Creating A Poster for Wcu Design

The purpose of this poster is to attract students to the first meeting regarding the graphic design study abroad trip to Copenhagen. The posters were hung inside E.O. Bull leading up to the study abroad trip. The intent was to create a visually appealing poster that utilized Danish design while informing the audience of the date, time and place of the meeting. For this purpose, the poster had to be noticeable enough to get the attention of passers-by, and simultaneously visually interesting enough to keep their attention. It also had to be clearly legible, as the main function of the poster was to inform.

My method for creating the poster began with understanding the theme of the study abroad course, as well as drawing from traditional Danish culture and design. This year’s trip would focus on sustainability, as Denmark is a world leader and pioneer of renewable and clean energy. To highlight this, I included a windmill. I drew inspiration from several other embodiments of Danish culture, which I stylized to replace letterforms. These included a bicycle, the famously favored mode of transportation in Copenhagen, and the celebrated “Egg Chair” designed by Danish designer Arne Jacobsen in 1958.

The lettering style and color palette is inspired by traditional Danish folk art, with ornate yet clean linework and patterns. The result of these elements is an eye-catching poster composed of bold and beautiful elements with the elegant, orderly style of Danish design.

Whitney Museum of Art: An Exhibition Review

David Wojnarowicz: History Keeps Me Awake at Night at the Whitney Museum of Art lingered in my mind more than any other exhibit I saw that day. His voice was unique, and I spent the majority of my time at the Whitney trying to figure out why. Visually, his paintings are arresting, unlike anything I had seen before. His use of color, collage, and type in his works convey an immediate, strong sense of purpose to his work. Wojnarowicz’s work spanned several mediums, including writing, photography, film, and sculpture. He was a vital voice of his generation, exposing the realities of the AIDS epidemic, something that was typically kept behind closed doors and out of public view. His art can feel sincere and private, like the viewer is seeing something they aren’t meant to. It is also a political statement, exposing the truth with great importance.

Wojnarowicz was creating work from the mid 50s to the early 90s. The vast majority of his works displayed in this exhibit commented on society at the time. The AIDS epidemic was full swing, killing an unfathomable number of people, and, as a queer artist, he could shine a light into this world. His body of work subtly shifts from highly intimate to displays of public activism, as if screaming “look at this, look what is happening.” It is a public record of a historically dark time period, and also a private journal of one man’s life.

A painting that stood out to me was The Death of American Spirituality, 1987. It was created with acrylic and collage on two wood panels. It depicts a dark, terrifying scene with numerous layered symbols of destruction of society. A bull rider, pipelines, explosions, and the demonic, disembodied head of Jesus symbolize the issues of, and the disintegration of, life in the southwest.  Fire, gore, and dystopian imagery are recurring motifs in his work. 

 His use of color portrayed a desolate landscape. Cool blues and greys juxtaposed with fiery reds and yellows are the primary color palette used in The Death of American Spirituality. Collage elements, like the newspaper clippings on the bull, strengthens the painting’s historical context. He exposed articles about politics, the white house, the IRS. 

The acquisition of land and resources along with technology, leading to destruction and loss of faith is a uniquely American theme. This wide-spread carnage of faith and land can be paralleled to the AIDS epidemic, and how it destroyed many lives.

Painting Through the Lens of a Graphic Artist

I took my first painting class last year. I had never so much as picked up a paintbrush before then, and had no idea what to expect. I was excited to explore this new medium but never thought I’d have any talent right off the bat. What I ended up creating was surprising to me, in that I actually liked what I made. Even more, I enjoyed the process.

Graphic design typically involves sitting in front of a computer for many consecuitive hours and sometimes doesn’t even involve paper. Painting was a break from the digital world. Working with a physical medium like paint was rewarding and challenging. It reminded me of the reasons I went into graphic design- I loved to create, and drawing had been my favorite activity since birth. Once I went to college, I explored that part of my creativity less and less, despite my requisite drawing classes. Painting came naturally, like this part of me was just waiting to be utilized.

Our first project was to recreate an existing painting. I recreated an oil painting by Judy Drew. Using texture was a new exploration for me, as my early studies of still lives in class were mostly flat and less detailed.

Our next project was a landscape drawing from real life. I dd a lot of sketching for this one and painted most of it from those sketches. I enjoyed playing with color, mainly using an inventive color palette while keeling it relatively accurate. It was in the process of this work that I realized my tendency to simplify objects and spaces.

Nearly a year later, I was producing work like this below, using more inventive color. The color became the focus. I enlarged portions of the center image to create the two smaller ones. The outcome made me more interested in abstraction. This was an exercise in letting go and not planning too highly.

I continued to explore color, as well as making more deliberate decisions.

Finally, this is a piece I am currently working on. It is my first time painting directly from my surroundings. It is an abstraction of me and my roommate’s makeshift studio in our house. I began with my usual simplified shapes and slowly added as much detail as i could, with very deliberate patterns and more representation elements. It’s decorative yet simple style relates to my work in graphic design.