Isabella Daly 225075 – New College Swindon 66528
Critical & Contextual Studies A2 Exam Question – Sun Part 3
Exhibition Name:Having now looked at a variation of different paintings that I intend on using for my exhibition, I’ve now reached a point within my work where it’s time to start the design process, looking into advertisement and promotion for the exhibition. Before I do this though, I first needed need to this about an appropriate name for my exhibition. Below are some potential ideas of names and words that I feel associate well with my project:
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Beauty Aesthetic Delicate Dreamy Summer Captivation Passion Enchant Nature
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Bewitched Allure Lure Delight Decorative Ornamental Graceful Elegant Sensuality
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Dream in Beauty Aesthetic Swoon Summertime Captivation Captivating in the Summer(time) Tiptoeing through the Sun A walk through Beauty A walk through a Summertime Dream Art for Art’s Sake Elegant Delight in Abundance Elegant Enchantment
Poster Analysis:- Before I can go into attempting to design a poster, I first need to gain some inspiration from pre-existing posters. While it may seem obvious to look at Gallery based posters given as this is what I’m designing for, a lot of these posters are very simple and all seem somewhat similar. Given that I’m also a graphics student and am quite well equipped in using Photoshop, rather than just produce another basic poster that could easily blend in with prior creations, I want to apply my skills to create a poster of far The first poster I decided to look at is one for a festival more excitement and sustenance while still being highly relevant and appropriate to my subject matter.
in Spain, one of the things I love the most about this piece is the combination of photography mixed in within this simple block colour additions that have been digitally applied. To me, the benefit of this helps to give the poster a very modern, eye catching feel to the work without seeming too cluttered or unnecessarily drawing away from the initial image too much. Alongside this, I feel like given the dark background with the photo edited to be of a similar colour, it not only allows room for these brighter colours to be comfortably used that present a joyful mood but also colours that relate to the subject matter. Although the poster is in Spanish, the phrase ‘Musica Afro Fusion’, along with the imagery, gives us the indication of there being an African Musical influence with these colours and shapes relating to traditional African textiles prints. This shows that both thought and consideration has been put into the work to accurately ensure their clear on their advertisement.
Another benefit of using this dark background, as well at the inclusion of these block shapes is that it allows for very light colours of text to be used with not only different colours can be present on different areas to show separation between information with all these colours used for the fonts already being present within the work which creates this flow of consistency throughout the piece. As well as this however, differing fonts have been used throughout which makes it easier for the viewer to gather individual bits of information and therefore more likely to retain them as opposed to having a big block of text all in the same font. This is something to definitely think about putting into consideration for when I apply a type to my own work.
Taking a closer looks at the individual fonts themselves, there’s a clear divide between the very important larger text, such the name, location and date, which along with these three different pieces of info being in different colours, they’re also all in individual fonts where these ones or contain elements that relate to that of a Something that is also to take note of is the layout of the piece handwritten style which although has been achieved in a and how the imagery is positioned on the left while all the text is sophisticated manner, it doesn’t make the work seem to serious and one the right and whether this is a benefit or not. In one sense stern, rather almost as if more of a personal touch is being put across yes, as you look at the image first which sparks your interest which heightens the feelings that the colours give off of making it whereby then having the text to the right implies the process of easier to create a stronger connection with the viewer. The smaller moving forward as opposed to backwards that having the text on text used is in more of a standard, generic computer coding styled the left side would have. One thing I do find as a negative side typeface as on a smaller scale it’s harder to read more stylised fonts effect of this though is that you’re not as encouraged to circulate but also ensures that the work isn’t too dramatic and attention is still your eye around the poster as much as a design where a font was Continuing on with what I previously mentioned, the given to the correct areas first. That being said though, with the rest fact that a navy was used instead of black works in such used all around the imagery. of the design of the poster, because it feels so engaging and effective a positive way by stopping the poster seem heavy upon the viewer, it almost doesn’t matter than there’s other text or too intense, instead it works at creating more of engaging piece that makes the viewer feel far more comfortable and easier that’s been used on the smaller scale as it makes the viewer to connect with that doesn’t get the wrong message across of seeming too much like “Party Rave” that I feel like a black intrigued to find out what this other information is background would put out but more so like that of a celebratory gathering of feeling that’s far more warm and welcoming.
Poster Analysis Cont.:When I came across this poster it instantly caught my eye where I actually found it to be highly relevant to my project given how it’s clear that this poster is designed be used as a highly decorative piece that doesn’t really present any really imagery but is instead showing of the use of a complex pattern that instantaneously shows a strong link to the genre of Aestheticism that I have been focussing on that had the motto of ’Art for Art’s Sake’, creating a piece of work that didn’t have a deep meaning but more so showed off the skills and pleasure received from the piece.
While the previous image that I looked at was more so simpler in its design where it focussed more so on the use of basic ideas all cooperating together to make a sophisticated and engaging piece, because of this I knew that the next poster I would look at I wanted to be far more emphasised on the idea of a mass of detail. Although I was instantly drawn to this piece of work while scrolling
Due to the nature of the work and patterning being achieved in this thin linework, very little text has been used in order not to create too much of a visual stress on the viewer with the way all text has been included in enclosed in sectioned off areas of blocked colour in the only the centre of the piece where the entire pattern has a combination of stemming from and pointing too. However, that being said, while this is a very captivating design, the issue is that from instantly looking at it, you wouldn’t know what it’s for, because of it’s particular design it could be mistaken for high end clothes/make up or even a jewellers due to the expensive experience the work has because of the use of the luxurious gold colour. Even when looking at this piece, we know that we’re being told about an event due to being shown the vague location and date, but the actual title of the event doesn’t actually give us much indication as to what it’s about other than we can assume that from a combination of the name and design that it has something to do with printing and graphics. What also isn’t helped it the fact that no extended information has been provided such as price or a website is given either which results in not only the viewer having to pay more attention to focus on the poster but then have to go out of their way to find out more information. That being said though, perhaps this was particularly done with the thought process of hoping that the viewer will rely on their curiosity of the mystery for this luxury poster to be enough to have the viewer enquire further independently.
through Pinterest and if I found a leaflet version of the piece I would be just as inclined to have a look and find out what the promotion is for, if It were in a poster format that I was passing by it would be far harder to gain the understanding of what I’m trying to be shown. It’s important that when I’m design my own poster that I need to think about all the different locations that my poster could be displayed and how they will come across within these settings. The colour choice is also something that’s very important to keep in mind, not only in the specific colours used but how many to use, for example with this particular piece I’ve already stated about how the use of predominantly gold against black gives the feeling of luxury throughout the work which works at making the viewer more intrigued but the use of the white has also been cleverly used to help separate the work out slightly, making it easier to understand and stop the viewer from just being overwhelmed with a mass of the same colour patterning. If bright, bold colours were used however, the overall feeling of the work would change from this sophisticated luxurious mood that seems quite classic to more of a modern, festival, party-esk effect that seems more lively and would potentially make a transition into crossing that line of being “too busy”. It’s also important to remember that if I were to take a heavy inspiration from this and also design a poster that revolved around this decorative patterning to think about the what genre the design portrays. In this instance for example, we get a strong feeling of there being an influence of the art deco movement as a result of the not only the use of gold but the shapes that have been used with the combination of curved lines, straight edges, subtle flowers and symmetry of the design going straight down the middle of the vertical plane. Whereas for the aeshtetic movement there’s more so a feeling of peacefulness and dreamlike moods that are soft and gentle that I would need to appropriately translate into this way of working.
The final poster that I will be looking at although was created for an even in 2013 due to what it’s advertising, is based around artwork produce in the 60’s focussing on psychedelic rock music as although the design for my exhibition has to goal of accurately representing the movement I’m focussing on, when coming up with inspiration it’s important to be inspired by other period of time and their artwork to stop design from seeming bland or repetitive and as a way to help inspire a new idea to be uncovered.
Poster Analysis Cont.:As this subject matter for what this poster is for promoting for, it’s be very well thought out with regards to it’s composition; it was said the psychedelic music did have an impact upon the mind of the listener as well as showing great levels of creativity of the artist and this has definitely been taken into account given how we have all these flowing shapes coming out from the females head at the bottom where within this we have all the text and further imagery of a band incorporated. Although the flying bug may seem out of place it helps provide a visible representation of “taking off” and the experience provided at the festival which instantly intrigues the viewer in the the content and music of the festival must be of a high quality which creates the desirable feeling of wanting to attend. However, this sort of composition could be applied to my own poster give how it gives of these feeling of softness and fluidity as well as almost dream-like given the focus upon the brain which are all adjectives that I hope to establish when it comes to designing my own poster. That being said though, this relaxed/dreamy feeling is then counterbalanced by the use bright, intense colours being used within the design that instantly catch the viewers eye. As we can see there has been the limitation of both blue and orange where while they do seem highly intense are actually the colours that sit opposite one another across the colour wheel, hence why this powerful combination works still even though it might not instinctively be the first choice.
When it comes to the text it’s actually been completed in a very clever way, although it’s been warped in various places to fit the shapes they’re enclosed within, because of a combination of both how block heavy the font is with the restrictive colour palette of just the two colours being present, it’s not actually hard to read, it’s fairly easy but it does take slightly more time but in my opinion this only makes it more engaging and doesn’t overstep the boundary of being too difficult to read or understand. The shapes that have been used for the font as well are also something to mention, the effect of the title being at the top and of the biggest size means the your eye is instantly drawn to reading this first, however, because of the circular curved baseline which then goes down into being rooted from the head, it gives the motivation for the viewer to go around the poster again but this time take in the bottom half of text where these other waved baselines encourage the viewer to further spend sometime going back and fourth across the piece and take in all that there is to offer. A useful technique seen here as well to potentially think about incorporating into my design in the use of positive and negative space; the background off white colour has been used as an asset within the design to not only help separate these shapes up from one another but also as a way to imply and establish detailing within all the figures faces without over complicating the composition too much or drawing any attention away from the key information. The result of this still allows for a restricted colour palette to be used but a more pleasurable, sophisticated and complex composition to be achieved.
Font Analysis:-
Having now not only contemplated some potential different name ideas for my exhibition as well as actually take an in-depth look at some other posters, the next step in my process is to take a moment to look at some fonts that I feel would potentially be suitable for my poster design. Not only is it important for me in this process to look at a differing array of types to show that I’ve considered a broad range, but to also think about the possibility of using multiple fonts together as in the first poster I looked at for example, a number of different fonts were used which as I discussed, proved to definitely be a positive. The first font I decided to look at shown to the right, to me takes influences from a number of areas, two of which I find to be quite apparent are with type faces that are sometimes used for festivals as well as almost an Art Nouveau sort of vibe and where these two influences come into play both stand as reasons why I was attracted to this font. The first being that it’s all in these block capital thick letters that quite considerably spaces apart which instantly makes it as a sensible choice given that it’s easy to read quite quickly, however, that not to say that’s it bland in anyway as it’s still very stylised (that can be shown for example with the S’s) and has it’s own flair to it which is also work at giving more of a traditional feeling that’s suitable to be used in a more sophisticated manner that also has the outcome of making the piece of text appear more interesting to a passer by and be more curious as to discover what the advertisement is about. This specific font would definitely be used as a title font though due to its nature and for that reason it wouldn’t be suitable for the entire poster, meaning another font would definitely have to be incorporated. The benefit of this though is because this current font is so imposing and eye-catching it leaves other fonts to be of more of a simpler design to create balance throughout the work.
A Summer’s Eve with A e st h e t i c i s m
A Summer’s Eve with Aestheticism
Given that the last font that I looked at had quite formal and traditional feeling to is, I decided that for my next font I would look at something that had a bit more of a causal feeling to it which you can see to the left, this is achieved through the use of it seeming as though the text has been written out using a chisel tipped pen that allows for being used at one angle a nice thick line while at another a more thin and slender line where the combination of the two instantly works for creating amore visually pleasing typeface that’s acts as somewhat like a very subtle way of showing slightly more care. The fact that this font has the illusion of being hand-drawn as well also creates this idea of creating an easier and quicker connection to the viewer that they’re instinctively going to enjoy making rather than looking too much like the work of a business/cooperation or too serious which they could potentially overlook. The only issue with this though is it potentially looking too casual for my collection which although aren't’t particularly serious pieces they are of great skill working as highly decorative pieces of work. A positive about this font that the previous doesn't’t have is that because it’s slightly more simpler in it’s design, it has the ability to act as both title, being the largest piece of text but also at a smaller size for other pieces of information that are necessary, perhaps the date or location for example.
Font Analysis Cont.:-
A Summer’s Eve with Aestheticism
Having shown two fonts that both work as being predominantly positive choice, for my third example I decided to show one that might not be so sensible in choosing. While at first this font may seem like a good option to go for as it gives the feeling of it being personal due to handwritten style that I feel it creates this feeling of making me want to read the text out loud as well as being quite formal from it’s neat, joined up format, but I still have a few issues with it; it wouldn’t e suitable for a title font as I just don’t feel as though it’s loud or imposing enough, it wouldn’t catch your eye from across the room which is definitely a necessity for my poster as I want to attract as many people instantaneously as possible! Going on from this as well, due to the scrawl like appearance that it possesses it not that clear to read meaning more effort with be require in order to understand what’s being get across which some people may have the reaction of how they “don’t have the time” to spend trying to read it. After thinking about this though, there may potentially be a good use for this, it could actually be used for the dates for my exhibition where because they would be in their own stand alone font that isn’t used anywhere else they would be sure to stand out and as it’s it a type face that looks like it’s been handwritten it could potentially encourage further the viewer to write down the date or remember it for writing down.
From 01.06.2017 – 31.08.2017
For the final typeface that I’m going to look at I decided to use one that specifically wouldn’t pose as a title font but more so one that would act as an accompanying font that would be used for other pieces of important information, as it’s still easy to read due to the simplicity of it’s design but can also be use on at a fairly large scale without the worry that it would overshadow the title in anyway. As well as this it would also be useful if say I was using three fonts, this particular font would act well as the second font in the series, either separating two very stylised types or acting as a transitional font from a very loud and stylised title to a more standard and simple everyday font
A Summer’s Eve with Aestheticism
Now that I’ve reached a point where it’s time to actually start design my own poster, in my mind I knew that I not only wanted to try and incorporate influence from all of the posters I looked at, but I also wanted, at least for this first attempt, to start off the piece by using a section from one of the paintings. Out of all the pieces I looked at ‘The garden of the Hesperides’ is by far one of my favourites, especially in the dreamy sunset feeling the piece has as a result of its colour palette. As I didn’t want the whole painting to be used in my poster design, after rasterizing my image, using the magic wand tool I was able to delete certain sections of the painting. From this point I knew that I wanted to use some flat areas of colour like in the first poster I looked at but I also wanted to have some fluid shapes that contained lots of movement like the third poster I looked at but then I wanted these shapes to be highly decorative like in the second poster I looked at. It was a result of all of these thoughts that lead me to coming up with the design shown throughout all the variations with text on both this page that contained colours actually from the piece itself to maintain the feelings to which I find the painting to posses.
Poster Design 1:-
As you can see from the ticks and crosses, there are some variations that I think are successful and some that I think aren’t, however, one of my overall concerns is that I’m worried that all of these poster potentially have an on-running theme of seeming to dated. While my exhibition is based upon artwork that is most definitely of age and not of contemporary, why does that mean that my promotional material can’t have an exciting and fresh feeling to it? It was with this motivation that lead me onto my second poster variation.
Poster Design 2:-
Once I drew out the outline of the figure though I was somewhat unsure of what to do next, from looking back at my second and third poster and the shapes that they As I said on the previous slide, I wanted this second design to be incorporated into their designs, I decided to develop the completely different from the first and contain far more of a modern idea I had previously with shapes I had used in my first and exciting feel to. As a way to ensure this I knew I needed to do poster design and transfer that similar style over into this some things a little differently, to start off with, I decided that I didn’t piece of work and fill up the skeleton of the figure with this want to use direct imagery from one of the paintings but still have way of working. Initially I started with using just black for some element of it within my design. The easiest way I found to do this these shapes, however, once I had completed the head and was to use an outline of a section from one of the paintings in my zoomed out to take a look at how this way of working exhibition, where as you can see, I ended up going with the figure from looked, the design already looked very heavy where even at Albert Moore’s a sleeping girl due to the beautiful and very defined this stage, I knew that if I continued to fill out the entirety of shape that the figure is in which I actually spoke about in my analysis. the figure in this same way that the different areas of the body would be unrecognisable as well as being a strain on the eyes. This was when I inverted the black into white but rather than continue on in using just white, I decided to choose similar colours for the figure’s clothes in the original painting and fill out part of the piece using two extra colours while leaving out part of the dress entirely so to demonstrate the distinct parts more so as well as to balance the fact the rest of the background is plain at the moment and I don’t want all the detailing to be bunched together in the middle but instead more thoughtfully placed out.
Having now completed the inside section of the figure, I now had to decided what I was doing with the outside decorative shapes I had chosen and as you can see from the three variations shown here I played around with the outside outline and it’s colour relation to some of these shapes where once again I found having the use of black for this form of patterning to just be to heavy and dark for the rest of the mood of the image, however, I found the other two variation to both work well which actually gives me the opportunity to be slightly more adventurous with my background choice given that I can give the outside of the figure and outline that will be able to stand out against either a lighter background or a darker one. This is what lead me onto my first two variations from where I was inspired but the second poster that I looked at that contained the patterning in gold, black and white through the use of paths/shapes that I wanted to have a go at creating my own spin off version using a pattern that I found off of Pinterest to help me gain an understanding of whether this sort of style is one that I wanted to progress with. While I was fond of the first variation as it stands, I knew the because of the intense changes in line colour, it would be hr to incorporate text in a way the clearly visible, whereas with the second, as there’s less of a drastic change, it provides a better base for me to incorporate some text on top of.
As I continue on with this potential idea, I decided to switch up the colour for comparison and given that I used a navy blue for my previous poster design, I didn’t want to attempt using another blue so soon, yet I also didn’t want to use any warmer colours such as red or pink as I feel like these are too similar to that of the mustard colour I’ve already tried out with this design. This is what lead me onto playing around with the colour green above where with the two central variation, turned out quite positively compared to the the two outer versions which to me work as either being just too busy or too heavy. However, that being said, I still felt like there was something wrong with this design and to me, just personally didn’t match up to my exhibition and overall feeling it possessed. From here I then attempted a design with just simple block colours and another that incorporated a heavily detailed texture yet neither of these seemed any better, it was clear that I still had a lot of experimenting to do.
This is what lead me onto my next overall concept of continuing with the idea of using a pattern but one that was instead completely different from the first one I used where the colour scheme is a lot brighter and enticing to the viewer. From this I also found the blue to mix quite well with the mustard colour and it was here, as you can see, that I really started playing around with the incorporation of text too to help gain a better understanding of how the final design could look. After creating a few different variations with text that I took a step back from to compare them all, it dawned on me that I really wasn’t feeling any relation to the sun nor summertime, even though part of the text used displays this. I realised that I knew that in order for me to create a successful poster I needed to have a stronger emphasis on this aspect! Alongside how part of the reason why I found the design to be so heavy was because of just how muted and dull the mustard colour I was using was, whatever changes I made I knew I also needed to brighten this colour up!
This is what lead me onto my final design for poster (with text variations) where I gathered a series of circular designs (that in some cases could relate to the sun) off of Pinterest as well as some patterns those I combined all together through changing the different blending modes for each layer so to change the relationships they all had with one another. Overall I’m so much happier with this background design, not only does it feel lighter due to the more pastel orientated colour palette but also works at creating a strong feeling of both beauty, dreaminess as well as sun and summertime. I feel like as a result of doing this I have managed to find the perfect balance between a more traditional look and one that’s both fresh with a slight modern feel to it. When it came to the text, because I now had such a pale background, I was unable to directly use a white font and by this point I had firmly decided that using a coloured font was not that way forwards as it just wouldn’t stand out in the way to which I desired.
Final Poster Design:-
Having taken into account what I said on the previously slide about not being able to include any white text within those variations because of the pale background, I wanted to try and overcome this issue as I felt like using all black text didn’t quite match up as smoothly with the figure that contains areas of both black and white. The way I came to solve this was by incorporating the shape I had used to encase the font in my blue patterned design previously where I then also created a second copy that I flipped and placed parallel to the first on the bottom half of the canvas to support the other portion of text. Rather than play around with the blending modes here, I instead turned down the opacity slightly so that these shapes weren’t as heavily presented due to the opaque-ness which therefore helped enable me to use both areas of black and white text that could be easily read and not accidentally get lost within the rest of the design.