RATIONALE "Norwegian Wood" centers on the dynamic nature of human relationships and explores the complexities passion and love present. My poster was designed to convey the primary focus of the film (romance), while hinting at the negative, confusing and sad undertones of love. This is communicated through the dark silhouette of the lovers, the tentative pose of pre-kiss, the cool tones selected for the piece, specifically with the ice blue font. I tried to capture the vibe of the film, a romantic period piece that explores the complexities passion and love present, and how the decisions we make in regards to love shape our lives and can have a haunting presence. My poster was designed to convey the ethereal, soft and beautiful nature of intense young love, while hinting at the darker and more agonizing side of it. The image still from the movie of two lovers in a pre-kiss pose with lighting and colour effects used to emphasize the lips was done to highlight the vulnerable and beautiful aspects of the emotion. The black forest outline with a single path served to frame the piece and draw attention to the central image. Additionally, it was incorporated to symbolically represent the darker side of love and how there ultimately is only one choice: to continue going forwards, or turn around and go back to where you started. Drawing inspiration from the title, my literal interpretation of it translated to a wood grain pattern blended throughout the piece and a clean and simple Scandinavian aesthetic chosen for the title’s type font.
RATIONALE My assignment was inspired by local concert posters, with my final product being a concert ad for a fictitious band “FROID”. Fueled by the sounds of my current favourite Vancouver psychedelic rock/dream-pop bands, I was moved to choose a cool/dreamy colour palette and surreal image compilation. My aim was to create a poster that piqued viewer’s interest through a compelling visual image, and had minimal text info – to grab a passerby’s attention and relay key info. The secondary text at the bottom was supposed to appear to blend into/be the mist, not necessarily legible from far away but readable upon closer inspection. I chose to apply the half-tone smart filter to make the image less flat/dull and give it a vintage vibe (to support the music it was advertising that has a distinctively retro flair to it). The dreamscape image was formed to create a psychedelic, surreal image that featured a cyborg femme howling at the moon – an artificial, calculated futurism clashing with carnal human qualities to visually depict the sensory experience and imagery the music is intended to evoke. The female figure was at a large scale to intentionally be unrealistic and represent a divine entity: one that transcends the artificial, connects with the natural and permeates through our lives (much like music). A paint stroke pattern background was selected to look like a stylized aurora borealis; a marble texture image was chosen to create a foggy mountain foreground that’s mist would blend into the background sky. The blending of foreground/background was used to symbolize the merging of reality and dream, and of the connection between music and the subconscious. As a relatively new Canadian band, Froid would be worried about shaping consumer perception, creating a brand image and cultivating a strong consumer base. The imagery and connotations of the poster align with what the musicians of “Froid” feel best represent their music and interests, acting as a visual cue to passerbys of what they could expect to hear/experience at one of their concerts. The aim of the poster is to raise brand awareness, communicate to consumers what the band is about and have that translate into sales.