Author: Ajoke SofiyyahCardoso

Jamal Harewood: Project Freedom

Background

Jamal Harewood is an activist who sets out to share his vision of race and identity through workshops around England. He is currently undergoing a freedom workshop that seeks to redefine the term ‘freedom’ by discussing each individual in the workshop—participants brought in different perspectives and Fresh insight onto specific topics free from any judgement and authenticity.

On the 27th of January, Jamal Harewood led an audience-based workshop, ‘Project Freedom’, in Minghella Studios theatre Reading university. It comprises a diverse number of students that seek to redefine freedom on their terms. The workshop was a playful experience where participants were encouraged to discuss and share their views and opposition to different themes and activities. Each individual created a new definition of freedom and a pledge to follow through. Overall, the workshop brought a collective of ideas together.

The premise of this real job is to document the workshop and create deliverables that would suit Jamal’s brand and idea. He wanted to write about the unique experience of this temporary community and show the discussions and interpretations of each individual.

Restated brief

GOALS

After we document our client’s workshop ‘Project freedom’ and his interactions with the audience, we are tasked to create a booklet and UX blog post that include the wide range of diverse experiences and definitions of freedom from the participants. The audience is the focal point of the workshop, so it is important to make the deliverables as personal as possible, not only showing their ideas but their performances and behaviour.

Our Brief main goal is to offer attendees an opportunity to revisit their experiences in Jamal’s workshop. They would be able to look through the deliverables and find quotes and thought that they said at the workshop. Although we would only be able to document one workshop, Jamal would like to carry out this project in other workshops, thereby using this deliverable as a template for future workshops and making a profit from the booklet independently.

 DELIVERABLES

  1. Booklet.
  2. Booklet template. Amendable Canva template for client’s upcoming workshops
  3. Blog post prototype.

Research and ideation

One of the primary branding guidelines Jamal gave us was to involve the colour black. Initially, he wanted the book page to be black but having an all-black book would not be legible with some research and inspiration, we were able to find what works for Jamals.

For inspiration, Jannah and I started looking at different design idea platforms such as Pinterest and Behance. We looked at different layouts and formats of presenting texts and theme pages. We found some booklets that integrated box shapes into the body text while acting as a filler; This helped because the body text of the booklet isn’t heavy, so it was important to find a way to show the text without the book looking empty.

We understood that for this deliverable to be genuinely successful, we needed to have colours that would resonate with Jamal and his brand. When researching, the colour yellow with black caught our eyes the most. The cheerful and eye-catching hues of yellows are balanced by the more sober and sophisticated shades of black. Black and yellow branding worked well as these two colours were balanced and contrasted.

We set out to not only look for design inspirations but a colour scheme for Jamal to use across the different workshops. The colours you use in your branding and design are more than just a matter of aesthetics. Is your brand exclusive, accessible, friendly, cheerful, or mysterious? Your choice of colours reflects what your brand stands for and what customers associate with it. Understanding Jamal and the type of brand he wants to represent was one of the primary key points noted when choosing inspirations online.

Due to the nature of this project, we had to find a way for Jamal to distinguish his booklets across different workshops. We thought of the idea of using colours to differentiate but keeping the layout and the design of the booklet the same would be helpful for Jamal to design his booklet without the need for designers. So when users see the different branding colours, they would be able to associate the colour with the various workshops.

Design Development

Jamal Harewood gave us complete creative control however, he wanted the primary colour for his deliverables to be black. This was because his brand identity is black with a maze and fist logo showing his connection to the BLM movement. He wanted his brand identity to be applied to his printed booklet and blog post for a consistent brand identity. We explored different colour palettes that will complement the key colours (black and white) the client has requested to be used throughout each deliverable.

Front cover

This was my first draft for the book cover. The layout was nice and exciting, but it had a stern look and did not fit Jamal’s brand. However, the design had a sophisticated look similar to a journal, which contrasted Jamal’sbrand for the booklet is meant to be playful and inviting. The structures are shown in different colours to give Jamal an idea of how we would represent his various workshops. The coloured box represents a door revealing the theme; it helps viewers know what to expect when coming to the workshop.

For the second book cover design, I played around with making the cover as friendly and as inviting as possible. However, it was typographically right. The title of the book, being vertical, was not legible, and there were too many different text formats that did not complement each other. This resulted in a lack of proper hierarchy in the text and could confuse users.

Jannah’sdesigns were interesting as they also played around with the vertical and diagonal layout for the text, but the background felt like something was missing. Jannah’ssecond draft also had the issue of being sophisticated and not fitting Jamal’spersonality or the playfulness of the workshop.

To move further, we decided to combine the best elements of our designs into one to create Jamal’s book cover. However, nothing on the book cover represented Jamal or his brand apart from his name. I suggested using the maze design and adding it to the book cover’s background, which worked well to show Jamal’s brand. I explored different layouts and formats for the maze design.

As we move further into the book cover development, Jamal told us he preferred the white background with the black maze line. we agreed with him because it was neater and more visually appealing when combined with the other book cover element

 

We took out the theme title from the front page because we did not want to give much away to viewers when looking at the cover. The final book page works because there is a clear visual hierarchy. Jamal likes the book cover format because it is clear and playful while complementing his brand.

Inside Pages

Jamal did not want to include photos of the participants, so we had to find a way to represent the theme or show the activities in the workshop. This part of the project was split into two, with Jannah designing the booklet’s illustrations and Theme page and I handling the Book text layout and photomontage. This idea was because we wanted each design element to have a consistent design style.

Book Illustration

 

The illustrations represent the themes; they have a youthful look as the target audience is young adults. They have the same line length as the maze design because we wanted to follow through with consistency. Adding this illustration gives the book more volume and makes the book pages more attractive. The illustration has a symbolic meaning as it represents the different activities in the workshop.

Theme Page

When designing the theme page, we added time and text however, this element did not work because it made the theme page complicated and was not necessary. Separating each piece on the theme page made the book bulky and showed each element on its own.

We used the image above as the final design because of the apparent visual hierarchy. The use of yellow and white shows visual hierarchy and highlights the critical word in the text. The illustration represents the theme and is connected to the next page with a yellow box. We found the connecting shape helpful in linking the two pages together.

Photo Gallery

The photo montage gave the book a personal touch and helped viewers understand what happened in the workshop. Participants can see their writing and help push further the idea that this workshop was audience led.

Body Text

The body text wasn’t heavy, so it was essential not to make each body text page look empty or isolated. With this idea, each booklet element is highlighted, and the text stands out on its own, with the text box adding vibrance and giving the book format a consistent look to the theme and number page.

What is Freedom?

Eric Garner "I Can't Breathe" Tribute Typography Poster - Greg Bunbury Graphic Designer for Social Impact
I cant Breath Poster by Eric Garner

Jamal Harewood is an activist and supports the BLM. This idealogy was implemented in the Freedom posters designed on the last page of the booklet.  The freedom poster is designed similarly to the BLM ‘I can’t breathe’ poster by Eric Garner. This would help viewers identify Jamal’s support and appreciation for design in BLM.

Maze Collage

During our first meeting with Jamal, he stated he wanted to develop a brand mark from the client’s logo and translate this onto the opening and closing pages of the booklet. The maze design is a collage of Jamal logo design; there are two different maze designs, one that is used on the front cover and the other that is used on the inside pages. The front cover maze design lets the viewer know that this booklet is under Jamal’s brand.

The maze collage acts as a filler, for the booklet introduction and ending. it also helps us go further in the branding technique than just the front book cover. it is presented diagonally with five logo designs in a row. Jamal liked this layout because the logo design was not big and the layout was much more dynamic compared to the other maze designs.

 Website

Participants who are not able to visit the workshop would be able to look at the blog post. The blog post is designed in cohesion with a booklet layout for clients to implement onto their website. It was designed on Adobe XD with Jannah overseeing the design. The blog post design has the same design elements as the booklet, so few developments or changes were made. We did look at the consistency of spacing and how viewers would navigate through the blog post.

One of my favourite design elements on the blog is the maze background with the black box. it follows the format and layout of the front cover, which is helpful in consistent branding.

Final stages

The main goal of this project was for Jamal to be able to print and redesign this booklet on his own. We informed him about printing in the department and the process of printing at home. Informing him of the cons and Pros, Jamal decided to print at home after much analysis as it is more cost-effective and personal.

Since we were designing on canvas, we learned how to create and show bleed and crop marks on the canvas. Though it was slightly more straightforward, it was not as customizable as doing it on InDesign.

The printing aspect of this project allowed us to look at flaws that we overlooked while designing on canvas, such as alignment issues, spacing issues, etc. however, such cases were few. The printing of the project was successful because the booklet looked relatively similar on the screen to the print, with the colours complementing each other, the font size being readable, and the illustrations looking presentable.

Reflection

As this project progressed, I understood how vital group work is when both partners play through their strengths. As time went on, it became clear to me that working with a partner who has a different design style yet similar mindset as you is helpful. We explored different styles and illustrations while barely having conflicts because we communicated effectively and ensured that everyone’s opinions were valid as we went through the project.

Overall, the design process of this booklet was enjoyable as we made sure to include Jamal at every step after our supervisor had approved it. Each design element was explained to Jamal and why such detail works with his booklet, and if he wanted any changes, it was noted and implemented immediately. However, such changes were few because he trusted our designs and believed we understood him as a person and knew what kind of designs he wanted.

Mock up of Project Freedom Booklet
Mock Up of Jamal Harewood Project Freedom booklet

Learning Creative Skills

This was a task that allowed me to explore my creative skills and improve my photoshop skills. I was able to create otherworldly images using photoshop and manipulating normal backgrounds and object to fit my concept.

Design ideas and design process

Book Transformation:

Original Design

 

 

 

 

 

 

Final Design

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Design 1 draft

 

 

 

 

 

 

My most tasking work was the book transformation design as it took the most time to create with the longest tutorial among the other two.

it Is one of my favourite design because I am interested in fantasy artworks. I was able to come up with the design for this image by looking through YouTube for photoshop manipulation and came upon a book pop out manipulation.

It is a transformation from a book placed on a table to a pop-out photo manipulation of a whale and a little girl. The image reminds me of a story coming to life and this design allows me to manipulate the background of the image to fit the concept of the book story.

The main tools for this task were clipping mask tool, pen tool to cut and a leaf brush stroke.

I used “Create Clipping Mask” to add the field and the ocean waves on the book page. This was a very useful technique to know because I would be using it for the next creative task.

I used the quick selection tool to cut out the shape of my whale and place it on the ocean. I then downloaded water effects and added them to my whale image because I wanted to show the illusion of a splash.

The last thing I did was cut out the “girl sitting down” image using a pen tool luckily the image I found also has the girl looking up which complement the pop-out design and give an illusion of her looking up at the whale.

I wanted to see how my image would look if I switched out the whale and added a mermaid tale and added a field, however, it made the image look busy as too much was happening so I decided to stick with the whale instead and removed the field because it blended with the field the girl sits on.

 

Plant Manipulation:

Original Design

 

Final Design

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Stages

Stage 1: Face Manipulation
Stage 2: Afro Plant
Stage 3: Dress Manipulation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This design is one that I would classify personally as the most beautiful or aesthetically pleasing works among the other design.

I went through many stages before I arrived at the final with this design.  I challenge my self and my creativity before I could produce the last because I felt the other two stages before the final could be improved.

Browsing through YouTube for photoshop manipulation tutorials I came upon a video of a plant faced portrait.

I first experiment with the tutorial to get an idea and to educate myself on how to create that image however, I did not find it interesting and wanted to explore it more.

I looked at multiple face plant tutorials so that I can broaden my knowledge on the skills to create this manipulation. I decided to look through Pinterest for inspiration for plant manipulation design and I came across a portrait with leaves and birds as her hair and another portrait of a girl’s hair and dress transforming into the plant. The image from Pinterest reminded me of mother nature, and I found it aesthetically pleasing to see.

Using the images as inspiration, the second design I created had the same idea of manipulating a plant with a face portrait except it comes out from the head instead however, I believe this concept of mother nature had space for improvement in my second design.

To further my design, I focused on the outfit and masking the flowers to it. I combined both the plant hair and plant dress to create the final work.  I am proud of the final outcome as you can see the influence of the inspiration in my design.

 

 

Portal Manipulation:

The Original

 

Final Design

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The portal design is futuristic and combines two destinations into one image.

The use of glow rings is to highlight the background of the image because it is dull and dark. While also highlighting the background the glow ring also highlights the smaller image and is meant to portray a portal to another dimension.

It was created using a combination of three tutorials and I implemented interesting elements I found in those tutorials into my work.

I first started with the train tutorial however it felt boring was not as interesting as the other design in this task.

I moved on to creating a portal for the train design and implement the ring light to focus attention on the tracks.

My reason for the background being dark is to let the attention of viewers eyes be on the track. If the image had been with a lighted background, the portal would not stand out and would blend with the background.

I added the boy image last because I felt without it the work would not look complete. I analysed every aspect of my design so that each element had a purpose there and was not just there for beautification and I am proud of the final outcome.

 

Software tutorials

The pop-out manipulation

The tutorial took the longest time to learn out of all other tutorials. This is because I wanted every aspect of the book to blend from the background to the grass to the water wave. From this tutorial I was able to learn a clipping mask to implement an image on top of another image which is a useful skill that I want to add in future designs.

The tutorial was interesting to follow and taught me how to use the pen tool as a way of cutting out images and seeing the difference in using the quick selection and using the pen tool was amazing because the pen tool allowed me to have smoother edges and more control of what I cut out.

Tutorial

  1. https://youtu.be/LI1KJm2534w

Plant Photo manipulation

The tutorial was interesting and fun to follow through, with the tutorial I could express these newly developed skills any way I wanted to. I improved my skills in blending and plant photo manipulation.

The main tool the tutorial taught me was using the pen “shape ” option to create depth in the background of an image that the flower comes out of. Therefore, teaching me how to create the illusion of an object coming out of an image using the shape tool.

Another skill I learnt from this task is using the “Bevel and Emboss” tool in the blending option. This allowed me to harden either the outside or inner part of an image. I could manipulate the size, depth and softness of an image.

I am proud of the outcome and the way I was able to manipulate the plant to look like that of an afro and a dress.

Tutorial

  1. https://youtu.be/MlprsYjZcFU
  2. 2. https://youtu.be/Svm8wZGT6ZQ
  3. 3.https://youtu.be/rAzM_MRwN-U

 

Portal Manipulation:

I was able to create this image using three tutorials, it is a combination of the element I found most interesting about the tutorials. The tutorials taught me many things such as how to manipulate colours using colour balance and hue and saturation and how to create a portal using the clipping mask tool. Another skill the tutorial taught me was  using “color” option to dissolve the background  of an image such as the portal ring image however I didn’t end up adding that element into the design because I chose to create my own portal using the elliptical marquee tool and paint bucket

It was interesting creating the portal effect using the clipping mask tool and having to duplicate it and dissolve the black background image of the portal ring.

Tutorial

  1. https://youtu.be/32pOT1TI6JM
  2. https://youtu.be/JM-esQnGIhQ
  3. https://youtu.be/Svm8wZGT6ZQ

Resources for research and inspiration

Browsing through Pinterest and looking at YouTube helped me develop an idea of what I want I want to develop for the creative design task. It allowed me to challenge myself so finding the right inspiration and resources to develop those skills was important.

Pop-Out Photo Manipulation:

I was interested in creating a fantasy layout for this task so to begin it I browsed through YouTube for a suitable fantasy photoshop manipulation.  I came upon a book pop out manipulation which I found interesting and I like the presentation and layout of the image.

The inspiration design reminds me of a story coming to life which I liked. The background of the inspiration was a field and is realistic however mine is pink because I wanted to take my design foreword and illustrate the fantasy element of the design  This task was fun to make and allowed me to play around with different images and improve my layout skills.

Plant Photo manipulation:

There were different inspirations and resources that led me to my final design. The steps I took to get to my final design was interesting and the progress is clearly shown from the first design to the final design.

The first influence for my design was a face plant portrait, the layout and presentation of the design were interesting. However, when exploring it I felt I could challenge myself more.

The second influence was the leave and bird imitating the girl’s hair, this was another way of designing the face plant portrait, however instead of flowers coming out of the face the hair is made of flowers.

The final inspiration for this task is eye-catching with the way the hair and the flower blending together. The flowers spiking coming out of the dress give the image a fascinating look.

Another key element I took from the final inspiration was the dress structure. The structure of the girl’s dress was intriguing and one of the main reason why I chose to use this as the influence for my final design. The bold structure is one of the first things I noticed when analysing the layout of the design and when implementing this aspect into my design it allowed for the dress of my design to be dynamic.

Portal Manipulation:

Portal Inspiration

I had three resources to create the final design, the first design I started with was the one with the train track, however, the design felt boring compared to the rest of my work for this task.

I later browsed through Pinterest and stumbled on a portal design that I could link to the train track design. The idea of a portal design allowed me to combine two backgrounds together.

The portal glow highlights the person, the background and the tracks the person walks. It is one of the reasons I chose to add that element into my design because without it the design would not catch the attention of the audience.

The resources for my design was out of my comfort zone and encourage me to learn to improve my skills and broaden my knowledge on photoshop. It was very beneficial because I also learn how to improve my presentation, layout and creative skills.

 

 

 

 

Design Podcast Cover with Aj

Design ideas and design process

Podcast covers are a visual representation of what the talk is about. It connects the creator to the listener, so for my first podcast cover, I started off with an illustration of me.

First Image

Figure 1 (Creative Talk Final Design)

The first podcast cover draft I did not like it because it was too busy. Each logo was not able to show, and it lacked space, so for the final design, I shrunk it. I decided to have blue and pink as the background colour because they are light colours and would work with the illustration rather than against it. This allows the viewers to see each logos without the illustration clashing with each other.

The second draft, I reduce the numbers of adobe app logo I should use and colour. I used a light shade of blue. However, the image looked boring to me, and the colours did not seem to blend, which resulted in me darkening the illustration complexion. I could not choose the right shade of blue I wanted to use, thus me combining them and doing a half and half background.

I wanted to show some of the most used creative cloud software for graphics design. However, I edited the logo colour to match the colour scheme of the podcast. I like the final image because I was able to use space to surround each element of my design. I darken her skin tones because I wanted her to stand out more from the background.

 

Figure 2 (Creative Talk Illustration Draft)
Figure 3 ( Creative Talk Second Draft)
Figure 4 ( Creative Talk Second Draft)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Second Image

Figure 5 (Typography with Aj Final Design)

The image gave me an indie aesthetic which is I like because it allows me to experiment with less professional fonts. I thought it was interesting to put different typeface on her hair, and it stood out more because the hair colour is black.

I decided to not use the first and second background because the colour was too bright. The reason I first started with a bright colour was that from my inspiration, it used bright colours; however, I felt the colourful pastel works best cause it calm and aesthetically pleasing.

 

 

Figure 6 (Typography with Aj Illustration Draft)
Figure 7 (Typography with Aj First Draft

 

Figure 8 (Typography with Aj Second Draft)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Third Image

Figure 9 (Graphic Talk Final Design)

The third podcast cover I used a cutting tool to bring the sculpture about and show the flowers. This was the easiest to among the three and only involved me using the cutting tool and watching a simple tutorial on how to create a flower sculpture effect.

I wanted to show artwork that is typically done on photoshop.  I like it because the idea of flowers coming out of art sculpture is simple but aesthetically pleasing. It is also a different way of doing a podcast cover without having to have a self-illustration but yet still looking interesting and a showing skill.

The only problem I had with this podcast cover was what to do with the background without making the cover too busy.

Figure 10 (Graphic Talk First Draft)

I used the warp tool to create the yellow background behind the sculpture. I initially thought the colour yellow brought out the sculpture; however, after analysing it more, I realise it was pointless to have it on the podcast and decided to just keep it simple.

 

 

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Software tutorials

Youtube Tutorials Links: 

  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAzM_MRwN-U&t=10s
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLqk1LrHlKc&t=884s

For this project, I did not use that much tutorials to guide me with my work as I am already familiar with the essential feature of photoshop. However, I did watch videos for how to draw using illustrator and that helped me for two of my podcasts covers.

My initial plan was to watch a tutorial on how to draw on Photoshop. Still, most of the tutorials were complicated and outdated, so I decided to use illustrator because it was more beneficial. I was not confident in my skill in illustrator, and this was my first time using it.

With the tutorial, I was able to get a basic understanding of the tools I was meant to use. I drew the illustration using my laptop pen, not realizing that I could have just used the pen tool which could have saved me a lot of time. I used the pen tool in my second illustration and the image came out neater

I designed my background with photoshop, the tools I used the most was the Image Adjustment: colour balance and hue/saturation tools. The goal was to change the colours of the adobe app to pink so that it can match the laptop and desk.

My third podcast, I watched a tutorial on how to design a flower portrait. The tutorial was simple and involve mainly using the cutting tool. The reason this tutorial was helpful was that I did not know how to place the flowers on the sculpture to show the effect of it emerging from the sculpture.

I do not believe I got the effect to its full potential. However, I do like how it stands out and people can easily identify what I am trying to illustrate.

The skills I need to improve are how to follow through with an idea. Doing this work, I have had so many ideas for what I would like to do with the podcast cover. However, I lack the skills to do them, and that leads to me abandoning the idea and getting frustrated.

This was my first time doing digital drawing and the result turning out nice. I am very proud of the works I produced, so I wanted to be included in my cover.

Through the tutorials, I was able to learn how to draw digitally. Although I am proud of what I have done with more knowledge and practice on photoshop, I feel like would have done better.

 

 

Resources for research and inspiration

When trying to think of ideas for a project, I always look through Pinterest an image-sharing app to look for inspirations for my work. When browsing what really caught my eyes were pastel colours for podcast cover, flower sculpture effect and the cartoon illustration of the podcast creator, I combined those element and used it to create my podcast illustrations.

Figure 11 (Resource 1  Podcast Example)

When researching it was challenging to figure out what type of design, I wanted to have for my podcast cover. I decided to use fig 11 and fig 12 because of the simplicity and layout of the designs, I felt it would be the best inspiration for a podcast design.

I found the resources for my design interesting cause it has a soft look to it and the colours are calm. I like the style of the podcast cover and how the background seems to work with the illustration rather than against it, which is an aspect I implemented in my design.

The resources design was out my comfort zone and encourage me to learn a new skill and broaden my knowledge on photoshop, which has been very beneficial.

Inspiration for the name of my first podcast cover “Creative Talk” was the adobe software “Creative Cloud” I felt the name brought all the elements of my artwork together and connects gives a glimpse of what this podcast is about.

From an article by Price, I learnt that a podcast cover is what connects the listeners to the podcast.  “That it is very important how you design a podcast cover that why most of my podcast designs have illustration because I wanted to set the mood and build the world of your show before the audience even starts listening.” (M Price, 2017)

Figure 12 Resource 2 ( Sculpture Flower Effect)

Podcast covers should not be too busy and chaotic with load colours because this is what connects the listeners to the creator.

Figure 14 ( Podcast Example 2)

 

 

Reading Movie Time

Reading Film Theater final

The project was to design a Reading movie leaflet for an International audience and family.

It was difficult to try and put all the information in (2) two columns at the same time make it legible and readable for the target audience but over some time I was able to overcome this difficulty.

I originally wanted to follow the University of Reading logo colour red as my background colour but was told from the peers feedback that it was not ‘aesthetically pleasing or easy on the eye’ for a movie leaflet so I choose a darker shade (maroon) as my background colour so that is can have a better contract with the white text.

I use a basic layout of the border around the edge with a white box at the bottom with a maroon colour text so the information would not blend in with the movie listing information and give it a bit of a hierarchy. The result made the text easier to read and stands out the most. Overall, it was effective.

When printing this work I found out I made a lot of little mistakes that I could not notice on the screen such as some spacing issues, line lengths and cutting someone’s name in half. I Should try to make sure to keep a consistent layout and make sure to pay close attention to the detail. Overall, I think I did really good work.

House Rolfe -GOT

The project is to design a present for a classmate based on their interest and see how we can develop it with random words.

Ideal Gift was an interesting project to do because I got to learn more about my classmate interests and see what kind of work, they can do based on my interests.

One of my partner favourite tv show is called a game of thrones and His favourite animal is a cat and I used the cat as a symbol in his Game of Thrones house,  In GOT they have houses logo to represent their surnames.

My random words were birds, explosion, and umbrella I experimented with all those words and choose an umbrella with the cat as my best. The final work resembled that of an Egyptian symbol which I found very interesting and I felt it suits the theme of Game of Thrones.

My Experiment

 

friendly Cautious

When first given this project I want on the site Pinterest an image-sharing app to look at images related to Covid 19  at first no results where shown cause the website did not want to risk false info about covid 19 sharing on their platform.

I use the other name Coronavirus and the first image I saw was an illustration of an iconic character in a movie cartoon titled the ‘Incredibles’ and she one of her most iconic lines is ‘No Capes’. When I saw this image, it gives me a feeling of nostalgia and childhood.

I like this illustration cause it is ironic how her she says, ‘no capes but real super wear mask’ to highlight the importance of wearing a mask for anyone especially a superhero. and I believe that anyone who has watched this movie would be able to understand the reference.

Another important thing I like about this Illustration is cause it is funny and allows the viewer to learn about covid but still escape the harsh realities of this pandemic.

This pandemic has taken many lives and cause so many people financial problems so most of the times people don’t want to see posters that keep reminding them of this year trauma however it is still good to remind people about the importance of wearing a mask without scaring them.

The images are different from those of the usual yellow signs that grab the attention of viewers and remind them to wear a mask. The illustrations are not people friendly and stricter on their information.

 

 

 

Thou these images are yellow they are more friendly since one is a movie titled ‘Kill Bill which is an action movie that involves a lot of man slaughtering and the other uses an emoji that is popular and friendly to communicate to the viewers.

 

 

I found this collection very interesting cause of the use of illustrations to form the outline of masks on faces.

It is very simple and straight with the topic of discussion.

I like the use of pale colours cause I feel like the visuals say enough and the use of the usual bright yellow, red and blue would be too chaotic.

 

These images are different from the rest as they are mainly typeface with illustrations to support the posters

These are quotes related to covid 19. They are all communicating the basic knowledge surrounding racism

They are straight to the point and witty. They are a play on words and some might find it humorous to read.

Stranger Things.

TYINT Penguin Book Design

In class, we learnt how to design a classic penguin cover on InDesign and know the basic format of it. We were also showed the important tools that are used on a regular basis when using and how to use it.

I am not particularly fond of InDesign for cover design cause I find the program confusing to understand and tricky to use and I prefer photoshop but with the seminar, I was able to use and understand much more tools than before

There were many tryout and errors when designing the cover since the task for the day was to replicate it as much as possible. The hardest was designing the penguin logo cause it involved so many steps to get to the final product thou I believe my logo isn’t accurate with more practice I can do better.

Messed Up Version.

For my second tasked I did a book cover for one of my favourite series using a classic penguin book cover as inspiration. The series is called ‘Stranger Things’, It is a Fantasy, Horror TV Series on Netflix.

Stranger thing has an iconic bold logo that is recognizable anywhere. The font is ITC Benguiat, it’s a serif typeface with all letters stretched vertically. The colour theme for the cover is Red, white, and black because the logo for the series is a red or red outline with either a white or black background.

I turn the penguin upside down to represent a dimension in the series called ‘the upside-down’. The scratch marks represent the demon of the book and the marks that show that this film is horror.

The series Stranger Thing is a series I love because it has a 1983 theme, and I enjoyed the vintage layout in which the film is produced. It is influenced by Stephan king horror books so I wanted the theme of my cover to be dark.

I like the simplicity of the book and I feel like it communicates to viewers what can of the series cover is based on at the same time without giving to much information.

Are they still a family

For Sara project Impactful images, we were asked to design two images based on a topic given to us. One of the images should be direct and the other indirect towards the topic. The second image should be less subtle but still allow readers to be able to identify the theme of the topic.

I did a mind map of family and I decided to explore pregnancy, as that is what brings the next generation of a family. However, I used pregnancy to represent a mother who dies from childbirth and now the father is left to deal with the trauma and raise two sobbing kids.

For family my original images show a typical family, a father 2 children and a pregnant wife, to go deeper into the topic of  family my theme pregnancy and how it brings joy to those around, however, there are some people in this world suffering from a pregnancy that does not bring life but takes it.

The uses of black in the second image is to show mourning and loss of a family member, I made the mother and the child emotionless to show that they have gone from this world and no longer with their family.

The title ‘Are they still a family?’ is to ask viewers if this mourning family can still be a happy family even though they have lost what brings them joy.

Moreover, I enjoyed this topic cause is similar to that of storytelling, which I have interest in but with images. I would love a  similar topic in the future but with more time to develop and explore my ideas.

My Journey with UOR Lettering

It was a sunny but windy day on Monday and our task for the day was to take pictures of letterings that fascinated us around the campus. After exploring the campus and taking pictures for 2 hours we were then asked to organise the images whatever way we like.

As I explored the campus I didn’t really have any theme in mind however, I found lettering on the grounds really interesting. I took them in interesting angles so the images would not be too flat.

I like the fading of the ground lettering and rusted look of the metal relief these are caused by environmental elements such as air and water and as a result, gives the lettering a more interesting and unique look.

Click the link for  My lettering Composition

 

 

A, S Or A, C – Initials

01/10/2020

I first started with 3 letters for my initials using fonts that I used in my previous monogram serif but later advised by Kim that 2 letters would be better and faster.

Process

I Used Garamond as I am particularly instead in Serif typeface. I started to sketch and Explore which letter i would use with ‘A’ for my design process I chose ‘S’ cause I liked the swirl around the Letter ‘A’

 

The Stages

Final Work

Conclusion

I am quite happy that I took Kim advised as I like the simplicity of the  2 letters. after comparing my work with that of my mates I regret not exploring more with the forms and layout of my letters.