Point, Layers and Transparency

As I am getting closer to finishing my first ever poster design, I thought it would be interesting to have a look at some theory from 'Graphic Design : The New Basics'.
So I first started reading about point, line and plane, which are the absolute basics of design that everybody should know about. But for my poster design, I thought that it would be important to concentrate on 'point'. I really liked the definition the book gave of point saying that 'a point can be an insignificant fleck of matter or a concentrated locus of power. It can penetrate like a bullet, pierce like a nail, or pucker like a kiss. A mass of points becomes texture, shape, or plane', because it points out that rather than being just an insignificant dot, the point is an important tool that can help to create loads of different things.
So why do I think the theory about point is important for my analysis? Well, as I decided that I'm going to use to different versions of a Bandstand photograph in my poster, the original picture in the background and a halftone version in the front, I think that the definition from the book is particularly helpful when having a look at the halftone picture of the Bandstand. As in the books definition this shows how 'a mass of points becomes shape', and in the case of my poster, it's the shape of the Bandstand.

Another thing that I thought would be interesting to have a look at in relation to my poster, is the book's definition of  layers. Since I started working with Photoshop and Illustrator I knew that I wanted to work with a lot of different layers in my poster because I think it is really interesting to see things overlapping, fading into each other,etc…
However, what is particularly interesting in 'Graphic Design : the New Basics' is that it also talks about layers in relation to transparency, a phenomenon which I also took into account while working on my poster.
'Transparency and layers are related phenomena. A transparent square of color appears merely pale or faded until it passes over another shape or surface, allowing a second image to show through itself'. 
This explains exactly what I am trying to do with my poster. I took the originally black and white Bandstand photography as a background and then put a pink rectangle with a transparency value of more or less 60% over it.

Although normally one should do this kind of research before starting to actually work on a design, I think that in this case it has helped me more to look at the different definitions and design tools after I nearly finished my poster, because it helps me to understand what I did and how the things that I did influenced my poster.

Aram Bartholl&Post Internet Art

Today I did a presentation on Aram Bartholl and Post Internet Art in class. At the beginning of term when we had to choose the topic we wanted to present, I had no idea what Post Internet Art actually is, and I only chose it because it sounded kind of interesting, especially as I am studying Media&Communication and hence constantly get confronted to the Internet and the digital world.

As I started researching for my presentation and tried to find some information about Aram Bartholl and Post Internet Art, I slowly began to explore a totally different kind of art that was completely new to me. 

In his work, Aram Bartholl explores the intersection between the virtual and the physical world. He turns digital objects into physical ones and asks not only what people do with the media, but also what the media do with people, a question that, I think, is essential in the 21st century. 

The thing that fascinated me most about Aram Bartholl's Post Internet art is probably that he involves other people into his work, by organizing different workshops or, as in 'Dead Drop', putting USB flash drives into walls,buildings and other public spaces and thus inviting people to find or drop files on a dead drop in the middle of a city. 

And although Post Internet Art doesn't really have anything to do with graphic design and probably won't help me to find further inspiration for my poster, I can definitely say that I have learned something new and I will definitely keep an eye on Post Internet Art and Aram Bartholl in the future. 

Getting closer

So after deciding that I definitely want to work with a photograph of the Bandstand in my poster, the first thing I did was actually going to Brighton and taking a picture of the Bandstand myself, which I then edited a bit to get a really strong black and white contrast. 

So I guess this will probably be more or less my final poster design. 

Before, I was only working with Illustrator because I didn't really know how to deal with Photoshop. 

But after trying for hours and hours to get along with both programs I finally managed to figure out the basics in Photoshop.

So I did the background on Illustrator, then went over to photoshop to halftone the Bandstand photograph and put it into Illustrator, over the original photograph of the Bandstand, to make it look a bit as if the halftone picture would kind of flow into the real photograph. 

I'm not sure if I'm going to stay with the transparent pink as background color or if I should experiment a bit and try other colors, but for now this is more or less what I wanted to do, and I have to say that I'm quite satisfies so far, even though it isn't perfect yet.

Changing ideas

In the last few weeks, I was thinking a lot about whether my initial idea to work with different typefaces and colors wouldn't be too easy. So I had a look at some other poster designs, hoping to find some other inspiration for my poster. 

However, I thought this poster looked very interesting, because of the different layers, the colors and the pixelated background. 

Of course this is completely different from my initial idea, but I think this is a bit more interesting than a simple white background with some letters on it. 

Furthermore, trying something completely different, gives me the opportunity to experiment a bit more with Photoshop and Illustrator and thus also learn how to use different tools and styles. 

So using the 'Drawn Together' poster as inspiration, I started thinking about how I could use this idea for my 'Brighton Digital Festival' poster and it came to my mind that it could be interesting to use a photo of the Bandstand as it is one of Brighton's famous landmarks. 

Working on this design, I really got a feeling for Illustrator and Photoshop and I found it particularly interesting to integrate a photograph into my poster. 

As you can see, I used the bandstand photograph twice in my poster, in the background in a very transparent rose tone, and in the foreground in black and white. 

I really like the fact that due to the different layers and levels of transparency, the pictures overlap at certain points. 

But although I'm already fond of this design, I think that I will continue experimenting and I will try to get even closer to the initial 'Drawn Together' poster inspiration.