Packaging project...

This assignment, at first, seemed very daunting.  It's one thing to try to create an image/story about an object two-dimensionally, it's another to do it in 3D.  And, it's particularly challenging to create a package that is unique and doesn't simply repeat what has already been done commercially.   In designing a package, I considered several ideas.  One was based my initial theme of "The Power of Words"/"The Pen is Mighter Than the Sword".  This concept was represented in the first assignment by the pen as strong man/body builder postcard.   Building on that concept, I developed the advertisement (assignment #2) depicting Martin Luther King delivering his "I have a dream" speech.  The idea was that words can be so powerful that they can change the world, as did MLK's speech.  The project was heavily criticized for it's graphic presentation (which was done in powerpoint as I don't have, or know how to use, photoshop or illustrator).  Clearly, powerpoint does not provide the flexibility needed and did not allow me to do what I wanted to do graphically.  Having said that, I think the theme is a strong one and I am using it to guide my designs for project #3.

Thus far, I have developed two rough models.  One is a rectangular box with a padlock at the top.  The tag line behind this one is "Unlock the Power" -- again the power of words, the power of what a person can write/say.  The second is a box enveloped by wings.  The wings idea is "let your words take flight". The feed back I received in class about that idea was that it was very feminine and would not appeal to a male market.  I am now concentrating on the lock/power idea and developing some alternative images.

Blog assignment #1

The site I chose to review is www.wagonized.typepad.com.  The others were interesting, but this one really hit me.  I loved all the portraits.  Some were self-portraits and some were of loved ones doing mundane things (such as, watching The Daily Show).  Initially, from viewing the sketches, I assumed that there were several artists on here.  There are disparate styles among the sketches.  After reading about the artist who has created this blog, I learned that the artist on here is a former art student who had a career teaching, but never let go of her love of sketching.  I love her work.  The level of detail is remarkable.  Many of her sketches employ cross-hatching very liberally to create a strong sense of depth.  A few sketches, in particular  ("Unmerciful",  "Pigmas & Patton" and "Incredulous") were particularly successful in their use of shading.  I feel the faces really came alive.  They were done in such a way that you would recognize those people on the street.