Summative 2 - Polaroid Joiners

Going to my pleasure ground (revised)

dreaming

I'm already dreaming about the winter holidays XD 5 weeks left!

Tied Up In Music

CMYK-obsessed? @.@

Arts Divider Page + New Layout

Thought I'd dig out this piece of work because it wasn't realized in its full glory in the Yearbook last year. (It came out black and white...) So, here it is, the Arts divider page, in full colour!

Also, changed the layout of the blog ~ 

Project 2 - Polaroid Joiners: Formatives

Digital Artist Canvas - Summative

Final Version

Version 2

Original Version

1. What is the theme you have chosen and why have you chosen it?

The theme that I have chosen is "futures". Often, people think about their futures; they think about who they want to be, what they want to be, and how to achieve these goals. The composition's message is basically to "choose the right path to the right future". Early in life, one stands at the centre of "good" and "evil" and observes the conditions. Everyone establishes values in their lives - of what is good for them and what is bad for them. Futures is a topic that has a great impact on my personal life currently, as I am in the midst of choosing my career. 

2. Explain the use of two of the elements of design you have used in your composition and two principles of design. Why do you focus on these elements and principles?

I have used the elements of design of colour and texture throughout the piece. Colour is used to bring out the visual appeal as well as the actual reality of the piece (contrast is applied by using the colours to differ between what is good and what is bad). The texture throughout the piece is smooth, as the multiple pictures blend into one another smoothly. The smoothness of the piece is used to bring the effect of a dream or a vision of a future. 

I have used the principles of design of contrast and balance throughout the piece. Contrast is used through colour and value, as they are mainly used to differ between good and evil. In the case of value, it is mainly used to contrast between the subject (the person thinking about his/her future) and the background (the dreamy future vision). The black and white of the person makes the person an unaffected person out of the picture currently, and is affected by the colourful dream. Equal balance is established throughout the piece, as the person stands in the centre of the piece, as of now, unaffected by either side of his future.

These elements and principles of design have been used to bring out the visual image of the message written on the piece: "Which future will you choose?"

Is It Real? Formative

Summative Poster - Original Facial Montage

Summative Poster - Art Exhibition

Summative Poster - Movie Release Advertisement

Summative Poster - Creative Interpretation

Global Warning - PSA

HEROES Project Movie - "Life"

Summative Heroes Project - Posters & Response Questions

Here are three posters inspired by the Heroes Project. My heroes are the people in (South) Africa, as they make an effort to smile, despite all the life-threatening problems that they face.

Here are the answers to my response questions.

1. In my first poster, “The colours of Africa make you smile”, I have made the poster vertical in layout. For the design, I hoped to achieve a happy feeling when viewed by any observer. I wanted people to saw this piece of art to experience the happy side of Africa and of their own problems; to be optimistic about life and its challenges. In the poster, the orange diagonal lines cutting through the picture plane from the top left corner represented the sun’s rays shining on the two African boys. The boys were placed on a grass field, in front of a clear blue sky, smiling at the viewers to support the poster’s message of being optimistic. As well, the rainbow-coloured houses placed at the bottom were used as a base to reinforce the idea of the entire poster to the observer (as colourful objects tend to make people uplifted and happy).

In my second poster, “Would you be able to live like this?”, I have made the poster horizontal in layout. In the poster’s design, I wanted to bring a great contrast to the audience to deliver the message of being optimistic towards daily life. As a result, I placed the core of my message, the smiling lady, wrapped in orange cloth, in the centre of the picture plane. In the background, I blended several pictures regarding the problems that many local Africans faced in order to emphasize the fact of what life-threatening problems that the Africans needed to face on a daily basis. I made the poster to look like the lady was able to “float” in this “pool of problems and threats”.

For my third poster, “I’m Their Hero, They’re My Hero”, I have made the poster horizontal in layout as well. I took the title of my essay and based the entire design around the title to emphasize my views of Africa and to bring out the similarity between the troubled African society and our own society. Therefore, I placed the title in the centre of the picture and made it standout to clearly deliver the message to the observers. As well, the poster was a way of saying that both societies helped each other. This idea was brought out through the several words in the background, as they were all “reasons” explaining why each society was considered as a “hero” to the other. Also, the buildings were used to symbolize we lived in a “similar” area. Even though the buildings looked drastically different, we both lived in an area where the society resided (I lived in a city, the boy from Africa lived in a town). The similarity was used to prove that both societies had people that faced problems in each of their daily lives. The people should not give up solving these problems despite the circumstances that they maybe in, and should continue to try until the problems are resolved. The “heroes” idea was used as a source of inspiration to the opposite society to continue to give effort and try to solve the problem(s).

2. The first poster was all about the uplifting, jolly side of life and that this happy way of living was the ideal style that everyone should live their daily lives. As a result, I gave the poster vibrant, bright colours to illustrate this feeling of happiness. The poster looked better in a vertical layout, as the African boys were vertical in appearance. As well, the vertical layout gave the observers a sense of balance, as there was an equal weight of objects on each side of the picture plane. As well, the use of very few pictures gave the poster a simple look, which worked better towards the delivery of the poster’s message to the observers. As well, I hoped to bring emphasis to certain words by playing around with the font, the font size, and the font colour. For example, I gave each letter in the word “colour” different colours in the rainbow to emphasize the word. I also gave emphasis to the word “smile” by repeating the word in the background in a lighter opacity.

The second poster was an opposite approach to the message I tried to deliver (compared to the first poster), as it brought out all the horrors and negativity behind the problems that an African person faced on a daily basis. As well, the layout was horizontal, which I thought was useful to deliver the message, as I was able to place more images on a wider picture plane than on a condensed, vertical picture plane. Also, in this poster, the use of more pictures was necessary to bring out the message of the poster. The use of several pictures allowed for more illustrations of problems that the people, such as the lady in the middle of the picture plane, needed to face and gave a greater impact to the observers.

The third poster was back to a simpler design; however, the poster’s message required a more “in-depth” analysis for the observers. The literal message was simple, as illustrated with big font and contrasting colours (blue and orange) in the centre of the poster. However, the observers needed to realize that the words in the background on each side of the poster represented reasons as to why the people in that society were heroes to the other society. The observers also needed to note the similarities between the two people and their surroundings on the poster’s picture plane. The similarity helped to make the people in both societies of equal status, establish the fact that the people in both societies faced the same problems, and that both groups of people needed to work together to solve all the problems either tackling the problem physically together or through inspiration from the other people.

3. In my first poster, I have used colour through the application of various primary, secondary, and tertiary colours in the houses at the bottom of the poster. As well, I have used a contrast in colour between the orange rays of the sun and the blue sky (complementary colours). I’ve also used size to emphasize certain objects over others on the picture. For example, I have made the boy in the front bigger to give more stress to that boy over the other one in the back eating food (I have also adjusted the opacity levels to allow the observer to see some form of visual depth).
In the second poster, I have made the lady in the centre a focal point of the poster, as she stands out greatly from the background of dark pictures (bright orange cloth and the size of her head). As well, I have overlapped the continent of Africa with the lady’s head to symbolize her nationality and tell the observers where all these problems in the background were happening. I have also created a sense of movement through directing the observer’s eyes in a spiral motion throughout the picture, starting from the lady’s face in the middle around the poster.
For my third poster, I made form of rough texture through the endless list of words in the background. As well, I have also used contrast in colours in the text (blue text vs. orange background). I have also used size to emphasize certain objects over others on the picture plane. For example, I have made the faces of both boys large to make them more evident to the observer.

4. The most successful poster was the second poster, as the message was powerful and that the images really helped to deliver that message effectively. For example, the great contrast between the lady smiling in the middle of the poster and the terror and chaos that surrounded her in the background helped to bring out questions to observers like “How can she live happily with all these problems going on around her?”. As well, the blending effect of the images in the background made the background images effective because they were able to soften their appearance, but still keep the same clarity of delivering the message to the viewers.

5. The least successful poster was the first poster, as the overall composition was too childish and did not address the problems of Africa. Since the poster only addressed the “be happy” side of the message, the incorporation of serious, problematic pictures, such as those with relevance to civil wars or AID, would help to portray the bravery and courage that the African people had to smile, despite the fact that (parts of) Africa was very corrupted. As well, the rearranging of some of the words in the poster’s message would help to make the poster easier to read. For example, rearranging the letters in the word “Africa” might not cause the observers to strain their eyes as much to read the poster’s message. The variations in shading of the colours of the buildings at the bottom of the poster could also be fixed, as there is not a uniform transition of shading from a brighter colouring to a darker colouring.

"GUILTY" --- Formative iMovie