The Need
The Director of the School of Art and Design has asked for a new design to represent Georgia State University in the publications Art in America, Art Papers, and Artforum. The design should act as an advertisement for the fully funded MFA/MA Program at Georgia State. The ad will represent the school as part of its image and branding for 2011-2012 academic year. The overlaying message should communicate to a larger audience, making a significant impact on the public and raising awareness of the program among other colleges/universities.
In addition to the new design being a fresh idea to promote the school of art and design, the advertisement should communicate the program’s creative environment as well as its urban nature. The project brief states, “There is a need for any imagery to reflect the idea that GSU campus is an urban campus that stretches out among the corporate and downtown business community. The students and campus are an international community at large which is current and modern with a new President and Provost.”
The Design
The work reiterates the school’s need to highlight their creative environment as well as communicate the urban feel of the campus. Each solution adhered to the array of information that needed to be explained in a clear and concise manner. The use of typography, hierarchy, and composition were all considered strongly in the final design and production of the ads.
My design strategy uses images of the pavement, paint and cement of the city streets in order to achieve a sense of the urban environment in downtown Atlanta. The focus is on the abstract texture of downtown roads. In addition to this, I used photographs of stencils to create display type. This approach exemplifies the hands-on nature of an art department. The aspect of craft combined with urban textures makes my design concept.
The colors in my design are primarily grayscale by nature of the color scheme of downtown Atlanta. The concrete is gray; the paint is white. Because this is the case, the design could easily fit within a b&w print ad. Color should be used sparingly and for accent purposes only. The colors I’ve chosen to incorporate match the existing color scheme of Georgia State, red & blue.
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