Brief 8
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Visual Communication Task (Mini Brief 7)
For this set brief we were tasked to create two different ideas that promote a brand, this could have been from a list of bands given or a brand of our choice. Because of my love for animals and mostly to dogs I have chosen to promote a dogs charity or a dogs home. With with task I am to create two posters one which will be a still image and one will be and animated Gif.
Brand
To start, when choosing my brand I had the idea of choosing a dogs home or a place where you can adopt rescue dogs. The reason I had this idea was because I have lived with rescue and adopted before so I have a sense of what some of the conditions can be for the dogs.
After getting my idea I started to look at the different places that you could go online or in person (depending on restrictions). Looking at these rescue I looked for the slogans on the websites to give me a better sense on how to approach this task and these were the following:
- DogsTrust – “A dog is for life not for Christmas”
- WildAtHeart – “Believe in Dogs”
- Battersea – “For the love of, rescue dogs and cats
- All Dogs Matter
- Many Tears Animal Rescue – “Homing dogs across the UK”
Going through the slogans and seeing that they are mainly aimed at pushing you to adopting a dog. What stands out to me is some companies such as All Dogs Matter has a commitment than more of a slogan which is “We won’t stop until all dogs are happy and safe forever homes. We never put a healthy dog down” and to me it tells more than I needs to. Although company could be seen as a slogan as the name is a pushing title in it self.
Message
Coming to the idea of the message I had a slogan that could work in mind, idea came to me during my other module where I am also focusing on dogs as my subject for my other project. As I said before the slogans or message that works best is the ones that push you or that make you think even once of getting a rescue dog. The message that came to me was “Dogs Deserve More”, to me this slogan gives you a second thought and also is telling you that they deriver more rather than it being a subtitle saying or message.
After thinking for awhile I had a thought that I might not have thought of that message originally so I looked up online to see if I have gotten it from somewhere else. I had come across a charity called DDB – Dogs Deserve Better which was a pretty much the same idea but with the last word changed. Although I will end up changing the message I have now a better understanding of what my message will be about.
Research and Development
As I use Pinterest for my mood boards I decided to get some inspiration on how I could proceed with creating my poster and animated GIF.
After looking through Pinterest I came across these posters that either had minimal text or was a information graphic of sorts giving you some information that might be helpful. What I understand between the two differences is that the more minimal poster were quite effective as it contained a sad message of a unhappy dogs face whereas the information graphic requires you to look through it, although the big title at the top helps with getting attention it is not as effective.
Mindmap –
Focused Brand –
While thinking and trying to visualise how I am going to proceed I decided that I am going to focus on Dog Trust and how they became one of the well know dog homes. A reason I have chosen Dogs Trust is because when I was younger I had paid for one of those help a dog things where you basically help rehome or care after the dog. As a child it was nice to know you could be helping a dogs life.
Getting To Know The Brand
Now that I have chosen my brand I can now look into how they became a well known rehoming company and their way of attracting attention to the cause. According to the Dogs Trust website they are the UK’s largest dog welfare charity that cares for over 15,000 dogs a year and that has been going on since 1891.
The website also incudes a photo dating back to 1906 where a annual report is posted and the caption “Whatever concerns the dog – concerns the league”. This describes the nature and root the company has come from, not only are they standing up and helping it is pushing the idea that they will not tolerate certain behaviours against dogs.
What can only be seen in the history of Dogs Trust is that they are there to help and rehome dogs in need.
Brand Identity and colour theory
Going through online trying to find related history and facts I came across a website called Adept who they work in design and advertising, What it read was that Dogs Trust has teamed up with them to design a extensive advertising campaign to encourage landlords to let their property to pet owners. By them trying to reach out and encourage a law or pass to go through so that I can help people who might have been discriminated. Never the less the design has kept its rule of bight colours that’s trying to get you interested and involved.
Primarily looking at the aesthetic and identity of Dog Trust I can see that they use black and yellow as their main colours. To me this already stands out as a logo and catches your attention when you look at it, this can be useful when trying to get the focus on people who may not think twice about looking at a dogs home.
Because of the low quality the adobe colour website has displayed the colours that are on the edges of the fonts and lines so it is showing the degrading colours. However I can tell that the yellow (#ffd305) and black (#oDoDoD) are the the primary colours used.
I believe I will follow this colour scheme because of the history, reputation and attention it can attract due to nearly most people already knowing the iconic scheme.
Typography
Looking into the typography I first had a hard time looking for the font that they used. Not having much luck I realised that adobe allows you to add fonts so I thought id try look there, luckily I found a similar one if not exact one. The font in use is quite simple yet clear and is able to draw your focus this is a crucial part if you want to get your cause across to people who may not be your usual audience.
Starting Ideas
To start with I began brainstorming ideas for what the lay out could include and what the aesthetic could look like.
As my drawing abilities are not the greatest this will help my get a sense of what it could look like or the different possibility’s I could go ahead with. The top sketch I wanted to keep the black and yellow as the primary colours but use it to bring out the attention of maybe some information next to the dog.
On the last two sketches I found that the bottom one did not promise much as it was a bit too simple and I don’t think a half yellow and black layout will get the full effect It could have gotten because I believe it will draw the attention away from what important. However compared to the middle one although it is still on the simple side it could be a good layout for a information graphic. Still I don’t think that it will get my message across I think it need to hit you or make you think about what it really says.
Mock Ideas
1.
For my first mock I decided to try my first sketch as it is probably one of my better ones, the process was difficult at first but I got more of the hang with it as I went on. As for the design I wanted to keep in mind that it needed to be simple because I believe that if there is too much on the poster it can potentially clutter it distracting the viewer. I decided to add some Lorem ipsum just so I could see how it would look and fit, to me it worked but it put me off because again I thought that there was too much on the screen. What I liked about this mock is the curve design with the Dogs Trust logo, although it does not add much it creates a more pleasing aesthetic to look at.
2.
The second mock I thought worked out well except I thought it was a bit too boring didn’t feel that the title had enough on it. The negative space allows for the eyes to wander if the gap is too big, I could think of a way put something in there but I still feel that there wouldn’t be enough space or something valuable to fill in the gap. Apart from that I found the layout of the slogans worked well with using hierarchy giving the Dogs Trust slogan a bolder font, this allows your eyes to wonder their first and read one of the important messages. The smaller text also works along side the slogans but I do feel that I could be bolder or less than the slogans to give it more of a hierarchy feel compared to the two slogans.
3.
lastly this mock was a test of sorts as I thought it wasn’t going to work but to my surprise it kind of worked out better than I thought, the contrast between the black on white text with the opposite side yellow on black text makes it stand out more rather than being too much. Although it worked I feel that it still feels a bit too cluttered and that if this was a information graphic this and the last mock would work really well for.
Mock Refinement
Final Posters
Still Image
Animated GIF
Brief 5: Typography information Graphic
For this brief we dived into the meaning of fonts and how most of them are designed for a purpose. Studying the article given by Wendy there are many ways that fonts can be different to one another such as one may be easier to read than the other but this other font might attract more attention to things like advertisement. Each has a benefit of their own but certain fonts are usually better for road signs and making it easier for people finding their way.
Article Mind map
Through what the mind map above shows is what I have gathered from the article By Wendy Corbett, using these tips and information it will help me guide to what kind of font I am going to use. After having looked into these it started to point out how many aspects can change the view of typography, I then wanted to look into individual parts such as the how size affects, the readability and the hierarchy.
Focused Mindmap
With this mindmap I wanted to focus on the Readability, Hierarchy and size because I am going to aim to follow a Vintage style typography and a lot of that kind of typography is bold, big and mainly grabs your attention.
My Ideas / Moodboards
To begin with i wanted to look at the ways the different serifs and the anatomy of the letters, The way we read and see text affects how we perceive the text we are reading, things such as colour and size can help place your eyes to the right place and provoke certain emotions. With my idea of Vintage/retro style typography I already see that the boldness and colour that is involved can defiantly creates a reaction.
Sketched MoodBoard
Vintage/Retro Moodboard
These Images I have found online help depict what the time was back in them days, I have chosen this style because of two things, the first is that I have also been researching this type of era in another lecture so it is already in interest and have knowledge on the topic already.
This kind of this style started to come about in the 1950s when the cold war was about and this inflicted a propaganda battle using imagery to slander the opposition and while on the way encouraging the civilians to have more faith in their country. This style then helped bloom in the entertainment industry by being implemented in bars, diners, malls and mostly any sort of public business.
Inspiration Images
- Retro Neon Example
I have decided to choose this as my inspiration image because I found the way they have used Hierarchy in the way they have used the lines as the method and almost created a contrast effect. The use of the using a mix of straight lines and only using curves where necessary giving the font its vintage/retro style.
2. Retro Bold Example
For this image the popping blue and orange with white outlining really stood out to me, This follows my ideal requirements such as the text being bold and easy to read.
Sketches
Sketch Idea Analysis
Sketch 1. My first sketch I had a brief idea on how I was going to approach this task, for my first idea I was to keep it simple and yet bold. The idea was to have the 1950s text in the middle and surrounding would be a circular design, keeping it simple but with the addition of using bright colours could bring out the outcome of my message.
Sketch 2. On my second sketch I decided to try something different by using swirly lines but with a straight line font design, this idea sounded good in my head but to where as when I sketched it the design did not work out how I thought it would. However although it did not work in my favour I had a found interest into the line type typography.
Sketch 3. Following the idea of line typography my third sketch I going to focus on straight lines. I am fond of the lines used because I can play around with the design while trying to keep in touch with my idea of straight lines. This design does not use much or consist of much as everything is going to simple and bold.
Sketch 4. This sketch follows my research example the retro rainbow, this design still uses straight lines but also uses multiple of them to create a depth perspective. This works well in presenting the message of the 1950s as it follows the rules of using bright colours along with a unique style.
Sketch 5. lastly my final sketch is a simple yet to me an effective design. With this one if I decide to go ahead with it the Straight Lines below and above the text will be either different colours or will follow a set colour scheme. The typography it self will be my idea of keeping straight lines or using a different font that might use curves.
Idea Refinement
After thinking into my design and the reasoning behind them I am going to choose decide which ones I like best and to see what I can incorporate. Moving forward with my ideas I think I want to keep the aspects of using straight lines within my typography, if not I want to use as minimal curves as I can.
The sketches I am going to draw my main inspiration from is going to be the sketch 2/3 and 5. What I mainly liked about them design were that they were simple yet effective and they followed the rules of what the 1950s typography should consist of.
Example test
For this example test I decided to create a graphic that was based on one of my inspirations. The outcome was sort of what I expected as I wanted to use the colours of the text along with the background.
This worked, however with my addition with extra text I believe without the text there is a lot of negative space. Although using this as a starting point has helped me realise about spacing and what works and what doesn’t.
Font Creation
Font idea 1:
Creating my font I decided to keep with the idea of using just straight lines, On the left image I have presented my method on how I put this together. What I liked about this font is the straight lines, however with the addition of the black backing I think that I does not make much of an impact in drawing your attention. The mix of both has made the font look weird or off to me because the way I have used the lines to create the font does not work due to the layout of the lines and how I have used the colours to try and create hierarchy.
Font idea 2:
Following the last font I knew that the lines did not work as well as I thought so after realising that it might not work I decided to use a Tokyo 2098 font as to me the lining and overall look of it suits my retro look needs.
As I gathered inspiration from other forms of retro typography I also wanted to keep the design of adding hierarchy. I have done this by duplicating the text and rearranging the colours to create depth and the hierarchy I was trying to go for.
After creating the mix of the font and use of hierarchy I looked at the difference between using a white outlining and a black one. The best one to me is the white outlining as it stands out more as their is more depth and it is overall easier to read.
Font Idea 3:
Realising that I want to keep the Tokyo 2098 font because of its aesthetic and the boldness. I went on to experiment with another kind of colour scheme. This time I wanted to try and limit it to a few colours and in this case it was red, white and black.
I took inspiration from the vector font that I have put in my inspiration. To me I get a hard and bold feel from this, I do believe that I have come a little bit away from the retro style but I think that it is still valid.
Idea Tests
1.
As this style was my least favourite I knew that I would be hard to find a way to present this and make it appear as I wanted. I tried to follow my third sketch and use straight lines above and below the text. The colour scheme to me does not work, the contrast between the colours clash too much to create the style of the retro look
2.
When exporting this test and putting it onto WordPress the colours have been turned up for some reason and the green is a lot brighter than it should be. I have included an adobe colour extractor so that I can show what colours are actually presented. If I follow through with this idea I am going to have to change or find a way to sort this colour problem out.
What I liked about this is the colour scheme and the layout. Compared to my first retro design I have decided to rotate the text so that it is more readable and clear as the last one was more slanted than I need to be but overall I found this to work well for what I was trying to do.
3.
Coming to this edit, I found that I quite liked this style and the simplicity it uses. As I wanted to go for a slightly different approach I decided to still keep the straight lines in mind and also to try and keep it bold / clear.
With the layout I find that there is a lot of negative space towards the top and bottom of the design, If I go for this style I will try and include more graphics to try and match the style or to present the image in a better fashion so that it is more engaging.
Final Idea Choice
I have decided to go for my Tokyo 2098 red style, this is because I believe that using simplicity along with straight lines work well together and it allows for the text to be easily read.
Edits
Creating these variants of my chosen edit style I am going to explain what works best and what does not with these designs:
Edit 1 –
My first edit I carried on and added onto my chosen idea, with this wanted to add more graphic but I have realised that the lining that I have added is quite small when it is exported. To me this works but it just needs to be adjusted.
Another thing I changed was the Tokyo text, with this I changed the fill to black instead of white to see if there would be a difference in boldness or visibility. From this change I can see that it adds a more visual hierarchy as the main text is more bolder and bigger where as the below text is still visible but adds depth to the image in whole.
Edit 2 –
Moving on to my second edit I decided to switch the background to a black, this was to see if the legibility and over all visibility would help present the font. What I liked about this edit was that the black mixed with the red works well as the font is able to stand out from the rest of the image. Compared to the first edit where the red it too much in your face making your concentration all over the place rather than focusing on the main target.
I have realised from creating these edits that the outlining needs to be thicker so that when it comes to export it the lining will be more visible either with the font or the graphic lines that are surrounding it.
Overall this one is probably one of my favourite ones as the simplicity and it just being overall easier to look.
Edit 3 –
For my last edit I wanted to add onto my previous edit, but also to include some aspects of my other edits such as the graphic limning and rotating the text at a angle to create a more visually pleasing image. Although It works and the text can still be read, to me it does not work as much as my second edit as keeping the text horizontal makes it easier to look at rather than having to turn your head.
The addition of the graphic lining worked well although I would need to thicken the lines as they don’t create much of an impact as it could do.
Final Edit
After finalising my final edit decision and choosing to go with this design I have created variations of my vison so that I can get a better sense of how I want my final edit to come out.
Edits variations
Going through the process and knowing that I wanted to use line graphics within my work I started off by using two straight lines. My first variation was a simple one as I wanted to work on the actual typography its self by creating more depth and sense of hierarchy.
Form that edit I went onto add my first lines to test out if it would work, although simple and can easily be read I thought with this design that I was a bit too simple and needed more graphics to get rid of the negative space. Along with the next edit I created more lines and put them on top with the lines getting smaller, this almost worked but I still felt that It wasn’t good enough. With the last of that edit variation I thought that if I could minimize the lines as they went down the page that I would get a world effect as it creates a round pattern. This design to me just did not work and did not add much onto the overall appearance, although I did like using the red and white lines together.
Coming to these variations I decided to carry on using the white and red lines to use as my graphics. The reason I have chosen to use these as well as keeping the colour scheme the same is because when you look at retro/vintage typography you see a consistency of using the same style and colours. This is the approach I have taken as I am mainly using straight lines in my typography and also my graphic design.
My first design I kept it simple by only using two sets of lines, this was to follow my rule of keeping it simple and minimalistic, to me this worked however it was too simple and did not feel right as the spacing and overall symmetry was off. Realising this I decided to try and take the approach of moving the lines in off places without disrupting the typography and when I say that I mean placing the lines in different sections to try and create a more engaging design.
As I thought the unsymmetrical lines did not work as so much I lined up the cross sections with the text so that It is more visually pleasing and follows the rules of using symmetry and straight lines.
Final Edit
Finally coming to my final edit I am overall pleased with my design as it has been able to follow the rules that I set and delivered the characteristics of a old retro/vintage style typography.
I didn’t state before but one of the reasons I have removed the 2097 text from my design is that although I am trying to convey my retro style typography idea the addition of that text took away the thought and perspective that this is a design dedicated to old style fonts.
Bibliography –
Mini Brief 6: Visual Thinking Task
For this task we were told to explore the visual terms such as Readability, Legibility and Hierarchy to create banners for a advert/article type design Using Pinterest I gathered posts and graphic designs to crate a Moodboard so I can try and get some inspiration.
Readability
Out of the designs and posts, I found that these three stood out the most to me because they are simple yet can easily be read if they are translated to English. Taking inspiration from these I can see how the readability has an effect on the overall view and perspective of the page.
Information on Readability:
Readability is the arrangement of fonts and words in order to make the written content simple and easy to read. `
Type size: When setting text, the smaller the size, the more challenging it can be to read. This is especially true for seniors, children, and those with visual impairments. For these reasons, the demographics of your intended audience should be taken into consideration when deciding on a size for text.
Type case: All cap settings for lengthy text are more challenging to read due to the lack of ascenders and descenders which contribute to character recognition, so stick to upper and lowercase when readability is of prime importance.
Line spacing: Tight line spacing impacts readability negatively. The amount needed to improve readability will depend on the size and design of a typeface as well as its x-height. Therefore, when ease of reading is of high importance, make sure there is enough line spacing to maximize readability, which in general is at least two to three points for print, and a bit more for smaller digital devices.
Line length: When the line length, or column width, is too short, it can have many hyphenated words, which reduce readability. In addition, the eyes have to make many ‘returns’ that can cause fatigue and reduce comprehension. On the other hand, very long lines can cause confusion when shifting from the end of one line to the beginning of another. For best readability, stick to ‘average’ line length, which is usually between 45 and 70 characters.
Legibility
Legibility
With Legibility I found these which I think suits the term, I am a fan of using simple but effective designs that still allow my point to get across and I think the first image on the left is the one I might follow. The typography is restrictive in giving you the full letter but the mind is still able to determine what the word presents.
Information on Legibility:
Legibility is a measure of how easy it is to distinguish one letter from another in a particular typeface
Character width: The easiest type designs to read are those that have an ‘average’ overall width. Very condensed as well as extended designs are less legible, especially for smaller settings such as text, subheads, and credits.
Weight: Extremely light and heavy weights are more difficult to read, so if legibility is your goal, stick to something in the middle. Book weights (also called Regular) are so named as they are most often used to typeset books for that very reason.
Design traits: The overall shapes and design traits of a typeface, if too quirky or fussy, will reduce legibility. While this might be acceptable for shorter display settings, stick to simpler typeface designs for lengthy text settings.
Stroke contrast:Â Extreme stroke contrast, that is, the ration of thick to thin strokes, can reduce legibility as well. This is especially true of modern designs such as Bodoni and Didot whose thin strokes can appear so thin when reproduced in print or on the web that it can become challenging to read when used too small or for lots of text.
Hierarchy
For Hierarchy I picked out these because I believe they help express the hierarchy within the words and how they are placed give more depth to the image.
I quite liked the middle image due to the face that the hierarchy has been used in a bold manner along with the words entering lighter a colour to act as if its going further away giving one again depth to the full image.
Information on Hierarchy:
Size: Size is generally the first thing new designers turn to when trying to create typographic hierarchy. And for good reason: It’s immediately, easily identifiable by readers. Bigger = more important, smaller = less important. But size can become a crutch when there are so many other options to create hierarchy.
Weight: Making a typeface bolder or thinner is another easily recognizable way to create hierarchy that’s easily identifiable even by non-designers.
Color: this is often overlooked as a way to create a hierarchy, but it’s a fantastic option. Even using lighter and darker shades of a given color can create a more distinct hierarchy. Creating more contrast between type and it’s background can also add to typographic hierarchy.
Contrast: Beyond contrasting colours, the contrast between different type sizes, weights, and styles is also key to creating typographic hierarchy. A difference of only one or two points in type size won’t create enough contrast to make the hierarchy apparent to most users. Instead, designers should use easily distinguishable sizes, weights, and styles to easily create contrast between things like headers or body text.
My Sketches —————-
Readability – For this sketch I aimed to try and switch up how you look at the typography’s readability. The second from top sketch was a try at attempting the slanted depth image because I found the way it was at a different angle giving it this 3d slant effect amazing as well as being readable if it was in English.
Legibility – With these sketch’s I found that the top on caught my interest because the its a non traditional font which makes your mind try and construct the word but can be easily read if used in the right positions.
Hierarchy – I had troubles sketching a hierarchy style for the reason of the limits of a pen and what I can do with it. In this sketch I took a like to two of my ideas the top right one and the very right idea. These two for me have a different way of presenting hierarchy by not necessarily following the large to small rules but using gradients or using multiple words with different shades to project depth and hierarchy.
Final Designs
biography:
https://www.toptal.com/designers/typography/typographic-hierarchy
Brief 4: The Visual language of Colour
Composite Image
Composite Image
The colour palette consists of a lot of warm colours such as orange and ranges to shades of brown. Using this colour scheme it presents a calm relaxed feeling which can give the viewer a better sense of what’s going on and what the artist is trying to portray.
As an alternative a bluer palette could work as it you could use the different shades of blue to show that it could be night time and using the blues could indicate loneliness with the elephant being being by its self. The sky could be a darker shade of blue while the sand could be lighter bringing contrast out and bringing the subject forward and more in the viewers perspective.
Experimental Colours
With these two experimental images we get a completely different narrative, without the sun these images do not look as bright and warm as it did before. Now it is moody and cold, in the images below you can see there is more of an impact when the colours were changed. The changes have created a different story such as it presenting the idea where the elephant is alone and cold wondering hopelessly rather than compared to the original where its sunny and it seems as a better place to be.
Abstract Image
What I can see from this photo is the colour palette uses calm shades of blue for the background while most of the foreground is using a shade of pinkish/red. the opposition of the two colours works well as It brings out the what I think is the moon or sun but also keeps the shades of blue visable. This images keeps in mind what its trying to show as the foreground and the sun/moon are the main focus using bright and attention seeking colours to bring the viewers eyes towards it while the blue presents a calmer point of view as it all most uses this so that the pinkish/red can stand out the most.
As this portrays either day or night I believe that its presenting day time as the sun is shining these rays into the darkness, such as a sunrise. An alternative could be using mostly more red colours and using the darker shades of blue to represent the darkness coming turning into to a sun set. This could provoke a calming effect or bring out emotion in the viewer as the palette used can be seen as a neutraliser and bring you to a more relaxed state.
Experimental Colours
When trying to experiment with this abstract image I found it interesting when I came to testing different colour mixes. In the images above I have used temperature and tint turned to opposite sides with the vibrance and saturation to create a warm almost sunset like image. This compared to the original has softer tones and can be easier to look at.
For the image below I was messing around with testing the colour mixer I was able to create this image, this is different compared to the other two because it uses brighter colours and tones. The colour pallet creates a day time beach look, this gives me the sense of being out in the sun and in a sort of paradise. The change between the original is definitely different and I think that it can be seen as an improvement due to it being easier to look at and also has a nice vibe to it.
Bibliography:
https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Photography-Fanstasy-Limited-Edition-1-of-10/1011650/3746881/view
https://www.creativeunited.my/a/night-sky-spilling-on-to-the-earth-abstract-design
Mini Brief 3: Identity
On this brief we were set to create our identity as a group, after talking and deciding to search up synonyms for community we landed on ‘Inhabitants’. To contribute and create work of our own we went of and took 2 photographs each of anything that resembled the letters that we designated to one another.
Inhabitants Letters
Idea Generation
moodboard
Idea Sketches
After creating a mood board and gathering some thoughts on what comes to mind when I think inhabitants I then started to sketch some ideas that came to mind.
Ideas analysis
- My first sketch seen on at the top of the three design page is an idea that came to mind where a animal or a inhabitants of each would act if they are holding up the letters. Using a animal signifies the living beings that live on the same planet pushing further that idea of community we looked into in brief 2.
- On my second sketch I wanted to try and think of an idea where I could use the flags of the world with each country’s flag in a montage type style filling the right and left side of the page. As we are inhabitants we can use different country’s flags to help indicate that idea, using this would also help signify the idea of community and unity as we all are on the same planet.
- To my third sketch, this was a bit of a pull idea where at first I thought it could work but instead did not. This could work on screen but on paper I couldn’t see how it could work with inhabitants containing eleven letters which in my mind would not work out as well. Either with not fitting to the page but also not having such an impact I could have as if I were to use our solar system I would not make as much sense as they are not inhabited by any beings that we know of. This idea could be redesigned to fit better but I believe that I will more than likely go for another design.
- As for my last design I thought of a similar idea to my first sketch where I would have something holding up the letters. With this I would get a crowd of people and the eleven letters that make up inhabitants would have people holding their arms in the air, signifying that they are also inhabitants and a community.
Comparing the ideas that I have come up with I have decided to create both the second sketch and the fourth sketch so that I can decide which one works better at presenting our identity.
Idea Edits
With my ideas I had decided that I would go ahead with these two ideas and see what works better. I first started with the flag concept, the main idea with this one was to try can communicate the idea of unity and the world as a whole is one big community whether we like it or not. To my surprise I thought that this flag idea would work and have a better impacts than it has, I believe that the contrast between the shape of the letters and the flags does not mix as well as I thought. The colours from the flags over take the visuals when instead should focus on the title.
After realising some mistakes I then went onto create the second idea which was the concept of creating a crowd that was busy while a few that stand out hold up their arms and present the letters. This to me helps put across the ideas I was trying to get across as I have tried to set them up as a unit symbolising unity and coming together.
Between the two my second edit was a better idea to go with as I think that it creates more of an impact by trying to stand out rather than having too much colour or patterns on the screen.
Chosen Final Image
bibliography:
https://freebiesupply.com/free-psd-icons/country-flags-free-resource/
https://wallpaperaccess.com/world-flag
https://www.clipartmax.com/middle/m2i8b1i8Z5m2i8m2_arms-up-silhouette-comments-stickman-arms-up-png/
Photoshop Session
As I have using Photoshop for years I know my way around most of the things it can offer, for this session were were given a photo go Scooby and a background scene to basically put what we wanted into the photo. We were given a tutorial on how to proceed but as I know how to use it at ease I began straight away.
I started off adding Scooby to the background by using the quick selection tool and going around him so that I can get all of him in Frame. once that was done I started looking for things I could add such as dinosaurs to which I choose a T-Rex as they just look cool and big, the next thing I choose was the Death Star as people who what it is and also that I could destroy the whole world (not really).
I had fun with this lesson as it gave me a chance to get back into using editing software as I was out of practice for a few months due to the corona virus and it allowed me to have a go at getting back into the motivation.
Mini Brief 2, Developing Visual Messages
For this session we looked at how a community is perceived, when I first heard that we were going to look at what symbolises and what It means to be in a community I thought of sports. Sports can be a good way to present the idea of becoming a team and being able to work together so that you can win as one. its not only the players that show a sense of community it is also the fans as they can be seen at all of the events cheering on their team. Teams can be a divider of people but it also creates a unique atmosphere where people are brought together by what interests them.
Research
These are some photos I found online that could help depict what’s the best way to show how sports can invoke community in people. I decided that I would only include team sports because its the best way to show community but also it shows how people can come together to play and support one another, on the other hand I choose not to include single player sports due to the fact that although it present community with the fans cheering on for them but its more of a one person so there main job is focusing on them selves and trying to win for them. This can be seen as the opposite side of what a community is, as there is excitement and happiness when together supporting a team there can be a lot of arguments that could lead to a bit of hatred for one another because maybe two teams are rivals. Although this can be seen as a bad thing it also bring character to the team sports as if there was no opposition to hate against or to try beat then otherwise the game wouldn’t be the same.
My first few ideas where to get silhouettes of players in a standard sport pose so that I can use them in photoshop and begin to present what sports means to everyone. I am going to use poses such as this hockey player, my aim is to get the stances the players take so that I can get across what sport it what when I edit and make them into dark silhouettes.
Another reason I am going with silhouettes is because of a post I came across, The petition I found for the NBA, the petition was to change the iconic Basketball league logo to include Star Kobe Bryant because of the way he played in the league though out his career and how he made a big difference in how basketball was perceived. Unfortunately the star died early last year and I came to a big shock to the whole basketball community and outside of it as he was such as well known name. Because of this someone started a petition to change the logo from a the original to having Kobe’s silhouette. This brought out a lot of passion and showed how much he was loved for playing for what he loved doing.
The last thing I thought of when researching was to look at abstract images of how others and how sports is presented as a community. I was able to find one that followed the lines of what I wanted to do with silhouettes and that is to try and show how sports is connects one person to another. The connection between the sports and the fans can be great, as an example growing up with a sport that all the family supports already implants that attraction to it. Not always but however there are cases where they are obsessed about all of it.
Lastly I started to make few mock ups so that I could get a better understanding when I create the complete work. as I said before I wanted the silhouettes to be able to showcase each sport and how they can be alike to one another. I have chosen to make the front player darker than the rest and becoming lighter as it goes back because I creates a better composition and communicates better to the audience.
Image Refinement and Final Image
For this task i was set to create images that represent and identify the HIERARCHY in photos that mainly include elements of contrast. we had to go through the earlier briefs and use our concept images to make a final image that follows what we have been looking at before. One of my objectives is to create an emotion out of the image to show how contrast can be important in photos and the way it can be used to lead the eye to a specific point. i found sport to be a way of expressing what a community can feel or be like. an event of a sport can bring people together with the similar interest of the sport. although it can create a hostile atmosphere where if the opposing teams fans are unfriendly towards each other because of rivalry but that can be seen in community’s.
Idea 1
I created this first edit so that I can try to understand better on how to draw the viewers eyes into the players and focus on the sports being shown. In the first one I wanted to present the HIERARCHY by getting the different sports players in a line so that they can be seen easily but also by putting them in different shades as they go back brings in the viewers eyes mainly to the players as that what i am trying to portray. That playing in a team sport feels a lot like community
Idea 2
- What I gathered from my group feedback is that my edits showed what I was trying to portray through research of community in sports.
- a usual way of portraying sports is to have the players as the Hierarchy and in main point of view. which is what I was trying to show.
- my symbolism is shown through the way I have put forward the players over the fans.
- researching sports and teams that have won championships is a way I thought could reach the viewer of what I’m trying to put across.
- When laying out the positioning of the subjects I tried to keep the players in shot to keep the attention to the players more than anything else as that’s the main point I’m trying to present.
- I used photoshop to transform my images of football players and such into shades so that you can clearly see the intention I am showing.
With the feedback from my team I got a better idea of what I am going to try and aim for in my final image which will include a better sense of community
Final Image
After feed back from my team and getting more insight into what works better and what does not, I decided to go ahead with my first idea. The reason I chose this image was beacuse compared to my second idea were the only sport present was football, It did not express or present the idea of community as much as I thought it would. The seclusion of just using one sport does show the idea of community but, whereas I thought if you used the main sports or all the sports that are team based it would present a better sense of community.
I choose to make a edit of another way a community can be the opposite of caring or being included in a group like a sport. i have tried to incorporate a view that creates the vision of an outsider or someone who does not feel like they fit in with the rest. A lot of people feel like this and is not uncommon and so edited the girl in a darker shade to present her and used a lighter colour on the crowd so that it shows the emotion between the girl who feels alone to the happy crowed.
Mini Brief 1: The Anatomy of a Visual Message
For this set Brief we were put to the task of finding and researching photographs that explored or presented the idea of a community. To show this we had to find 2 representaional images, 2 abstract images and 2 symbolic images.
Representational imagery –
I’ve chosen these two photos for my representational images because of the way they show off the idea of community and how they put forward that we live all together in unison. the first photo shows off how close we are together on a daily basis even if the person next to you is a stranger, you are still connected in someway.
The old photo of V-J day in Times Square is very well know because of the day the war ended and when everyone was celebrating peace. this image conveys two perspectives. one being that it presents the photo as a symbol of romance at first glance due to the nature of the photo that is a soldier coming back from war to a celebration and his love. but another way you could see it is as a symbol of community because of the way everyone has come together to celebrate peace around the world even if it was for a short space of time at that point everyone felt as if they were all one.
Abstract imagery –
For this photo I found it to represent community, what I can see from this photo is that each paper clip represents a person and as you can see if that one person is connected to another then that person can lead you to another and then another. it conveys that even if you know one person that other person can branched off and be linked to another. so with this I can see a lot of community like symbolism that we can see in todays society.
Now with this abstract image it portrays a different way we look at community, I feel from this image that it shows a lot of what a community is. when you look at this image you can probably get a lot of different perspectives and ideas of what It could mean but when I look at it I can see that the bundled up part shows how closely connected we are and what ever we try we will always be apart of each other. the strands that are coming off could be seen as the people who are maybe distant from others or are not as connected as others may be. although as you can see them strands and them connections down the line always leads to someone or that we can always be lead back to that community environment we know.
Symbolic Imagery –
I found that symbolic imagery was one of the most interesting ways to portray community. I found these two images from a Canadian Photographer Sean Mundy who shoots in symbolic ways to convey his message. what I can get from this photo is the idea of everyone following this one idea or this one person that might seem to know it all, as you can see there are quite a few people who are dressed the same and all looking at one person with a red beacon of smoke as if its leading everyone to that point. I feel in todays society we see a lot of this in the government and how we live as we all look to our country leader to have the answers or to lead us in the right direction. I believe that the photographer has put his subjects in all the same clothing because he wants to show that we are all the same and that we are all going in the same direction.
Once again with his way of portraying his work he again has dressed all the models in the same attire so that It presents the community and how we really are all doing the same thing. The addition of the black square could mean a lot of different things but I feel that from this photo with the crowd bowing down to it symbolises that the square could be the government or the leader of some sort as it presents the idea we all follow one thing and that we are slaved to one idea or even the ideology we can see in some country’s we can see today.
Benjamin Howse Journal 