Tuesday 5th April 2011:

I continued with my responses to Michael Ostermann’s work in my sketchbook and decided to also carry out my idea of having a similar image on the page opposite the ‘victim’ to represent the ‘bully’. I think these have turned out quite well and that the colours signify the characteristics quite well. For example, the light, ‘pretty’ colours used for the image of the victim could indicate the innocence and vulnerability of the victim. Similarly, the dark colours used for the bully could show the dark thoughts a bully could have and the deep emotions which they could be going through. However, these could also be seen the other way where the bright, colourful image of the victim could be mistaken for the bully as they are in ‘control’ and the dark colours could represent the victim because being bullied could make them feel sad and depressed (like the colours used), etc.

Also, although the fact that the shapes around the victim are all confined and attached (showing how ‘trapped’ the victim may feel), and the shapes around the bully are falling apart and smashing together, the words within the shapes may not be easily understood by the viewer. For instance, in the image of the bully, there are words such as ‘fat’ and ‘idiot’ to show the insults the bully could use, however, people may view this as the victim being called these things. I therefore feel that I could have visually communicated this better. Someone suggested that perhaps I could have given the victim more of a sad expression and the bully an angry expression. Although this may help to show which character is which, I wanted to show in these images that although they victim and bully are made up of the same ‘makeup’ and are the same underneath, the words they say and the way they act and feel is what sets them apart.

I also read an article about Jules Julien and his work in the Computer Arts magazine (issue: 185, March 2011). I discovered this designer at the Pick Me Up graphic art fair which I visited last month. I responded to his work (the ‘exploding/ disintegrating’ faces) in my sketchbook, which I thought were really effective. In this article, he describes his style as ‘realistic with surrealist background meaning’. I thought this was a really good way to describe his work and could possibly relate well to my work too, where the bully and victim and their reactions, etc, are realistic to real life but the meaning behind them isn’t as obvious as they look (eg: the psychological issues behind the bully’s actions). For one of his projects I like how he has presented the images in very pale tones on white, but that the back of each image is painted red. This not only gives it a hidden message perhaps, but also the back of each image reflects onto the image behind it giving that image a reflective ‘blush’ effect. I think this is really interesting and possibly something to explore further within my own work.

Target for today: Continue with pieces inspired by Michael Ostermann and read about Jules Julien in Computer Arts magazine.

Target for tomorrow: Look at typographers Si Scott and Sean Freeman and respond in sketchbook and come up with a few more logo ideas (both in sketchbook and digitally).