Drawing Earth, People and Conflict - Graphic Posters by David Autry

WK_10_THE/EARTH/BOOK

Drawing Earth, People and Conflict 8/26/19-12/11/19 David Autry, TTU

In 2019, we are faced with multiple dimensions of complexity. At a global scale we observe: technological, urban, architectural, political, and environmental changes that affect the human race. At a human scale we observe: medical, emotional, physical and spiritual changes that affect each individual. It is a time of conflict for people and for Earth. During this semester we had the opportunity to take a moment and look back in time in order to research, study, analyze, draw, model and theorize on the ever changing Earth and our impact on it.

This is Drawing Earth, People and Conflict.

Biography My name is David Autry and I am an undergraduate architecture major here at Texas Tech University. I am from Amarillo, Tx, and lived there until 2016 when I moved to Lubbock for college. I am in my final semester of the undergrad architecture program, and look forward to my future within architecture.

Table of Contents WEEK_00

Biographical collage to explore and graphically represent ones personality and history.

Human Issues Page 14 - 15

Page 04 - 05

Self Collage

WEEK_01

Graphical Representation of the period between 1-10 billion years after the big bang.

Visualization of earth’s surface during the period between 200 - 100 million years ago.

Linework image representing man’s exploration and innovation between 6,000 - 4,000 years ago.

Exploration of man’s conflict and disasters between the period of 1920 - 1940.

WEEK_07

Icons representing North Korean ideology, religion and beliefs.

WEEK_08

Representation of the 2010 2015 Afghanistan avalanches, and their effect on society.

Extinction Page 22 - 23

Page 12 - 13

Evolution WEEK_04

Propaganda poster showcasing the key historical events that shaped North Korea.

Natural Disasters Page 20 - 21

Page 10 - 11

Earth

WEEK_03

WEEK_06

Human Religion Page 18 - 19

Page 08 - 09

Galaxy WEEK_02

Poster highlighting the differences and similarities between the USSR and USA during the space race.

Human Culture Page 16 - 17

Page 06 - 07

Universe

WEEK_05

WEEK_09

Poster highlighting the extinct Megalodon; exploring it’s lifestyle and habitat.

Self Collage WEEK_00

This poster was created to graphically showcase my upbringing and personality traits. I grew up in Amarillo, Texas (represented here by Cadillac Ranch) and moved to Lubbock in 2016 to pursue an architecture degree at Texas Tech University. This poster documents my work experience at Toys R Us, my fascination with spaceflight and discovery, and explores my passion for music and art.

Creative Process: I began this image by first writing out what objects could begin to represent my life, and how I could graphically tie them together. I began collecting reference images and editing them in Photoshop to remove backgrounds/enhance colors. Afterwards, I combined the images in Illustrator to produce this effect.

Takeaway: This poster was the first of the semester, and really challenged me to create an image that truly represented who I am as a person. This poster would be the first stepping stone for my graphical development this semester.

Universe WEEK_01

Produced in collaboration with Horel Villa, TTU

Designed to be a futuristic landscape, this poster aimed to showcase what our Milky-Way galaxy may have looked like nearly 5 billion years ago. The main concept for the poster is an advanced alien species analyzing the galaxy with holographic technology, allowing them to view the composition, size, weight, and velocity.

Creative Process: This poster began by creating icons in Illustrator, then importing them into Photoshop for a holographic effect. Then, several space images were combined together to create the ancient galaxy, and a landscape was created in Illustrator by combining individual silhouettes together.

Takeaway: This poster was the first group project of the semester, and really showed me the steps required to take on a graphic poster with a partner. I started to plan ahead more, and understand what I was capable of completing of in the time-frame I was given.

The galaxy was made by first combining multiple renderings and images of other similarly structured galaxies, and scaled to match the perspective from a nearby rogue planet.

Galaxy WEEK_02

Produced in collaboration with Horel Villa, TTU

The challenge behind this poster was to graphically illustrate environmental changes between 200 - 100 million years ago. Each block breaks down the time period into 20 million year segments, all reflecting the same patch of earth over time. The area chosen was modern day Lubbock Tx, mapping the change of topography as water began to flood inland; spreading fauna across America.

Creative Process: First we began by modeling individual elements in Rhino, and then sorted them based upon the time period. After being sorted, we painted the lowpoly faces and began to assemble the image. After rending the final product in Rhino, we edited the background in Photoshop and enhanced the colors slightly.

Takeaway: This poster was my first real attempt at 3D modeling a graphic for a poster. The low poly style influenced me heavily, and I began to understand fundamental composition and layout techniques.

Earth WEEK_03

Produced in collaboration with Horel Villa, TTU

This poster’s goal was to analyze and visually represent the period between 6,000 - 4,000 years ago. This included research of human migration, technological developments, historic events, etc. The poster ties back to the previous with the isometric perspective, but utilizes lineweights and shade to create a more detailed and accurate image.

Creative Process: This poster started similarly to the previous; the process began in Rhino where we modeled and rendered the 3D elements. Then, we broke down the time period into 12 segments, and illustrated the focal point of the time period as a plan drawing in Illustrator. We then connected all of the plans with waterways, and aligned them on a isometric grid.

Takeaway: My main takeaway from this poster was a build up from the previous; I was beginning to understand how to take my architectural skills and apply them to graphic design.

Evolution WEEK_04

Produced in collaboration with Horel Villa, TTU

Introducing a new caveat, this poster required a double wide board whilst requiring the coverage of only 20 years of earth’s history. The period between 1920-1940 is visually represented here by covering the major events throughout the time period, and placing them along a linear path. The viewer begins at the bottom, exploring the timeline as they slowly progress upwards through the drawing.

Creative Process: By this point, my partner and I had become proficient with axonometric modeling, and built upon our previous posters even further. The vast majority of this poster came out of Rhino as a final rendering, with a Photoshop touch up at the end to add the fog and color gradient.

Takeaway: This poster utilized Photoshop and Rhino together to create a mixed media image; a technique that has really increased my knowledge of both programs and how to operate them efficiently.

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Human Issues WEEK_05

Focused around the space race, this poster was half of a combined poster that compared the United States and the U.S.S.R. during the time period.

Acting as a propaganda poster of sorts, this image focused on the advancement of the United State’s technology during the 1960’s, and tried to prove who the winner of the space race really was.

Creative Process: Every element on the poster was first modeled in Rhino, and exported to Photoshop for background removal and color treatment. Then, the images were moved into Illustrator, given an outline to resemble posters of the time, and combined on a vintage background. Finally, the poster as a whole was taken back into Photoshop for weathering and post production.

Takeaway: This poster taught me the fundamentals of weathering and image alteration in Photoshop. I really began to experiment in illustrator with vintage designs and patterns found commonly in the era.

Human Culture WEEK_06

The goal of poster 06 was to create an image that showcased the history and origins of a country, my choice being North Korea. The poster acts as a visual timeline of the DPRK’s progression over the last 70 years, with the early 1950’s represented along the top of the drawing. The poster was modeled after traditional propaganda artwork commonly found in the region, adding some authenticity to the historical figures found within.

Creative Process: I wanted to tie in to the previous drawing’s art style a bit further, and explored Illustrator’s image editing features a bit further. I began by editing photos into vector graphics, and adding linework behind to give the drawing a layered effect. All of these were then placed upon a background and arranged to provide visibility and contrast with limited color variation.

Takeaway: The limited color palette made me really consider composition and layout; It took me much longer than expected to create a layered drawing that had depth, whilst retaining the same style of graphics throughout.

Human Religion WEEK_07

Unique to this poster, the goal was to create 40 vector icons that represented North Korea and it’s religious values. However, the DPRK does not have any sanctioned religions, so I determined that the state would be the main belief system. Each icon represents a limitation or irregularity found within North Korean culture, such as Kim Jong Un’s rule over the people, or regular threats of nuclear armageddon.

Creative Process: I began this poster by first writing down 40 North Korean ideologies, and determined how to represent them on paper. I then started drafting the icons in Rhino, utilizing hatching and layering to speed up the process. I then exported the vectors into Illustrator and colored them accordingly.

Takeaway: Although I didn’t initially expect it, this poster actually took much longer than some of the previous. The scale and demand of creating 40 individual icons really showed me the time and dedication required to make graphic artwork.

Natural Disaster WEEK_08

This poster combined an axonometric, section perspective, and elevation drawing into one. It also required the creation of icons similarly to the previous drawing to annotate the elements.

This image is a graphical representation of the Afghanistan avalanches that occurred between 2010 - 2015 and their effects on the rural societies that live within.

Creative Process: The design for this one began similarly to some of the prior posters, with a 3D model in Rhino forming a majority of the content in the image. Although this is an axonometric, it is frontward facing and appears straight on to the viewer. I created the elements in Rhino, placed them together to create a scene, and rendered the final result. Illustrator was used for post production and icon creation.

Takeaway: Although simplistic in concept, modeling in Rhino before post producing in Illustrator quickly became my go-to strategy for graphic design. It combined my architectural understanding with my newly found graphical techniques.

Extinction WEEK_09

The last poster of the semester tasked me with creating a poster for the extinct Megalodon. The goal was to graphically represent information about the animal, and inform the viewer about it’s lifestyle and cause of extinction. I was inspired by vintage Jaws movie posters, and artwork from early 20th century film about megalithic monsters of the deep.

Creative Process: I began this drawing with basic 3D models in Rhino, exporting them to Illustrator as plain line drawings.

I then edited the images to have more detailed linework, and placed them upon a vintage oceanscape I had created in Photoshop. The final step came with moving the image back into Photoshop for weathering and color correction.

Takeaway: This poster was the last of the semester, and really showed me how far I had come in such a short amount of time. I began to realize just how much I had taught myself over the last few weeks, and started to appreciate my newfound love for graphic design.

In Conclusion, This semester has really pushed me in ways that other studios and architecture electives haven’t.

It made me consider who I am as a designer, and just how much I have to learn. This book represents more than just 10 posters bound together, it represents a development of my graphical style and visual representation. I cannot say that I am the same person I was 16 weeks ago, but I can tell you that I have benefited from this class is more ways than I can explain, and it’s impact on my architectural career will last far beyond the foreseeable future.

Thank you for viewing, David

Drawing Earth, People and Conflict