THE CHAIR'S DESIGN COMPETITION
"ICONIC TORONTO"
DESIGN PROCESS
Step One: Define the objective
Client: George Brown College bookstore.
Audience: GBC bookstore clients and visitors to the City of Toronto.
Step Two: Investigate the objective
I was born a Canadian citizen during 1996. Living minutes from downtown Toronto, I've come to a conclusion on what it is about the inspiring city that interests me - and it sure continues to grow. In order to steer away from any cliché concepts for this theme, I inputted the first thing that came to mind about the city, and continued to grow off that idea and the next. This mind-map of ideas was to source original and creative possibilites to choose from for my design.
"Mind Mapping"
Step Three: Ideation
I reviewed my mind-map and selected two words that I believe relates to an "Iconic Toronto" theme: 'strong' and 'city'. Toronto is home to many citizens who participate in community outings and festivities; you don't just live in Toronto, you become apart of it. Torontonians have a passion for their surroundings - it is hard not to; we hold the sixth tallest free-standing structure in the world.
I sketched ten compositions to visualize an idea of what Torontonians would say to an outsider:
"We are the city."
10 Compositions
Step Four: Application
I picked one composition to demonstrate into four variations to further explore my vision. For every person who knows Toronto, they can at least identify the CN Tower. It stands high, strong, and different which makes it unique. I want to show how Torontonian's reflect these traits amongst other communities.
I selected drawing number two to become my final copy. Both myself and my professor agree with the decision because of how virtual texture is displayed and also the "hand drawn" appearance.
Hand Drawn Sketches
Digital colour variations using Adobe Illustrator
Step Five: Production
This assignment encouraged me to navigate with digital design more than I am accustomed to. It took a lot of necessary trials and errors to finalize my product.
There is always room for improvment, and as I reached closer to finishing, I continued to edit and adjust some elements before finalizing my assignment.
Too flat - needs 3D space
Here I traced my original sketch from variation #2 using the pencil tool in Illustrator. I tried to imagine what I would do to this object with a pencil and applied that digitally. I outlined the highlights and shadows as if the light source was shining from my top left.
THE COLOURS OF OUR ROOTS
The assignment must be digitally produced using a maximum of two hues.
Pantone 103-U
This selection of colours will remind the citizens of Toronto about their roots. Hockey is a famous sport in Canada because we get temperatures that freeze ice for a consistant season or two. Toronto Maple Leafs is represtented by blue and white. It's our city's hockey team, and whether you're a fan or not, experiencing them play live at the Air Canada Centre connects the entire crowd as one.
Pantone 54-8 U
Two facts about the colour red relating to Torontonians: it's in our blood and our flag. This red gives my design a contrast in colour which helped me with the obsticle around my colour limitation. I used tints tones and shades of each hue to differentiate the variation of elements.
FINAL PRODUCT: ICONIC TORONTO T-SHIRT DESIGN
My final design is a touqe that sits upon the peak of the CN Tower.
Every element in my design was carefully thought out in mind of my client, theme, and audience.
Font: Krungthep
This font is clear and readable from a distance; it will stand out in the bookstore. I chose True North Strong for the slogan because these three adjectives describe the towns people.
Design Elements: Firstly, you recognize the tiny snowflakes that fall from the sky during our greatest season- winter. After that, your eye leads down the top section of the figure that indicates my audience of the CN Tower.
I believe anyone visiting or shopping in Toronto would purchase my t-shirt as a souvenier from Toronto, or as an article of clothing for Torontonian's to represent their city!
