ZENITH

~Introduction~

The purpose of the Senior Zenith Project was to ignite your passion and elevate our skills and experiences to create our ultimate, most successful, and personal Freestyle project. This project was a chance for us to create our own assignment and regulate every step for ourself through self-imposed deadlines based on a subject we have had yet to explore in our time at Freestyle.

For my Zenith project I designed a clothing line with a typographical focus. Each piece consists of a positive reminder with a specific theme. My goal was to spread positive messaging through clothing and create a chain reaction of positive affirmations for the person wearing the clothes and also the person seeing the clothes from an outsider view. Maybe the person wearing the clothing needs that message as a reminder for themselves and wears my line to serve as that reminder. Maybe someone else is walking down the street and sees the message on someone else’s sweatshirt and that reminder serves its purpose for two people. This was a large passion project for myself because the quotes I used were reminders that I needed to hear myself; really this clothing line was made to provide some positive reminders to myself as well as with others.

This Zenith project was a new challenge for me because I had never done typographical focused work before. The main part of my work had never been the words but more the illustrations. This I had to learn new techniques in order to make the typography more dynamic. I had to figure out how to shift letters in unique angles and make them more than just words typed out in a space, but letters that create art. 

I took every piece of knowledge I gained in design to do this project. I used the elements of design and art and my knowledge of Adobe products to create this 14 piece clothing line.

~Process~

My original idea, laid out on a mood board, consisted of sticking to one 5 toned color scheme and that didn’t really play out as I used almost every color in the rainbow but in general I did stick to brighter tones similar to the colors depicted in my moodboard. I originally wanted to do both posters and a clothing line but I felt having one type of product would provide my project with more focus and decided on only doing clothing. 

I got some inspiration from pinterest on what I was sort of aiming for and although my pieces deviate significantly from my inspo shots, I definitely gained a my general idea going into the project through the process of searching through already made products with the similar intent I had for my line. 

So the quotes and reminders I used were taken and abbreviated from the “we’re not really strangers” instagram page. The brand uses its social media platform to post daily affirmations, reminders, and quotes that speak to youth in a big way because of its relatability and overall aesthetic look. They uses a minimalist theme of reds and whites which was the main thing I wanted to change when going into my own project. The thing that inspired me most about this brand though is that most of the photos shown of these reminders and positive affirmations are displayed publicly in New York as art on doors, signs, brick walls, windows etc so it can positively effect people walking by, something I wanted for my own line. 

My first step was to plan out exactly what each piece was going to look like. I originally started with 15 pieces and cut it down to 14 because I found myself unsatisfied with one of them and didn’t have the heart to start over, but I found the quotes and compiled them all into a document, and brainstormed each theme idea in my notebook. Then once I had a theme and general color scheme in my mind, I went to different font websites and found each varied and unique font that fit best with the theme and quote. For example for my fifth piece the quote was “Please keep going”, and I chose the font Scars to further my intent of the shirt providing suicide awareness and a reminder for anyone who needs it most. 

~Completed Project~

Lastly I put everything together in mock-ups starting with the first t-shirt design (medium front text no back) the second t-shirt design (small pocket front text, large design back) and the last hoodie design (large design on the front and no back). 

My goal with my Zenith project was for me to expand as an artist through typographical design, an avenue I had yet to explore until now. I have learned so much in the process about how to create work that’s professional and simultaneously provides positive messages that can actually impact people. It took all of my knowledge I have learned in this class to make these pieces look like they could sell in today’s market. I may actually attempt to sell these, and I am so grateful to have had the time and space to create works of art that I’m not only proud of but also applies so deeply to myself. Every quote I chose, was for a reason; I needed to hear these words, read them and take them in myself as someone who has struggled quite bit this past year like so many. I hope this line impact people just as much as it did for me. 

Zenith Reflection Audio:

Zenith Celebration Presentation: