ERIN GWOZDZ
SPRING 2013
Our preliminary prompt was to select three round objects. I chose a flower from a local Cambridge florist, a juicer I rarely use, and my favorite fruit, a pomegranate. The goal was to establish a “round object� pictorial alphabet that would serve as the foundation to a semester-long project. Each object needed to first be photographed on their own, from a top view as a basis for later studies.
Using the flower, juicer and pomegrante on a white background, I explored over 25 studies using a variety of strategies to translate my objects. The studies could no include additional elements like text. I used photography, illustration, graphic translations, and scanography to produce the pictorial alphabet.
One particular study that I enjoyed was a series of pomegrante stamps. I mixed my own paint using a white acrylic base and a mash of pomegrante seeds to create a light pink color. With this paint, I used the halved pomegrante as a stamp, and printed the pomegrante on surfaces such as watercolor paper, stock paper and paper towels.
Two field trips we went on were to the Graphic Advocacy exhibit and a poster and postcard exhibit at the MFA. Here is a small selection of posters that I found particularly inpsiring.
With an 8x8inch InDesign document, and selection of five circles, I created random and ordered compositions as a pictorial excercise. Visual concepts such as hierarchy, overlap, tension, transparency, gestalts, clustering, eye measurement, the edge and space were introduced in class as a starting point for compositional development.
In a pattern making workshop with Colin Owens, I used fragments of my original circle exploration to develop patterns and understand the various way a pattern can be developed.
I was randomly given three social issue words: bullying, pollution, and health care reform, with the task of creating an 18x24 inch nine page document to explore combinations of myobject studies with my word. I could not use additional words or visual elements other than my previous cirlce studies and the words given, in order to form an intellectually curious visual equation. I started brainstorming with a list of word associations.
The initial studies lacked personality, were visully interesting and felt too static. In the next few poster series iterations I attempted to break out of my comfort zone and be more abstract, illustrative and colorful in my thinking.
The next prompt was to create a visual idenity system for a poster series, booklet, website and process documentation book for my own social issue event of my own invention. The development of the event name and concept put my work at a standstill, and I eventually settled with the name “Social Action Conference� out of lack of time. I tried to develop a visual identity alongside the wordmark using a few unexpected colors.
Using the wordmark I developed, I tried to incorporate my previous posters with the new graohic identity. It became apparent that not only did the wordmark fall flat, but also my posters were not visually consistent. I was stuck in a corporate mindset, and decided to start over in order to make something more true to my personal aesthetic and overall more convincing as an event.
My solution was ASA: Artists of Social Action, a group of students and professionals who use their art and design skills to challenge social action norms. ASA would be putting on “A Call to Art� in which people could submit their work. The winners that exemplified ASA values would exhibit in a gallery, and the gallery opening would kick off a weekend-long event of speakers and workshops for artists and designers to participate in. My color pallate was inspired by the overwhelming use of standard CMYK colors that I saw used in London design over my spring break.
Inside my booklet, which would be handed out at the event, there is information about ASA, event themes, and brief descriptions of speakers, workshops, the gallery opening and other events. On the back is a quick overview of the weekend, listing times as a way to quickly check what is next in the day without having to look through the booklet.
For my website, I wanted a very basic layout and navigation using the color pallate established within the booklet. The most important function I believed the website should have is the ability to submit applications online for the Call to Art gallery. Additional features include information about ASA and the 2013 event, a highlight of guest speakers, a blog, and a way to volunteer for the event.
At the event I envisioned large banners hanging, either at entrances or around guest speaker stages. For possible banner options I used strictly the pictorial alphabet developed in the first excercise. Each banner represents a different topic of the event.
This banner demonstrates how the ASA wordmark could be used in different ways. Here I patterned the wordmark, using it as a decorative but also informative element for a banner providing event attendees with directions. Additionally, I made two more traditional promotional posters for the event that could be seen at local cafes or other places around the city.