Students create typographic compositions working with classic fonts. Final work includes a series of 3 static compositions and 1 final motion interpretation. This example is by ECU student, Abigail McCorkle.
Typequads is a sophomore-level, introductory graphic design assignment that design faculty at ECU introduce to students in ART 2200 GD Survey. This project challenges students to work with typography and 2-dimensional space (with special attention on positive/negative relationships and letterforms).
In the shift to online teaching and learning, we transiitioned outcomes from a focus on printed final artifacts to digital final articfacts.
This resulted in a revised final assignment that introduced students to motion via frame by frame animation with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.
Students completed this work in Fall 2020. Designers include: Hannah Mace Chelsea Pritchard William Endicott Viv Maynard Mady Barringer Linsdsey Mumpower Annika Chhabra Andrea Cheek Maddy Backes Abigail McCorkle Maryjoe Cortesrosa
This semester, the graphic design seniors at ECU were introduced to graphic design principles in motion and storytelling. Students were challenged to consider the element of time in their work effectively to communicate a message or idea.
We surveyed a lot of sample work on Vimeo from historical to contemporary examples. To view our Vimeo showcase for this project, click here: https://vimeo.com/showcase/6270083
In this project, students worked with abstract vector graphics and/or letterforms to design a 30-second motion piece with music using time and space as design elements. Student work was completed fall semester 2019 in Senior studio. Students learned and applied principles of motion, and worked with effects and processes related to time-based digital media to develop storyboards and produce final outcomes with Aftereffects.
I am very excited to announce that the chapter, Motion Design in the Context of Place, was published in the book, The Theory and Practice of Motion Design: Critical Perspectives and Professional Practice, 1st Edition, edited by R. Brian Stone and Leah Wahlin, this past summer, July 2018. This chapter was completed in collaboration with colleague, Cotter Christian, Interior Design professor at Parsons, The New School.
The chapter addresses how motion design and place can reshape the way the other is perceived, generating meaning that creates more dynamic experiences between people and their environment.
When motion design is an integrated or applied part of a building, or another spatial environment—interior, exterior, or other, it becomes part of the built environment, adding meaning and potentially, creating a stronger sense of place. Simultaneously, the context of place—the environment, the activity, the interactions that take place within a space become part of the motion work itself.
Counter Culture Messaging (also referred to as Guerrilla Advertising) plays a pivotal role in shaping popular culture and influencing society. Found in physical and virtual platforms, counter-culture messaging lives and thrives all around us, whether we choose to participate or not.
Phase 1.
In this investigation, I am focusing on guerrilla advertising that lives in public space. Public areas constitute neighborhoods and streets as well as shared spaces like work and restaurants that are subject to many different people navigating the space.
Below is initial fieldwork research investigating guerrilla advertising in the neighborhood “Old Fourth Ward” Atlanta.
Steven Heller defines pop icons as “celebrities who have transcended the usual fifteen minutes of fame to become natural (or manufactured) members of the cultural pantheon… usually pop icons are ephemeral – hence the reference to pop – but sometimes they begin as ephemera and turn into something that transcends time. [1]
[1] Heller, Steven. POP: How Graphic Design Shapes Popular Culture. (New York, NY: Allworth Press, 2010), 39.
I also created mood boards to collect popular culture references from print media, television, and web. You can see some of this research here.
Phase 2. Building an Icon
The next phase of work was conceptualizing and producing the iconic figure inspired by popular culture references discovered in research. Nova emerged as a figural, non-gender specific representation of the societal lust for fame.
As the design developed, the goggles and antennas became the prevalent iconic elements of Nova. She can see and hear all things, always connected to culture around her. She is happy, curious, and engaged.
The color palette and pattern is also an important factor in developing the final imagery for the campaign. It was important to create a strong look and feel for the icons in order to create a recognizable family of images. Artwork influences include steam punk movement (especially for the design of the goggles) as well as pop art movement.
Phase 3. Guerrilla Advertising in Public Space
Phase 4. Experimental Video
Online Viral Messaging
