Recognize the Model?

For my final poster, "Walter Cronkite is Dead," I had to approach it a little differently. From the beginning this poster has been golden for me. The original sketch was good and pleasing to all and I really liked it; I had a really cool vision of this from the beginning. And, maybe, since the idea was a keeper from the start, I haven't felt a lot of pressure concerning it's creation. I wasn't worried about what the design would look like since I'd already had a good sketch, unlike the other two.

The trick to this one was to find pictures of women standing in the poses I needed them to be in, easier said than done. I looked--a lot--on the internet, but nothing was quite right. In an effort to solve the problem, I took a bunch of pictures from the internet and cut the body parts and taped them the way I wanted, it wasn't quite like "Frankenstein's Monster," but it wasn't a far stretch. Unfortunately, "Angie's Monster" still wasn't right and, as a perfectionist, it needed to be, well, perfect. So, I went home, grabbed my suitcase and a duffel bag and had my roommate take my picture in at least 10 different poses. Since I knew how I wanted it to look, I felt it easier to just be my own model than trying to pose people how I wanted them to stand. I did feel really self-conscious though as she took my picture over and over again.

Once I finished my photo shoot, I printed out the pictures as large as I could and started to choose the ones that I liked best. I did have to go a little Frankenstein because I liked my legs in one and my arm for that pose in another, thank goodness for scissors and tape! After choosing, and creating my pictures, I traced them again (did I mention how much more I appreciate/need tracing paper now?), copied them, and scanned them into the computer.

Then, using the pen tool (new BFF), I started to outline myself, and with Stephen's help, we tweaked the lines to make them cleaner and more like an illustration more than just a tracing. But it was funny whenever he would mention something about the women, I would look at him and think, "You realize that's me, right?" I guess you had to be there. Okay, so using the pen tool and doing some clean-up, here's what we've got: I should mention that the width of this piece is pretty narrow and I wanted the legs stretched out, so this is how it will look, spatially, on the poster. So, what are your thoughts? Good, bad, indifferent?

Now, we need to visit the typography. Have you ever seen the opening title to the classic show "My Three Sons"? Well, for those who haven't, it shows three sets of legs with a specialty font that was created just for the show. Since my image was only from the legs down, Stephen reminded me that it had a "My Three Sons" feel to it, so I looked up an image of the opening title and drew from it for inspiration. And, as I mentioned that font was specifically created for the show. As Stephen and I discussed it, he thought it was be good to custom-make my font using, you guessed it, the pen tool. Thus, I'm more or less creating the font. I found a font that was similar to the one from "My Three Sons," but is more feminine (it's called "Funny Bone"). I traced it a couple of times, then started to manipulate it a little, extending some curves, changing the spacing between the letters, etc. to make it my own. (Note: the top font is completely different, it was in the running for ones to use, but I liked the second one more.)

Then, I scanned it in and started tracing it with the pen tool. You'll see what the tracing looks like clean on the top and how it looks as I'm going over the letters on the bottom.

And there you have it, the latest step in this process. After I make the letters, I'll play around with how to place them on the page. This is my favorite poster of the three, I don't really know why, but it is, maybe because I liked the idea from the beginning. I like the other ones, too, but this one is my baby. I hope it turns out as good on paper as it looks in my head.

"I Am My Own Wife," Take Two

As I mentioned before, Stephen wasn't super thrilled with my ideas for this project, but I took some time during class a couple of weeks ago to start sketching out more ideas. I really liked the idea of a mirror and how that can convey perception and how we see ourselves and Stephen liked the idea of it as a reflection, since the play is about a person reflecting on his/her life. However, I wanted the mirror to be more feminine and thought about doing some kind of antique/vintage inspired mirror, but really felt drawn to the idea of using a compact. Few things are more feminine than a compact mirror. To help give it the extra touch, I decided to bring in some antique elements and found an "antique compact" on the internet. Then, using tracing paper, I traced it, copied it, and scanned it into the computer (the compact is in the bottom right-hand corner; the picture on top was what got my idea rolling).

My original thought was to have a man's face reflecting in the mirror, but it never really felt right to me, so I decided to leave his face out of it and just do the mirror, with a font that had totalitarian government understones and gave a solemn tone to the piece (the play is anything but a comedy, so I've been told). When I decided to do this, Stephen's words to me were that if I'm going to do this, I have to do it well so that it actually looks like a compact, and I have been dedicating myself to the task since. Below, it what I've got so far:

It was really hard to do the finer curves as an illustration, so I've modified the image a little to make the curves cleaner and prettier. The different colors are to help me see the depth so that my eyes don't play tricks on me when I go to clean this up later. It's starting to look like a compact, right?

Since I decided not to have a reflection, I needed something that would help this look like a compact mirror, so I decided to include a powder puff, so I did a google search for antique powder puffs or powder puffs from the 1940s and found one that was perfect, but, of course, hard to trace in Illustrator. However, not be deterred, I took on the task to make it and kept a prayer in my heart that it turned out to be somewhat realistic looking, while also recognizing that this was an illustration, not a Photoshop project. So, I put it in the computer and went to work, and this is what I've got (you'll also noticed that I cleaned up the mirror and included a reflection of the compact):Again, the different colors are to help me keep all my lines straight. It's getting there, what do you think? If I didn't tell you it was a compact, would you be able to tell?

Meanwhile, we can't ignore the typography. Typography can either make or break a design and I needed it to be perfect for this piece. So I researched, then I researched some more, and kept looking until I found something good. If anyone saw my internet searches without knowing I was doing this project, they might be concerned on why I have searched for "Nazi or Russian propognada posters" or "Nazi or Russian fonts from the 1930s." I love everyone, promise! After at least of week of searching, I found my font, "Deluxe Gothic" and started to play around with how to use it. For the "i"s, I deicded to dot them with the Nazi symbol and the hammer and sickle as the play was during that time frame. Below, are some ideas I had, my favorite is the one on the right, with the type blocked off to the side. You'll also see the original compact I traced and re-drew.

And that's where I'm at so far. It's taking a while to create the compact in Illustrator. Thankfully, I like the pen tool and am good at it, so it doesn't take me as long as it maybe could. I don't despair at the thought of using it, so I think that helps me get a lot of work done, and since all my posters are being created through Illustrator, I'm getting a lot of practice with it.

I still need to figure out my color scheme, but that will wait until I polish up the compact a little more. Honestly, I wasn't really excited about this poster in the beginning, but since I got the idea and have seen it come together, I'm really liking it and it's cool to see what you can create with the computer. More to come on this one, too.

Chess: Back to the Drawing Board

As I mentioned in my last post, I hit a major creative block with "Chess." No matter what I tried, nothing was really coming to me. But, with some feedback from Stephen and some friends, I was able to push through and develop some ideas. I was up very late one night, just sketching. I chose a font, Coffee Black (the only time I'll ever use coffee in my life) and traced it over and over; tracing paper has since become one of my necessities in life and best friends. ;)

When I took my ideas into Stephen, we found a winner (the one in the upper left-hand corner)and things are progressing nicely from there. After I polished it up a little (I got rid of the part that separates the "C" from the "H"), I scanned it into the computer and using the pen tool (my new best friend) I started to outline it.

While there is still come work to be done around the edges (especially with the "S"s), I'm making progress. Ultimately, this will be flipped on a 45-degree (ish) angle to go diagonally across the page and I'll give a shadow or 3-D type of effect to help it look more like an actual pawn piece. It's hard to see the pawn shapre from this angle, but it was easier to trace if I made it horizontal. As a side note, I'll try to be better about posting during the process and not just at the beginning of the process and the end of it. As for "Chess," it's getting there. More details to come with this one.

Creative Blocks are Lame

I presented my ideas to Stephen and he liked one of them, which meant that it was back to the drawing board for "I Am My Own Wife" and "Chess." I worked on new concepts during class on Monday and came up with a new one that Stephen really liked for "I Am My Own Wife," but I am still creatively blocked on "Chess." I have some ideas, but I don't know how I feel about them or if they're worth pursuing. Therefore, any ideas you have would be welcome! I can do something with a graphic image or only using typography.

It's been a couple of days and I still haven't come up with anything that stands out. Mental blocks are a nuisance, especially in this field. But, all I can do is keeping going forward and see if something comes to me. I hope it comes soon!

Let me know if you have any ideas...

Opinions, please!

As I mentioned in my previous post, we have to create three posters. I did my "mind map" (or brainstorming web), which was an intense writing session, where we just wrote words associated with the subject or word of our choice and highlighted the ones that struck us the most. It was a really interesting exercise because you never know where ideas/word associations will come from or where they will lead you. Plus, I get inspired as I write things down (one of the reasons I'm such an avid journal writer). From there, we started sketching and I developed six ideas, but am having trouble narrowing them down to one design to do. We did a group review and everyone expressed their opinions on which they liked best for each person. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you view "you have a lot of good ideas," I did not get a resounding "that's the one" on a couple of ideas, just "that's cool and it will be interesting to see how it develops." Therefore, I'd appreciate your opinion on which ones to do, I have to select one of the six.

Below you will see the name of the play, a brief description about it (mostly what I could find out about it), the original poster, my brainstorming session, and my sketches along with some explanations.

1. "I Am My Own Wife"

This is the one we've been "encouraged" to do. It's a one-man show about this person that was a cross-dresser (man to woman) in the 1940s in East Berlin, who survived both the Nazi and Communist regimes of the time. He/She owned an antique shop and would hide other outcasts, but later became an informant for the Stasi.

My brainstorming web went off in the direction of identity and how others see us and how we see ourselves, then the element of secrecy came into play.

Ideas: 1) A man's head looking into a mirror and a woman's face looking back, showing that he/she's got a secret. 2) A man's head with the pearls (pearls are prevalent in every other poster for the play), again with the secret reference.

3) I don't think I'll use this one, I was just playing around, but it's s/he looking forward against a background of the Nazi and Communist symbol. 4) Just the lips and the hand over them, the lips would be made of the Nazi and the Communist symbols.

5) There is a really cool image of an eye on the internet with a transparent image over it, which I duplicated on the eyes here: one for the Nazis, the other for the Communists. 6) I just wanted to fill the last box, it's supposed to show the omnipresence of the regimes, but he/she is holding to her pearls and the perception with which she identifies herself.

2. "Chess"

This is about a chess tournament between an American and a Russian during the Cold War. From what I understood, there was a lot of manipulation, mind games, and propaganda. There's a love triangle with the American, Russian, and the woman manager from the American team, she and the Russian player fall in love somewhere around Act 2. Since it was during the Cold War, there was tension on and off the board.

My brainstorming web: As I did it, I got the thought of pawns on a chessboard and then thought about how the Russian and the woman were pawns and being played with. That, with the tension of the Cold War gave me an idea about using pawns and "games." I also thought about checkmates and stalemates, so I sought to incorporate the two.

Ideas: 1) A red pawn versus a blue pawn. 2) A more masculine-shaped pawn and a feminine-shaped pawn that are being put into a stalemate by two hands showing the manipulation that was going on behind the scenes.

3) A male pawn and a female pawn to show that tension, also seen are the hands that control them. 4) This is an aerial view of the board. You can see the two players arms--tense--waiting for the other one to move with the pawns in front of each other.

5) All the pieces are pawns, with two in front for the stalemate. It references the politics of the Cold War. 6) The four main characters (The American, Russian, Woman, and Russian Manager) in the play are all reaching for the pawn to take control of the game.

3. "Walter Cronkite is Dead"

Two women, one from a liberal state and the other from a conservative state, are forced to share a table in a crowded airport. At first there is tension as the two only see the surface of each other and their respective political and lifestyle views. As the play progresses, they begin to see that they have more in common than they originally saw.

I liked the idea of the two coming to know each other and overcoming their perceived differences, depicted as red and blue. But, I mostly played around with the two, one red and one blue, until I got something I liked.

Ideas: 1) The red woman and the blue woman shake hands and the handshake is purple to represent coming together. 2) The two women at the table with body language playing a bigger role--more open vs. more closed-off.

3) The left wall is red, the right wall is blue, and the floor is purple. The two women are shown in white. 4) The same concept as the other one, but the women are more abstract.

5) The two women are looking up at the "Departures" screen, which says the title of the play (I thought it was funny: departures-death, get it?). 6) It only shows the bottom half of the women with more stereotypical luggage: a backpack and duffel bag for the liberal and a briefcase or a designer bag and a roll-on suitcase for the conservative. The luggage contains the name of the play, one of my classmates liked this because of the idea of bringing their baggage along.

For the last one, my friend Peter also just gave me the suggestion of doing one woman (probably the abstract one) with a red and blue paint stripe across her.

Well, what are your thoughts? I have a couple that I like more than others, but would appreciate your feedback. Or, if you have a whole different idea, please feel free to share! The best designs are a collaborative effort, and I would appreciate any help or advice you have to offer.

Second Project: Theater Signage

We've been assigned our second project. For this project, we have to take three theater posters from the Signature Theater 2010/11 season and redesign them. We've been given our choice of many, including "Chess," "Wheatley's Folly," "Art," "Sunset Boulevard," "Walter Cronkite is Dead," "Side by Side by Sondheim," and "I Am My Own Wife." The last one, "I Am My Own Wife" is also associated with a contest and if we submit our pieces and at least become a finalist, it's a big deal. We've all been "encouraged" to do the contest entry and then we can choose the other two posters.

We have six weeks, more or less, to complete them. While I liked my last project fine, I hope this one is better. :)

My First Project: Done!

About a month after I started, I finished my first project! Exciting, right?! You'll notice that the final project is different from my initial sketches and design. As cheesy as this sounds, the original idea just didn't "speak" to me when I started to work with it in the computer. I liked the thoughts and concepts, but something was lacking, so I just scrapped it and started over, a bold move for my first project when I had a deadline, but sometimes you just have to do what you have to do. So I redesigned it and I like it a lot better.

Stephen, my fabulous teacher, helped me with the layout (I'm still struggling with that a little) and guided me in the right direction to give the design that extra push in the right direction. I'm grateful for his help! He offered me some really good feedback, too; again, I'm grateful.

I ended up making a series of posters for the project, each a little different, but consistent and I like it. I learned a lot of skills and since I did the same type of thing, I was able to reinforce some skill sets. To appease your excitement, below are the series in my project:

It was an interesting process. To make the objects look more well-used, I found images online and blew them up large on the copier and played around to make them lighter or darker until I found the right contrast; I wanted there to be some contrast in the piece, especially since it's a monochromatic template. After finding the right version, I crumbled up the paper (literally) and scraped the peaks of the paper off with an exacto knife so it looked more used. Then, I re-copied it, scanned it into photoshop, made a mask for it (which was easy since it was black and white originally), and imorted it into InDesign.

The typography came from rapid prototype. I kept doing versions of it until I found one I liked. I started using the grungy "Dirtyhouse" font, but as I played with it, I realized that I didn't like it as much as I thought I would, so I used a font called "Whitney," which has a lot of different weights to it, so it gave me flexibility and consistency all at once, and it's clean and sharp to give the message that extra boost. For the logo in the bottom right hand corner, I used the same font, but hand wrote the "s affects" and scanned it into illustrator, did a live trace, and made it into the logo you see here.

After making our designs, we had to apply them in different ways by using Photshop. We put them on billboards or other signage and on t-shirts. I chose this billboard picture because it had two posters and since my design was a series, I thought it was a good way to showcase more elements of it. Stephen taught me how to make the effects look realistic, instead of like a bad photoshop job like it would have been had I been left to my own devices.

We all had to make t-shirts. For the t-shirts, we used the pen tool (which I love, much to many people's surprise) and I re-colored it to match the theme of my posters.

And that's my first project, what do you think? I still have a long way to go, but at least I'm one step closer now than I was before. One of the main lessons I learned from this project is that sometimes you have to be brave and start over if it's just not working for you. Thankfully, I still retained some elements of my original concept, but kept re-working them because it was never quite right, but I'm grateful to have perservered and had Stephen help me so I could get a far better deisgn and concept out of it.

We've also been assigned our second project (more details to come), which I am excited about, but not really sure where to begin with it. I will be soliciting more feedback with this one, so let me know what you think!