Graphics - challenging the few brain cells that RAG week spared...

So after the madness that was RAG week,  it was straight into our final elective.  Graphics or Vis Com was my final choice.  I was iffy about this one because i had done Graphics during my PLC course last year and hated every minute of it.  But i decided to give it a try in college and prayed that it would be different.

On the first day, we were given metaphors with which we had to work for the two week period.  My metaphor was "As cool as a cucumber."  This instantly conquered up images of relaxing, laid back and being carefree.  So beginning with a mind map, i wrote a list of words which i felt described my metaphor.

Metaphor



Mind Map

For the first part of the project, we had to work purely with text and no illustration to bring across the idea and meaning of the metaphor.  I began by researching font types to find a suitable one.

From this research I began to work out a concept.  We had to design two before Friday's crit.  I did some experimenting with the type and tried my hand at a 3D representation.  Playing off the "cool" aspect of the metaphor, i literally froze the words in a block of ice.

Following on from this, for my first one, i based it on the 1960s/70s era.  To me, this era is the epiphany of relaxed and cool.  It was an age when hippies and flower-power were in full force.  I researched some ads from that time and noticed that the majority used a blubbly style type and lots of colours which i incorporated into my concept.  

Then for my second, I decided to go a little different with the meaning of "cool".  What makes you say the word cool?  Something that's different right? So I thought why go with the cucumber as we know it, why not change it.

Because a cucumber is a natural thing, i decided to make it look unnatural and make it something you wouldnt expect.  Cucumber = natural = edible. So why not have it made of metal?

I used a straight almost severe text to get across the idea of modern and to show the concept of metal, the word cucumber was made from tin foil.

At the crit on Friday, my work got a pretty equal reaction.  When a vote was taken of how many in the class preferred one over the other, they both got equal votes.  So i was free to work with whichever i felt better about.  I think the first one, the 60s/70s one appeals more and works better as a concept.





Illustration next!