What is design for screen?...

Steve Griffin kinetic type

Dreamworks film intro

Day and Night short Pixar film intro

I first discovered this clever short Pixar animation when i went to see Toy Story 3 at the cinema, they played it just before the film begin and i was mesmerized whilst watching it. Its about two characters, one is day and the other is night, they argue over who has the best part of the day, until they unite and have fun and discover they have something beautiful in common.

I think its a really magical short animation, it truly engages with the audience and entertains all ages.

This short kinetic type animation is quiky and enjoyable, i think its main purpose is exploration and entertainment, its an example of how you can use type in a different media, using different principles. The movement of the type is a new way of engaging with the audience, and as technology evolves, design starts to adapt to its needs, digital design is very important now as so many of us for example have access to the internet.

Daft Punk Technologic kinetic type

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http://www.doylepartners.com/

Doyle partners website is very visually engaging, once the website has loaded you are greeted with squares of thier work, this includes digital snippets like short videos as well as photography and printed media. I particularly enjoyed this website as it was more visual, some websites over throw you with text and it can be quite off putting. I liked how you can decide what you read and how much on this website. You click on a square of work and it will give you a description and overview about it. Its easy to the eye, and makes you in control with what you wish to engage with.

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Collateral for connect a million minds

The above link is a short kinetic video of a piece of work by Time Warner Cable, the purpose of this piece of design was to inspire young people to pursue learning opportunities and careers in science, technology, engineering and math. Its to inform, engage and educate with a younger audience, they have kept it short and sweet as it were, young people may lose interest if it becomes too long and complex. Its also played to upbeat music which is captivating.

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Thinking with my fingers

This is another short video by DoylePartners, it shows a man cutting out shapes with a scalpel, when i first watched it i wasnt sure of the point of it but found it captivating. It turns out that he doesnt remove the cut pieces, he just creates a 3D element, a word is then created in red saying LOGIC. It could be a piece of promotional design for Doyle or maybe just an engaging piece of design. I think i found it most interesting because it showed a journey, and i was curious to find out what he was actually doing in the video.

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http://www.johnsonbanks.co.uk/

Johnson Banks blog is very engaging and visually interesting, as it loads it tells you its nearly there, it is percieved in a personal way, which i like, almost like its chatting to you. Once the home page has loaded you are presented with text, but its not too much and its not aesthetically boring. The out links to work etc are coloured blocks of texts, if you click on one it produces something that looks similar to a spider diagram from which you can choose to out link again to points of interest. Yet it always has the easy connection to go back to the previous page or home page.

For an example i chose to 'see some pictures', you can then choose posters or print work. When the images come up you can place your cursor over an image and a short description of the work will appear, its then up to you whether you want to click on it to find out more if your interested. It also crosses out the link you have been to so you know what you have looked at and what you haven't.

A very simple and effective blog, which informs, educates and engages. The audience is again in control.

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wearemothership.com

Stuart Eaton is a Graphic Designer who has worked for the likes of the BBC and Nokia, he now free lances in Barcelona, Spain and is the co founder of 'we are mothership'. He and two other designers create iphone apps. Their most recent being the Kinetic for iphone.

'Kinetic is a GPS- based tracking and training app for running, cycling, hiking, walking... designed specifically to help you measure and improve your fitness.'

(Taken from the website)

Iphone apps are another use of design for screen, with iphones becoming a very popular piece of technology and with so many new applications becoming available to help peoples lives run smoothly and easily they are becoming more advanced and the choice is huge, there will be a point where you could use an app to do anything!

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www.creaktif.com

I really liked how you could interact with this website, the homepage had a moving image, so when you placed the cursor over it it moved left and right. When the cursor moved over the links below the logo, the logo expanded through pixels into the image relating to that particular link. I think that it makes a website more entertaining and memorable if it has some kind of moving image involved. It is more interactive for the audience.

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Cadbury advertising.

Cadbury adverts have become one of the most memorable and fun ads around these days. Every so often they create a complete master piece which is quirky to advertise the joy they bring with their chocolate. This particular advert is one that a lot of people think of when you talk about Cadbury advertising.

In a way its quite simple, yet so funny and it makes you feel good, much like their chocolate. TV advertising is a great way to communicate with an audience as almost everyone in this time has a TV or access to TV.

Another iconic Cadburys advert, the gorilla drumming to Phil Collins. Their adverts dont really have any significance to the purpose of the chocolate in terms of taste. Its more about the pleasure and satisfaction it brings.

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Radium Audio Ltd, advertisement for LG borderless TV.

The advert was designed to illustrate the technology used to create LG's new borderless TV, they have created characters to demonstrate how each part of technology works. Using this technique makes it more interesting for the consumer, rather than showing how the technology works in a realistic way. In a way it becomes more about the story of the characters than the actual boring technology bit, which would still attract people to view the advertisement.

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This is another piece of work designed by Radium Limited, it is an advertisement for screen, they composed the music and the motion graphics was designed by Espaun256 and Oink Digital.

As a piece of design for screen in whole, i think it is very enticing and exciting to watch, the ad itself is for a 20th anniversary for a popular Spanish TV channel. they have used warm, welcoming music. I particularly like the motion graphics, its all been done digitally and i think its pretty impressive how you can create this using a computer. It is a very crisp and 'simple' design in a sense. I also like the colours used against the white background, this is the sort of design that i enjoy looking at and also work that i aspire to produce one day.

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The Sun camping advert, this a short motion graphics advert for the Sun £1 camping, it has been made quite simply, but its very quirky and upbeat, its short and straight to the point ad i would say that it would make me go camping.

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This advert is for the NSPCC child protection, i chose to add this advert as its a different way of advertising and its obviously design for screen, the music is very emotional and as the words are spelt out it becomes a very strong piece of design, it gave me goosebumps, the drawing and typography looks as though a child has drawn them which fits in with the genre of the advert.

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I found this short video on vimeo, its an advert for Scottish recycling, i think the elephant character is very cute, which made me more interested in the ad, for any piece of design for screen, i think that having animated characters makes it more appealing and fun to watch. In a way it makes boring subjects more interesting.

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This advert is advertising good advertising, you dont realise it till you watch the whole piece, it is a very humorous and enticing piece of design for screen. The best bit about it is that the advert is brilliant and its purpose is to show how brilliant advertising can be from this particular company. Genius.

Coca cola adverts are always enjoyable, they again, use characters in some adverts which make them more appealing to watch. They make you feel good, and it sometimes gets to the point that you are more interested in the ad for the animation rather than buying some coke, which is maybe their aim.

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Bitique

http://www.bitique.co.uk/category/graphic-design

I found this website on google, and it basically a resource of design, from infographics to advertising. I like the design of it, which has been kept quite simple, but i have decided to add it on here also because of its content. Its a good website in terms of design for screen, but a priceless resource of inspiration.

This website also has a link to show new web design, many of the above have very contemporary layouts and have been kept crisp and simple. All of them seem to use more imagery than type on their home pages as it is more appealing to the eye. Masses and masses of type can sometimes be too overwhelming and could put people of looking further into the website. I personally prefer to look at pictures and then read more if i want to or need to. I also get put off websites if their type or layout looks tacky or unorganised, this website and the web pages shown within this are websites that i would take the time to look at.

I have looked at the websites on their own and have picked a few favourites and ones that have inspired me.

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http://rankin.co.uk/

This website has mainly images on the home page, they havent been laid out in standard rows and columns, but instead in a digital collage in the centre. The images constantly change, which keeps the viewer enticed to see what else the website has to offer.

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http://www.lovecreative.com/

This website is very quirky and upbeat, the design is very simple and fun. There are lots of arrows to direct you to other pages of work, and these have humorous annotations with them.

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http://www.welovenoise.com/

 This website is interactive, on the home page you can use your cursor to move the image around, once you have found an image you like or are interested in, you place the cursor over it and it highlights it so you know what your clicking on.

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Screen savers

http://blog.kentlyons.com/graphikl/typeblockraphy-screensaver/

This a screen saver designed by Kent Lyons, it can be personalised by the user, it changes into symbols and distorted type. Nice, simple design and i like how it is a screen saver that can be personalised. It obviously makes it more personal to anybody which means its target audience is pretty much anybody and everybody.

Leeds research...

For the new module i had to research Leeds, i have made a collection 100. This collection consists of 20 photos, 20 opinions, 20 facts, 20 statistics and 20 words.

  

  

Primary research:

Primary research is something that you collect and source yourself. It is first hand and is not an existing piece of information. For example if you went out and took your own photos or you interviewed someone, that is primary research, as you did it.

Secondary research:

Secondary research is something that already exists, you can find secondary sources in books, journals or the internet, it is something that you did not initially source yourself but its the work/research of someone else.

My Primary research:

Primary research that i have gathered about Leeds includes the opinions i collected about Leeds, as i asked people. The photos i took of Leeds are primary source material and the words that described Leeds with were primary source material.

With the photos that i took i tried to collect a variety of different genres of Leeds in a visual way, i have photos from the annual German market, The river Aire, modern architecture, the backstreets and historical monuments showing the glory and not so glorious sides of the city. I decided to do my photos in black and white as i felt it would focus more on the detail and essence of the city rather than the vibrant colours, i also think that black and white has more emotion to it.

The opinions i have collected show examples of good and bad things about Leeds so i have a wider idea of peoples views on the city.

My Secondary research:

Secondary source material that i collected includes facts and statistics about Leeds, i found these on the Leeds government website and the Leeds city council webpage.

The statistics and facts that i found about Leeds are quite broad and are about Leeds as a city, a community and a place in general, i didnt want to focus on one aspect of Leeds as i would be restricting further research adventures.

When you start to research something you begin to find out things you didnt know that maybe some people think is obvious and it can be quite exciting to find out more and more. You become curious and inspired.

My quantitative research:

Quantitative research is research that includes no numerical information, for example quantitative research i have gathered includes my photographs, the 20 words, and peoples opinions. 

My qualitative research:

Qualitative research is research that contains numerical information such as statistics and facts, qualitative research i have gathered includes, my facts and statistics about Leeds. This includes the history of Leeds timeline as it has the year which is a number.

Sequence through space...

I have looked into some examples of sequence through space, the first one that came to mind was the channel 4 ident adverts..

Channel 4 ident adverts

It's really clever how they create these moving image sequences, the seperate sections of the number 4 are set at different plains and the image slowly moves round, as it gets to the centre the '4' appears, it then carries on to show the seperate parts from the opposite angle. This technique has been used in a variety of different settings.

A stage set is another example of how a sequence through space is made of layers. Each scene or section of the stage has it's own plain, these can be moved according to the story scene of a theatre show. The layers help to make the stage look more realistic and 3D, rather than just having a background that constantly changes. It makes you feel more involved.

Pop up's

Pop up cards and books are well known, fun examples of Sequences through space. Each section of the pop up is set on a plain, once the card or page has been opened it forces the plains to pull together and form the 3D pop up. Books and cards made in this way are exciting and more engaging.

Visual Literacy...

Visual synecdoche:

A visual synecdoche is when you use an image or symbol that is universally recognised and understood,as a substitute for a main subject rather than it taken at face value for its literal meanings. This is a device designers use to interact and communicate with their audience using a very clean and simple way.


Visual metaphor:

A visual metaphor is used to transfer the meaning of one image to another. Although the images may have no close relationship, a metaphor conveys an impression about something relatively unfamiliar by drawing a comparison between it and something familiar.

Visual metonym:

A visual metonym is a symbolic image tat is used to make a reference to something with a more literal meaning. For example, a cross might be used to signify the church. By way of association the viewer makes a connection between the image and the intended subject.Unlike a visual synecdoche, the images bear a close relationship, but they are not intrinsically linked. And unlike visual metaphors, metonyms do not transfer the characteristics of one image to the other.

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I found this poster against racism in football, it is a great example of how a designer has used well known images or symbolism to communicate their message to an audience. The football is an obvious symbol that is universally recognized, but with the figure that appears to be kicking the ball, is also a hidden symbol so powerful and certainly recognisable. The swastika is universally known from the war, Hitler used it as the symbol for the Nazi party, and it became known as a symbol of hatred, death, murder and violence.

The Nazi's were a racist group of German nationalists who were all for a 'pure' race. It is clever how the designer has played on this symbol within this poster. When i first saw it, it did take me a minute to see the hidden symbol, but i think its genious.

Its amazing to see how people recognise an image or object and know what it means, for example a pumpkin, the majority of people know that a pumpkin is associated with halloween. The same with logo's, the golden arches, also known as the mcdonalds 'M' is instantly recognised.

No news is good news...

Our new brief which was set over reading week was to pick a headline from a newspaper bought on the 23rd October, the headline could be anything we wanted but it had to be something in which we could gather and collect a load of research from. I bought several newspapers including The Sun, The gaurdian, The Daily Star and The Daily Express. Two tabloid newspapers and two broad sheet papers.

I wanted to look at a wide range of headlines in different tones of voices to give me the choice of a broad headline, as this research will be the basis of my next few briefs.

The main headlines that caught my eye were :

Daily Express : 'Dragon's Den Caan: I regret offering to buy a baby girl'

Daily Star : 'Fury over TV Dragon's £700 tot offer, Let me buy your baby'

A story where Dragons Den James Caan, offered money to adopt a child in India, so help a family whilst the country deals with mass flooding. This could be quite controversal, he obvioulsy wanted to help this family but was going about it in the wrong way and it does state in the article that he was in an emotional state and realised his offer was an uneceptable way to help this family.

Another was :

Daily Express : 'Girls now biggest drinkers as NHS bill soars to £19m'

The Guardian : 'Big rise in number of drunken children in A&E'

The high rise in the amount of female teenagers who are hospitalised through excessive amounts of drinking alcohol. Again with the whole youth image in todays society, young people dont have the best reputation. This makes the younger generation look bad but not only that its worrying how the age is dropping of when teenagers start binge drinking or simply consuming alcohol under age.

The last one (of which i am going to be working on) is :

Daily Star : 'I've got tattooed eyeballs, one's green, the other blue'

This article caught my eye as it seemed unusual and intrigueing, you hear of people getting tattoo's, but never on their eyeballs. I didn't want to go for a headline that was something to do with politics (as most are these days), instead i wanted to go for something that maybe other people wouldn't and i think this story is perfect. I do feel i can squeeze alot of research out of this as it is a broad headline to work with.

The story is about a man called Matt Gone, who has come to be known as the human checkerboard. Matt's body is 98% tattooed and his latest experiment is injecting coloured inks into his eyeballs, one blue the other green. He has been told by doctors that his latest stunt could end him up with a serious infection or even worse blindness.

Matt realises that tattooing his eyeballs was a risk but one he ws willing to take, he has been tattooing his body for over 20 years and is one of a rare few who has pretty much completed a whole body tattoo.

The reasoning behind Matts incredible tattooing is that he was born with birth defects and mutations and tattooing is an aspect of his body he can arrange and control and also express himself. He is terminally ill and flet that he might aswell cover his entire body before he dies. His body tattoo was completed in October 2008, 75 artists have tattooed his body with many complex designs.

As he has become so well known for his tattooed body he has been featured on the cover of magazines such as Skin and Ink, Bizarre and Skin Deep, and he's been in a Sourthern Comfort (the drink) advert along with his story on Medical Incredible on the discovery channel.

It's not just Matt's story that i want to focus on though, i am going to research into the history of tattooing and the reasoning in why it was used and also how it is seen in modern society. Another thing i want to look into is why people have a particular tattoo, is it like Matt where he see's it as a part of himself he can control, a memory or commemoration for someone or something, or do people have tattoos simply for the visual essence.

The definition of tattoo :

A tattoo is a marking made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment for decorative or reasons. Tattoo's on humans are a type of decorative body modifications, while tattoo's on animals are most commonly used for identification or branding.

Founded on Wikepedia

A part of my research i have looked into the history of tattoos to see where they originated from, in what context they were used and what designs were created.

The history of tattooing began over 5000 years ago, and is as diverse as the people who wear them.

In the Bronze age 1991 a 5 thousand year old tattooed man 'Otzi, the ice man' made the headlines of newspapers all over the world when his frozen body was discovered on a mountain between Austria and Italy. He was the best preserved corpse of that period ever found. The skin bears 57 tattoos, a cross on the inside of the left knee, six straight lines 15 centimetre long above the kidney's and numerous parallel lines on the ankle.

The position of the tattoo marks suggests that they were probably applied for theraputic reasons (treatment of arthritis).

Pazyryk culture :

In 1948 between the Russia and China border, a Russian archeologist began excavating a group of tombs in the Siberian Altai mountains, mummies were found that date from around 2400 years ago. The tattoos on their bodies represent a variety of animals. The griffins and monsters were thought to have a magical significance but some elements are believed to be purely decorative. Altogether the tattoos are believed to reflect the status of the individual.

Egypt :

In 1891 an archeologist discovered the mummified remains of Amunet, a priestess of the Goddess Hathor, at the Bes who lived some time between 2160 BC and 1994 BC. The female mummy displayed several lines and dots tattooed on her body, grouping dots and/ or dashes were aligned into abstract geometric patterns. This art was restricted to women only, and usually these women wrer associated with ritualistic practise.

Polynesia :

In pacific cultures tattooing has a huge historic significance. Polynesian tattooing is considered the most intricate and skillful tattooing of the ancient world. Polynesian people believe that a person's mana, thier spiritual power or life force, is displayed through thier tattoos.

Indonesia :

Borneo is one of the few places in the world where traditional tribal tattooing is still practised today, just as it has been for thousands of years. Borneo's designs have gone all round the world to form the basis of what western people call 'tribal'.

Ancient Greece and Rome :

Greeks and Romans used tattooing as a form of punishment, a Roman emporer banned tattooing on the face, which was common for convicts, soldiers and gladiaters. The emporer constantine believed that the human face was a representation of God and should not be disfigured or defiled.

The Celts :

Celtic culture was full of body art, permanant body painting was done with woad, which left blue designs on the skin. Spirals were common, single, double or tripled. Knotwork is the most recognised from Celtic art. With lines forming complex braids, these symbolise the connection of all life.

Central and South America :

In the 16th century, of Spanish accounts of Mayan tattooing in Mexico and central Americareveal tattoos were known to be a sign of courage. The Spaniards, who had never heard of tattooing, recognized it as once the work of satan.

North America :

Eleborate tattoos reflected the high status, in North-West America, Inuit womens chins were tattooed to indicate marital status and group identity.

Middle-East :

During the time of the old testament, much of the Pagan world was practising the art of tattooing as a means of Deity worship. A passage in Leviticus reads:

'Ye shall not make any cuttings on your flesh for the dead nor print any marks upon you'. (19:28)

This has been cited as Biblical authority to support the churches position. Biblical scholor M.W Thomson suggests however, that Moses favoured tattoos as a way to commemorate the deliverence of the Jews from slavery in Egypt.

Vikings :

It is likely that the Vikings were tattooed, at around year 1100 the Arab Ibn Fadlan described a meeting with some Vikings. He thought them very rude, dirty - and covered in pictures.

Criminality :

In prison, the tattoo- proffessionaly done and homemade, indelibly imprint on their bodies what these men desire in their souls : autonomy and identity. The ultimate symbol for gang members are thier gang tattoos. Getting a permanent mark is a sign of showing total commitment to the gang, these tattoos can reveal alot of things, like who you are; what gang your in; what beliefs you are (racist etc...) ; what you have done; where you have been ; how many years you have been in prison (also referred as 'dead time') and even things like how many people you have killed.
Known symbols include teardrops under the eye as well as spiderwebs on elbows to symbolize people killed.

( All the above research was founded and taken from Design Boom - The history of the tattoo)

Another part of my research will include asking people thier opinions on Matt Gone's story and also their overall views on tattoos. I want to do this as i found an artical on the BBC website from a few years back, stating the views of tattoos in modern society.

BBC article

And asking people who actually have tattoos, why they have that particular tattoo, what does it mean (if anything at all) and why did they get a tattoo.

Opinions :

Martin Lawrence

'I like the colours, but think its a bit odd what Matt Gone has done to himself.'
Martin has a tattoo of a stallion.

Kel Caffekey

'I have my tattoos as symbols of different times in my life, i have a tiger and a wolf as they are spiritual animals.
I think that the man (Matt Gone), personally is trying to change the person that he was born as, and if you want my opinion i would say that he probably had something traumatic happen to him as a kid and has tried to change his body ever since...tattooing is obsessive, i had all mine done within 6 years.
A lot of tattoos can be scarrs, that symbolise things and times in your life...there are some people who see them as fashion and who go on later to regret them...most people have them done as like me, its something you can never take away from me..no matter what might happen. My body is mine and the one thing that will always be with me.'

Kel is a spiritualist and says :
'Im a spiritualist, and someone who believes that we are all here to learn a lesson that we take with us as our souls grow..that man was maybe trying to hide scarrs he had from this life or a previous one.'

Mohima Chowdhury

' I think that because he has birth defects he might think that if he covers them no one will notice or that attention will be drawn away from the defect, on to what he probably thinks is a more interesting topic...its crazy to me.
If i saw a man on the bus and he was covered like that...lets just say i would stand as far away as possible, and i think he was dysfunctional for doing that to himself.

Mohima is a muslim and told me the views that her religion has on tattooing.
Muslims are supposed to die the way they were born, like pure, and if you had loads of ink on you then i guess thats not pure. Its bad and must not be allowed, tattooing is considered a sin and unclean and your prayers that you read 5 times a day will not be valid. However if you got it before you converted to Islam, you can keep it unless you really strongly wanted to convert, then getting it removed is best.'

Mum

' I think hes lost the plot for tattooing his eyes. Revolting and cringey that he has his whole body tattooed.'

Dad

' I think its good that he doesnt care what people think and hes doing what he wants with his own body.'

Zara Reynolds

' I dont think that big ones are for females, but smaller ones look nice. No one should have too many.'
 In regards to Matt Gone's tattooing she says ' No no no, he should be shot it looks horrible.'
Zara has no tattoos but wants to get one on her wrist of her daughters name.

AOL news.com opinions :

Anthony Spooner

7:20 AM Oct 28, 2010

He needs help but our society gives him attention and popularity. He says he is not crazy, but action is screaming louder than words.

PAULOCEANF

11:45 PM Oct 27, 2010

I bet he collects every government hand out with our tax money, who would give him a job.

• felicia

  11:11 PM Oct 27, 2010

  How in the world can anyone take this and make it into a political view, I really don't know. It's his damn body, not yours, and having a tattoo doesn't make you stupid, republican, or liberal. If you like something, and want it on or in your OWN skin, why can't you? It is not your body, it's his, and hoping he dies or kills himself is just proof that he is probably a better human being than you are. Seriously, it's not people like him that make me have less and less faith in humanity, it is some of these commenters. Good for you if you like what you did! Happy for you!

 - Well..if he goes blind..at least he can't see how wierd he looks.

  - What a mentally ill idiot. He could go blind because of the damage he did to

his eyes!

tim

6:49 PM Oct 27, 2010

He said he was born with birth defects... if this is how he wishes to express himself, more power to him. Not my thing, but I'm sure the guy has his circle of friends who find his art interesting...

- Anything for attention. Pathetic.

Fox news opinions :

-  I'll bet he will look great when he turns 70. If he is lucky enough to reach 70 without ending up dead from infections or ink poison. I believe he is nothing more then attention seeking and he got mine.....Yuk!

- Unfortunately, someday we're going to hear that this guy died from the cumulative effects of numerous acts of stupidity. You can't be totally tattooed and normal at the same time, something's got to give.

- To each their own, I suppose, but I have always been against self-mutilation. You can change your hairstyle, change your clothes, get or lose a tan, even remove many piercings and the holes will close over, but when you do something this extreme you are stuck with it for life. Hope he is still happy with it 50 years from now if he lives that long.
People do judge you by the aspects of your appearance that you can control, and why not? It says something about your decision making and lifestyle. If you want to be an artist or musician, go for it. If you want to show up for an office job, don't be surprised if you aren't what they are looking for. Head to toe tatoos doesn't exactly scream "team player with good judgement".

- Hey, look at all these high-IQ superhumans standing around ridiculing someone they don't understand for choosing to be different than they are.

A person who grows up humiliated by a birth defect (and seeing the comments here, one can understand how that happened, you cretins), who makes a conscious choice to embrace being different - who goes out of his way to further differentiate himself from a society full of cruel bullies and judgmental snobs, by embracing difference, by immersing himself in it. And what do you do? Stand around like monkeys throwing dung at something you're not intelligent enough to comprehend. I applaud this man. He is extremely brave to stand up to the entire world and say 'F you, I wouldn't WANT to be like you'.

There's a sign often seen in tattoo shops that reads:

'The difference between the tattooed and the non-tattooed is - Tattooed people don't judge others for NOT having ink.'

- This is just sick. If he is covering up birth defects, you have to wonder which looks worse. I think people do this to get attention. They must really need something they are unable to get themselves. I wonder what that is?????

Michael Mooney

Vile and nasty.

My opinion :

'I picked this article because i was intrigued by Matt's story and tattoos, at first i guess i thought maybe he was a bit crazy but once i had found out more about him i realized that what he had done with his own body was in fact quite inspirational. He has created a whole bodysuit of art on his own body; the reasoning behind his tattoos is personal to him and allows him to love his body more, over the physical deformities he was born with.

I know everyone is entitled to an opinion, but i think that if it’s your body then what right does anybody have to tell you what you should or shouldn’t do to it, if it makes him feel good then people should accept that. It doesn’t make him a freak or weird, it makes him, him. I can understand why people judge him because of the way he looks, it’s because we live in a world where people care to much about what others think about us and we seem to have to fit the perfect image or we won’t fit in. Maybe people just don’t like the fact that Matt has broken away from this and has become a unique individual, society doesn’t like it because he has dared to be different, be himself or maybe we’ve just never seen something so extraordinary before our first response is to outcast him, and that’s wrong of us.

There are people who understand Matt or those who just simply do not see the point in harassing this man about what he has done to his own body, but have just left him to it. There’s no point trying to be the same as everyone else in life, where will that get you. Be yourself and don’t change for anyone.

Tattoo statistics:

-       More women than men are getting tattooed today.

-       Tattoos are considered a minor medical procedure.

-       The record for the longest tattoo was 43 hours and 50 minutes.

-       The second most common reason for a removal of tattoos is mistranslation.

-       A rooster tattooed on one leg and a pig on the other is said to protect a sailor from drowning. Neither animal can swim.

-       Tattoo machines can make upwards 200 hits per second, that’s up to 12,000 times a minute and 720,000 an hour

-       Urine was sometimes used in early ink mixtures.

-       (Ezine articles.com)

-       Tattoo removal costs nearly three times as much as the design itself.

-       Tattoos are rarely done in ink, what is commonly called inks, are actually suspended solid color particles, mostly metal salts or plastics, but not vegetable dyes as commonly believed.

-       In a 2002 survey, 8 out of the top 10 voted, ‘most beautiful people in the world’ had tattoos.

-       Tattoo ink is injected into the second layer of the skin, the dermis, and become encapsulate by the body as a defense mechanism, leaving the image stable and intact.

-       Tattoo inks are not regulated by any government agencies so there is no way of knowing exactly what is in them.

-       People with antisocial personality disorder are more likely to have a higher number of tattoos in more visible locations, and covering a larger percentage of their bodies.

-       52% of those in prison are tattooed.

-       The first recorded instance of death following tattooing was reported in 1837 in France. The young woman, a prostitute, was covering up another unwanted tattoo and died from the infection that followed.

-       Eye ball tattoos are not done with a machine, but rather, the ink is directly injected into the eye with a syringe.

-       Ancient tattoo methods involved picks, rakes and chisels. In some cases, a soot-covered thread was sewn through the skin.

-       Tattoo seekers can expect to feel some pain: the process has been described as similar to that of stings or sunburns. Placement, size, type and artist skill however can all make a difference.

-       Tattoos are sometimes related with rebellion.

Words:

-       Intriguing

-       Solitary

-       Eccentric

-       Inspiring

-       Moonstruck

-       Degenerated

-       Naive

-       Impaired
-   overwrought
-   weird
-   Delirious
-   Absolute
-   Mutilated
-   Self-expression