin Luther King Jr. symbolizes equality and racial co-existence while a picture of Charles Manson, when used in conjunction with discussion of a certain policy might mean that it is dangerous, promoted inequality, or is might kill a person. The multimedia used to convey a message is as limitless as the human imagination, and the effectiveness is determines almost entirely by the author's ability to interpret social consciousness.

Looking Through the Sansa

Aside from my computer, the most used electronic device in the house is not the television, a radio, or a video game machine, but my MP3 player. I suppose that the MP3 player is the modern day high-tech, non-brand-name version of a walkman. Of course it's a walkman that can hold half of the albums I've ever bought on it at one time, which makes it a bit more useful when I go on one of my regular evening walks that lasts about an hour and covers about three miles. Rather than have bulky tapes stuffed in plastic cases that always seem to be falling apart, I instead can finish an album, or a song, and continue along my way, new tunes playing, an no worries about where to stash the tape I had been listening to.

And yes, I do realize that comparing an MP3 player to a Walkman dates me, but hey, at least I've been a computer geek all my life, as opposed to so many others my age who never actually considered using one until they were forced to for work.

So when I look at my Sansa (not Apple... thankfully not Apple), looking AT the thing is the simple act of figuring out how to make it function. Connect interface cord to the device and the other end to USB socket... copy songs to the device... go to settings and choose my memory card, reboot, and load up a bunch more songs... reboot again... wait for the database to refresh... wait some more for the database to refresh... place headset over ears... select music... select artist... look for album... What? Where's the album I want to listen to? I check the computer and realize that none of the MP3 files have the album name, so it's getting shuffled under unsorted. Fix the original files... plug in... load songs... reboot... wait. And this time there it is! The AT is taking the necessary steps to get it to play music. Now I can get past the AT and get to the THROUGH.

For an MP3 player, the THROUGH is simple. Once I hit play, I can listen to whatever I have loaded it with. I find that quite often this ends up being Collective Soul because just about everything album they've made in the last ten years is upbeat enough that it's beat and rhythm keep me moving. When it's not them, sometimes it's the Killers, or U2. It doesn't matter really, because once I get past the steps needed to make it work, it's a matter of enjoyment.

How The University Sees DTC

Question: In regards to these two articles, how do you think the university views multimedia authoring?

Response: Unfortunately I cannot comment on the two articles just yet as I am still waiting for my books to arrive. Rather than continuing to feed the overpriced college book store's voracious hunger for my money, I am instead choosing to buy my books online where they are more reasonably priced.

That said, Jim Haendiges' opening lecture on Tuesday 8/25/2009 suggested that the university humors DTC and that many professors come from such a traditional background that they aren't sure how to grade assignments done in electronic media. I have to say that this is in all likelihood true, but it does not reflect my experience with it.

In my limited experience with the university, the person who represents the greatest "authority" is Bob Eddy, who, I suspect, is someone who would be horrified at the prospect of being constructed as a representative who speaks for the university as a whole. That said, he is my advisor, one of my former professors, and a person who I greatly trust and admire. The reason I bring him into the discussion is because ever since I first met him, he has suggested that I take DTC classes. Last semester Bob advised me to get into Paul Mulhauser's English 355 class and was unable to because it had already been filled. I had actually already elected to do my minor on CES as a prelude to grad school. Unfortunately my wife, who had worked for the university for two years, was let go because of the budget crunch, and as a result I decided not to pursue grad school and instead go for something more immediately useful. When I spoke with Bob about this, he recommended doing a minor in DTC.

The point that I'm arriving at is that in every way that it counts, I have been encouraged to pursue DTC. It therefore came as a surprise that the university doesn't offer strong support DTC.

And Now for Something Completely Different... Again

Yes, for those three and a quarter people who actually follow my blog, I must report that it is being co-opted once again by coursework.









(Image courtesy of http://www.michaelbrochstein.com/photo/images/people/tmsq0312.htm)

Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook Sells Out

If you're a gamer, but now you've heard the news, so I'll skip all the exposition.

This is a win for gaming, and this is significant. For the past decade I've been concerned that the "only game in town" existed under an extremely large and uncaring corporate entity (even if I for a time worked for said entity). After rounds of nonsensical layoffs and corporate decisions that were misguided and just plain mean spirited, I was losing hope that this industry was ever going to re-balance itself and find some of what it enjoyed under TSR at its height. It was my desire to see the game shift to a company that was run by people who actually played RPGs and worried about the state of the game rather than treating it like it was just another one of many expendable brands. That is not to imply that RPGs are not a business and that the people who work in it do so out of pure altruism, but there is spot where good business decisions meet with good products, as well as the proper respect for the game, the people who originally brought it to life, and those who have worked on it ever since.

Last year everything changed when Paizo committed to a course of action that some decried as misguided, foolish, and destined to fail. "Who still wants to play third edition?" They asked. Paizo asked for the community involvement to tell them what we were looking for in our game, and for a year, we told them. Today we are beginning to see the results of this gambit and they are good. We at last have a strong, viable RPG company that is committed to including the players and the fans. After watching them and their products, and after working with them on several Pathfinder AP pieces now, I can say that Paizo is exactly the company I've been hoping would come along and provide some much needed leadership.

Congrats Paizo! You've come a long way from the jettisoned "Periodicals Department" and I look forward to seeing what's next.

Remembering Exalted Deeds

Now that I've been at the whole game design thing for a few years (I think I'm up to nine years of doing this professionally), one of the things I'm allowed to do is look back at past projects and post my thoughts. And what better project to talk about than the Book of Exalted Deeds? I mean let's face it, aside from the core rules, this is one of the 3.5 books that could be considered a hit. Actually, I have no idea how it did in sales; I never asked, but the one thing I do know is that any time I meet D&D players and mention that I have cover credit on the book, there is always familiarity and there are always stories.

It could be said that getting credit on this book was my second lucky break. What was my first? Accidentally not getting credit for some design work I did that ended up in Dragon magazine (it was purely accidental and led to my first paid gig as a designer). So prior to landing this job, I had been working as a temp at WotC, and I had finally worked up the courage to shoot an email to the R&D department about doing a bit of work for them. I was referred to T'Ed Stark, who I sat down and had a good long conversation with about writing and D&D in general. Prior to this I had met Christopher Perkins a couple times, and that was it for the people I knew.

So after I mentioned that I had done some design work on my own and I pointed out the articles with my name on them (and the one that didn't), T'Ed decided to give me a shot on what he pitched as the sequel to the Book of Vile Darkness. Of course, being a huge fanboy at the time, I knew everything about the BoVD. I knew it was a bold new step in a direction that TSR had been afraid to go, and I knew that it had been written by Monte Cook, a guy I still have never met in person, but who had been an inspiration for years, and I knew that it was going to be a tough act to follow. But hey, I was up to the task.

While the Book of Exalted Deeds may have helped put me on the map, the fact is that my co-authors did most of the work. This was really James Wyatt's book. He was the lead designer and he's the guy who came up with the truly original ideas that appeared, such as the Vow of Poverty, the whole of at least the first couple of chapters, and quite a bit of the mechanical stuff that was found throughout. Christopher Perkins had worked on the 2nd edition book called Warriors of Heaven, so his inclusion on this book was a bit of a no-brainer.

So there I was, first real writing job and I got to work with two of the most talented writers/designers in the industry (and I believe that this remains true today) following up the most well known designer in all of gaming, working on the the sequel to one of the most controversial but ultimately well received books in the edition thus far. Oh yeah, no pressure there. None at all!

In all honesty, the work wasn't as long or as hard as I thought it would be. I brainstormed the rules I wanted to work on, I met with T'Ed and Chris a few times, and I figured out how to make things go from ideas to rules. Along the way (and with the permission from the guys), I snagged a few spells from Warriors of Heaven and updated them to work with the current edition. This project went comparatively quickly and then after I made my turnover, Chris and I met to talk about some ideas that worked and some that didn't. I ended up rewriting a few things, but overall it went pretty well.

So what parts of the book did I actually work on? It's been a while and I may not even remember every little thing, but some of the highlights include the owl archon (incidentally, Chris asked me where this came from and I said I made it up. In fact the idea had come to me while I had been in a drunken stupor one night - I used to drink back then. I rarely do anymore, but I didn't go into that), the leskylor (which I think may have been adapted from somewhere else, I don't recall anymore), the sanctified creature, the sanctify the wicked spell, the anointed knight, the beloved of Valarian the sentinel of Bharrai (I think), the skylord, the vassal of Bahamut, and numerous spells.

As I said before, this was really James' book and he did an outstanding job on it. I'm just lucky that they decided to take me along for the ride. Of all the books I've worked on for WotC, there are really two that people remember: the Book of Exalted Deeds and D20 Apocalypse.

After the release of the book, it slowly became apparent to me that this one was popular. First there was the controversy about the Adult Content sticker on the front, which didn't seem to apply to this one as much as it did the BoVD, then there was the constant internet discussions about the Vow of Poverty, and then there was the WotC online convention, in which Chris and I fielded questions about the book. It was a good time and that book opened a lot of doors for me as a freelancer that probably would not have opened had I not been at the right place and at the right time to get assigned the right project.

Obviously these days I'm not with WotC anymore. I'm working on my own RPG brand - Reign of Discordia, and I've been doing some work for the awesomely cool and nice people at Paizo. Everyone who knows me is aware that I'm not down with 4E, but I do owe and want to acknowledge a serious debt of gratitude to T'Ed, Chris, and James. From the bottom of my heart, and I mean this literally, thank you for my career. Cheers and best of luck!