This unit focused on telling stories through various mediums. I explored world-building, research, commercial art, and more!
Worldbuilding Presentation
In English, I worked with a group to create a plot and pitch for a fictional story we titled “Silvarum.” Silvarum is a story that takes place in the year 2248. Earth has been taken over by giant, mutated plants, some of which are toxic to humans. Humans are divided into various social classes, and the highest classes have re-established civilization and government on Mars. However, they often neglect and use their power to restrain the lower classes on Earth. Amal, a New Yorker of the lowest social class, joins forces with a group of misfits to use the plants to their advantage and put Earth back on the radar.
Watch my group’s final presentation on Silvarum below!
Design Productions
Our second Narrative unit in Design focused a lot on commercial art. We learned about incorporating marketing strategies into our designs. We also created art that connected with ourselves. Through my projects, I learned to depict fictional stories, convey brand messaging, and tell personal stories through design.
Cursive Name
For this project, we had to write our names in elaborate cursive and paint it with watercolor. I wrote my name using Adobe Photoshop and then reflected it across the canvas.
I tried to give mine a fairytale/fantasy theme and chose a pink, purple, and teal color scheme for my watercolors. I hadn’t used watercolor before this project, so I struggled a bit at first. After I (kind of) got the hang of it, I had fun making gradients with different colors!
Burrow Bakes
In design, we had to come up with a product and design a brand around it. We did this by creating a logo, packaging label, magazine advertisement, and product mockups. I created designs for Burrow Bakes, a fictional soft-baked cookie brand I came up with.
Label and Logo
I designed this product label for Burrow Bakes’ chocolate strawberry-flavored cookies. I wanted the brand to be attractive to children, so I created a bunny logo that appears gentle but also playful. I designed this label in Adobe Illustrator around the measurements of a mockup cardboard box.
Magazine Ad
In my magazine ad for Burrow Bakes Chocolate Strawberry Cookies, I tried to utilize marketing techniques through my design. I maintained a similar color scheme to the product label and created a slogan. I used Adobe Photoshop to create the graphic of the packaging and chocolate splash, and Adobe Illustrator to make the final advertisement.
Product Triptych
This is a triptych I created of mockups using my product label and logo.
Click to read my artist statement for Burrow Bakes!
Silvarum
Movie Poster
This is the movie poster I created for Silvarum. I combined several stock images in Adobe Photoshop and used lots of blend modes. I aimed to represent how giant plants overtook Earth in our story.
Click to read my artist statement!
This is the moodboard I created before starting my poster design. I took inspiration from other sci-fi movie posters and looked at pictures of space and eccentric plants.
Book Jacket
This is the book jacket I designed for Silvarum using Adobe Illustrator. I was honestly quite stuck on the direction I wanted to take my design in, but I eventually decided to make simple illustrations of a poisonous thorn from the story.
Click to read my artist statement!
This is the mood board I initially created for my book jacket. My color palette changed, and I ultimately went in a very different direction. Nonetheless, the mood board helped give me inspiration to start my design.
Surreal Composition
In Digital Media, I created a surreal composition using Adobe Photoshop that exemplifies the issue of class disparity in an exaggerated, fictitious context.
Using blend modes and tools in Photoshop, I attempted to combine multiple images to create the illusion that they are in the same scene. To depict the issue of class disparity, I created a scene with a giant and a small girl. The giant represents the upper class within a system that gives them access to more resources and opportunities.
I still have a lot to learn about compositing, but I’m more comfortable with it after this project. I still have a lot to improve on, so I plan to try making another composition like this in the future.
Reflection
I had a lot of fun with the design projects in this unit! I grew a lot in my abilities, and I’m especially happy with Illustrator work on the product label. What I liked most about this unit is that we completed a lot of projects that are common in the graphic design industry, so the skills I gained are applicable in the “real world.” Overall, I’m glad we had a unit focused on commercial graphic design, and I look forward to exploring it more.