BA Graphics project

For my Graphics BA Project, we had to make posters that show something that we would like to either change or have at Ravensbourne. I wanted to put across inspirational words that would be uplifting, even though its important to work hard, its equally as in important to take breaks and not stress much.

These are a couple of possible designs and motivational phrases, I tried to stick to warm and positive colours when thinking about layout. The font varied from small and intimate to casual and thicker visually, in particular I like the balance between the yellow and blue as it links with positivity and the Ravensbourne colours. The bean bag chair was also a simple shape which summarized visually what I wanted to put across in the final poster.






German design group, Neue Gestaltung stood out to me with their use of letter and typography to relay information. The minimalist style would fit well with my poster idea as I wanted a quick and clear message to be put across so that that a student would understand instantly the message.

There is a bold contrast between the red and blue, the contrast between the ornate detail in the figures hair with the simple shape of her face ,balances each other out visually.  The main idea I see when I first glance at this poster, is a woman brushing her hair with a storm imagery making up the lower half of her body. Through this simple use of colour and composition as a viewer I can instantly deduct that there is a female involved with a ship setting, the action of the woman brushing her hair is reminiscent of mermaids and the sea. The use of the dark red to depict her lips with the storm below leads me to believe there is a sense of danger in this story. Danger/Femme Fatale characters and Adventure are the words that come to mind. This kind of thought process when designing my poster would be useful for a successful final piece.

 Through Photoshop I begin with a blurred bean bag, to create some kind of texture. The design imitates the brush strokes of a paintbrush which I thought would be fitting as it is a design and art based university. The colour scheme I decided to go with is inviting and warm due to the hues of red and cream.

 The font is quite thick and casual in appearance, making the font smaller and black was to create a more dominant effect. As the colour of the red is quite opaque and a strong presence on its own. The text is slanted to the side as it follows the natural shape of the chair, this allows for the main object and the text to interact with each other without clashing.

 The white is a little subtler and doesn't come across to harsh to the eye, which is why the text is placed on the bean bag. In addition the style of font seems to be hand written, creating a more personal link between the poster and viewer, as if the bean bag is inviting you to sit and relax. This reinforces the idea for the viewer to feel that the poster is relate able, which is why there is only one bean bag and not a group, so that the viewer feels like were personally communicating with them.

 I decided to go with the main message 'Relax' to be in lower case and above the bean bag.  The font still retains the relaxing atmosphere but due the overhead position, I made the font thinner so that it doesn't dominate the chair or feel to heavy with both elements in view.

 Adding to this , I used a warmer fire like glaze over the poster to create a sitting by the fire feel to it. To emphasize this further there is a red shadow behind the font, linking to the main colour scheme of the bean bag.

 The shadows on the bean bag are in darker contrast to highlight the material and shape of the chair. On top of which I added another light glaze to imitate rays of light, this centralizes the object and creates some kind of depth to the poster.

To create a dream like effect, light spots which you would find on cameras when taking a picture was placed over the design. There is more of a colorful and festive feel to it, which contrasts with the harshness of the font. I wanted the font to look as if it was burned into the background, the build up of layers creates a deeper sense of depth to the poster while maintaining and inviting atmosphere. To describe the poster in three words would be Relaxing/Inviting and Warm.  

Design Workshop 2

 Focusing more on typography and different ways of presenting this, we worked in a team to create the alphabet. It was challenging getting everyone's opinions together in how to portray some letters.

During the 70's Ana Mendieta's performance/body art became a visual representation for the female movement. In particular her 1976 Earth body 'Siluetas' in Mexico, I found to be her most influential work. The concept behind those works was for the artist to reconnect with her surroundings by using her body language to create a dialogue with the universe and the audience looking at her recorded evidence.

In terms of my group project, using our bodies to create a dialogue echoes a similar idea to Mendieta's work. Working as a team and knowing when to only use one body or when deciding to use a group to create a letter was an interesting part of the process. The way in which Mendieta worked with the negative space to create a shape was referenced in our own shapes as the the negative space around us emphasized the letters are bodies were making.








This was a part of a poster for the Salon DaDa exposition Internationale. By Galerie Montaigne 1921, Looking into typography this week led me to research back into the history of it. This poster is in the style of Dadaism, a group active during the 30s which was all for rejecting the conventional representation of art. In this particular piece of art there is a play with words and composition to relay information.

This kind of thinking is what inspired me when working on the typography task. There is a mismatch of fonts and phrases however due to the weight of the main title and the thickness on the DaDa section the image seems balanced. Even though Dadaist tried to reject the formal artistic techniques of perspective , use of color, composition, some techniques still show through.

 Using typography tried to create a word with a visual impact. I was focusing on natural imagery, showing the natural shape of droplet. The words are the sounds that a water droplet would make, this creates a visual impact. Without focusing too much on colour, the use of black creates a stark contrast with the white background, something which can be seen with the DaDa poster above.
















I wanted to have an arch on the the rainbow to emphasize the shape of the actual object, this gives the typography a sense of authenticity. There is an even weight to the font of the words which carries the arc over easily and seems much more complete to the eye as there seems to be a balance.

'Yellow Field' 1937

On Thursday we looked at the works of well known illustrators, I chose to research the work of Evyind Earle. What initially attracted me were his watercolors of landscapes, during a trip in the late 30's Earle managed to paint over 40 water colours within 45 days. He later went on to paint/design for Walt Disney and was the main background illustrator for the Disney film Sleeping Beauty. His style is quite distinct as it manages to be intricate while still minimalist in style, something I incorporated in my own illustration poster.

In Yellow Field, I was drawn to the way he was able to capture a different atmosphere in each of his paintings. He used basic lines and splashes of colour in the front to create a sense of perspective of depth. The foreground appears heavy and full of colour which fades out the more the viewers eye looks further back in the background.

'Sketch of Barn in Snow'

Trying to understand Earle's thought process I sketched one of his watercolors. The layering in his work I found is key when it comes to his minimalist style. The towering trees lead the upwards while at the same time centering the Barn house in the middle. The contrast between the warm colours of the house with the cool tones of the sky creates a sense of depth, with the house appearing closer.






Using similar techniques, I created page designs for my poster. The theme were old fairy tales, which in the style of Earle's natural landscapes I felt were an appropriate match. The story of Thumbelina was what I focused on, a balance of natural imagery with fantasy characters inspired by nature. Researching into the story itself, I wanted for the poster to market the narrative well. Since the main character was a small fairy like woman, having a woodland landscape showcasing the large size of the trees made it seem more realistic.












  

My final concept was for the natural landscape to be in the visual perspective of the main character. That's why a towering woodland scene worked perfectly. As for the colour scheme, a mixture of warm with cool tones created a balance between the foreground and background. While the yellow leaves still stood out and didn't dominate over the trees in the foreground. In term of Earle's style the minimalist design of the shapes influenced my work, even the intricacy of the bark in the foreground was pulled back to emphasize the shapes not the texture of the object. The background was left quite basic in shape.