‘This part of the course has explored a wide range of different contemporary approaches to illustration, many of which question the role of illustration itself. Not all the approaches will suit everyone, so make a choice about how you decide to respond to this brief.
Creatively explore the statement ‘you are here’. Produce either a short self-published fanzine, graphic novel or artist’s book; an online interactive experience; a piece of street art; or an illustrative object.
This is a very open brief, so it allows you plenty of room for exploration and creativity. ‘You are here’ can suggest a site-specific approach, an historical perspective, or you could be philosophical or humorous or both! Remember it’s an illustration project so, whatever you decide to do, make sure it focuses on developing your illustrative work in some way.
For the street art option you might want to develop a site-specific piece of illustration that responds to a location of your choice. Remember that creating street art does pose legal issues, so you don’t need to do the work directly into the space – use photography and Photoshop to mock up your artwork.’
I enjoyed the previous street art project a lot, so I’ve opted to explore it further here. This is my trusty Pinterest board, loaded with more inspiration…
It’s hard to know where a good site might be, especially living in a rural area as I do. So to be sure I had permission to use the images, I took my own. And instead of an office block, industrial quarters or elegant townhouses, I’ve taken images of my surroundings, in all its bland 1970s glory. Hmm…
I chose this one below. If you look carefully, there are trees and hills in the distance, and the sea is a 10 minute drive away.
I had a general brainstorming session about what “You are here” might mean for me.
The main subjects I came up with was Mindfulness, A Life Journey, A Chronological history/Timeline, Local and Global Maps.
Seeking some inspiration for decorative maps.
Liv Wan is a fantastic illustrator, who has produced a range of lively colourful maps of many countries. You can see they are extremely appealing, light-hearted and playful, depicting popular dishes and famous icons (such as the loch ness monster)
Claudia Pearson’s world map is relatively sparse, with just enough decoration to give us a flavour of each region. The typography suits the style of work very well, adding to the friendly informal style of the piece.
Katie Cardew’s map of Glastonbury is packed with visual information, which draws you in, and encourages you to get absorbed in all the beautiful details. A sense of unity is helped with the relatively limited colour palette.
This image has a more dated feel to it…
As does this one – particularly the typography.
I roughed a quick sketch of the sort of map that would fit the wall of the house I’ve chosen, leading the viewer to a range of facilities and landmarks nearby.
I also looked at inspiration for a global view, to see how the earth is sometimes depicted in Illustration.
Pollution
Communication
Fun
Awe inspiring
Pretty
This image is actually Mercury, but it looks great
I rejected this idea, as I feel its rather literal and obvious, to point to where you are in terms of a map, whatever the scale (local or global)
My next exploration was a life journey, inspired by “The Seven Ages of Man”
I’m also not that happy with this idea…It’s a very linear and mainstream view of a life span and life stages. We simply don’t all lead ‘mainstream lives’: become parents, keep our health, fulfil ambitions, find love and so on. Its really the opposite of inclusive, and certainly doesn’t reflect my life accurately at all.
My other idea was about Mindfulness. We are always ‘here’ in this moment and cannot exist anywhere else.
I even have a book with that very title!
So what ideas and images come from Mindfulness?
Gautama Buddha
(The ‘fat Buddha’, I think, is actually an early monk not actually a depiction of The Buddha, so I didn’t include one of those!)
Lotus flowers are wonderful to look at and an important symbol for Buddhists
I looked up other visual symbols of Buddhism.
And roughly sketched some intersting ones
What caught my eye the most was the Fig Tree
And the Dharma wheel.
But not everybody would be happy for a piece of street art to specifically depict faith or religious symbolism, so I explored secular notions of mindfulness and the concept of stillness.
Much of this is sensual – calling to mind beautiful places in nature, sights, smells and calming sensation . And perhaps mentally escaping to your own personal ‘happy place’.
I noticed that trees have appeared again! In my mind, they are peaceful and symbolic of nature, and the fig tree is a spiritual symbol in Buddhism.
You might well state “You are here” as an act of imagination, mentally transporting yourself to a peaceful place by the sea, (with peaceful idyllic blue skies) And as coast literally is nearby, it seems particularly apt.
I chose to work up a group of trees, and a leaping dolphin in a deserted beach scene.
The next stages of my work are all digitally painted in Photoshop. My first thought was to have a night scene.
But I changed my mind and blocked in a cloudy sky.
I wanted a slightly magical feel to my image, so the trees are highly coloured.
The basics are blocked in now.
I changed tack and used a brick wall for this second one, as I like the texture so much. I laid a white fill over this wall…
And layered up my image using different opacity and blending modes to let the texture show through.
I continued working on both pieces, building up layers and refining my work. I also added my own handwritten typography for an informal touch. Whether adding lettering was a mistake or not, I’m not entirely sure!
So here are my final images.
You Are Here
1) Joy
2) Stillness
Comments and Reflection
1 The brief – a checklist.
‘This is a very open brief, so it allows you plenty of room for exploration and creativity.’
I think my response has been reasonably creative, and hopefully not too predictable in terms of themes.
Remember it’s an illustration project so, whatever you decide to do, make sure it focuses on developing your illustrative work in some way.
This brief has given me a chance to focus on digital painting and further develop my skills in that area. Its also pushed me by posing a very open brief.
For the street art option you might want to develop a site-specific piece of illustration that responds to a location of your choice. Remember that creating street art does pose legal issues, so you don’t need to do the work directly into the space – use photography and Photoshop to mock up your artwork.’
My response was location specific, I considered the surroundings for my piece (a backdrop of trees and sky) I wanted my work to settle into the environment, and yet be a slightly fantastical version of reality. The dolphin is because the sea is nearby, and I wanted people to feel a sense of escape, peacefulness and joy. I have indeed used my own photography, and Photoshop to render my artwork and mock-up final images.
2. Critical analysis and evaluation
Creativity
Strengths – I think I responded confidently to the open brief and produced two different responses which were different in content.
Weaknesses – My work may be considered a little bit ‘cute’? (I might have overdone the ‘sparkles’/magical hints on my trees) We’ve all seen slightly fantastical woodland, and indeed dolphins leaping! Although I may not have gone for the most obvious interpretation of the phrase ‘You Are Here’, my imagery is nevertheless rather cliched.
Solution? Play with narrative ideas further, and remind myself to check for originality overall.
Research
Strengths – I have a large amount of inspiration on my relevant Pinterest board, and enjoyed gathering further visual research, particularly looking at specific aspects such as decorative maps.
Weaknesses – There is always more research you can look at!
Solution? Knowing when to get started on a project.
Idea Development
Strengths – I looked at a variety of solutions and had clear reasons why I chose the angle I went for.
Weaknesses – I could have made thumbnails of my final compositions, and explored ‘Stillness/Wish Fulfillment’ ideas further.
Solution? Gather my ideas and pause long enough to evaluate whether I have thought broadly enough about my chosen idea (rather than just at the general brainstorming phase)
Visual and technical skills (including line, form, colour, composition and shape)
Strengths – I feel pretty confident and happy using Photoshop. I enjoyed using colour, depicting form and shape. I believe my composition is OK, though the dolphin was rather too central
Weaknesses – I did create rather a messy workflow with quite a lot of unlabeled layers. Having a tidier digital workspace would help. I also don’t use as many keyboard shortcuts as some folk.
Solution? Think ahead and take advantage of all the grouping/naming tools on offer! And learn a few more shortcuts.
General thoughts:
I’m surprised how much I enjoyed working on an open brief, I thought it might lead to endless overthinking and procrastination, but not at all. I loved the freedom; it felt very self-indulgent to just produce work that I enjoyed, much more similar to sketchbook/self-directed pieces!
Sometimes the creative briefs we are given, throw in an extra restraint that can make ideas much harder to generate (for example in a previous graphic design brief we had to design a card for an occasion that isn’t currently catered for) So, the fact that there was no ‘wrong’ or ‘right’ response to “You Are Here” was really liberating for me.
However, I’m not sure if my responses to “You Are Here” are a bit too obscure! If this was a brief from a local council/resident I would need to check much more closely to see whether that was of primary importance or simply a springboard to (hopefully) appealing pictures that make people smile.
Refs
suitcasemag.com/travel/stories/walking-the-line-illustrated-maps/
livwanillustration.com/project/illustrated-maps/
claudiapearson.com/inspiration-hand-drawn-maps/
http://www.ancient-symbols.com/buddhist-symbols.html
http://www.religionfacts.com/buddhism/symbols
oneminddharma.com/buddhist-symbols/
Ruth Arnold 