Vis Comm 1 Assignment 3: Speedy Recovery! – Get Well Soon Card (3)

The Final Work…Get well soon…

Changes that I made using the feedback are as follows:

The outside(back and partially the front which is the fold) is made to look like a simple canvas material bandage like texture.. There are some hint of colours almost like drops of wet diffusing water colours, with the colour spreading.
The corporate text is aligned better and the arrangement is more concise. However, the typeface could be slightly thinner in terms of its weight.
I changed the floral patterns inside to a slightly thicker vector drawing as compared to the one in the mock up. I did that to make them more prominent, but it could have been a tad bit thinner.
I made them colourful as suggested in the earlier consult, but the colours did not seem very likeable for all, but the idea was to make it bright and cheerful which can easily pass off as tacky. However, I find this a little subjective, especially because we are dealing with cheery get well soon cards.
I generally retained the elements of light watercolour splashes and floral motifs that I chose to work with. There was an attempt to make it look like they were growing bigger from the centre. Exploding out, but not vigorously. I did not want to suggest too much movement.

What would I do to better this card if I was given another 2 weeks to work on it?

The use of typeface can be explored further. Apart from that the use of colours can be more stylised and varied and I would study more on the flower motifs.
The choice of paper was a 150 gsm white card. It is a matte paper, but had a slight sheen, which i found suitable for a card. In my opinion glossy cards a little old-fashioned, like season greeting cards of the 90s. However, I would have loved to try slightly textured paper.

MY REFLECTION

I have definitely seen myself starting to find things challenging finally, in my first step in Vis Comm. I do not take this stumbling blocks and learning obstacles as a negative factor and I do not see it as a failure. I would like to take my learning from this semester to the next, so that I can improve myself further. I have learnt many important points in this course, thanks to the numerous feedback from Michael and my friends. I enjoyed exploring with liberty in the assignments. I had fun! 🙂

Vis Comm 1 Assignment 3: Speedy Recovery! – Working on the design (2)

Progression…

I chose to work with the diagonal gate fold card, as I found the other designs to be too complicated for a get well soon card, which should essentially be simple and pleasing.

Design for the visual composition…

I chose to work with the visual graphics of floral patterns and light watercolour like washes. I wanted to work with this idea as I wanted to link this with assignment 1’s therapeutic elements of flowers/plants.

Back and partial front of the card

Inside and partial front of of the card

The design for the inside and outside are contrasting, as I wanted to put two styles in the card to see which one works better.

Please don’t mind the pointers noted down on the mock up.

The mock up was not very perfectly placed due to printing in my home printer. However, it was close enough to give me a rough idea of how the card would work.

I added a bandage sort of texture and a plaster to make it look like a plaster being ripped apart when the card is opened. It is meant to bring out the surprise element of colours inside.

The diagonal gate fold card before slight modification.

During the consultation, Michael decided to cut of the portion of the “diagonal gate” which extends out in front of the rectangular portion, to see if it makes a difference. It actually did. It seemed to be better. I initially thought that that portion can be folded, but totally getting rid off it was more sleek.

The design of the card was settled, but the typography and visual graphics needed to be cleaned up and be better. Michael has given quite a few advise, and I hope it would be reflected in the final work. 🙂

Vis Comm 1 Assignment 1: Therapeutic Graphics – “Rejuvenating Blossoms” (3)

Final proposal

Recapping on my initial process, I came down to the idea of working with the abstract floral pattern for the therapeutic graphic. Flowers are part of nature, and these delicate product of the natural surrounding is something most of us cannot dislike heavily. Every hospital generally has a florist. Flowers play such an important role in the recovery of patients. They symbolise recovery, happiness and so much more.

Poggi-Giovanni-di-Dio-Hospital-in-Florence-Italy

Flowers as a subject matter in art displayed in hospitals.

From the previous week, I took the advise of Michael to work on expanding the design for the therapeutic graphics. After also looking at some of my own overlapping ideas, this is what I have come up with:

Rejuvenating Blossoms

I put my design in Illustrator to trace them out neatly.

WhatsApp Image 2016-08-28 at 21.11.13 (2)

My hand-written mood board from the first stage of Therapeutic Graphics

I had initially wanted to use the idea of stained glass art. Also, my theme revolved around the rhythmic beauty of nature and the underlying spirituality it exudes in a subtle manner. Therefore i made the colours translucent, so that the actual piece will allow the sunshine to pass through.

This pattern is not only reminiscent of flowers, blossoms, etc. But it is also satisfyingly therapeutic with the continuous curved lines.

The colour choice revolves mostly around complementary and split complementary colours. Hospitals tend to have a very dull mood and atmosphere, especially in relation to their colour scheme. In my opinion, these colours I have chosen are energetic, vibrant and evokes a rejuvenating feel in the viewer.

Some parts of the design is meant to allow the outside to be visible. As such, the external surrounding is not completely blocked off vision, taking in consideration claustrophobia and feelings of being stuck in a jail-like place.

This pattern can be used in repetition to create an extensive design:

Vis Comm 1 Assignment 1: Therapeutic Graphics – Trying out Colours (2)

Out of the patterns which i came up with, i felt most connected with this particular piece. In fact i found it very therapeutic to look at and felt the same while redrawing it. Amongst the earlier sketches i did, this particular one received the most response. This piece is an abstract floral design. The curve lines of the floral patterns are meant to be therapeutic. The rhythm in this floral abstraction is meant to create an almost lyrical effect.

blossoms, blooming, mellifluous, joyous, nature, soothing, vibrant, invigorating, rejuvenating, enlivening, fragrant, spiritual, prayer, hope, gentle… These are some words that comes to our mind when we think of flowers…

WhatsApp Image 2016-08-12 at 11.49.27 (6)

J-Walk @ Ng Teng Fong

In the experimentation of colours for this project, it is important to consider the colours carefully. Therapeutic colours can be of various nature, but since this is in a public space, it must be both therapeutic and appealing. The space we are working with is white. The floor, pillar and walls are all almost white and as such the whole place is a little too bright. Therefore i decided to stick to the usage of colours that would sort of tone down the “whiteness” of the space, but at the same time not darkening it.

My choice of colours for this design, is based of the possibilities of colours in flowers. There are endless possibilities in fact.

I chose both pastel and vibrant colours to fill in the work. I also tried a gradient stained glass effect. I would not say that i like it a lot, but it is not too bad. Since the start i have been mindful not to cover up the entire window with the patterns. If i was to fill the entire window with opaque colours, then it might cut away the connection that the space has with the external surrounding. The patients there may have already been feeling stuck in the space, like as though it is a prison. To completely block the view of the outside would further aggravate that and not serve the purpose of being therapeutic.

There are more possibilities that i can experiment with. I expect the end result to be something rhythmic and mellifluous.. the idea of a soothing musical effect that the pattern should exude along with its vibrant yet calming colours. 🙂

stained glass effect

working with the vibrancy of complementary and split complementary colours

A little more green to relate back to nature