Recently in Visual Research Category

My historical setting will be pop art, more specifically using the dot approach for the background setting. I want to illustrate the main skype and verizon characters as flat, 2D characters with jarring colors, similar to Andy warhol. My goal for pop art is to use the sarcastic and condescending tones that this cultural art movement used in the 50s for their icons. It will be slightly mocking the fact that communication is no longer personal, but all technical and many people today remain uncomfortable having personal conversations without texting or some sort of technological way of speaking to one another.

In terms of a type face, I want a simple and readable text, probably without a serif, so that it has a very easy, airy tone to the piece. I don't want anything to appear formal or regulated, particularily because the skype logo is very simple and child-like.

http://wickedstageact2.typepad.com/life_on_the_wicked_stage_/WindowsLiveWriter/pirates_poster.jpg

This resonates mostly with the current culture, putting a spoof on the blockbuster hit Pirates of the Caribbean. Americans of most ages would recognize this cover and instead of their beloved Jack, they would see the political figure of George Bush and his advocates as destroyers of the American Constitution. The octopus is bringing down the white house and the title "Pirates of the Constitution: head man's mess," plays on this same negative theme towards the Bush team.

http://www.middle-east-info.org/gateway/genocide/genocide-in-sudan.jpg

This ad is featured as an anti-genocide ad for Sudan. For me this was highly authoritative, not only because of the child as the main empathy subject, but also because of the gruesome and devastating texture of the red and black border. The poster in and of itself isn't necessarily stunning in its design work, but the subject body and the raw emotion that the jagged lines and dark, malevolent colors are frightening against the simplicity of the child's face. Yet they work well together because of the killing and emotional tone that the poster implies. This illustrates the charity work that goes "back to the basics" as the article mentioned, using harsh brush strokes and a hand-drawn gesture to create the mood. There is little going on but a few layers (thus meeting a charity's budget) but the poster is striking nonetheless.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/simoncpage/4315170984/
This is the website of a red cross poster calling for money and supplies for the Haiti earthquake. It has agrey background with red lines intersecting to form a red grid, with spaces missing to form an X across the composition. This piece shows an interested color combination with the grey and red. First, this is not symbolic of the health, or symbolism of the red cross. The markings are scratched and almost vicious looking, as if they have been worn away. This goes with the overall theme of the Haiti disaster, attributing scratchy marks to the devastation that was caused and the wasting away of homes. The X however is very sublte and lends an almost confusinf aspect to the poster. If scene alone with the subtext below the poster, one would never know this was about Haiti or the red cross. Overall I think it an interesting concept where they tried to imply a dark and sad tone, but the message was lost.