Fundamentals of Design - Final Project

I just finished up my Final Project for Fundamentals of Design, and I gotta tell you, I'm more than pleased with the outcome. I received a lot of positive feedback from my professor and peers, but I keep pushing it and pushing it, hoping to make it even better than before.

I really can't tell you how many drafts I had of this project (far too many), lol. I'd print out each version to compare to the last, getting feedback from anyone that passed my room! I'd hear, "you changed it AGAIN???" . . .Can you blame me though? This project is to be of portfolio quality! It's rewarding to hear, "This version really is better than the last because ______" and I'd actually get valid, constructive criticism! I love feedback and it is always welcomed by me.

Now that I'm done with it, I'm really exploring a desire to intern or work as an art director for a magazine somewhere. . .you know, down the road, once I earn my degree.


Here's my cover design and layout:

Final Version


Draft





Here's my Artist Statement:

"As my final project for Fundamentals of Design, I carried the objective of creating the premiere cover of a magazine about interracial relationships. As stated originally in my project proposal, interracial relationships is subject matter that I am involved with in my personal life: being in an interracial relationship and raising two young mutli-racial children. Interracial relationships are seemingly on the rise and while others are thirsting for understanding, these mixed races couples are thirsting for greater acceptance in society today. The final design was successful in it's use of both positive and negative space with and without the added article headlines. The lines created by the joining hands and the arrows creates a natural flow from one end of the image to the opposite end, creating an equal balance of positive and negative space. The composition is semi formal in nature with the use of technical terminology as well as everyday vernacular, while also incorporating real-life images of interracial couples that exist today. The use of shadowing and some layering helps to create some illusion of depth to the cover art, however, the perception of volume was not achieved, nor, in this case, was it necessary.

I combined the focal image of joining hands with the symbolic image of a black arrow and a white arrow meeting together. This image was made more subtle by partially layering over it a duplicate layer with a pattern overlay (the collage of couples). My biggest challenge was to create design that would convey my message through images alone, before words are ever brought into the overall design.

The use of natural color in this piece best conveyed the message of an existing interracial couple, more so than any other color scheme. As reported through peer observation, the use of a monochromatic color scheme did not suggest the unity, balance, nor variety that the natural scheme did. Monochromatic schemes of the different races joining hands, simply suggested two hands of different skin tones or shades, which could occur within the same race, versus hands of different ethnic backgrounds. I also sampled a hue of blue from the focal image for use elsewhere on the cover (i.e. master head/title and banner advertisement). In addition, I matched the color of a feature headline "Hot Topic" with parts of another feature headline "Interracial Euphony Defined." I received a lot of valuable feedback from Professor Adams and my peers to help guide me through the challenges. I am happy to report that the images I brought together in this piece was able to successfully communicate the intended message with my audience."