Chapter 3
One of the reasons I like the style and technique of artists like Rene Magritte, Topor, Holland, and the Surrealist style in general, is that they are conceptual and make the viewer think about the concept. Surreal style and black humor are BFFs and related to each other’s. However, works that have separate sections on comedy and tragedy are not considered black humor because, by definition, black humor is derived from comedy tragedy itself. In short, black humor deals with the negative aspects of life and tries to joke with them in a way that is unexpected and shocking.
My Sketch Ideas Came to Life! Over the years, I created a lot of illustrations and sketches that were often personal to me. All my personal illustrations and sketches were inspired by artists such as Brad Holland and Topor. This became my style in my work, this feeling can be seen even in my other works such as the logo or advertising design.
Another application of black humor is to criticize issues or tell facts. Basically, to enjoy dark humor, the satirist himself should not go too far. The purpose of this satire is not only to be funny, but also to be annoying, and to a greater degree, to make the audience think about the ugliness around them. Something that is presented in the form of humor but is made only with the intention of being rude and annoying the audience, will not sit well. One of the attractions of this type of style, and it is interesting to me, is that the images in this style of illustration are usually not visible or do not exist in the real world, but in the opposite sense, they express a bitter reality in their meaning.
Most of the works I want to provide in this book have a surrealistic meaning. In fact, I must say that the senior design project was an opportunity to present my works in book form. A book and editorial design about my works that I always wanted to do for a long time. The visual images that I have presented here are my works that are related to illustration and editorial design, which I am personally proud of them. Each of these works conveys a concept to the viewer. I tried to encourage my audience to think about the subject, concept, and perception of my works through their observation. I believe a Visual artist, graphic designer and illustrator should be aware of the audience’ objectives. I would like to create visual concepts to communicate my ideas with the audience.
For instance, in one of my works called Little Fish’s Dream, I got the idea from a famous novel called The Little Black Fish by Persian author, Samad Behrangi. The story of the Little Black Fish is about a little fish who lives in a small lake and wants to see the ocean and explore more about the world.
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