Reconciliation project case study/rationale

After reading all 94 calls to action in the truth and reconciliation document, I decided to go with action #93 because I felt that newcomers to Canada would be a great target audience to focus on since most of them don’t know much about indigenous topics, so I felt that this project could have a greater impact then if the target audience were locals. I decided to focus on educating people about indigenous land since land is a crucial part of indigenous cultures. I also felt that not too many people have a good understanding of current land issues.

My Designer Statement

I decided that the best way to approach this was through an interactive map. I chose this because, an interactive map is much more engaging than a traditional map and the more interested and engaged a user is with the product, the easier it will be for them to learn.

I used a green/blue and a red as the primary colours in my designs since those are the colours that are most commonly found within traditional indigenous art, apart from the colour black. I made the overall layout and elements quite simple and minimal since I wanted to make it easy to use and not overload users with information.

I added a wooden texture throughout the design to give it more indigenous imagery, as the use of wood is very prominent in indigenous cultures. I also made all the photos black and white to create a more cohesive feel throughout the website. I gave the photos an old paper effect to give a little more character and to make it a little more personable.

To market the campaign, my primary focus was public art installments, since they are quite unique and eye-catching. I played with the idea of location markers found on digital maps. So I designed life-sized location markers which would be placed around the city. Having a physical location marker is much more impactful than a little icon on a digital map. The location markers would be crafted by indigenous artists which would carve the first nations community logo onto the front of the marker. The back would say a message about where they are currently located and a barcode that they can scan which brings them to the website, where they can learn more.

Another way to market the campaign is to have large murals around the city and airport to educate newcomers. The murals would feature a large map alongside 8 of the First Nations communities in Metro Vancouver with a barcode that can be scanned to learn more about the individual groups.

The final way to market the campaign would be to place these interactive bus shelter screens, which would function just like the website. It would be great for people to explore while waiting for the bus. These would be placed next to airports, universities, and city centers

I would give myself an 8/10 on this project. I felt like I was successful in creating a functional and cohesive brand and website and I believe my marketing strategies would be quite effective. However, I felt like I could have gone deeper into the research side of things and presented more realistic mockups.

IDES 224 reconciliation project topic

For this project, I’m going to be focusing on the topic of Indigenous land education, based on action #68 in the 94 calls to action for truth and reconciliation document. I intend to focus on educating individuals about the history of all the indigenous communities in BC and where they are located through an interactive map format. The target audience for this project would be the general public, as well as indigenous people who want to learn more about their heritage and connect with other indigenous communities.

Research links

https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100021015/1100100021021

https://www.bcafn.ca/first-nations-bc/interactive-map

https://maps.fpcc.ca/content/l%C3%ADl’wat-nation

UX Storyboard

In the first story I creating a general story, so I can add a specific physical space to it later.
The second story has a positive and motivating outcome. I tried to really make this story match our user, who is Colin, by adding actions that he is likely to do.
The 3rd story also has a positive outcome however now Colins actions benefit others around him.
The 4th story is different as it has a negative outcome. This story works the best since it has a very specific storyline with a physical space, So I went with this story.
This is the final UX story board for Colin.

Canadian Design Today

Peter Ignazio

Peter is one of the most successful creative directors and copywriters in Canada. Under his leadership, Cossette was named Canadian “Agency of the Year” by Strategy Magazine in 2016 and 2017. He brought the same honor to BBDO in 2011. In both cases, firsts for the agencies. As a copywriter, he was twice included in the Top Ten list globally by The Gunn Report. He has won over 20 Cannes Lions for 10 different clients in categories ranging from film to cyber to integrated. 

A native of Hamilton, Ontario, Peter earned a B.Sc. in Chemistry from McMaster University before enjoying a successful career as a research chemist with Dow Chemical in Germany. He also has an MBA from McGill University. Peter has worked as a Copywriter and Creative Director in Toronto and New York for such agencies as TAXI, McCann, and Downtown Partners DDB. In 2015, Peter brought his skills to Cossette where he runs a variety of blue-chip accounts, including McDonald’s, General Mills and SickKids.

https://vimeo.com/263571655
Heres an interesting video about the designs that shaped Canada.

Citations

The One Club / The One Show – Archive of Award Winners. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.oneclub.org/awards/theoneshow/-judge/2456/peter-ignazi

Postmodernism in Europe

The Memphis Group

Postmodernism was probably the most radical and also the most misunderstood style of the 20th century. it offered creative freedom and self-awareness, breaking all the rules of convention, defying definition and pronouncing the death of Modernism. It was unstable, unstoppable and thrilling. The photo below describes postmodernism perfectly; the previous modernism was all about only keep the most crucial elements of a design, create a very minimal feel, whereas postmodernism is the opposite, instead of eliminating elements, elements are added.

A perfect explanation of Postmodernism.

One of the key supporters of the movement were the Memphis Group. The Memphis Group was an Italian design and architecture group founded by Ettore Sottsass in 1980 that designed Postmodern furniture, fabrics, ceramics, glass, and metal objects. The Memphis group’s work often incorporated plastic laminate and was characterized by ephemeral design featuring colorful and abstract decoration as well as asymmetrical shapes, sometimes getting into exotic or earlier styles.

The Memphis Group totally reimagined what design meant, their work was so different and abstract, that it could be categorized as art rather than furniture. They basically transformed abstract art into physical designs. Since this is how they went about designing, they had endless design freedom.

Citations

Carson, N. (2018, January 19). 10 iconic examples of Memphis design. Retrieved from https://www.creativebloq.com/inspiration/10-iconic-examples-of-memphis-design

Supergraphics Innovator

Barbara Stauffacher

Barbara Stauffacher was born in 1928 in San Francisco, California. She is a graphic designer, landscape designer, and writer, who is best known for the enormous supergraphics she designed inside of buildings by mixing Swiss Modernism and West Coast Pop. Barbra’s work uses scale, color, and illusions to completely transform the feel and look of a space.

Before getting into art, she worked and trained as a dancer in San Francisco and it wasn’t until her husband died in 1956 that she went to Basel in Switzerland to study graphic design under Armin Hoffman at the Basel Art Institute. She then later also studied architecture at the University of California, Berkeley. It is quite clear that her studies in architecture helped her with her supergraphics, as her work uses a mix of architecture, interior design, environmental design, and graphic design.

This is my favorite pieces of hers. It’s amazing that she is able to transform an otherwise boring hallway into an amazing piece of art that draws people in. Her use of illusion makes it so eye-catching and surreal.

Citations

Published by artkrawler View all posts by artkrawler, et al. “Supergraphic Innovators: Barbara Stauffacher Solomon.” Atrin Yazdani-Biuki | A Design Blog, 23 Apr. 2017, artkrawler.wordpress.com/2017/04/23/supergraphic-innovators-barbara-stauffacher-solomon/.

Psychedelic Design Hero

Victor Moscoso

Born in Spain, Victor Moscoso was the first of the rock poster artists with academic training and experience. After studying art at Cooper Union in New York City and at Yale University, he moved to San Francisco in 1959, where he attended the San Francisco Art Institute, eventually becoming an instructor there.

At a dance at the Avalon Ballroom, Moscoso saw rock posters and decided that he could “make some money doing posters for those guys.” In the fall of 1966, he began designing posters for the Family Dog and also produced posters for the Avalon Ballroom. Under his own imprint, Neon Rose, he did a series for Matrix, a local nightspot. Moscoso’s style is most notable for its visual intensity, which is obtained by manipulating form and color to create optical effects. Moscoso’s use of intense color contrasts and vibrating edges and borders was influenced by painter Josef Albers, his teacher at Yale. Moscoso was the first of the rock poster artists to use photographic collage.

Victor Moscoso’s poster for the chamber bros is my favorite of his works. I love the way he cropped the photo as well as the minimal color palette and the strong use of contrast.

Citations

Rose, Neon, et al. “THE CHAMBERS BROS.” Smithsonian American Art Museum, americanart.si.edu/artwork/chambers-bros-36440.

Henry Wolf

Advertising Art Director

Henry Wolf was born in Vienna where he lived until 1938 when his family was forced to flee. In 1941, he immigrated to the US, where he studied at the New York City School of Industrial Arts. However, Wolf’s art studies were interrupted when, in 1943, he joined the army and served for three years. After the war, Wolf returned to New York and began working for an art studio. At the same time, he was studying photography and design under the legendary art director Alexey Brodovitch.

In 1952, Wolf took a job at Esquire as the junior art director. He soon went on to become graphics editor and, at twenty-six, was one of the youngest at any national magazine. It was not long until he was appointed art director of the magazine. Over the next two years, he shaped Esquire‘s image, featuring witty covers and newly discovered photographers, creating the look for which the magazine became known.

In 1958, Wolf succeeded Alexey Brodovitch as art director of Harper’s Bazaar. He worked there for three years where, he collaborated with editors to define the magazine, choosing what to feature on the covers and holding sway over the design of the publication as a whole.

Front cover rationale


I was given the job of creating a front cover for the class’s history book. After a while of thinking I came to the conclusion that I wanted to focus on the bauhaus design style, since that’s what stood out to me the most out everything we learned in the class.

Original

For my book cover I think I deserve a 6/10. I think I did a great job capturing the bauhaus design style in my cover. I did this by using the same font that they used and the colours and geometric shapes. I think the final result is quite pleasing to look at. However, I feel like I struggled with a greater concept and really summarizing our class. Also the light yellow colour is not uniform enough since I was using very transparent markers. Below is a digital version of the cover to show what I wanted the colours and shapes to look like.

Digital version

Edward Hopper

Edward Hopper is widely acknoledged as the most important realist painter of twentieth-century America. He was initially trained as a commercial illustrator. He began his artistic career taking lessons in illustration before transferring to the New York School of Art in 1900, where he studied under the eminent American artists William Merritt Chase and Robert Henri. Hopper’s most common subject was the solitary figure. A projection of his personal introspection, the artist frequently returned to images of lone figures, most often women, within a windowed interior setting. Often misinterpreted as a symbol for his own feelings of loneliness, these figures more likely represent Hopper’s preference for quiet and thoughtful self-examination.

“Nighthawks”

Edward Hopper does a perfect job of showing the emotions of America during its time period through his beautiful cityscape and landscape paintings. One example of this is one of his most famous paintings titled, “Nighthawks”. This painting, which is one of my favourite paintings of all time, captures a minimal night scene of the city. What I love about this painting is the way he is able to create such a strong sense of atmosphere, I feel so mysterious yet calm when viewing this painting.