ashleightandesignstudiob

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FINAL REFLECTION / SUMMARY

Week 6. 

This Ihi Wehi poster assignment has been an absolute challenge and a half from start to finish. Although there have been many ups and downs and speed bumps along the way, I’ve learned many important lessons during the journey.

I really enjoyed the way we started off the project at the start of the semester by encouraging us to use simple techniques to get ideas jotted down and on the page. Pictionary was a really good introductory exercise and it was super fun and interesting to approach words and topics. We weren’t overthinking things and were tackling ideas headfirst without much hesitation.

It was really good to be constantly going over important design aspects throughout our process of trial and error such as connotations, symbolism, dynamics, and associations. This helped to constantly drill in the importance of small details and the exploratory aspects of the design process. 

This project also made me realise how crucial research is and how looking at artist precedents can really help influence the way we work and produce quality work. Creating posters can be a really challenging task despite the common thought that they would be simple and straightforward. Having access to not only designers but photographers, painters, and casual artists widened my perspective on poster design and the complexity some can have despite the simplicity of its looks. 

My favourite part of this entire project was actually one of the last classes before our hand in date. We were encouraged to really go back to our roots and to create imagery and visual components from hand-drawn elements such as paint, ink, and pens. Not only was this a good way to release stress during a very tense time, but it actually produced some quality work that I was proud of and eventually became the main focus of one of my final poster concepts.

Overall, despite the many challenges that I faced and had to overcome eventually, I was happy with the work that I had produced and was proud of what I had achieved in the 6 weeks.

[ashleightandesignstudiob]

RATIONALE.

For this project, my chosen topic focused on the high suicide rates of Māori men in New Zealand and to raise awareness of the detriment of suicide. The connecting factors of both posters is the number 21, which corresponds to the age and its cultural significance. This is an important factor as the highest suicide rate for Māori men in 2016 belonged to the age group of 20-24. The two posters convey the topic through two different approaches: photographic and illustrative.

The cake is representative of birthdays and the significance of 21st birthdays in New Zealand and in other countries around the world. Replacing the jam for blood and incorporating the bloody knife reverses the happy connotations associated with birthday cakes and instead creates a sombre attitude towards it. The second poster tackles the 21 made out of Korus in a messy brush/pen stroke and leads the viewers' eyes from numbers to a noose. The noose is an appropriate symbol due to its common affiliation with suicide as well as statistics showing that the top method for suicide in New Zealand is suffocation through strangulation. Using hand-drawn materials as visual imagery enables the viewer to connect with the poster in a more personal and raw manner.

Both posters use colloquial terms and puns such as “hang in there mate” and “lights out, bro” that fit into male clichés that are common in Kiwi male culture. Males, in general, tend to brush things off and to hide their emotions away for fear of being deemed as ‘sensitive’ and ‘emotional’. This is due to the stigma that surrounds mental health and feelings. The posters created show the direness of suicide in a straightforward and direct manner while still being engaging and dynamic.

Ashleigh Tan

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POSTER WALL.

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FINAL POSTER 2

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FINAL POSTER 1

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WEEK 6

Noose poster iterations.

Lots of iterations of different typeface changes, noose sizes and placement of text. It was hard to get the colours right so I also did multiple test prints and put them up on the wall. This was good as it enabled me to see my work from a distance again to look at other minor details. I also tried mixing and matching with the vector shapes with the distressed brush font to see if they worked together or not.

[ashleightandesignstudiob]

WEEK 6 

Cake poster iterations

I had quite a bit of trouble with this specific poster as right up until the last class before hand-in. Things just weren’t working right; whether it was the text placement, the image of the cake itself, the chosen typeface, or the candles, none of the elements were blending well together and it felt clunky and bad in terms of hierarchy.

After a while, I finally ditched my love of having the decorative text and chose a much simpler and bolder text that sort of gets straight to the point. Bingo! A final poster design arose.

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VISUAL PRECEDENTS

Drawings and Doodles.

Using drawings, paintings and any other sort of art form to have as central imagery can be very striking and eye-catching to viewers. 

It gives a raw approach to different concepts and can provide extra emphasis on certain elements in the poster. 

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POSTER WALL

Trial poster wall of my poster concepts.

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VISUAL PRECEDENTS

Typography - Movement and flow

These posters all use typography in ways that play with motion and the physical movement of the text layout or the visual flow of the composition and how type is the main feature in that.

The first two posters use movement blurs that are able to capture the essence of the message/theme being portrayed. Although the typefaces and letter have been blurred, it still remains legible enough for the viewer to read and to understand.

The second two posters make use of composition and layout of type to make the best out of space and dynamics. The one on the left follows an interesting criss-cross pattern across the page and makes the viewers' attention go from the top of the page to the bottom. The right one is my favourite with regards to how the type is laid out. The play on the word “jam” and almost literally ‘jamming’ the a between the j and the m by using overlays and layer masks.

[ashleightandesignstudiob]

Week 5 Summary

Monday

This second interim was a really good chance to pin work up on the wall again and to see the work I had produced so far from a distance. It was also really good to see where everyone was at in each class and to see how they’ve been developing their posters from the last interim. From this interim, I pushed out a few iterations where I worked on my typographic skills as that has been my weakest part of all of my posters.

Thursday

I really enjoyed today’s class as I took Caroline’s advice to step away from the computer and to get back into using my hands to create drawings and doodles. It was nice going back to using pens and ink to create visual imagery and typefaces/fonts to use and add more dynamics to our posters. It was also surprisingly relaxing to let the creativity flow through the brush pen as it enabled me to zone out and just focus.

Although I didn’t get much feedback this week and I’m not too confident about my two posters at the moment, I’m confident I can get things done in time.

[ashleightandesignstudiob]

VISUAL PRECEDENTS

TYPOGRAPHY - TEXTURAL

Textural typography mixes visual and physical impact all into one to create a masterpiece of almost-tactile and visually-pleasing imagery. 

I feel that textural type is able to break through the 4th wall barriers between information giver to information carrier to information receiver. This is achieved by taking things that we know and understand well and putting them in different scenarios where a certain concept can be conveyed through them without any extra information being provided through other elements such as background imagery or extra type.

They’re able to be powerful and important on their own and can create feelings of tactility even if they haven’t physcially incorporated those aspects into the poster itself. This way they can let the viewer understand certain points that can be conveyed through the type and it’s composition.

[ashleightandesignstudiob]

VISUAL PRECEDENTS

TYPOGRAPHY - 3D

I really like these posters for the way that they manipulate the type to fit around surfaces and edges, which in turn fits with their concepts and/or themes.

The use of 2 dimensional text in a way that makes it appear 3 dimensional adds character and flavour to certain elements of the posters. It makes it more interesting and creative to look at for the viewer and also makes the visuals/text stand out more against a contrasted background.

It’s also quite interesting to note that although a poster may contain one of two elements in it including the background, if the type is formatted in a creative way, it can bring a lot more attention to the word/message being conveyed and can also be dynamic (but in a more simplistic way in comparison to colour overloads and having multiple different elements).

[ashleightandesignstudiob]

VISUAL PRECEDENTS 

BOLD CONCEPTS

These 5 posters all cover different topics in bold and interesting ways that connect the viewer to a strong visual image. 

Each poster involves a central image that plays on irony and words/common sayings or common phrases. The central visual is very dynamic and strong due to the use of contrast between background and foreground imagery. It challenges the viewer to take a minute to realise the deeper meaning behind the imagery. It’s interesting to note that all posters have chosen to use simple colour palettes that consist of either only two colours or have limited it to three or four. This way it doesn’t over-complicate things and the poster remains simple and straightforward.

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VISUAL PRECEDENTS

DYNAMICS

These posters use colours as a way of drawing in the viewers' attention and giving the overall poster a powerful impact. They each are unique in their own way and use dynamics differently to strengthen their design, making them visually striking. 

The composition of each poster also helps to enhance their dynamics by drawing in attention from different viewpoints, perspectives and angles. 

The first poster has a sweeping motion that starts from the top left and takes the viewer’s eye from there to the bottom center and back up to the top right. The use of the specific textural vector shapes create that wave motion that allows the eye to be directed to the important information while keeping you interested.

The second poster focuses on using the natural clockwise direction to take the viewer/reader from one important header word to the next which creates a sentence. The sentence then inevitably leads to the main graphic which is simplistic and eye-catching with it’s bold plain colours and colour-blocking.

The third poster although seems like a plain composition, it takes the viewer’s eye on a trip and a half from the top of the page to the bottom. You’d think that the shapes would be distracting, but instead it contrasts well with the black letters that gradually spell out “dynamic”.

The fourth poster feels like an oil slick crossed paths with a hippie’s acid trip. The beautiful colours are entrancing and draw you in from a mile away. The contrasting colours make for a dynamic poster incased in a frame with multiple parts of the main image peeking out from the edges of it.

(posters curated through Pinterest https://pin.it/bnjctxe2mqmu4a)

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END OF WEEK 5.

The three poster concepts that I’ve ended up with at the closing of week 5.

Vector, Photographic and Illustration.

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WEEK 5, DOODLE POSTER.

For class, I decided to completely ditch one of my poster concepts and started from scratch.

I still used the same initial concept like having the 21 turning into a noose and the words “hang in there mate” but I drew it out with a thick brush pen and a smaller line pen for the details.

I really liked how this poster turned out and visually I think it’s a lot more striking in comparison to my other posters as the visuals give it that sense of rawness and power. Also the dynamics of these work better.