Process Brainstorming

The process maps were an interesting approach to brainstorming; many of the techniques were new to me and brought out ideas I likely would not have thought of initially. Looking into things deeper, and seeking fine details helps to create a richer idea of possible work and ideas that can be used for the project in the future.

The brainstorming session that helped me the most was the 50 questions. When I started out it was difficult to think of questions to ask, but once I began it became easier and the questions became more unique and looked at things from a completely different view than the original questions. It started out as a question about applying makeup and ended with questions relating to gender conformities and cultural differences, seeing how makeup is accepting in different societies and how those who do not follow the norms of society are isolated or alienated.

Another technique I found helpful was the mind map. It started out as one statement but as the tree grew I discovered an abundance of other points that related to the topic was analysing. Many of them were miniscule points that I would have likely not thought of without deeper thought and the connections that were provided while working through the mind map. With the help of a visual I could imagine and guide myself to come up with more specific information and finer details.

I hope to use some of the techniques I used for this assignment in future projects to help stimulate ideas and give me in-depth work rather than just hitting the surface.

Part D – Project 1

Part D

Working with the layout and presentation of a paragraph proved to be much more difficult than I had anticipated. When I started out I realized that I was not attracted to paragraphs that appeared overly complex and difficult for the brain to piece together. Due to this revelation I kept my layouts quite simple and minimalist.

For my first piece I broke the paragraph up into sections based on the timing of events, and putting emphasis on the first and last line within the paragraph, making them take up a larger quantity of space and therefore capturing the reader’s attention.

For my second piece I centered all the lines and then balanced out the sentences so they would create a unique silhouette. This meant finding appropriate places for the lines to be separated so that the sentences would still flow when reading the paragraph, but also look visually appealing when looking at the paragraph from a distance.

This being my first experience with typography and layout meant I had to test things out and find what I was drawn to and reflected my taste and visual interests the best. I think in the future I will be able to take things to the next level as my skills begin to expand and my technique grows. This is definitely a skill that will improve over time and with practice, but having the basics is a great place to start and I can’t wait to use the things I have learned to create work in the future.

Expressive Typography

 

My experience creating typographic posters for part C of our 1^st assignment was quite challenging as it was something I have only worked on a couple times before and don’t have much practice or knowledge in how to make a unique and interesting piece.

When working on this assignment I used a trial and error method to decide what I thought looked nice and was a different and creative approach to the word. I was interested in using the letters to create shapes such as lines, triangles, and polka dots. It made the work appear more abstract and at times you do not even notice the shapes were once a portion of the key word. I also worked a lot with the opacity of the letters and “shapes” to find a balance where your focus would still be on the word and the additional items would not become a distraction.

It was difficult to stay away from doing direct representations of the word because that is what your imagine is drawn to and thinks of automatically, but to make sure the work is not overly cliché it was necessary to keep those representations out as much as possible, although it did come up in my work a couple times.

For me creating analog sketches beforehand was more challenging than attempting to create something on the computer right off the bat because it was hard to imagine what the letters would look like and how the spacing would be once you made the work digital. That is why the majority of my hand sketches did not make the cut into my final pieces of work and I veered in different directions.

My final struggle was knowing when something was done, asking the question “is there too little on this poster?” or “is this poster crowded?” It is difficult knowing if something is too simple or if it is just the right amount.

Overall, I really enjoyed working on the typographical posters and I am excited to explore design more throughout the next couple assignments.