I still have several assignments to post from the basic graphic design class I took last fall at SVA. I wanted to take a portrait photography class this semester, but I decided I didn’t have the time to spare. Judging by how long it’s taken to get around to posting this entry, it was probably wise to take a break from continuing education. (Plus, the only session was on Friday nights!)
For this assignment, we drew randomly from an assortment of ugly advertising brochures and postcards. There were some pretty funny selections, including a llama farm. I drew a postcard for Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market. Our task was to design a completely new advertisement using the techniques we’d been learning. The project dimensions and the name of the business were really the only requirements.
In representing Hell’s Kitchen, I wanted to stay away from cliché symbols like devils and pitchforks. The problem with that, as we’ve learned, is that the obvious symbols are usually the best. The challenge I gave myself was to tread the line between obvious and obscure in a way that would still communicate the idea. My mind went to "that weird bird thing" in the Heironymous Bosch painting The Temptation of Saint Anthony. I thought that the hellish characters and scenes in Bosch’s paintings would be a perfect source of non-cliché symbolism.
Rather than duplicate Bosch’s style (okay—I lack the necessary painting skills…), I thought I’d lighten things up and use a vector art approach. I chose colors from a typical Art Deco palette (according to books and internet resources), and cast characters from various Bosch paintings. The famous "bird thing" already has a funnel on its head! How perfect is that? It is Hell’s Kitchen after all. I merely substituted the letter in its beak for a dollar bill and depicted an exchange for a colander, another wonderful kitchen accessory! (Afterthought: I price tag would have been a nice touch.)
Of course, I got carried away and put a lot more detail in this project than you actually see when viewing the printed product. I’ll zoom in on a few details here because they’re actually quite fun. If you look at several of Bosch’s paintings, you’ll see that they usually depict the foreground all the way to the horizon. The Garden of Earthly Delights is his most famous work, and has fanciful buildings in the distance. I tried to capture these receding depths in my card, even if very crudely. The main characters are the focus, working back to a stylized city skyline in the background. The middle was supposed to be a bustling flea market scene, however, I got bogged down in the meticulous detail and ended up taking shortcuts to finish the work. The table in my piece was lifted from this scene in The Temptation of Saint Anthony:
I redressed the characters (except Mr. Giant Plum guy on the cellphone at the bottom) and put items on the table that were similar those shown on the original card. The bottle was from my earlier assignment Magic With Cards. In the interest of saving time, I left out various hands and arms. I did sooo want to put the owl on the pig guy’s head…oh well:
I figured fitting to include Heironymous Bosch in the flea market scene. Here’s what he looked like, according to himself:
You can barely see him in the final design. My Heironymous Bosch portrait turned into somewhat of a side project. I changed his hat into a beach hat. I’m sure he would have worn one. I was going to have him opening his coat to display watches for sale or probably some more diabolic trinkets. Instead, it looks like he’s flashing. Well, these details are all lost in the final product anyhow:
I ended up throwing in a few pitchforks. There’s a whole table of space heaters and cauldrons and oil lanterns and coal, all under the watchful eye of the giraffe from The Garden of Earthly Delights.
Was it a successful design? The professor seemed to like it, but didn’t think most people would recognize the reference. Only a handful of classmates were familiar with Bosch’s work. However, my goal wasn’t to have people recognize the artwork, but to interpret a hellish (yet inviting) scene. I think it works, but I cannot be objective after having spent so much time on this. What do you think?
Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market Art
I still have several assignments to post from the basic graphic design class I took last fall at SVA. I wanted to take a portrait photography class this semester, but I decided I didn’t have the time to spare. Judging by how long it’s taken to get around to posting this entry, it was probably wise to take a break from continuing education. (Plus, the only session was on Friday nights!)
For this assignment, we drew randomly from an assortment of ugly advertising brochures and postcards. There were some pretty funny selections, including a llama farm. I drew a postcard for Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market. Our task was to design a completely new advertisement using the techniques we’d been learning. The project dimensions and the name of the business were really the only requirements.
In representing Hell’s Kitchen, I wanted to stay away from cliché symbols like devils and pitchforks. The problem with that, as we’ve learned, is that the obvious symbols are usually the best. The challenge I gave myself was to tread the line between obvious and obscure in a way that would still communicate the idea. My mind went to "that weird bird thing" in the Heironymous Bosch painting The Temptation of Saint Anthony. I thought that the hellish characters and scenes in Bosch’s paintings would be a perfect source of non-cliché symbolism.
Rather than duplicate Bosch’s style (okay—I lack the necessary painting skills…), I thought I’d lighten things up and use a vector art approach. I chose colors from a typical Art Deco palette (according to books and internet resources), and cast characters from various Bosch paintings. The famous "bird thing" already has a funnel on its head! How perfect is that? It is Hell’s Kitchen after all. I merely substituted the letter in its beak for a dollar bill and depicted an exchange for a colander, another wonderful kitchen accessory! (Afterthought: I price tag would have been a nice touch.)
Of course, I got carried away and put a lot more detail in this project than you actually see when viewing the printed product. I’ll zoom in on a few details here because they’re actually quite fun. If you look at several of Bosch’s paintings, you’ll see that they usually depict the foreground all the way to the horizon. The Garden of Earthly Delights is his most famous work, and has fanciful buildings in the distance. I tried to capture these receding depths in my card, even if very crudely. The main characters are the focus, working back to a stylized city skyline in the background. The middle was supposed to be a bustling flea market scene, however, I got bogged down in the meticulous detail and ended up taking shortcuts to finish the work. The table in my piece was lifted from this scene in The Temptation of Saint Anthony:
I redressed the characters (except Mr. Giant Plum guy on the cellphone at the bottom) and put items on the table that were similar those shown on the original card. The bottle was from my earlier assignment Magic With Cards. In the interest of saving time, I left out various hands and arms. I did sooo want to put the owl on the pig guy’s head…oh well:
I figured fitting to include Heironymous Bosch in the flea market scene. Here’s what he looked like, according to himself:
You can barely see him in the final design. My Heironymous Bosch portrait turned into somewhat of a side project. I changed his hat into a beach hat. I’m sure he would have worn one. I was going to have him opening his coat to display watches for sale or probably some more diabolic trinkets. Instead, it looks like he’s flashing. Well, these details are all lost in the final product anyhow:
I ended up throwing in a few pitchforks. There’s a whole table of space heaters and cauldrons and oil lanterns and coal, all under the watchful eye of the giraffe from The Garden of Earthly Delights.
Was it a successful design? The professor seemed to like it, but didn’t think most people would recognize the reference. Only a handful of classmates were familiar with Bosch’s work. However, my goal wasn’t to have people recognize the artwork, but to interpret a hellish (yet inviting) scene. I think it works, but I cannot be objective after having spent so much time on this. What do you think?