#txstate design

[itsmdgblog]

Vernacular Typography 

Street Signs 

Roaming around the streets of Downtown New Braunfels was quite the experience to visit a new place and observe the variety of signs in neon lights, fonts, sizes, and styles. “Street Signs” is based primarily on the name of an art school near the street San Antonio. Therefore, the hierarchy of this poster is “Total Art Design and Architecture,” referencing the Communication Design Program. Moreover, the visual texture within the title accompanied by the low opacity of text and color consisting of red, yellow, and a tint of green draw the viewer’s eye to the street sign San Antonio alongside with the vertical position of the title. Overall, the decision to have a dark background allow the composition to have a contrasting, brighter foreground color so that the hierarchy can remain as emphasis throughout the composition. The location and date that the images were taken is placed on the left hand corner of the composition opposite of the title to have a symmetrical balance of text throughout the layout.

[itsmdgblog]

Letter Forms and Objects

M & G 

In a Serif Font, the uppercase letter M is primarily composed of two stems on each side that connect with two strokes in the middle which creates a vertex, or the foot that created a point at the end of the letter. In addition, above the vertex, an apex is created with the connection of both stems and strokes meeting in the middle to create the letter. The left and right stem vary from one another because the left stem and right stroke appear to be thinner compared to the right stem and left stroke which are thicker. This permits the visual, asymmetrical balance of the position of the leaves due to the difference size of strokes within the letter. The left and right stem contain a bracket that connects between the stem and therefore, creates a foot on both sides which allows the letter to rest upon the baseline. The counterform or partially enclosed negative space is noticed by the remaining negative space of the two stems connecting with the strokes in the center. The foot permits the viewer to recognize the Serif Font type in this letter. Therefore, the letter “m” is constructed with the Serif font type Adobe Caslon.

The uppercase letter “g” in a Serif font begins with a bracket or foot, then it is curved into an arm leading to what is called stress and it is also considered the main stroke. The arm and stress or curvature on the side of this uppercase letter is connected to the spur; the spur is a small projection that deviates off the main stroke. Then it leads to the chin, or the upward stem which ends in the upper right serif where the letter is completed. The counter of this letter is the open space that is created by the beginning serif and ending serif that encounter each other but do not meet. The uppercase letter is between the baseline and the cap-height line. Therefore, the letter “g” is constructed by the Serif font type Century. The counter within this letter successfully permits the mountains to occupy the open space that balances throughout the illustration because the stroke of the letter g is broadened. The waves towards the bottom of the letter depict the idea of water, therefore, the color blue throughout the letter portrays water and allows the viewer to conclude that the letter g acts as a body of water to establish the scenery of a mountainous landscape.  

[itsmdgblog]

Book Jacket 

Dirty Work

"Dirty Work," by Larry Brown is a narration of two complete strangers that share their memories, romantic escapes, and childhood stories alongside each other in a Virginia hospital while drinking beer. Walter James and Braiden Chaney were both born and raised in Mississippi, fought in the Vietnam War, and were gravely injured and met at a Virginia hospital. The book jacket's layout is primarily a representation of a flag in reference to their service, however, the fifty stars are replaced by twenty-two skulls portraying the twenty-two years that Braiden Chaney has spent in the hospital with hope to die soon. The centered red line depicts their loss of physical blood during their service and the agony of the days, months, and years that they have spent separate from their families, and the loss of a normal life of a man. The title of constructed of magazine letter cutouts and placed to give the idea of a ransom letter due to the fact that they have been kidnapped from the life that they wanted to have, yet could not due to their post-war injuries.

[itsmdgblog]

Creative Book

Barber Shop

Barbers are a growing, artistic business that has been increasing back in my hometown, Laredo, Texas. Therefore, this artistic profession inspired me to create this book. It visually demonstrates the commonly used tools that barbers use to execute their cuts and styles. Although, there is not a step by step process due that every client is different based on their preferences, but have the similar need to style and cut their hair. Thus, the layouts in each page display the primary image of the tool accompanied by secondary and tertiary image of the same tool in a different angle, close up, or set accordingly to the barber in its station with a threshold adjustment to create texture within each page. In addition, to capture the artistic sense of the barber a black box with a difference adjustment was set on the left hand corner of the page to create contrast with color.

[itsmdgblog]

Opposing Forces

Hear, See, Talk No Evil

As an individual, we all have to examine ourselves from the inside out. From my own personal experience, I belief that each one of us at some point of our lives categorized ourselves as someone without fault. However, that makes all of us hypocrites. Therefore, the incorporation of the allegory of “Hear, See, Talk No Evil,” represents how we perceive ourselves as individuals who have never seen, heard, or spoken evil to others or even our own image. To emphasize the reality of ourselves, the eyes and lips are exposed opposed to the saying because the truth is, we hear, see, and talk evil unconsciously and consciously. The contrast color of the red lips portrays the dangerous trait that every individual possesses, yet it is hidden behind who we believe we are. The eyes are centered in the design which permits the audience to be drawn into the mystery of analyzing and accepting themselves as hypocrites.

[itsmdgblog]

Pictograms 

The pictogram system is based on the primary or recognizable face features of each zoo animal- eyes, mouth, and specific characteristics, such as feathers, small eyes, nostrils, or large ears. The concept of this system is to obtain their most prominent features of their frontal profile in order to be labeled. The hexagonal shape is used to replace the natural identity of the zoo animals creating a unified system by obtaining a unique contour outline. The negative and positive space are accurately distributed by maintaining a consistent size stroke and equal amount of details within each zoo animal. By continuing the hexagonal shape to create the form in each animal allows this system to remain cohesive, however, the distinct geometric shapes, lines, and the contrasting use of negative and positive space allows each animal to be identified independently.

[itsmdgblog]

Headline Interpretation

Beset by a Golden Curse

“Beset by a Golden Curse,” is the headline of the chosen article which describes the discovery of gold within the land of Brazil. The Kayapo Indians contracted white men to work in their mine and have a percentage of their revenue divided between the two races. In obtaining profit, the Kayapo Indians began to modernize their everyday lifestyle by wearing closed shoes, such as running shoes, shorts, and dresses for the girls. While expanding my research, the Kayapo Indians have been exposed to technology and now use cellphones and engage in social media. However, as they are being exposed to modernism, such as clothing and technology, they remain true to their culture and traditions. Hence, my design depicts and Indian man with a traditional headdress, loop earrings, and a spear while wearing Nike shoes. The incorporation of the words “Do It,” is a reference towards the Nike slogan of, “Just do it.” The overall composition has a poster-like design image-based solution of simply using the headline of the article. The negative space is proportionally balanced with the positive space of the depiction of the Indian because it is positioned in the center allowing the audience to engage in the image by reading it vertically. Therefore, the eyes of the audience are directly placed on the word “Do,” that allows a vertical line to guide the viewer towards the Indian unto the “It.” Overall, the conceptual concept and graphic composition align successfully with the article with the proportional balance of negative and positive space and depiction of a Kayapo Indian.  

[itsmdgblog]

Content in Form

Ride Green

The world has been deteriorating before humanity’s eyes for the past decades. Humanity has seen how global warming has affected the ozone layer, the North and South Pole, the animal’s habitat, and the environment. The structural content within this design is to emphasize the shapes of the bikes to realize their existence as an alternative method of transportation. This eco-friendly of riding a bike to school, work, or simply to run errands is not just an option to stay active, but need to be taken into consideration for the benefit of planet Earth.