Assignment 3 Tutor Feedback and Reflection:
The collection of imagery you have included is very distinct from what I see in the majority of submissions for this exercise. There is a very unique energy about the imagery you select - this is beyond the style or technique similarities, it is an emotional quality that seems to tie them all together. The fragmentation that is prevalent in most of these images is very interesting - and it is also something that comes through your own work. I wonder if there is some significance in this? It is very clear that you have a preferred visual vocabulary. Knowing this will be helpful in determining the kind of work you will do within graphic design. Keep building out your visual diary in the way that will be most useful for you - so if the folder with plastic sleeves is working for you or the digital folder on your laptop please continue to use those!
I love this style of more abstract/expressionist design with collage. I really like how those artists use imagery/colour/various techniques to achieve a deeper meaning within their work, which is something I strive to do. Despite me enjoying other peoples work including lot’s of colour, I prefer more muted or subtle uses of colour, which is something I want to explore and develop in my work. I have began to collect my imagery altogether in various files on a hard drive. A lot of it is screenshots from my phone from social media, cut out images from the folder or images I take. Every once and a while I update the files with the new work I’ve found, and find this the best place to come for inspiration when starting any of my own work.
The trajectory of this exercise is really interesting. Your research started with logos/branding/icons which is what the exercise was steering you towards. Your mind maps and initial sketches continued along this path. Then, the moment you started working in photoshop the focus changed. Here, the focus shifts to making imagery (as opposed to icons/symbols). This could be related to my comment above about your preferred visual vocabulary, which also translates to certain techniques and visual effects/treatments. And this also relates to the comment above about the kind of work you might want to do. Based on your reflection here I would guess that icon design might be a challenge for you. In terms of the symbolism - the visual you created has potential to be a symbol for danger. If you consider a continuum of imagery, at one end you have very abstract symbols (for instance the shape ♡ to symbolise a heart) then at the other end of the spectrum you have photorealistic representations (for instance a detailed diagram in a medical textbook or actual photo of a heart). Most objects/ideas can be visualised at multiple points of this spectrum. I’m glad that you had the opportunity to practice screenprinting for this exercise, but I wonder what you would come up with if you had to create this symbol within some constraints - using only a black pen, only simple lines (no shading/stippling). If you want to challenge yourself you could try this exercise for your next reflection.
I agree that I feel like it went in this direction because that is my preferred type of visual and I wanted to practise some screenprinting. That style of design is definitely a challenge for me, and I will definitely try this task and update it here and with the original exercise.
Black pen task:
Using just a black pen to create a symbol to represent danger was interesting. Taking away colour, for a danger sign/symbol is especially interesting and challenging. I began this task by looking back at my signs and symbols plans/research, and chose an idea I had, but changed it slightly. My idea was a silhouette of a person, in dotted lines, as if it was chalk around a body from a murder. I wanted to present a very simple, but direct meaning. Without colour,
I decided to use a thick black line, instead of a dotted one, to exaggerate the shape. I found an image of someone lay on the floor, traced it, then went over it in black pen. I decided to trace the image in order to get the most accurate line possible for the silhouette in order for it to be clear.
Viewing this illustration alone, I felt it didn’t stand out as much as it could. Aware that warning signs are usually triangular, I debated between this shape for the ‘sign’ the illustration would be on. I decided on a circle, usually used for prohibited actions. I feel like this works well, because the imagery is strong, a viewer would either associate it was falling down, or death-both not equally as bad, but still both avoidable. Typical, risk of falling signs are also less accurate shape wise (stick men) and involve another object such as stairs. Perhaps I could’ve included another item that clearly signifies death? A knife, or a skull?
Instead of making these additions, I decided to keep it simple, and sent it into a chat with 2 friends for some feedback as to what they think the sign signifies.
A first response was quite comical “Are they dead, that’s nice” - at least they understood the message, and that it signified danger for them.
Another was more intriguing “It looks as if they are floating or swimming, that’s probably me looking too far but yeah” - I wasn’t expecting or asking for technical/ detailed feedback, but this comment I found interesting. Perhaps, to take away the few extra moments of thought they had upon viewing the symbol, I should’ve included another object that signifies death, so there’s no other thought needed.
Overall I found reattempting this task interesting, and it was good to try it under more constraints.
It looks like you tried a good variety of experiments within the constraints of this exercise. One thing that stands out is that the lightbulb remains whole through the process (some instances it is close cropped), but it always remains on one piece, yet you do divide up “light” and “bulb” placing them in different parts of the composition (ultimately making an extra element to work with. Which leads me to respond to your comment about only working with three elements. When you use the red shape to divide the canvas you end up with two more white shapes - would this not constitute additional elements to work with? When you scale the letters so large they are no longer legible as a single word, does this not make each letter an additional element to work with? While the brief may lead you to think that you have a limited set of elements, through the process of composing you create many more elements that can serve your design - this only increases exponentially when working with more complex projects.
I didn’t think to break the lightbulb image itself, that could’ve allowed me to create some interesting visuals. That is very true, I hadn’t thought about that in this way. With each task/feedback I feel as if I slowly improve my way of thinking when given a task or to produce some work. Updated: Having continued into the typography section, nearing the final task, I have learnt a lot about treating every single element (single letters/words) as their own visual or like a paint for a painting (the best analogy I could think of) so when reading back/looking at this task there’s so much more I could of done!
I’m glad to see that you took the opportunity to do some extra reading and research for this exercise. The impact of colour is so significant! Everything from the scientific understanding of colour perception to the emotional connections and to the impact of different mediums (colour on screen vs. printed), not to mention the historical and cultural significance! If this is something that interests you continue to incorporate ideas you gathered from this research into your work going forward. Perhaps revisit the colour grids you made when you are working on one of the exercises in the next unit, apply different colour combinations to the project you are working on to see if the feeling translates.
I found this task very helpful and interesting as I am often shy of using colour. I do prefer a more minimal aesthetic, but this really helped me consider the meanings of different colours and how they can be very affective in helping to convey a message. I will definitely be referring to this, I have began to look at different colour palettes from films/photos in Photoshop and collecting some colour palettes for future work.
Your approach to this exercise looks like it was very hands-on and fun to create. I’m curious what the assembly process looked like. You achieved some very convincing translations of the architecture/cities into abstract forms. One element of this exercise that you did not address directly is the fact that these designs are going to be used as covers for guidebooks. The considerations in this case would be the layout/orientation, the title/subtitle/publisher/author placement, basically once you have the collage, how will this translate into a book cover?
This was again a good task for me and showed the importance of colour/shape/composition to evoke meaning. I was thinking of the task as being the visual on the front (title above etc, a ‘normal’ composition) and didn’t consider these elements when producing the collages. Perhaps I should’ve tried to implement them around the collage in different ways, or had produced some mock ups to see how the designs faired in reality. Update: Again looking back this is part of my separation between typography and visuals/illustrations. In my head previously they were separate entities and it didn’t come to me that the type can work in a solitary state as a visual, I have learnt a lot throughout the next section (Typography.)
The reflections on this exercise, about symbolism and meaning demonstrate the kind of conceptual and critical thinking that is expected to succeed at assessment. It seems that when you are working on something like image 3, where the focus is more on communicating ideas and less on meeting the criteria set out by the brief you allow yourself to lean into the work. The word that comes to mind is playful - not sure if this is the right way to phrase it - but it feels like a playful approach to communicating the core ideas. Also, in regards to critiquing your past work. Be kind to yourself! Getting frustrated with past outcomes doesn’t take into account that what you knew then is not what you know now. It isn’t fair judging past results based on what you would do now, you can always revisit or change past work if it is still relevant or necessary for you to do so.
I am slowly becoming more used to the process of working, learning and improving. Thanks for your comment “Getting frustrated with past outcomes doesn’t take into account that what you knew then is not what you know now” that is something important that I will remember when continuing.
I would like to draw your attention to the choice of words in the project brief. It asks you for a poster that celebrates the colour of your choice. In regards to this, I think that a part of the idea development could. have addressed this. To look into what it means to celebrate. To question how celebrations are represented. What is recognised as a celebration. Clearly the thoughts and feelings around the current lockdown are not a reason to celebrate and under the circumstances I understand that this may have been a necessary direction to take with the work. But it is also important to acknowledge what you are being asked to do. Consider if this was a brief from a client, they intentionally ask for something that celebrates a colour, it probably means that there is reason for that. Make sure to analyze what you are being asked to do and address your response to this in the reflection. In this case, it could be that you focus on the ‘looking ahead to the future’ part, or the “celebration” is the fact that the colour blue can represent so many diverse feeling/experiences.
I definitely agree that I should’ve done some research regarding actual celebration and how celebrations are represented. I took the word ‘celebrate’ more abstractly as to express a feeling of, rather than it just be a more positive celebration. In my ‘celebration’ of the colour I aimed to show a more juxtaposed way of celebration, with some positive and negative feelings, more of a comment on state of mind using. a colour to represent it. In future I will analyze and think about the task more carefully and expand with my research.
I feel as though your chosen “final 3” feels a little violent (beyond just angry and confused) - when the man's face is split and only the base is visible with the blue spray emerging from underneath. Perhaps this is to do with his eyes not being visible (the image looks hopeful when he is looking up in the other two final images) or perhaps because the angles and energy of the blue line? Hard to pinpoint the exact reason this one feels so different but it may be something worth exploring if you revisit this assignment again.
I agree that it does look more ‘violent’ I wanted to present confusion/anger/frustration. I will explore this some more. I feel like it is the movements of the spray painted lines, and the fact that only half of the face is there that gives it a more sinister feel.
Suggested viewing/reading comments:
Having looked through the suggested artists I love the early collage work of Robert Mapplethorpe in particular. I thought to mention this here as there wasn’t an appropriate place to present information/research on him within the Typography section. The image on the left is one of my favourites, it reminds me of some of Robert Rauschenberg’s work that I love.
