Changing the 'font'(so to speak) of our name to show things that we like or dislike.
Below is my sketch for the I like Music.
Photo take with my handphone camera (since i dont have a scanner) and understandably, the quality is shitty. But yeah, had a really hard time thinking of what to sketch for the drafts as i want to avoid using the usual things like instruments or notes(which sadly i fail at not using notes). Then i figured that since i wanna use notes, i wanna try putting a little spin on it (more details later).
This is the sketch for "I like Wushu"
The sketches include using
1)stick figures holding weapon to form my name
2)using weapons to form my name
3)using the 9 dots on a shaolin monk head to form my name
4)finding letters among the chinese word for Wushu to form my name.
I actually like the last one, the finding lettings in the chinese word for Wushu. And i did thought of combining 1 and 4 but using stick figures in captured in motion to form the word 武术 and my name. But i dont know how to go about doing it and i definitely cant draw well enough to portray my idea.
Next up, is to select two from each likes or dislikes to act as the final draft.
For my I love Wushu i have....
The class picked the lower one as the preferred choice(not much of a choice, i know). I remembered one comment being that, the top one (the monk's head one), they look like love monks. That tickled me a little, i never notice that till it is pointed out! Goes to show it is important to show your works to your peers and receive the comments, cant really live in one's own world if one is into graphic design and wants to communication visually (since the word 'communicate' requires the presences of two or more party in a two way flow).
Next up, "I love Music"
Well ok, for this, the response is a little mixed. It is roughly half half according to class preference and i have to make a choice on this. I realized it didnt show clearly for my bottom draft. Actually, i meant it to be first viewed horizontally, with it appearing like a snippet of a piece of score, a normal score. Upon closer scrutiny, one realize that the score goes from right to left, instead of a conventional left to right. And if they never notice the alignment of my words, they would now. And these visual cues will prompt the viewer to rotate to view it vertically and that is when they can see my name. A little too indulgent of me to play around like this but i just cant help it.
Also it is agreed upon that the "K" cant really be seen, so it is back to scratching my head.
Finally, there are the final photoshopped works.
The comments for the Wushu piece is pretty unanimous. That on first look, it doesnt really occur to the viewer that it is about wushu and not martial arts in general or even fighting. The class commented that perhaps i can add in something that are more distinctively wushu, like the costumes they wear when performing. At first i thought, to me, it is obviously very wushu, perhaps because i have practiced it before that to me it is wushu simply because i am very farmiliar to it. This taught me another lesson about the importance of letting others critique your work. Familiarity with a said subject often blinds a designer to assume equal competence and ability of all viewers to see and interpret the same thing as the designer. One must take into account the general public and especially the intended audience to make sure they understand what one is trying to say. This again brings me to my previous sketches, the one with the chinese character of Wushu, i wondered if it would be a better choice.
Ok, now to my most stubborn piece. Despite comments of it being distracting and stuff, i wanted to keep the gist of it (a case of love at first sight which i am guilty of here). The basic comments are that the base clef is too distracting, and that will lead the viewer to think that it is part of the words being formed. In addition the vertical of the "T" cant really be easily made out. One of them suggested (correct me if i am wrong, but i think the name is Alvin?) using a rest (which is like a bar) for the vertical of the "T". And hey, it does works and work nicely, so thanks alot!
I have not really make any sort of changes to the Wushu piece as i am still undecided over adding the costumes (which i am lazy and it takes extra extra time because i cant draw well and i am new to photoshop) or trying to design the "武术" in photoshop and see how it turns out.
Update: I decided to leave the Wushu one as it is.
For the Music one however, here is my final prototype.
Some final words here. As you all notice, everyone of my photoshopped pieces are in black and white. There are two reasons for it. One is for the simplicity of it all, though colors can push home the point better, i want to see if simple black and white can convey the same meaning. Especially for the Music piece. The main objective of such an attempt is to use visual cues to direct people to view the work in the correct orientation. The second message is to say that music is very much a part of my life through the integration of my name into a 'seemingly' normal score.
Another reason for not using color is, as i mentioned, i am partially color blind. Yep it is a form of escaping from the inevitable. However, i shall just leave it at that, and see how i can turn it around when it requires me to use color. It is a lousy excuse, yes i admit that.
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