Digital Photography and Imaging / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Lecture
In week 9, Mr. Fauzi explained to us the differences between realism vs surrealism. Realism are works that are, as the term says, real. Little to no distortions are made in realism to the object it's being based off of. A bit of an opposite to realism, surrealism is based on distorting realism as much as possible while still having the audience able to figure out what it is. It doesn't have to be too dramatic, something like distorting just the perspective or adding more eyes to a living being. Something that isn't real.
This lecture was given to us to prepare us for the next project, which is to create an instagram story animation using photoshop and after effects.
Project 2B: Mental Health Poster
A. Visual Research
Fig. 1.1 Poster References
The first step in creating a poster was to find references. I chose the first and last because of it's simplicity in sending out the message, and the second because it explains the safety protocol without disrupting the graphical elements.
B. Exploration
After I figured out which references to use, I continued with summarizing information to get the poster's title, slogan, call for action, and details.
INTRO | The world faced a pandemic in 2020, caused by the recently discovered COVID-19. Fear spreads as death and infection increase every day. To lessen the rate of infection, public health actions such as social distancing are needed, but stress in every individual grows. |
PARAGRAPH 1 | Stress causes an increase in mental health issues. In June 2020, the US alone prevalently faces anxiety and depression symptoms, followed by trauma or stressor-related disorder symptoms, substance use, and a good percentage has seriously considered suicide. |
PARAGRAPH 2 | To cope with this stress, taking a break from the news is recommended. Take time to eat healthily and care for our bodies. Connecting with people through online video or audio decreases the sense of loneliness. We are all in this together. We should take care of each other and stay hopeful. |
SUMMARY | The virus is threatening and will eventually make its way to you without protection, but developing a mental illness shouldn’t stop you from asking for help, or from helping others. It’s normal, and can be treated. |
References Taken From:
https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/mental-health-considerations.pdft
https://jurnal.uns.ac.id/jdc/article/view/41991
Next, was to figure out and highlight the key points from my summary.
TITLE | Distance doesn’t stop us from moving onwards together. |
SLOGAN |
|
DETAILS (such as date, link, any related info if applicable) | We aren’t limited in communication, seek help online. Mental Health Helpline in Malaysia: https://www.aia.com.my/en/what-matters/seetheotherside/mental-health-helpline-resources.html Coping with Stress: https://www.cdc.gov/mentalhealth/stress-coping/cope-with-stress/index.html |
CALL FOR ACTION | mental illness shouldn’t stop you from asking for help. We aren’t limited in communication, seek help online. |
With enough information gathered, I started sketching for how I wanted my poster to be based off of. I sketched using Autodesk Sketchbook.
Fig. 1.2 Poster Sketch 1 (4/10/2021)
The idea for the first sketch was to have a hand coming out of the screen offering help to us (represented by the hand on the left). The screen idea came from our online meetings and everyone using apps like TEAMs, ZOOM, or Google Meet to talk to each other. To me, and many others, talking through these apps were one of the only ways to keep our social needs up. Even if it isn't the same it brings comfort, and in the bigger picture it helps us.
The second idea is similar to the first sketch, however this one using phones. I thought most people would be using them compared to laptops so it was worth drawing it out and see how it would go. The phones are placed in a circular with one being held (representing us) and in each screen is an emotion being expressed by a person on the other side of the screen. The idea is also based on how a lot of us share feelings this way, and is of course currently the main method.
After receiving feedback from Mr. Fauzi, I was given the permission to continue on with the first sketch.
At first i focused on getting all the images and placing them all together on photoshop. I made the fingertips of the hand on the right it's natural color to make it look like it's coming out of the screen.
Next thing to do was figure out where I wanted everything to be placed, including the title and slogan. I ended up with this for a general idea.
I added color and changed the typefaces of each sentence. I added a border and zoomed out the laptop a little bit more. I added bright colors. Here was when I started doubting whether or not it would look good because of the cropped laptop. I waited it out until the next meeting to get feedbacks.
After receiving feedback from Mr. Fauzi (in the section below) I worked on fixing everything up and making sure it's all settled. I changed the typeface to be uniform and used a color palette, and also took another picture of my laptop so everything could be seen. I think the slogan is too small now, but I couldn't fix it. Overall, I'm still pretty happy with how it turned out.
From listening to the reviews of my classmate's posters, simpler can be better and illustrations are allowed as long as it isn't too much. Other than that, remember to use references.
Mr. Fauzi said to choose the first sketch. After working on it he told me to use poster 1 (figure 1.1) as the color and typography reference as my composition was similar. I tried replicating the typography style as similar as possible, and searched a different color scheme to use since the reference poster's colors were too solid or dark to me, compared to the message I was trying to give (warmth of friends or family in this pandemic). He then said to avoid cropping the laptop too much.
This task was given to us fairly early on, and I originally thought it would be easy. Turns out, I had much more to learn regarding compositions and finding the right typography than I thought I did.
Once I had the trouble of making long sentences fit together everything seemed to be frustrating and the colors popped and didn't feel right. However, I think it worked out just fine in the end. I could have done better, but that's all in the process of learning!
From seeing my classmate's and senior's works I understand that many went through much more exploration than I did. I need to focus more on the possibilities of what I can make instead of what I normally do- which is sticking with one or two and going straight onto it- and find out more unique works I can make.
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