Tag: illustration

Design Artefact 1: Process

Design Artefact 1: Posters / EDM

I started off designing posters for the financial brokerage firm Millennium Associates. The posters were intended to target the recently married or married couples who just had children. This would allow the brokers in the company to help to facilitate setting up a trust fund to help with their children’s education and future expenses.

Poster 1: Don’t lose your children’s bread and butter

I started off by taking a simple top down photograph of my baby sister’s cutlery, and rending it in photoshop to make it look better.

 

The attempt to express a visual metaphor came from the idea of a plate, and playing with the idea of a plate to communicate the urgency of financial planning and ensuring that clients’ families are well protected.

I did not like the outcome of rendering the plate on illustrator, and I felt it may be a bit too boring, hence I decided to merge the mediums of photography and illustration to get a desired effect.

The idea of “loss” is conveyed through putting a couple of dollars on a baby’s plate, communicating the lack of sustainability in the way most couples are going about planning for their children’s education.

This was draft 1 of the poster. I created a table cloth patterned background and information that was placed in a central composition, while the logo was placed in the top right. During the consultation, it was mentioned that the message might be too strong, as “losing your child” can mean many things; like a child dying etc. Therefore, I had to rework on the message, and perhaps make the logo a bit smaller.


Poster 2: The race begins early

I started off with a simple concept of the race track, where every parent wants their children to get a headstart in the rat race. There are different ways to ensure that one’s children have an advantage, but the firm’s focus was to start early to end well. Thus, our ads have to be targeted at children, so that the trust fund has time to grow and deliver the results needed.

Again, it was a blend of vector illustration and photography. This gave the poster an element of youthful playfulness, and would not feel as static as a poster incorporating just one medium.

The advice given during consultation was that the 2 posters had 2 radically different compositions; the first adopted a central composition whereas the second was more dynamic and off-centre. Thus, I worked to ensure that both posters had the same composition, tightening the grids and playing with type to ensure that both posters conveyed the same kind of playfulness and yet gravitas of the message.

Project 2: Research and Development I

I started off doing some research into vintage ads because I liked the simplistic style and technicolor aesthetics, and hoped to find some inspiration. I found an illustration magazine and among its pages were the following posters.

I liked the muted color palette and the simple, clean forms of the artwork. It was direct and sent a clear message.

I like this poster the most because of its composition, art direction and message.

The poster’s message is simple: wear and share your Nike Airmax sneakers. Being a sneakerhead, I like the way Nike has implied a community. Indeed, the brand builds communities around sports. The poster does exactly that.

By using a limited color palette with teal, red, white and black, it is able to create an immediate visual impact with space-themed aesthetics. With balls in orbit, one can easily interpret them as footballs, tennis balls etc. It has enough ambiguity to be playful. The shoe is smack in the centre, like the sun, pulling everything into its orbit.

This is the essence of the poster – Airmax is the centre of the universe. And the emotion it elicits is that of awe and amusement; that something worn on the feet can be celebrated in such a way.

The big bold custom typeface enhances legibility the poster. Together with vector illustration, flat bold colours and good contrast, it generates visual interest with the space-themed illustration first before giving clarity in the big bold type.

Overall, I feel that the playful approach makes this a very effective ad as it conveys the energy of the brand (Just Do It) as well as the call to action (AIRMAX DAY). The execution was bold and forthcoming, combining a limited palette with a bold illustration style and even bolder typography.