School project S5 – Event posters

For this project we had to design 3 large format posters of variable sizes for a fictional event. Being somewhat of a geek, I chose an event I would like to see: Ottawa Comic-Con. It is a convention for fans of all kind (comics, sci-fi, horror, movies, TV, video games, etc).

Ottawa is a city with a rich architectural history, so going back in time graphically was an interesting idea. The overall look of the three types of posters is the “Art Nouveau” movement and the Vintage 40s with a touch of “propaganda” style. There’s a little “futurism” on the horizontal banner and triptych. These artistic styles feature many diagonal lines, perspective, movement and color desaturation. The chosen typography is the most representative elements of the time period illustrated in this poster. Although a vintage style is used, the mixture of minimalism and retro is very trendy nowadays. So this is a good marriage between the old and the new.

The parliament building has been used to identify the city of Ottawa. It is the architectural element most identifiable to Ottawa and is easily recognizable for Canadians and potential visitors of the convention. The new convention center is also represented more or less subtly on the three posters. The superhero representation is generic. It could be any superheros from Captain America to Batman

The poster

The title highly visible and the Peace Tower serves as a guideline to the bilingual information at the bottom right. The Superheros is transparent, otherwise we would have conflicted with the tower. It would also look as if it was ultraman or godzilla wanting to destroy the parliament while standing in the Ottawa river. The radiation effect brings attention to the parliament building and the fact that something is happening in Ottawa. The ground triangular texture is reminiscent of the new convention center.

The bus sign

Here, the big splash of color catches your attention and the direction of the superhero points to the title and the parliament. The irradiation is still a focus point on the parliament signifying the event in the capital. The motion effect of the flying superhero is reminiscent of the futurism style (repetitions) and the convention center is represented with its oval shape and triangular texture.

The triptych

The triptych was a good challenge especially if when you want to keep continuity between the posters but also for each part to convey its message. The title banner placed on the left draws attention and the eye follow the flying superhero (with the splash of yellow) and then goes to the convention center and the information. Then the eye goes back up to the silhouette who is looking at the parliament building closing the loop. It is a story from right to left. The hero first sees a threat, then it activates his powers and flies away.

copyright 2011

School project S5 – MIFO brochure

For this project, we had to create a artistic program/brochure for MIFO’s (Mouvement d’implication francophone d’Orléan) shows presented at the Shenkman Art Centre. It needed to be simple, clean, artistic and original. We had two comedians and four singers/songwriters to include in the brochure. The feature artist was Patrick Groulx since he was born in the region.

The cover features large typography elements with warm colors which is inviting to the audience. The typography also creates a bold contrast with the background. A picture of the Shenkman centre stairs is shown inside the letters for texture only. Offset contour lines were added around the letters to create movement and vibration. The background is a blend of the textures used inside the brochure. More on that later.

The back cover reminds us of the front cover. Big bold letters are use here as a focus point on the venue which is explain in the paragraphs on the right.

The idea behind this project was to have a progressive reveal of the artists. Since Patrick Groulx was the feature artist, we begin with him and the humour section. As you unfold the brochure, the artist are shown. A emphasis on the photography is important for the audience who quickly looks at the brochure. Diagonal lines create a more dynamic visual that recalls the Shenkman logo. The name of the artist has a similar style than the title on the cover and the information is simple and right to the point. The paragraphs also follow the diagonal. The background texture is specific to the sections. For the humour section, the background feature expressions like “LOL”, “hahaha”, “hihihi”, etc. The music section in composed of graphic and text representation of music notes.

Even if this wasn’t an “official” project, the students had to make a presentation in front of the class and the client (MIFO). Both the client and the teacher were evaluating each student presentation and brochure. My project, was chosen as one of the best overall.

 copyright 2011

School project S5 – Le graphiste

For this homework, we had to create an interesting typographic layout out of a mostly boring text about designer taken from wikipedia. We couldn’t use pictures or images that we didn’t create ourselves. I won’t explain all the details behind this design, but the concept was successful. Not my best works.

 copyright 2011

School project S4 – Logotype study

This project focused on the design of a logotype for a movie / band / artist / etc. we liked. After hesitating between a couple of movies, I settled on “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer” again (i.e. this project) because of the organic and vapory quality of perfume I could exploit for this logotype. Below is the study from sketch to application. If you haven’t seen the movie, rent it.

 copyright 2011

School project S4 – Experimental typography

For this project we had to experiment with typography. We picked a word out of a hat, and had to think about how to develop an idea around that word. I picked the word shadow which gave me several ideas. Shadow is associated with light, dark, ghost, evil … and FEAR to name a few. Fear is the theme I decided to explore. My idea was to use a light projection to create a word in shadows and take a picture of it.  For some reason, war and prison came up to mind. A symbol that Identify both is barb wire, one to keep the enemy out, the other for keeping the prisoners in. In both cases Fear is a factor: fear of war or death, fear of being incarcerated or caught, fear of the dark. So I decided to craft the letter out of metal wires and even do my own barb wire (see below). The two word Fear and Peur (fear in french) were created perpendicular from each other with one long single wire. I hung the word to the ceiling and projected beams of light at a 90 degrees angle to reveal the words in shadows. My first impression while taking the pictures was the fear of a escaping prisoner surrounded by searchlights and barb wire. But sometimes, even if you have a great idea, the execution and  result don’t come out as you intended as is the case here. Maybe with different lighting and a professional photographer, this piece could have been good. I decided to post those pictures anyway,… not for the final result but for the ideas behind it.

My second idea (plan B) was fear of the simplest form: Fear of the Dark… fear of death. I simply crafted letter in foamcore and use a beam of light to project the word fear in shadows. I added a skeleton hand for more creepiness as if death was waiting in the shadows. My three best angles are shown below. I think my plan B came out way better than the first one.

What is cool about experimental typography is that it make you take a step back and find other way than a computer to communicate with typography.

 copyright 2011

School project S4 : Typographic redesign

For this project we had to redesign an existing book with a typographic approach. I chose Sun-tzu’s The Art of War, a classic book about the philosophy of war and how it applies in your everyday life. The logo design on the cover was inspired by the Chinese longevity symbol in which I incorporated custom lettering. The bright red and black logo on the dark textured background reflects the strong and powerful theme of this book. Inside, each proverb was recrafted typographically for emphasis with the corresponding comments below. A serif typeface was used for the proverbs and I decided to use a script-like font for the comments. It is a bit unusual to do so for a book, but I thought it would be interesting to include an ancient vibe to the reading. The overall design offers the reader a feel of old with a modern twist.

 copyright 2011

School project S2 : Playing with type

A little exercise with typography featuring Usain Bolt, the fastest man on earth and part of a poem written by Pooja Natarajan called Passion of Life.

 copyright 2010

School project S2: Newspaper banner

For this project we had to reimagine the entire school newspaper layout and create a new banner. There is no point in posting the entire newspaper, but bellow is the banner I created by deconstructing letters and playing with black & white.

 copyright 2010