design 2 final posters

the topic of my final design is bullying, focusing specifically on gender discrimination. it is meant to focus not solely on gender identity among LBGT teens, but also on eradicating gender stereotypes and misogynistic behavior. I'm hoping that these posters are able to emphasize that gender roles are not an important or necessary part of life; people are allowed to act however they want and be whoever they want to be.


to make this message clear, I added the "end gender discrimination" caption at the bottom, but the phrase at the top, "we can be everything all at once," is in reference to the fact that as men and women, we do not need to live in separate ways. if a man or woman wants to do something considered feminine or masculine, they should be able to do it without being discriminated against; we can all exist in any role we like.


the idea behind the pictures is the overlapping of gender lines. the blue (male) and red (female) overlap to create purple, which signifies the joining together of genders. specifically, the two circles in place of each person's head are in reference to the idea of a venn-diagram: there are some things that are strictly male and some strictly female, but the two worlds do converge, and that is something that needs to be accepted and embraced. in addition, the removal of each of their heads is meant to signify the blurred gender lines. even if a person's body is genetically male or female, how they choose to identify their gender is entirely up to them.


to create the posters, I first imported the images into Photoshop and used clone stamping to remove their heads and to clean up the lines left over to fill in where their heads were. following this, I selected a certain aspect of their clothing (the flowers on the woman's dress and the vest and bow tie on the man) and duplicated them, before making those duplicates overlap in red and blue, to mimic the venn diagram shapes that were in place of their heads. the font used is Century Schoolbook, and the caption at the bottom was created in a way that mimics the theme of red and blue overlapping, but in a simple way that emphasizes its place as a sort of caption rather than as playing into the artwork itself.


the focal point of each poster is the text in the circles at the top; from there, the eye travels down and catches the color separation on each person, allowing them to note the natural flaws in the old photographs, before ending at the caption, which fills in the holes of the meaning of the pictures. the simple three-color palette on the black and white images allows the designs to stand out over the old images.


overall I am very happy with my final design, and I think it is a great representation of the work I've done throughout the semester.


-mike

final poster (in progess)

blog design #3 - texture experiment

my final design explored texture, as well as shape. for this design, i wanted to contrast the ideas of fire and ice, as well as the idea of destruction versus beauty. to do this, i took the background picture, which i took from the internet, and edited the levels to emphasize the peaceful scene it shows. on top of it, there are the two interlocked squares of images of fire and ice; i hand-selected them with the tablets and added a faint drop shadow to give the impression that they were cut and pasted out of actual paper. the ragged edges contrast with the beautiful image in the background for a surreal picture, and the simple squares are a reflection of my style.

blog design #2 - shape experiment

this design utilizes shape; the pink light was taken from another picture i took and edited to look more organic and paint-like. the squares were edited to feature the glow, which gives the impression of an intense light. once again, i tried to achieve the simple style that i prefer, but i also wanted the picture to give a sense of comfort to be contrasted with the stark exclusion of the pink square in the center.

blog design #1 - line experiment

for this design, i wanted to play with lines as the element of design, i used a picture that i took and simulated a simple curve around my friend's head using only straight lines. this is an example of my design style as it is very simple, featuring only the white lines over the out-of-focus picture, but i think it stands out well as a reflection of the geometric influences that can be found in nature.

senegal t-shirt

my shirt uses the lion from Sénégal's coat of arms (below) and compares it with the U.S.'s national symbol, the eagle. the two silhouettes are used to represent contrasting ideas and cultures between the two countries, but on the back, the silhouettes come together in an abstract form to display our cultures meshing together.

bluebird

my book was designed around the poem "Bluebird" by Charles Bukowski. the idea was to convey the sweetness of a bluebird with the gritty, claustrophobic imagery found in the poem.

the majority of the type in the book is Helvetica Neue; it was used as it is a simple font that would be legible without distracting readers from the images on the page. the text is also centered in the upper right or left and bottom right or left, depending on the page, allowing the images to be placed in the center to attract the eye, as although the book is based on the poem, the images are the most important factor.

most of the colors in the book are blue, as they are based on the bluebird. anything that isn't blue is meant to be a different color, as it goes with the poem as not belonging in the place that its in. for example, the page with the whiskey and cigarette smoke features other colors, as the whiskey and cigarette smoke in the poem are meant to overwhelm and subdue the bluebird in the speaker's heart.

the grid served primarily to align the text itself. once that was in place, the images were used to break out of the alignment of the grid, by lying over the text or even crossing pages. this helps provoke feelings of chaos and claustrophobia.

in my opinion, the best part of the book is the last page, in the bottom right, where the last stanza of the poem is. the way it sits over the image of the mangled bluebird is very powerful to me.

bluebird (in progress)

the theme of my book is a visual interpretation of Charles Bukowski's poem "Bluebird." the purpose is to align the text to the grid in the corners, then have the pictures interact with the text and break out of the grid to evoke a chaotic mood. the poem, while beautiful as a whole, has very gritty imagery, and i wanted to convey that. the text and the recurring images used for the "bluebird" are the key unifying traits throughout the book; most of the effects are either blur, blend, or extrude & bevel. the "extrude & bevel" tool is key as it makes the images look more rigid and claustrophobic, mimicking the feelings of the trapped bluebird in the poem. right now, my favorite part is the second to last page of the poem, which is partially shown in the first image.

magazine page

the original:

my copy:

some of the spacing and alignment is off but i think that's because the magazine page was a bit bigger than 8.5 x 11.........

cloud (definitely final this time)

the theme of my animation is the cycle of life. the cloud in the animation begins as a plume from a smokestack, which then becomes an actual cloud that floats across the mountains, before turning to rain and returning to the smokestacks that it came from.

the technique that worked best for me was panning, as it showed the cloud moving across the landscape in the background. tweening between frames was also helpful, as it showed the rain falling and the words appearing at the end of the animation.

quiet (final)

for this design, I started by typing the word "quiet" in Photoshop, with the Orator Std font. I then printed it out horizontally on a piece of 8.5" x 11" paper, before scanning it by squishing it up to fit within the scanner's width. after that, I brought the scanned image into Photoshop and stretched it to be three times its width, then isolated each part into its own 8.5" x 11" document. following this, I lined up the three documents next to each other and screen-capped them. finally, I brought that screen-cap into Photoshop and clone-stamped the letters to make it appear as though it's coming out of the frames of the document windows.


I attempted to eschew the meaning of the word "quiet" with this piece. while the font was initially very stoic and rigid, the scanner added lots of ripples, which coupled with the fact that the word is literally coming out of its frame, makes it seem anything but quiet.

test

hypnotise

The theme of my picture is obscurity. To achieve this, I used an old picture of a man's face, then cut it along the fold lines, and drew in the spaces using the tablet. This gives the picture a feeling of confusion and discomfort.

The picture responds to the folds as half of the folds have the original picture, while the other half are the areas that I drew in to complete the face. As a result, the picture changes depending on the direction from which you are looking.

The shock of red added with the word "hypnotise," as well as the red line through the man's eye and on the back of the paper, add intensity to the otherwise black and white image. For filters, I used the Smart Sharpen and Unsharp Mask filters on the portions I drew, which gave them a grainy appearance, matching the photo portion more closely while still retaining its painted qualities.

picture #5

Robi Jõeleht


This digital collage provokes a mood of peace through controlled chaos. The contrasting colors and different textures should make the piece seem disjointed, but the fact that it is centered in a soft gray background wraps the work together, giving off a vibe of comfort.

picture #4

EVOL

This picture depicts what appears to be the side of a building, with sections of windows jutting in and out at random intervals, creating an interesting pattern of shadows. However, this is just an illusion; it is actually a painting on a wall. The design itself evokes a cold, industrial feeling, as evidenced by the stark concrete walls and plain windows.

picture #3

Mike Guppy


This picture conveys an air of mystery, as it takes a figure out of a famous painting (The Invisible Man), and replaces it with the dotted outline one would find in Photoshop. The artist uses negative space to draw the viewer's eye to the one part of the picture in the foreground - the balloon. From there, the eye catches the "selection," which traces the figure of the man in the original picture.

picture #2

Joseba Elorza


like the first picture, this one is also very surreal in quality, as it shows a man apparently riding a tornado. the picture has been edited to appear vintage and worn in quality, which adds to the feeling well. the edit almost appears to be a trick of the eye at first, as you may not register the man the first time you look at it, but it invites you to look closer.

picture #1

Khristian Mendoza

this picture is one in a group of many that plays with the idea of seeing through the person holding the poster. the execution gives the picture a surreal feeling, while the cool colors have a soothing tone, and the two work in contrast. although the transparency is a subtle detail, it is the center of the picture, and the subtlety works in its favor, as it adds to the surreal feeling.

some designs