Day 5: Film Poster

The brief was to make a promotional poster for the unmade film The 33, which is about the miners that were trapped underground in Chile, 2010. I started this project off by researching the accident and finding photos and videos associated with it. I then looked at existing film posters to do with being trapped and also for films in the cinema today. I started generating some ideas for my poster in my sketch book, picking my favourites and producing them on InDesign. I decided to go with the design you see below.

Authors own 

I produced this image on Photoshop. It was originally a screen shot of two miners hugging from a video I found. I cut out a black silhouette of the two man to represent the darkness of their environment underground and added some thin lines to show important details e.g. the helmets, the squeezed close eye, the arms. I am pleased with this design decision because it says a lot about the struggle the 33 miners endured, the desperation. However, the background loses its meaning a because you can clearly make out what it is. There are actually rocks in the back ground. I enjoyed the research and idea generation part of this task because I was able to learn and also be created with the new information. Although, I found the final process of making quite stressful as I was not too familiar with Photoshop. Having said that, I am please with the outcome, considering.

Two other designs I made using Photoshop and InDesign

Graphic Design: Project 1

This is an informative piece of graphics work, designed to explain visually (in the large square image) and using text what it is that I aspire to achieve when studying Graphic Design and in the further future. I found this project to be quite straight forward because I am fairly sure of the path I wish to take in Graphics. However, it was hard to decide what to include in my image and in the end I opted for a more simple design that reflected my interest in illustration and animation. The image was supposed to relate to character design and breathing life into a character. I conveyed this message by using the pun, "I'm Alive.", which is said by an obviously dead/lifeless character. Although, the character is dead it is my job to animate it.

When designing this piece, my attention was brought to font size/choice, lay out and effective visual communication, which I will find really helpful in designing future graphic pieces. 

Graphics: Poster of the Future

This was the outcome of the A2 poster I created, which is supposed to promote an aspired exhibition of my work at the Cartoon Museum in summer, 2033. The idea is that I am coming out of a TV screen asking passers by if they will be coming to my exhibition, much in the style of the WW2 propaganda posters. In the wooden under compartment of the TV set up is the brief, clear information that people may need to know. 

I don't feel this poster is very effective. The main issue I have with it is the fact that the character (me) coming out of the TV should have a stronger presence, hidden behind a shoulder and hair gives a standoffish feel to the image, whereas I wanted it to be more confrontational and therefore more engaging. Their presence should have consumed more of the poster. However, I do like some visual aspects of it, like the shading in the wood, the ripples in the TV screen and the use of colour and pen markings on the hand pointing out of the screen. Also, I feel it has successfully related to the kind of work going to be seen at the exhibition e.g. cartoons, animations etc.

Graphics: 'Poster of the Future' Plan

The final task of the graphic's project was to first, generate some ideas for a poster from a gallery exhibiting my work in 2033 and then produce an A2 sized version of your favourite idea. However, before jumping straight into the A2 sized version, I reworked an idea in A4 in my sketch book then enlarged the design. I enjoyed the idea generation process and I was able to integrate exercises I had used in previous tasks to produce quick, un-generic ideas for my poster. It also helped me avoid any nasty mistakes on my large piece. For example, in the second image my hand that is pointing out of the TV screen is the wrong way round (notice the thumb is on the wrong side), also I changed some colours and mediums used.  

Graphics: Typography

Initially, I made marks on a page in several different ways and then turned them into different letters/numbers, creating different fonts. This exercise, much like the idea generation exercise used in the 3DD project, opened my mind to more innovation. However, I did notice that some of the letters weren't very effective as they were too unconventional.

I then used existing font types and manipulated them in different ways to communicate different things. I didn't particularly like this exercise as it was quick tedious, tracing around each letter over and over again, but it did challenge me.

Graphics: View Finder

I made a 2cmx2cm view finder and sectioned of an area of the collage featured in the previous post. I then enlarged the area x10 in my sketchbook and created a mixed media (collage, pencil, pen and oil pastel) study of it. I really liked the process and outcome of this exercise, mostly because it gave me an opportunity to develop my existing ideas and in turn allowed me to create a strong, graphic piece. 

Graphics: Face Collage

This collage is a compilation of images I found in various magazines, newspapers, posters etc. involving face. I have mixed and matched different faces to each other and included illustration, at random. I found that using this technique could create various types of images, sometimes quite comical, other times quite discomforting.

Graphics: Ear

I then drew my friends ear in graphite and charcoal. I think it came out quite well, considering the short amount of time allocated to draw it. However, it is lack some detail e.g. the upper piercing.

IT: Poster of the Future

This is a photoshopped image of me outside the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, and a logo I made on Illustrator related to where I want to be in the future, including my aspirations. The text situated to the left is an article I wrote about myself written in third person about future me, the me that I desire to be. It reads: 

"Find what you want is nothing."

"Uplifting words echoed across the globe by the all inspiring Elloise Rosemond. Her life's work to bring positivity and happiness into many lives started at sea, an obvious first move would of course have been Rosemond's decision to start a Pirate Party Ship business. She had completely obsessed with the idea of creating "great vibes" and providing people with a peculiar, innovative space, allowing us all to "transcend into the magical cosmos of music.""

"Music is a huge tool for Rosemond's peach of positive energy, her album - sold in masses - comments on the struggles of life and the ability to rise above what harms us;  love our scars, ourselves and every other living piece of our wold. Her cartoons and artworks are further methods of communicating her message, "I believe that the arts, in all their forms, are the only way of effective communication. Is there really any other way?""

"Rosemond and her three year old son, Archibald, are nomads of the earth - the latter part is debatable, completely free spirited and consumed by the idea of exploring and adventure, "I cannot seem to escape the temptation of new and risk." Inappropriately, I cannot escape my dreaded envy of her entirely liberated mind and body."   

This project was the first time I ever used Illustrator, so i think the results were rather effective. I used my initials, placed mirroring each other inside the space of a peace sign with a sunflower in it. I think all of the images and text harmonise well with each other, promoting messages of peace, love and free spirit. However, if I were to do this project again I would enhance certain aspects of my logo, for instance, the lines within the circle that construct the peace sign are not very clear.