A lightning flash:
between the forest trees
I have seen water
Shiki, M. (n.d.). A lightning flash. MyPoeticSide. https://mypoeticside.com/show-classic-poem-27232
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Source
Acrylic paint and marker
The theme I took from the haiku was the idea of a source. I looked at experimenting with geometric shapes, black and white colour and repetition. I decided to depict multiple circles instead of just two larger ones to emphasise the “source” that the lines are emerging from. I originally planned to portray the circles making one singular form as a union (Wong, 1972), however, to show the forms geometrically it was apparent that the circles must overlap instead. Hence the addition of the white outlines around the circles. By using the Gestalt principles of design I was able to create my poster in a simplistic way even though “source” could be illustrated in more detail. Overlapping the circles rather than grouping them detached or just touching, created the strongest sense of a proximity relationship between them as one object. (Chapman, n.d.). Acrylic paint was hard to manipulate when creating the circles so I’d prefer to use either markers or create the poster digitally. However, I did find that paint allowed more area to be covered in a shorter amount of time due to its smoothness which would not have been possible with marker.
Here I Go Again
Digital Illustration
I came up with multiple movie title names from the poem by Shiki as an inspiration for the poster. My end choice was “Here I Go Again” inspired by the cycle of storm to water. The colour scheme is complementary colours of navy blue hues and yellow-brown hues. This created a strong contrast between the two moods present. The navy blue hues made a colder scene to show the character leaving behind an unhappy setting (Chapman, 2010). While the yellow-brown hues allowed the depiction of a warm and positive setting that the character would travel to (Chapman, 2010). I handwrote the title and used a more structured font for the various headings allowing for a contrast and drawing focus on the main title. The title was further emphasised by the repeated use of the font for the headings to make them less noticeable. I used the rule of thirds to split my poster into three parts and highlight key objects. In this poster, I wanted to signify “change” using the suitcase as a signifier (Amaral, 2020). I found using digital techniques to create the poster made for easier additions of detail and colour techniques.
Storyboard
Watercolour and Adobe Illustrator
The theme I explored for this poster was the idea of a blessing disguised as a curse. The story follows Emily, who misses her interview with her dream company. Disappointed, she sits in a cafe and someone, Amanda, happens to spot her portfolio work. This leads Emily to join Amanda's studio where they make an animated short film together. As the story progresses, the weather changes from gloomy, rainy to brighter, sunnier weather as a nod to the original Haiku that inspired this poster. The use of similarity of the background characters in frame 6 allows there to be a higher level of salience on Emily (Polson, 2020). I choose to keep the majority of my poster monochromatic but added colour to highlight key aspects of the story. I used rain to signify the the "curse" that was to ensue and sun as a signifier of the blessing that resulted (Amaral, 2020). The use of the combination of hand and digital techniques allowed flexibility in the creation process. It was easier to create and colour the frames by hand but adding detail was made easier using Adobe Illustrator.
References:
Amaral, C. (2020). Week 3 Lecture Slides. The University of Auckland.
Chapman, C. (n.d.). Exploring the Gestalt principles of Design. Toptal.
https://www.toptal.com/designers/ui/gestalt-principles-of-design
Chapman, C. (2010). Colour Theory for Designers, Part 1: The Meaning of Colour. Smashing Magazine. https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/01/color-theory-for-designers-part-1-the-meaning-of-color/
Polson, D. (2020). Image Sequence Story. Lecture, The University of Auckland.
W, Wong. (1972). Principles of two-dimensional design. John Wiley.
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