Zine: The Adventures of Amazing Anam

Zine

In the light of our final project for this module, I have decided that it would be best to show how much I have grown in terms of personal style, ideation, conceptualization and tactfulness when it comes to dealing with elements of 2D. These past two semesters was a necessary stage of evolution for me, as I delved deeper into my creations, heavily considering and applying the things I have learned throughout. My zine consists of pre-2D works, early 2D works and recent 2D works to show the progress and improvements I have made with careful guidance.

The Adventures of Amazing Anam

The first thing I wanted to do with my zine when we were first briefed on the assignment was to give it character. I needed my zine to scream me, to grab the attention of readers and to leave them with a lasting impression of myself. Therefore, I narrowed it down to featuring my illustrations. I feel that creating digital illustrations was by far my strongest ability in Foundation 2D as I have a distinct personal style. With the theme of progress and personal style revolving this project, I have decided to name my zine “The Adventures of Amazing Anam”.

Zines_1

Amazing Anam

As narcissistic  as it may sound, “amazing” was not an attribute I have deemed myself. My fellow peers were the ones who gave me this nickname at the start of college, and it has since then grew to me. Furthermore, it has a nice ring to it, don’t you think so? With the pressure of living up to this name, it has only propelled me to do better in my work.

Zines_2

The Zine in Flesh

Cover PageAnam-1

I have created new illustrations for the sole purpose of this assignment. One of these is a caricatured version of myself in my own drawing style. I have also dressed this character based on my intended outfit for the day of presentation to better relate and to accentuate the aspect of personalization in my zine.

Within the cover, I have pervaded subtle messages with the use of symbolism. Red balloons are often associated to passion and strong feelings we have as a child. And the action of letting go of a red balloon is to forgo the dreams and aspiration you have as a kid. But for me, I have latched myself to the strings of the balloon, allowing myself to ascend with it, an indication that I am still connected to the visions I had as a child.

The crown that my character is reaching for is veiled in an orange halo, representing the goals that I wish to accomplish in life. Bright yellow is used throughout the zine as I closely relate to it since it represents optimism, happiness, and energy. The purple splat is not only used to complement the yellow used in the composition, but it symbolizes creativity, power and authority – something that I wish to exude, but not abuse.

My cover page is designed in a strong diagonal composition with my character taking center-stage. I have taken hierarchy and contrast into consideration to make certain objects stand out more prominently than others. The typeface used for the title is playful and bursting with energy. I have also varied the alignment and orientation of the texts to make it more interesting and dynamic.

The overall look that I desire to achieve with this zine is the painterly look. This explains why there are blobs and splats of paint across the pages and why there is a watercolour finish to the images.

Page 2 & 3: Inspiration

Anam-2

I started of the zine by featuring 4 of the most amazing artists that have greatly inspired my work. I thought that it was only appropriate for me to credit the artists who have contributed extensively to my style of illustration. They were all drawn in my personal style, encapsulated in a circle with their descriptions placed next to them.

To give better variation, I have mad each of their circles of different colours but kept the design consistent and pushed them to the leftmost side of the spread. The rest of the spread is heavily filled with my illustration “Soft & Sweet”, one of my earliest digital works which represents the early-comings of a beautiful story. With the paired visuals, this whole spread highlights my early beginnings, displaying great potential and desire to excel.

It was suggested for my “Soft & Sweet” illustration to fill 2/3 of my spread to give a better sense of composition.

Page 4 & 5: Earlier Artwork

Anam-3

The following spread emphasized my growing stage of discovering my style, where I started to mimic the styles of other artists to see how they could fit the look that I was going for. While this exploration takes place, I have made yet another illustration called “Russet & Gold”, where it represents change and maturity with the autumn as the season used.

I also realized that the subjects of my illustrations revolved around nature. I embraced the complexity of trees and leaves, infusing them into my characters to better tell my stories.

At the side, I have written a short description on my earlier works in Foundation 2D. I have used works from my Ego assignment from last semester as this particular project allowed me to use my own illustrations to express my ideas. Although I was more comfortable using safer colours back then, I still take complementary, analogous and harmonious colour combinations into considertaion.

This spread also has a 2/3 composition with my “Russet & Gold” illustration filling majority of it. However, the difference between it and the previous spread is that the big illustration is pushed to the left instead of the right.

Page 6 & 7: Distinct Style

Anam-4

For the final two pages, I have decided to make it different from the previous pages, arranging the images in a more consistent and constant alignment. The illustration on the far right however is of a higher hierarchy as I feel that its composition is much more interesting compared to the rest.

I discussed about how my work has evolved over time and how I finally settled with the style that I have always desired. It is prominently shown how all the characters in my illustration, whether man or animal, has a slightly reddish nose to distinguish them from the rest of their facial features. It took me several tries to get it right, and only with the previous “Point of View” project, was I able to finally showcase the style that I have been developing over the course of Foundation 2D.

I have also transgressed my comfort level of using colours and went with louder and odd colour combinations. And although this was a departure from the safe and warm colours I used in earlier works, it has proven that these weird a different colours could still work in a single composition.

These illustrations have much deeper and much well-thought out underlying messages in them. I have became more tactful in how I execute my ideas to better translate to others.

The placement of images and texts in these two pages are more editorial. But I have left out some spaces empty, as suggested by Shirley, to give some breathing space to the page.

Conclusion

All in all, I am very impressed with the amount of improvement I have showed as this module transpired and I’m really thankful for the guidance that has been provided by both my professor and peers. I am excited to reveal my distinct style to a larger audience and I hope this is only the start of my evolution.

Thank you for taking the time to read my final post on Foundation 2D. To all my peers reading this, here’s to a brighter and more fulfilling academic year ahead! Cheers!

 

Point of View: Final Outcome

Voila! Here are the final 6 illustrations for my Point of Views.


 

The sheep from the point of view of an insomniac is 1…2…3…

Point_of_View_1


The sheep from the point of view of a shepherd iz dolla bill$!

Point_of_View_2


The sheep from the point of view of a shear is his 3 o’clock client.

Point_of_View_3


The sheep from the point of view of his wife is  baaad boy!

Point_of_View_4


The sheep from the point of view of Damien Hirst is half a sheep.

Point_of_View_5


The sheep from the point of view of a goat is her gay best friend.

Point_of_View_6


Thank you for taking time to check out my work. In case you missed it, do check out my Research and Process & Execution here.

Sincerely,
Anam Musta’ein

Point of View: Process & Execution

After studying the works of Fran Krause, Alexandra Ball and Andreas Besser, I tried to fuse their styles together and incorporate that into my existing style. What I tried to achieve over the process of my work was a style with clean line work (varying in thickness and swiftness), a misty and grungy look in terms of color and texture, as well as a painterly finish in all my illustrations.

These artists all have one thing in common – they all did illustrations for children’s books. And I guess that is what my style is more appropriate for. Coming back to the point that the sheep is associated with child-like characteristics, it is obvious as to how I would like to execute my final images. However, due to the mature content of my POV ideas, it creates humor and irony as the style clashes with the message. And I guess that is the very factor that makes my artwork for this project more interesting.

Sketches:

Sketches

I started out with basic sketches in my sketchbook. With the POVs finalized, I had a clear idea of what objects I would like to feature in each and every image. There were drafts that were scrapped and there were some which were scanned, traced over in Photoshop, and further developed.

Below are all breakdowns of how the final look of the image is achieved. For almost all of the POVs, I started out with a basic sketch eventually turned into a cleaner and more refined line work, before adding the basic colors in and eventually visually enhanced with light, shadow, texture, and gradient.

The painterly effect was achieved by overlaying a mono-toned water color layer over the refined image. This gave the illusion of the illustrations being hand-painted instead of being digitally-drawn. This effect gave the illustrations a dark, comical and yet demented look due to the grungy texture of the paint blobs.

1. The Insomniac:

Point_of_View_1

“The sheep in the POV of an insomniac is 1…2…3…”

Initially, I was thinking of portraying the insomniac through the cross-section of his bedroom with the sheep featured in it. But I decided that it would be better if the sheep was depicted as a play of the insomniac’s imagination. Therefore, only the sheep’s shadow is seen as it leaps over the insomniac’s bed. It is a bird’s eye view of the insomniac’s room creating a more axial composition. Cool colors were used with a hint of orange to give balance to the composition.

2. The Shepherd:

Point_of_View_2

“The sheep from the POV of a shepherd iz dolla bill$!”

This is a play with words where pop culture has influenced the terminologies that replaced money and wealth. Since the shepherd is often referred from biblical times, I have decided to modernize it and give him gold shutter shades, gold chains, bling-blings, a throne, a bejeweled chalice and a golden cane. The sheep surrounds him like peasants. And in this arrangement, it created a triangular composition where the shepherd is at the top of the hierarchy. Yellow tones were used on the shepherd to accentuate his wealth and happiness over the sheep.

3. The Shear:

Point_of_View_3

“The sheep from the POV of a shear is his 3 o’clock client.”

As you know, the shear is used to shave the wool off the sheep by farmers. If I were to personify the shear, he would definitely be the barber/hairdresser to the sheep. So in this illustration, I have made the sheep a regular customer of the shear. More vibrant and louder colors were used in this image to display a sense of fab and to create the ambiance of a salon. I have emulated the same type of framing as the one used by Andreas Besser.

4. The Wife:

Point_of_View_4

“A sheep from the POV of his wife is a baaad boy!”

This is a pun used to humanize the relationsheep of the sheep and his wife where they get a little bit playful in their private space. There is also pop culture references in this illustration such as the BDSM-ensemble the characters have put on as well as the large behind (excuse my language) of the wife. Purple stands out the most in the image, with mists of pink, to create a more sensual and sultry scene. Dramatic lighting is used to push the shadow casting on and framing the sheep in a triangular composition.

5. Damien Hirst:

Point_of_View_5

“The sheep from the POV of Damien Hirst is half a sheep.”

Damien Hirst is a famous English artist known for dissecting animals and cutting them into half for his displays. Although his artwork are usually seen from the cross section of the animal, I have decided to put the sheep in a different view where you see its organs slipping out of its body. All that happening while his sick sheep-friends watch. I wanted to achieve a gruesome and a slightly deranged humor in this illustration. The shadows of the sheep are placed in a position that creates the illusion of elevation.

6. The Goat:

Point_of_View_6

“The sheep from the POV of a goat is her gay best friend.”*

Since the sheep is blessed with the gift of its fleece, I thought that it would be funny if it is compared to the fur of a goat, where it is seemingly non-existent next to the sheep. In a way, it makes the sheep much more fabulous in comparison. And that is why I have associated it with “the gay best friend”. There are also hidden innuendos in the illustration such as the flag and the shirt. The sheep is encapsulated in an egg-frame to show sureness and confidence.

*Disclaimer – No intent in discriminating against any social groups.

 

Thank you for taking time to check out my work. In case you missed it, do check out my Research and Final Work here.

Point of View: Research

A ______ from the Point of View of ______ is ______.

I have decided to go with the Sheep as my subject of interest for this assignment mainly because I wanted an embodiment of humor, innocence and indifference. After much research, I realized that people who tend to associate the sheep as their spirit animal are child-like, gentle, vulnerable, self-accepting and can be very conforming to social norms. With these attributes taken into consideration, I have revolved them in my point-of-views (POVs).

Here are the POVs that I have brainstormed on:

  1. A sheep from the point of view of an insomniac is 1… 2… 3… 
  2. A sheep from the point of view of grass is a satanic predator.
  3. A sheep from the point of view of grandma is a knitted sweater with love.
  4. A sheep from the point of view of a wolf is a candlelight dinner.
  5. A sheep from the point of view of Mary is a BFFL.
  6. A sheep from the point of view of a Border Collie is a recruit.
  7. A sheep from the point of view of the herd is Carl the idiot who messes up the formation.
  8. A sheep from the point of view of a shepherd iz dolla bill$
  9. A sheep from the point of view of a shear is his 3 o’clock client
  10. A sheep from the point of view of a goat is her gay best friend
  11. A sheep from the point of view of an eagle is a target.
  12. A sheep from the point of view of Damien Hirst is half a sheep
  13. A sheep from the point of view of Sir Ian Wilmut is his proudest discovery.
  14. A sheep from the point of view of his wife is a baaaaaaad boy.
  15. A sheep from the point of view of New Zealand is over-population.
  16. A sheep from the point of view of the Scottish is a delicacy.
  17. A sheep from the point of view of Steve (of Minecraft) is a bed.
  18. A sheep from the point of view of an alpaca is his short-necked cousin.

I have listed 18 ideas and the ones in bold are the six that I have worked on for my final images. I have chosen these six POVs because they bring out the different aspects and qualities of the sheep by greatly personifying them. And this is enhanced even more from how I wanted to embody the sheep as mentioned earlier.

Notable artists that I have drawn inspiration from for this project:

Fran KrauseFran KrauseFran Krause, a professor at California Institute of Arts, began cartooning irrational fears of his own, then started to illustrate submissions of fears he received from the general public and posting them on Tumblr. Early in September Krause culminated this long running Tumblr project in a book entitled “Deep Dark Fears.” The book is centered on the irrational obsessions and fears that people battle every day as shown in his illustration above.

His style is rather distinct. He incorporates both simplicity and a dark-creepy grotesque style to further accentuate his rather sketchy illustrations. And his choice of colors are mostly cool and analogous, having a consistent palette throughout his panels of illustrations. His illustrations have a painterly finish to them, which makes them more amusing to see.

Alexandra BallAlexandra BallAlexandra Ball is a professional children’s book illustration artist based in Guildford. She loves line drawings, spending the early stages of a project working on fluid, hand-sketched compositions. These are scanned into the computer for coloring, and textures are added to give the overall feel of a collage. Looking at her illustrations, you can tell Alexandra’s style is influenced by nature and the four seasons.

What I love most about her illustrations is that they are made up of very simple yet distinct shapes. And they are then further worked on with added details and vibrant colors. This clever use of shapes and colors help give her illustrations more developed and compelling compositions.

Andreas BesserAndreas BesserAndreas Besser 2Andreas Besser, a professional Illustrator based in Berlin, Germany. He specializes in children book, character design, and black & white illustrations.

I admire how he is able to bring so much dynamic into an illustration without much use of a background. They feel isolated, but the story within feels very much complete. And even with works that is presented with a background, he has a unique way of framing the composition with the use of thick brush strokes. His line work is pretty extravagant as they varied in thickness and swiftness.

 

Thank you for taking time to check out my work. In case you missed it, do check out my Process & Execution and Final Work here.

Typographic Portrait: Final Outcome

Voila! Here are the final images for my 4 Typographic Portraits.


My Name is

Typographic Portraits (Astronaut)

And I am an Astronaut.

 


My Name is

Typographic Portraits (Gambler)

And I am a Gambler.

 


My Name is

Typographic Portraits (Journalist)

And I am an Editor-in-Chief.

 


My Name is

Typographic Portraits (Architect)

And I am an Architect.

 


 

Thank you for taking time to check out my work. In case you missed it, do check out my Research and Process & Execution here.

 

Sincerely,
Anam Musta’ein

 

Typographic Portrait: Process & Execution

The ideation process was key to how I was able to diversify my styles in the 4 final designs for my typographic portrait, all of which were entirely worked in Photoshop. As mentioned in my research, I did not wish to maintain the same boring style throughout like how I did for previous projects. I wanted to do something out of my comfort zone. After all, I am all about experimentation.

1. Astronaut:Astronaut

For the Astronaut idea, I aimed to go for a playful and sleek look to my illustrations. I wanted the typeface to be fused with astronomical features so I began drafting out rough sketches to see how they could be incorporated in my typography. I took a lot of inspiration and references from Ralph Cifra so that I could create something that is bold, easily identifiable (in terms of silhouette), but simple and clean. My sketches mostly consist of my attempts to force objects such as a satellite, an astronaut suit, and space shuttles, into my typeface.

Composition Breakdown:

https://oss.adm.ntu.edu.sg/a150067/wp-content/uploads/sites/176/2016/02/Typographic-Portraits-Astronaut.gif

Once I had a solid idea of which direction I was heading to, I began looking up for fonts that would best suit the characteristics of an Astronaut. It should be a sans-serif font since I wanted that “Space Invader” kind of look. So I finally settled with a font called Spaceport One. As seen from the image above, this is how I have constructed the composition. I altered the overall silhouette of the type and went to add on the essence of an astronaut with a dark starry background to complement the brightly-lit word. The ‘a’ is of a space helmet, the ‘N’ is of a constellation, the other ‘A’ is of a space shuttle, and the ‘M’ is of a satellite. I was heavily influenced by the works of SNASK.

2. Gambler:

Gambler

For the Gambler portrait, I had a casino theme in mind where all the objects should revolve around poker cards, poker chips, dice, roulette, slot machines and neon lights. I initially wanted to have different objects to represent each letter of my name but thought that it would be too similar to my Astronaut portrait. Then I decided to go with a style that looks more photo-realistic and more “in the moment”. However, I find the need to force my personal touch into it.

Poker-Cards

So I took a template of poker cards from the internet and alter the characters in these cards to look like my own. Much like how Mattias Adolfsson did with his illustrations. These characters are better representations of me, having a more friendly and jolly outlook. The Jack and King of Hearts were replaced with ‘N’ and ‘M’ instead to spell out my name in the deck. The difference is shown in the image above. The font used was

Composition Breakdown:

Typographic-Portraits-(Gambler)

After getting all the source images in, I arranged them in a manner where it appears like I am playing the game. It is more of stacking the objects on top of one another, starting from the “carpeted” table top all the way to the realistic lighting. I added shadows to bring out the objects to focus.

Insights:

The objects are arranged to be translated metaphorically, where the cards are what I have to offer (my personal strengths and attributes) in exchange for the reward of chips (success and monetary gains in life), while the dice represents the risks that I dare take to accomplish and win the game. The cards take a heavier portion of the composition to show that no amount of rewards could overwhelm my qualities (staying true to oneself and not sell out).

3. Editor-in-chief (Journalist):

Magazine-Covers

When you think about an Editor-in-Chief, you think of somebody in control of what he/she does and what he/she wants their readers to see or read. Power and influence com to mind when I was generating ideas for this typographic portrait. And what could be more powerful and influential than the massive number of highly controversial magazine covers of our time. I have pieced up and made a collage of magazine covers that has trended and became the hottest topics of discussion among the youths of our generation, be it good or bad. I have adopted the style of Hannah Höch of photomontaging for this piece of art.

Composition Breakdown:

https://oss.adm.ntu.edu.sg/a150067/wp-content/uploads/sites/176/2016/02/Typographic-Portraits-Journalist.gif

Upon compiling the magazine covers, I made cutout templates with the effect of ripped paper for the images and arranged them in a disoriented manner across the page. This was then enhanced with a crumpled-paper texture and sepia-tone filter to give it an old and vintage feeling. I have cut out letters of different fonts from several publications such as Maxim, The New York Times, Paper Magazine, and Times Magazine, to spell out my name in the typographic portrait. I’ve added shadow and tape to make the texts stand out.

4. Architect:

Buildings2I had a clear idea of how I wanted to portray the Architect in me. I wanted the text to be written on a blueprint like how floor plans are done. But I felt the need to add more to the overall aesthetics. So I listed out some of the most iconic works of architecture in the world such as the Taj Mahal, The Eiffel Tower and Burj Khalifa. I also wanted it to look very tedious and detailed in terms of the textual information that is accompanied by the main typeface. I was also going for a sketchy texture to it.

Composition Breakdown:

https://oss.adm.ntu.edu.sg/a150067/wp-content/uploads/sites/176/2016/02/Typographic-Portraits-Architect.gif

After much thought put into it, I stuck with the integrity of a genuine blueprint where it is white ink over a blue background. The font that I started with was called Architecture, a sans-serif typeface. Once that was done, I blocked them out into simplified and unified shapes before adding the silhouettes of the iconic buildings which I have mentioned above. I went on to add the “sketchy” texture and overlaid the blueprint (with the grids) on top of the text before adding the accents such as lines, arrows and actual measurements of the buildings.

 

Thank you for taking time to read on my process & execution, do check out my
Research and Final Work here.

Typographic Portrait: Research

My name is Anam, and I am a …

My name, which was given by my late grandfather, in full translates to “a vessel in the sea” in Arabic. It is a metaphor for someone who explores the vastness of this world only to bring people closer together. And I believe that I am living up to the meaning of my name. I am someone who is goal-oriented, but somehow have not gotten a clear idea of what I truly aspire to be. Throughout the 22 years I have lived, my aspirations constantly change. With new insights of entirely new prospects, I come to realize that the reason for doing so was because I crave to try something new and to take risks. This is why I have decided to pursue Interactive Media as a major instead of going with my initial plans of sticking to Animation.

I have chosen my first name, Anam, to be expressed as Typographic Portraits in conjunction with six different occupations. And four of which (Astronaut, Gambler, Journalist and Architect), are professions I wanted to be in earlier in my life. While the remaining two (Optometrist and Air Traffic Controller) were ideas drawn from the aspirations of two of my very close friends.

But why? Well, I felt that every person is an embodiment of their pasts, be it good or bad. These are the things that have shaped us to be the person we are right here, right now. And this is the very reason why I have decided to work on them.

Idea Generation:

  1. Astronaut (Age 5-9)

    • An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft. Although generally reserved for professional space travelers, the terms are sometimes applied to anyone who travels into space, including scientists, politicians, journalists, and tourists.
    • Personal Story to Share:
      At the age of 5, I had dreams of becoming an Astronaut. I guess it was due to my fascination with space, adventure and aliens that sparked my interest in astronomy. I used to watch Hanna-Barbera’s “Space Stars” and “The Jetsons” when I was younger. And I was lucky enough to have supportive parents who bought me astronomy encyclopedias to feed my adolescent mind.
    • Symbolic attributes: Adventurous, brave, curious
    • Aspects: Spacesuit, Rockets, Planets, Stars, Space Shuttle, SatelliteMoodboard_7_Astronaut
  2. Gambler (Age 10)

    • A gambler is someone who wagers money or something of value (referred to as “the stakes”) on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods. Gambling thus requires three elements be present: consideration, chance and prize.
    • Personal Story to Share:
      People usually associate gambling with something negative such as greed and addiction. But as a 10-year-old, Hong Kong Triad movies were seen as something cool and bad-ass. And as I grew up, I realized that these bad-ass qualities turned out to be made of very positive attributes that I have shared below. However, my parents were not so keen on letting me thrive with such an influence. So my fad with it died down pretty fast.
    • Symbolic attributes: Intuitive, risk-taker, confident
    • Aspects: Casino, dice, poker cards, gambling chips, money, jackpot machineMoodboard_6_Gambler
  3. Journalist – Editor-in-Chief  (Age 11-13)

    • A journalist is a person who collects, writes, or distributes news or other current information. A journalist can work with general issues or specialize in certain issues, however, most journalists tend to specialize, and by cooperating with other journalists produce journals that span many topics.
    • Personal Story to Share:
      When I was 11, I began reading a lot, especially magazines like Reader’s Digest, National Geographic, and Times magazine that my parents subscribed to. Soon enough, I got into writing (which was paired well with my drawing skills). There was once I wrote a short story for a competition, and it got featured in my school’s magazine. From then onward, I was pretty keen on pursuing a career in Journalism.
    • Symbolic attributes: Audacious, charismatic, creative
    • Aspects: Camera, typewriter, microphone, newspaper, magazines, tabloids, articles Moodboard_3_Journalist
  4. Architect (Age 14-16)

    • An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design and construction of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that have as their principal purpose human occupancy or use.
    • Personal Story to Share:
      As I grew older, I began to draw even more and write much less. I enjoyed perspective drawings. It was not until my aunt said that my sketches looked pretty architectural that I got more interested in the subject. I considered Architecture as a course of study after my ‘O’ levels. But I decided to take up Animation instead.
    • Symbolic attributes: Realistic, ambitious, organized
    • Aspects: Blueprints, buildings, construction site, drafting tools Moodboard_4_Architect
  5. Optometrist (inspired by a close friend)

    • An optometrist is an eye doctor. Optometrists examine eyes for both vision and health problems, and correct refractive errors by prescribing eyeglasses and contact lenses. Some optometrists also provide low vision care and vision therapy.
    • Symbolic attributes: Insightful, meticulous, observant
    • Aspects: Eye chart, glasses, contact lenses, phoropter, retinoscope, eyes Moodboard_1_Optometrist
  6. Air Traffic Controller (inspired by a close friend)

    • Air traffic controllers are people trained to maintain the safe, orderly and expeditious flow of air traffic in the global air traffic control  Controllers apply separation rules to keep aircraft at a safe distance from each other in their area of responsibility and move all aircraft safely and efficiently through their assigned sector of airspace, as well as on the ground.
    • Symbolic attributes: Vigilant, foreseeing, collected
    • Aspects: Airplanes, radar screen, aircraft marshaling, plane plotter Moodboard_2_ATC

Artistic Approach:

In terms of the artistic style that I have adopted for this project, I have studied and gained inspiration from the works of Hannah Höch, Ralp Cifra, Mattias Adolfsson and SNASK. I did not want to stick to a common style for my 4 panels as I wanted to delve into much diverse means of expressing my ideas. So I have decided to make each panel different from each other.

Hannah Höch is a German Dada artist most notable for being the pioneer of the art form known as photomontage. Many of her pieces sardonically critiqued the mass culture beauty industry at the time, gaining significant momentum in mass media through the rise of fashion and advertising photography. Many of her political works from the Dada period equated women’s liberation with social and political revolution. In particular, her photomontages often critically addressed the Weimar New Woman, collating images from contemporary magazines.

1

SNASK is an internationally renowned creative agency (based in Stockholm, Sweden) that makes kick ass branding, design & film. I was reading an article and chanced upon their work. And I was so amazed at how bold, simple, and yet elegant their typography works were. And their biggest and most renowned project so far was done for The Washington Post. I wanted to incorporate their crafty sense of design and bold use of colors for this project.

4

 

Mattias Adolfsson is a Swedish illustrator whose work have truly inspired part of my drawing style. He has a very distinct way of expressing the characters in his artwork. And while he has a lot of wonderful works in his gallery, I was really drawn to his poker card designs which were cleverly personalized and are bursting with emotions. I was keen to showcase some of my illustration styles in this project without overly using them and ignore exploring other means of artistic expression.2

Ralph Cifra is a Philippine-based visual artist, illustrator, and graphic designer. His illustrations were beyond awe-inspiring. He has a really good sense of colors and he is known for making simple, yet vivid and prominent silhouettes when it comes to illustrating everyday objects. His vibrant interpretation of these everyday objects has made his designs pleasantly eye-catching. I desire to achieve such traits with my type designs.

3Thank you for taking time to read on my research, do check out my
Process & Execution and Final Work here.