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3 6 2 GRD TIVE ING S G A E A T R A T M I B S Y U E L R T
OBJECTIVE It all started in late February when our instructor handed us the brief, I knew it would be full of challenges and I was not disappointed. The objective: to create a Poster, it all seems so simple, but most missions do. I tore the envelope open to find out this time they really wanted us to dig deep and not only create a poster, but create four posters and not just four posters this time, but four that showcased the four main programs on the CPCC Harper campus. Headquarters always gives us a wildcard and this time it was straight from the Top Brass. “Create an atmosphere that celebrates our surroundings...Life should come out of the poster.” and then L.T. gave us one more, “showcase that it is currently the 50th Anniversary year of CPCC”. The Programs included Welding Technology, Nondestructive Examination, Graphic Arts and Imaging, and Advertising and Graphic Design. While I had some knowledge of what three of them would entail, I must admit we were wondering where Non Destructive examination would take us this time.
OBJECTIVE LIST ET R C E S P TO 1 CREATE FIVE SKETCHES FOR EACH CONCEPT.
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RESEARCH EACH PROGRAM THOROUGHLY.
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CREATE ONE POSTER FOR CRITIQUE AND REVIEW BY PEERS.
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CREATE THREE MORE Posters ONE EACH FOR THE REMAINING PROGRAMS USING THE SAME DISCERNIBLE STYLE.
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MODIFY ONE POSTER TO 24x36 at 300 DPI. MOUNT ON FOAM CORE.
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MOUNT THE REMAINING THREE POSTERS ON FOAM CORE 11x17.
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PRESENT AND DEFEND MY POSTER SERIES TO THE HEAD BRASS ON MARCH 27, 2013.
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BRAINSTORMING
RESEARCH
WORD LIST
TAG LINES
CLIENT RESEARCH
STYLE RESEARCH
Brainstorming is the headwater of every creative river that flows along the landscape, turning and moving, finding the path of least résistance, and where needed carving into the obstacles in front of it to forge new paths to accomplish its task of moving the imagination to the sea of graphic solutions for the client..
The word list is what gets me going in regards to bringing everything I know on the subject to the forefront along with moving my ideas for a concept forward. The second part of the process for me is to come up with as many “Tag Lines” as I can. I don’t really care if they are serious, funny, or even sarcastic, I just start writing them down.
Preparation is the key to any good mission .I had a pretty good idea of what I was dealing with in regards to subject matter and I have one main rule and that is ”I never take anything for granted.” I do my due diligence working hard finding out as much information I can on the clients subject matter to help my team come up with the best possible graphic solution.
I already had a style in mind and after researching the desired style I wanted to use, I decided it would be great for cpcc. I chose to use the style from the Russian Posters of the 30’s 40’s and 50’s. The style is a flat style that relies on negative space, simple shapes, limited color palates, and graphics that call the audience to action, a perfect match.
In my case I like to begin all brainstorms with a simple word list. Below is an example of one of my word lists for Non Destructive Examination.
PROCESS OF CREATION
The tag line becomes the current in my river of creativity and while my creativity may meander slowly along at times, I use the tag lines as guides and motivation to keep the current of creativity moving, and pressing on to a concept that will be my mainstream that I follow through out the solution process.
Research consisted of visiting each of the programs headquarters, reviewing their documentation online including but not limited to photos and schematics. The research uncovered multiple ways to approach this mission, but what would be the right way? I knew I had more research to uncover if I was going to continue along this river of creativity. I turned my sight towards the research that would be needed to bring a creative concept together and that would be research into a specific style that would connect the four posters into one series. grd265
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DESIGN PROCESS CONCEPT SKETCHES My design process is one that is traditional at times and so far off the beaten path other times that I could see how someone looking in could ask ”How did you get from here to there?” With that in mind I do realize that as a designer I need to take the time and become as concerned with my process and organization as the end result. However, sometimes it just hits you and you follow the rabbit down the hole. When that happens to me sometimes it is easier to figure out how I got here by climbing right back up that hole. I do many concept sketches and thumbnails before I get to the computer to help me stay on the path but every now and then I find myself creating in Adobe Illustrator with no documentation of how I got to the nice tea party with the rabbit. The mission got a little of both creative process’s and both process’s resulted in good graphic solutions for the client.
PROCESS OF CREATION
DESIGN PROCESS CONCEPT SKETCHES The second method I mentioned in doing concept sketches was working straight in the program Adobe Illustrator. I used Illustrator to create all of my posters. The pen tool in illustrator allows me to produce any shape desired. Along with the pen tool I rely heavily on the pathfinder tool. WELDING THE CONCEPT SKETCH BELOW SHOWS A NON DESTRUCTIVE EXAMINATION TECHNOLOGY WORKER WITH X-RAY EYES as HE EXAMINES THE SURFACE OF METAL
With the pen tool and the Pathfinder tool I am able to bring in inspirational pictures on my screen and quickly put together layouts and ideas to see if they peak my interest enough to bring them along the creative river and use them to complete my creations and give a simple graphic result for the client. The time spent doing this part of the process can be slow but at the same time as long as the brainstorming and research are moving in the same current the creativity can move right along. I estimate that I have spent approximately eight hours so far in the design process.
THESE CONCEPT SKETCHES WERE DONE IN ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR WITH NO HAND DRAWN SKETCHES. I JUST FOLLOWED THE RABBIT DOWN THE HOLE TO SEE WHAT I COULD FIND.
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DESIGN PROCESS
DESIGN PROCESS
WORKING IN ILLUSTRATOR
CLASS CRITIQUE
Working in Adobe Illustrator is where the fun begins for me. My creation process once I am ready to really get down and dirty happens once I have drifted down this creative river long enough to know exactly what I want and go for it. Of course like all great journeys, one can find things when they ere not looking for them and lose things right in front of them. I try to stay on point and keep to my strategy. The best plans always change and being open enough to find other solutions to challenges is one thing that sets me apart from others. I have no problem changing direction.
I love critiques, I mean what solider in their right mind would walk into any hostile situation unprepared. I think that for this mission the Top Brass were so involved we as designers would have been jeopardizing the entire mission if we did not come to each critique with open minds and honest opinions. I personally get real upset when I get the silent treatment from fellow designers when I ask for their opinion. The L.T. will always take the time to give you a great critique and mine is just the same. However, getting honest feedback from your peers is something special and I wish all designers would understand its not personal its just business.
This part of the design process is taking the concept I have come up with and using the tools in Adobe Illustrator to produce the nice organic shapes, geometric angles, simple forms, and flat colors that are prevalent in the Russian Poster Style. This is the most time consuming and I would estimate I spent over twelve hours on the posters. PROCESS OF CREATION
THE IMAGES ABOVE HAVE BEEN CREATED IN ILLUSTRATOR. BELOW ARE THE SIMPLE FLAT SHAPES THAT I CREATED FROM THE IMAGES.
The initial critique I got after showing my poster was great. I got some real good honest feedback that did a couple of things for me. First of all, it let me know that I was on the right track with my concept and idea for the series. Secondly, it help point out small mistakes I did
not see, and gave me other ideas on how to make the design better. We had a few rounds of critiques for this mission and I hope it helped each team member prepare for the final run through with the client. Two examples of the great ideas that where exposed to me during the critique process was the idea from the L.T. to use a old paper texture to give my Russian Posters even more of a vintage look. The second nugget came from a classmate that was able to help me fashion a better tag line for my Non Destructive Examination Poster. BELOW IS THE OLD PAPER TEXTURE I USED ON ALL OF MY POSTERS TO GET THE TRUE VINTAGE FEEL>
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CONSTRUCTION PROCESS
CRITIQUE PRINTING & MOUNTING
CRITIQUE ACTION I mention the class critique in the Design Process because I feel the critique is the most important part of that process and I don’t want to repeat myself too much. I was pleased that I got great feedback and it was very helpful. One critique was especially important. This was the critique with all of the posters in the series at the same time. In this critique I got some valuable feedback about my original Non Destructive Examination Technology poster and My Advertising and Graphic Design Poster which was great to get. The critique on the Non Destructive Examination Poster was so insightful it allowed me to shift gears and go in a whole new direction. My reaction at first was “You don’t get it?” The critique helped me realize that mainstream would not get it and I needed a fresh approach. The critique itself was that it did not match the others in style. PROCESS OF CREATION
The other critique received a different reaction from me. This one involved my concept for the Advertising and Graphic Design Program. The critique was the fact that it was the only poster in the series that did not have a person in it. BEFORE
AFTER
I decided to not heed the warning and stayed with my original concept. I kept the original concept because I believe that Advertising and Graphic Design is more imagination and thinking than working with hands.
For this mission we knew that the Construction Process would be key to winning over the Client on this one. Things were a little different this time around that presented a few more obstacles than the regular Illustrative Imaging mission. This time L.T. wanted to make sure the client got the full spectrum of what we created for them and we did large prints which we had never done before. I printed the Poster that I felt was the best in the series at a size of 24 X 36 inches on Glossy paper to bring out the colors and give it a slick modern look to an otherwise vintage looking creation. The other three posters were printed on regular 12x18 bond paper and cut down to the final size of 11x17 inches. All four were adhered to foam core using adhesive spray, then I squeegeed them to make sure all bubbles were out and the print was firmly sealed to the foam producing a perfect the final deliverable to the client.
ABOVE: WINSTON APPROVES THE FINAL VERSION AND THE SCALE FOR THE FINISHED SIZE. BELOW: SOME OF THE CONSTRUCTION PROCESS INCLUDES GLUING TO FOAM BOARD AND CUTTING IT TO SIZE.
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DELIVERABLE FINAL RESULTS This mission was one that intimidated me at first, but like all the missions you just have to go with the flow from the river of creativity and have faith in your ability to see what is right and wrong, the openness to take criticism, and the drive to want to do good work and have quality and effort as the hallmarks of your effort in the final result. This mission has helped me become a better designer by forcing me to not only come up with a piece that is engaging to the audience while solving the challenge for the client, but to now take that same style and make it work for a series. This challenge was my first time creating a series of posters from one theme. Not only did I have to use the right graphic solutions, I also had to create the correct typographical solutions. A challenge within this mission was creating something that engages your audience, and calls them to action. PROCESS OF CREATION
DELIVERABLE I couldn’t be more happy with my final result and I hope Top Brass, L.T. and most of all the client are very pleased. I believe that my poster series should be picked for a number of reasons. First of all, I was able to present a style of design that is simple yet very engaging to the eye and the mind. Second, each program is represented with graphic solutions that are geared to excite the audience with the possible outcomes of their future if they choose that program of study. Third, the style of the series is geared to attract an audience on a intellectual basis as well as an aesthetically pleasing piece of art. Finally I was able to show that CPCC is celebrating its 50th anniversary by creating a simple logo that coincides with each print. In conclusion my poster series should be picked because it addresses all the clients wishes. It celebrates the fifty anniversary, there is unity in the pieces that from a series, each of the four programs are highlighted and finally I was able to show off my skills and education from CPCC. grd265
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