Archive for May, 2009

Mock Disney Concert Hall Poster


2009
05.30

First, let me say that I was pleasantly surprised at school yesterday. I found my End Censorship poster in the small, small one-day student exhibit on campus. I also found my poem poster in the glass showcase in the hallway. I feel a little embarrassed, but also feel good to be accepted, still somehow lack confidence in myself. Oh well. LOL

Turned in the mock Disney Concert Hall poster this week. We were to introduce Gustavo Dudamel as the new conductor of Los Angeles Philharmonic with a poster in International Typographic Style. I think most of us were really confused by the instructions and material. There seemed to be a bit of conflict between the amount of info and the simple and clean style of the Swiss designers. I emailed the professor my first draft and received a horrible reaction. She then sent out more instructions to the classes, which in my view clarified a lot about what she was expecting. A good exercise in designer and client communication, getting to understanding what clients want.

Anyway, I ended up with 2 designs:



I turned in the first one because its elements have more dynamics.


Project Poem Poster


2009
05.24

Another project completed, two more to go. This one really took a lot of time researching poets and poems. Lots of good ones that I wasn’t able to quickly translate into graphics. Maybe the professor’s restrictions made it more challenging? We had to incorporate an image that gives a feel of the subject of the poem, at the same time make creative use of the type. I thought about doing Langston Hughes’ “Cubes”. But with Picasso’s name thrown in there I felt little confidence in making a believable cubist drawing in a short time. So I picked a lighthearted poem, “Madam and the Fortune Teller,” also by Langston Hughes.

Fortune teller looked in my hand.
Fortune teller said,
Madam, It’s just good luck
You ain’t dead.

Fortune teller squeeze my hand.
She squinted up her eyes.
Fortune teller said,
Madam, you ain’t wise.

I said, Please explain to me
What you mean by that?
She said, You must recognize
Where your fortune’s at.

I said, Madam, tell me–
For she was Madam, too-
Where is my fortune at?
I’ll pay some mind to you.

She said, Your fortune, honey,
Lies right in yourself.
You ain’t gonna find it
On nobody else’s shelf.

I said, What man you’re talking ‘bout?
She said, Madam! Be calm–
For one more dollar and a half,
I’ll read your other palm.

My ideas came from those signs selling psychic readings. Using an image of all-seeing-eye to represent the fortune teller, and the palm the madam. The funniest lines are the last two which shows the true intention of the fortune teller. Those words I put on the palm which can seem to be open to giving more money. The rays are sort of hypnotic, no? I turned in the blue one to the professor. But I also like the other two variations that I printed out. One criticism I got from the professor was that the title and author’s name were unnecessary and seemed out of place. If I were to insist on using them, they should be inside the graphic elements, not a separate entity. I agree.




Social or Environmental Poster Project


2009
05.03

Due next Friday, but I think it is pretty much done. I experienced a little of aggressive censorship last year when there was a possibility of me staying in China for a long period of time. (Glad that my big sister took over.) At that time the Tibetan protest also broke out. I watched some of the Chinese bloggers/twitterers begin losing access to websites like CNN or YouTube. I also witnessed how distorted personal views can get when truths are being hidden. Using that very limited experience I made this design for the class:


Project Cube – Finished


2009
05.03

This was turned more than a week ago. Crazy German was here and life was a little more hectic for a few days. :-P

Oh, and this is my new workspace: