Goals
I wanted to explore how visual imagery can challenge or complement the body of text associated with the visual imagery. More than just choosing an image to complement or contrast, I hope to alter the typographic style and placement of the text in order to amplify the extend to the challenge or the complementing. During this process, I want to still be aware of the pop out and unifiers of the piece and be aware of the composition in general. Lastly, I hope to use the design to bring out certain hidden meaning behind the contents of the text.
Contrast: Exploration
For this piece, I want to contrast the typography from the graphics. In a way, refrigerated food can be seen to be something that is totally opposite from a desert, since one is the presence of water and the other is the absence of water; one is linked to being cold and the other is linked to being hot. However, in a way, can also be linked together since being in a food desert means that one does not have access to affordable fresh food and is left having to consume frozen food.
Contrast: Iterations
I realize that the pop out of the words are not sufficient when i overlapped the text form the image. I was then prompted to shift the words to the top of the design since it would still be overlapping if it were to be at the bottom of the image. Also, I wanted the individual peas to be visible. I wanted to show more meaning to the word “food dessert” and create a sense of hierarchy in terms of importance for the text, so I decided to have “food dessert” to be a darker color.
For this piece, I decided to change my entire approach by using a different image and font from my previous attempt. I want this image to contradict the text of “Pittsburgh food dessert”. Since the image would complement rather than contradict, I wanted to use color to show a certain challenge. Since deserts is closely linked to being dry and yellow, I decided on a blue shattered plate. I figured that this would be a stronger symbol of the lack of food rather than just an empty plate. Also, I think it conveys certain emotions people have towards this issue- only if they are on the shorter end of the stick. When choosing a font, I wanted something that could help convey dryness, which is why I chose this font with some cracks on it.
I started with using a blue font because it complemented the plate but since I wanted more challenge between the font and image, I decided to experiment using orange as a color choice for my font. I also tried to crop the image so that I would be able to create some overlap between the text and image but not too much whitespace. However, I realize this would result in the plate to be very centered and hence creating a lot of attention to the plate when the main attention should be on the text.
Contrast: Final
For my final iteration, I decided to keep with a slightly off center plate composition. I wanted to use complementary colors of orange for my text but I don’t think it draws enough attention since it is very light, so I decided to overlap both blue and orange to create more contrast. I was very impressed with the ‘trippy’ or dizzy feeling it created, which really resemble how people are in a state of oblivion. Not a lot of people are aware of the food desserts in Pittsburgh and I guess it really surprised me to know that a lot of food deserts are adjacent to places with an abundance of food. I would say the design would show the challenge and tension between the abundance, blue, and the desert, orange.
Complement: Exploration
I tried to complement the text and the graphics by choosing a font that is very wispy and do not have a clear baseline. This reminded me of smoke, which is what is pictured. Also, by decreasing the opacity of the font, I hope to be able to give a more smokey effect.
Complement: Iteration
One thing I wanted to experiment with is how the text is placed. The previous iteration was very mechanical and did not convey any information about the meaning behind the text or the image. In order to complement the image, I decided to warp the text to have the text be within the area with most amount of smoke.
For this piece, I wanted the typography to be integrated into the picture more that just using a font that give a very wispy and airy feel. This is why I continued to warp the typography. The first attempt showed me how it was possible to try to create the typography such that it would look like it is coming out of the woman’s mouth. I then saved that the rewarp it to make it look less mechanical by incorporating more curves and more movement, creating two main curves.
The image mainly shows a women smoking. The text of “your carbon footprint” would remind people of pollution as well as literally footprints. By placing them together, the message of us creating and killing the world with our actions becomes very clear. I would say these two- the image and the next complement and clarify each other and are on the same page.
Complement: Final
However, in terms of pop out, the typography does not pop out as much as I wanted it to, which is why i decided to decrease the opacity of the image itself, which allowed me to also decrease the opacity of the font, creating a more smoky feeling.
In terms of the pop out, I was trying to make the font pop out more by making the size be very big towards the left of the image and become smaller as it enters her mouth. I tried to unify the entire piece by having the typography resemble the image more. This is done by using a font that resemble the smoke in the image and warp the typography to reduce the mechanical feel.
