My Process for Project 1.
Step one: Getting Reference and Inspiration.
I was inspired by this door handle. something so small had so much detail in it.
And of course... CORN!!! While we may be a little too defined by corn it is hard to disagree that we are a big agriculture state.
Step Two: Iterations and Process
Right away I knew I wanted all my posters to work as a whole. My middle poster would be the main piece of my whole project. I wanted the middle one to represent Lincoln the most. The woman is a character I created to be a characterization of Lincoln, it was a creative way that I could give physical characteristics of Lincoln as a whole. The best advice I received during this project was to have the two side posters work on their own. At first I wanted the two side posters to be about people standing together in unison. I wanted to stray away from this idea though because it was my very first idea and overall I found it basic and not interesting.
this was my second set of iterations. I knew my middle poster was strong and did not need much more work. At first I was going to put my character in each poster so they had a unifying theme. I wanted my posters to be about personal strength and struggles and how other people can help you through tough times. Overall, I found these compositions to feel disjointed from the middle poster and overall failed to reach my goal.
For my third set of iterations I added the corn leaves to try to add visual movement to my piece. although the corn leaves added visual interest to my piece the compositions in the side posters were still serious lacking something special. I also played around a new background color, I felt like the light yellow background was killing the piece because it didn't contrast or help anything and just sucked the life out of my posters.
almost done but I finally set on a solid theme and idea! I took a step back and thought about what I wanted to say. After some thought I realized I wanted my project to be about self improvement and personal growth. I believe that being a better person is a key "ingredient" to peace and civility. I also noticed in my previous iterations that I was trying to have some crazy composition going on when I just needed to simplify my message. I wanted the text to be bold and simple. I thought having one word was simple and easy and I think people can easily pick up what I am trying to say.Although I was set with the words I didnt think the font was the right style. I wanted my message to be bold but this font felt almost too abrasive. Also I changed the background of my posters, I thought I was on the right track with the light green but the problem was that the green was too light and all the highlights on my illustrations weren't noticeable.
Finished Product:
My left poster was about Unity. My graphic shows a bee pollinating a flower and if you know about bees and pollinations you know that both the bee and the flower are benefitting from this. I chose the word "unite" because when we stand together we should be benefiting each other.
My middle poster was about Personal growth. The middle poster was also the one with the most influence from the capital. If you remember the door handle from earlier that is what inspired my flower in the background. Also in creating the physical characterization of Lincoln I wanted it to be a woman, Mainly because we are an agricultural state and having a symbol like "mother earth" felt right. For her design I wanted her to seem elegant and relaxed and overall, peaceful. I think Personal Growth was the perfect idea to put with the personification. Growth leads to improvement, not just for yourself but for others.
My right poster was about adaption or change. I chose to do a butterfly because they are the perfect example of adapting and changing. While we can't physically change like the butterfly we can change our actions for the better. Change can be a scary thing but it is a necessary step in progress
While these posters wouldn't actually be connected I wanted to see if they would work together as a whole, like I originally wanted them to. Overall, I think my design was successful. My main focus was supposed to be the middle poster and from there you would stem out and see the two side pieces. I also think my message is successful, both the side messages benefit from personal growth. Personal growth can lead to you being more United with others and it can also lead you to change your own personal ways and Adapt for the better.
Social Media Campaign:
Post Cards:
Realistic Mock-Ups:
THE END
