Assignment 1

When viewing many different graphic design images, many of these artists were able to express themselves and their ideas using lines, shapes, and dots as a form. When being asked to create designs using these same forms, I found it to be quite difficult. I was given the words harmony, chaos, isolated, crowded, loud and quiet. This was difficult for me to execute due to my ideas being able to represent other words better than the ones given to me. In order to create a final piece I had to follow the following process.

The first thing I had to do was create five to six thumbnail sketches per word pair. I used inked pens and graphite pencils as my medium the reason being that it was easier to work with as well as express the different thicknesses between each line and use a variety of grays.Next, I had to pick out the best pair and execute them. I then did this by using a 7 x 7 bristol paper. I then used Gouache paint and painted each pair of sketches I chose. When using gouache paint, I chose to use very small brushes, such as size 0 and ⅕ to help define the lines. I wanted my work to come out clean, neat, as well as defined and unique. Using a ruler, I was able to make my lines look more accurate for certain words, such as loud.

Next, I looked at my finished work and made the decision to add some things in order to make it look better and more balanced. I also realized that my final work did not have to look exactly identical to my thumbnail sketches. In order to create my final work, I used the principles of Design and the Elements of Design. I used repetition on the shapes in order to create emphasis to the idea being created for the word crowded. Balance was used for the word chaos by having the lines on the entire space given. I also used shape, line, size, and value in my pieces as well by using the different value of brushes and amount of paint used.

Lastly, I chose one word pair to execute on Adobe Illustrator. I decided to use the pair, Loud and Quiet because the both executed balance as well as having been a very clean and neat piece. On Illustrator, I used the Brush tool in order to create the curves of each line. I then duplicated each of these lines and made them gray in order to create a sort of back drop for each line. This process was the hardest because I had to depend on the computer mouse instead of my own hands to create the lines I wanted.

I was able to finish this assignment on time even with all its difficulties. Not only did I have to work my way around Adobe Illustrator, but I also had to change my point of view as an artist for this assignment. I am an Illustrator, so I tried my hardest to make sure my work did not look like a painting or drawing but more like a graphic design. In the end, I think I was able to accomplish my goal and include the elements and principles of design.

My Process