Design Process Poster 1

The Haiku that I used to inspire my posters was:

The sea darkening . . .

oh voices of the wild ducks

Crying, whirling, white

(Basho.M 2018)

The Process

I started my sketch studies for this poster by exploring different themes in my haiku and what they might look like when represented in black and white, and geometric.

I then chose the idea of 'circling' as the inspiration behind my design and created 4 concepts that focused on both composition and the brief. My Haiku talked about the circling/swirling of birds and I explored this through the hand drawn geometric style. At this step I also asked for the opinions of friends and family.

I then chose a final design and explored the colour requirements (B&W) and colour distribution. I decided on the black background to put emphasis on the positive space and avoid a clash of colours.

I then created the final using sharpie for the fine lines and black acrylic paint for the background space.

Throughout the sketch studies and design process I aimed focus on a few main elements in order to create a successful design. One of my main focuses was the composition and how I could use both composition and size to create the illusion of swirling birds. The placement of each element in this design was done intentionally to make what appears to be a downward spiral using only 2d objects. This was how I portrayed the meaning behind my haiku in the poster as it talks about "whirling" birds. Another element I used to create this design was colour. The brief required us to use black and white and my haiku focuses a lot on contrast between the dark ocean and the white birds. Hence the dark negative spaces and the light positive spaces. This use of colour also intentionally creates hierarchy in the design as the eye is drawn directly to the bright white shapes which are the main focus of the image.

#DES101

Basho.M (2018), Haiku of Basho. http://oaks.nvg.org/basho.html