#design512

[desn512shams]

My Final Animated Poster Set!!

"Aotearoa Today"

For the Summative Assessment: The Life Force

[desn512shams]

Political Statement Poster Experiments Continued:

I worked with creating a different version of my initial minimal styled political poster design.

For these experiments I worked with changing the scale of background to text, shifted the layout and placement of the text, and colour of the background and the text. I really like where it ended up creatively (the last image). It's not as clean, and is jarring, but still modern which is a statement about the issue being a modern problem.

The main text is centred, though it's broken up and non linear, to create a vibe of something jolting, and unexpected, and mimicking the social 'chasm' that we are discussing as the central theme of the poster. The text is falling, in bold red, to project the the alarm and tension of the statement, and broken system/political processes that are currently in place. The idea is to pull the eye to the focus of the statement "...The social divide is already a chasm." and then the eye flows to the context/details/explanation of the statement in the smaller font. I've tinted the most important words to help create a subtle emphasis that doesn't conflict with the main headline or focal point. It is in the same tone and colour family as the composition, but you'll only read it second, if that makes sense.

The background gives us a sense of scale, to make us feel small by the sheer height of the building towering above. Also, the tone & texture of the background is meant to remind us of something from a black & white newspaper clipping, so that it implies that the topic is both old news (from an old newspaper), while also being a current news headline too.

Typeface: Futura Bold : I've kept the typeface the same throughout so that the design isn't messy, especially since I've got lots of flowy lines and cut up text going on.

I picked Futura bold, because it is clean, simple, clear, and geometric, which flows well with the abstract forms in the poster. This typeface is determined, striking, timeless, ambitious and respectful while also representing the eras of Modernism & Industrialisation, which speaks to the current Auckland housing crisis that I'm looking to highlight here.

The name of the typeface itself is important as well "FUTURA" which speaks to 'hope for the future'.

***

Here is the original quote for your reference:

We’ve calculated that the average Auckland earner would need to save for 17 years for a 20% home deposit, let alone paying off their mortgage. The social divide is already a chasm.”

Dot Loves Data director Tamsyn Hilder 

from: buildingabetterfuture.org.nz/delivering_adequate_housing_and_our_infrastructure_needs_for_the_21st_century

[desn512shams]

My Pitch Deck Design

Reflection;

In hindsight; it could probably benefit with a table of contents page and some page numbers because it's so long! haha!

Also another thought is that there is room to consider other forms of layout that isn't so straight forward...But I'm pretty happy with how clean and cohesive it turned out.

Struggles: was hyphenation: taking it out and then trying to clean up the 'rag', is that the term? Make the edges not so ratchet. It meant making a couple of text boxes slightly bigger than others, and make it work as best I could! Also remembering how to use all the things like kerning, and keeping it to 9-14 words on a line, my body is 12 over 14, and the headers are x3 the body text size...just lots to keep in mind...I probably should have created a check list to tick off to make my life easier!

[desn512shams]

Some of my pitch deck inspirations; I have a whole folder of these!

Reflections:

I noticed that the majority of pitch decks I came across felt very corporate and same-y. These are some of the few, in addition to the ones from class, that felt like they had a bit of creativity with the layout and design, and didn't feel so corporate.

For my pitch deck, I ended up not using a template as inspiration, because none of these seemed to do it for me. Not saying that I created anything revolutionary by any means, I just decided to keep it simple, similar to Osbourne-Shiwan in a way, and use a couple of my colours from my poster, the jade tones & a soft gold.

For typeface choice; I went with 2: the first is my typeface from my poster, it is the broken-down version of Engraved Expanded, which is a signature of my poster and animation design. Second is a clean type that is in contrast to the above, and that was RALEWAY. I loved Raleway because it's beautifully designed, polished, and contemporary, and works well for both print and screen. It also felt approachable, yet sophisticated, and didn't clash with my main typeface, in my view. It felt like a good type to represent me. Since the pitch deck is my voice, I chose Raleway for the body text.

[desn512shams]

Didn't realise that I missed posting this! Notes from Osbourne-Shiwan :)

Reflections - it was great to hear and see how a brief is addressed, and how we end up arriving at a final design. I noticed that their pitch decks were quite simple, so as to let the content and their story-telling take centre stage.

"Design is about implementing an idea in a fantastic way."

[desn512shams]

Pitch Deck Rationale - Final Draft

Ko te Mauri he mea huna ki te moana

The life force is hidden in the sea

My posters are about the hidden treasure symbolized in this whakatauki. It is the story of an ancestor who calmed the sea by tossing his cloak into the waves so others could cross. It speaks to the hidden value of gifts from those that have paved the way for us. It also speaks about a true treasure, hidden away, but you’ll see it, if you know where to look.  Personally, this whakatauki resonated because I have only just rediscovered my passion for art and design, recognizing its significance only recently. I had lost myself once upon a time, and finding a new home here in Aotearoa has shown me the path towards gaining my true self again. In other words, Aotearoa and its people, represent not just my home, but the very golden Life Force that has propelled me forwards on my journey. It has kept me safe, fuelled me with Aroha, and hope, and like the chief that tossed his cloak to pave the way, I too, one day, would like to have paved a path inspiring others that follow. It is my hope that my design resonates in the same way for all; That Aotearoa’s today is because of those that have taught us, or improved our lives in some way to get us to this point. For this, we are so grateful. And, for the collective to see in themselves their talent that can be used to help grow, and pave the way, for Aotearoa’s tomorrow.

Thoughts for improvement; re-do this to touch on how the design elements I've picked (colour, design elements, typeface) relate as well.

[desn512shams]

Pitch Deck Intro: Final Draft

I chose to rewrite my intro completely so that it is more authentic to me, and shows the raw growth journey towards why I chose communication design....but it's so long. Argh. How do I shorten this tale? I'm not a writer so this is tough! But here it is...

I am Shamsa Baddai, a first year of Bachelor of Communication Design student at Auckland University of Technology (AUT). Auckand is my home, where I live with my partner and our ginger cat named ‘Loki’. Originally from Oman, growing up, I endured oppression and domestic violence. I had a passion for art, and despite winning National art competitions during school, I was discouraged from pursuing it. My voice was stifled, and my art dwindled, replaced by fear and following orders.   I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology from the University of Auckland in 2018 as it was the closest I could get to an art education at the time. This period marked a turning point in my life as I fought for my rights, ultimately gaining refugee status, and winning my case; which set a precedent for Omani or Arab women seeking refuge from violence. I am now a proud Kiwi citizen. While working in admin, I was sought out for my creativity to make posters, invites or signs despite my lack of technical skill, which ignited my creative side again. I even taught myself to use tools like Photoshop. I loved utilizing technology to fuse my art with design to create a meaningful artifact. I also really enjoyed interpreting a vision and expanding upon it.  My turning point was during a recent overseas trip to Universal. I noticed the ‘Wizarding World of Harry Potter’ had such creative posters. That entire world was designed by ‘MinaLima’. It sounds crazy, but I teared up. I wanted so badly to be part of the team that created such beautiful artefacts, and I realised that I deserved to finally pursue my creative dream, now that I can.  I don’t know what kind of designer I am going to be yet, but I do know that my goal is to use my illustration & digital design skills to craft print that is imapactful, beautiful and strong, like my voice, and I want my work to be out on the walls, in films, and in the hands of Aotearoa, and the World. 

It took me seeing their posters on a wall in Universal. Where it all came together, and the journey here began...

**Reflective Notes; Revisit my writing to shorten, and clean it up, because it’s currently too long…

[desn512shams]

After Effects Planning Sketches: (Just noticed that I hadn't shared these yet, whoops!)

The first (A4), is the very first concepts: I ended up enjoying working with concept 1 and building upon it. I couldn't figure out how to do Idea#2, and I researched and googled, but i just couldn't get my head around it. So that lead to the course I took...

the second post-it, is in my 'fine tuning'-final phase. The main design and movements were animated on the page, and upon placing them side-by-side, I realised that the lighting needed to work across from each other, and the reveal timings needed to gently show that they are a unified set. So the post-it is my plan, with slight tweaks after multiple tests.