Mid-Term Project

INDUSTRY: Art & Culture - Opera

AUDIENCE: Teens/Young Adults ages 13 - 18.

FORM: Print Design - Poster

Research:

Collect images & info to fit the project:

1. Old Opera: the Magic Flute

2. Us: Talent show revival: Jackie Evancho

3. Britain: Talent show revival: Paul Potts

4. Canada: Modern Stories: Lillian Ailling

1. Old opera: Magic Flute - originally by Mozart - made into
a modern Ballad

The designer and how they have used the colours?
The combination of blue and black blending in with one another help to make the black less dominant and more complimentary to the shades of blue. This also helps to define the other illustrative elements within the composition such as the moon, pigeon, and toucan and the boy with the magic flute. The background colours and shapes also help to create a sense of mysticism, fantasy, leading you into a magical journey. The heavier black shadows around the boy and pigeon create a sense of depth and harmony within the composition. The use of white on the pigeon, pale flesh tones and highlights create the feeling of purity and innocence and make the overall poster more dramatic and appealing. The purple clothing complements the other colours in the image well, and seems to aspire the viewer more towards the activity of the flute and the type of music being played, as the purple communicates calmness and imagination... much like the Pied Piper of Hamlin.

4. Canada: Modern Stories: Lillian Ailling


The designer and how they have used the colours?

Again we have a good strong use of white on black as a solid graphic. The smaller illustration on the left is instantly sent behind the dominant black but is complemented by the subtle use of cyan's/greens, blues/greys and yellows/oranges ALL working in harmony, with the blue giving a feeling of journey and coldness. Yellow and orange give off warmth and determination within the character. The designer has taken a classic rule of unify the type with the image by picking out the cyan for the 'world premiere and running dates' to stand out from the black background. The nice use of the subtle violet for the 'daring journey, dark secrets', gives off a sense of adventure and quest that hasn't been accomplished before. The use of bold white for the heading balances the whole dynamics of the layout and composition perfectly.

Proposal: Opera poster for a target audience (13 - 18 yrs)
To design the poster for the fictional book "The Giver" (1993) by Lois Lowry

Summary: The book is set in the future, in a time where there is no crime, disease, or pain, Jonas, a 12-year-old, is selected to become the next Receiver of Memories, where he learns that the Utopian world he's lived in may not be as perfect as he had thought. Lowry creates a biting emotional tale that cannot easily be forgotten in possibly the greatest work of futuristic fiction since the days of Orwell. Even though I haven't yet read the book, reading the plot summary gave me a real understanding of the content, and also helped me to start to visualise the book in terms of composition, colour, text and image.

Development work and Final realisation of opera poster, for the book "The Giver" by Lois Lowry.

Conclusion:
The final realisation of the poster design I am reasonably happy with. This project I struggled with and just tried too hard to find a solution to the problem. After seeing the opera poster for the Lillian Alling performance at a bus stop I thought, hey... that's the ticket. As with most design and illustration pieces I do there is all ways room to improve, but at some stage you have to let it go, so maybe being content is more appropriate. The poster has lots of impact with the hierarchy's of type functioning well in relation to the importance of the information. The choice of black for the type was also intended to give further impact to the viewer, and also reflect the dark, yet some what believable future the story conveys. I felt choosing to use hand rendered type for the title was appropriate for the nature of the story, where society is limited to the basic functions of life, with technology only playing a minimal role. This is very similar to references made in the book "1984". The main character "Jona" is illustrated on the poster in a layered affect of colours rendered in marker pens, with primary colours breaking through subtly. This is because he is one of the chosen few who can see colour. The block patterned eyes show this with a yellow dropped in the middle as an indicator of hope. The grey helps to neutralise the black and push the yellow out, also encouraged by the heavy black frame. I was going to go for a simple white background but felt in term's of the posters commercial value and its young audience, colour seemed an appropriate solution. I chose a warm calming colour (light purple/violet) to help attract the viewer, plus balance the abstracted dark sinister nature of the image Jona.