Project Proposal (Final)

Project Proposal (Updated)

     While taking Information Design, the students were given a task to design data revolving around a social issue of our choosing. As I continue to look for ways to spread the saddening truth of climate change and global warming, this assignment gave me the perfect outlet to incorporate compelling statistics. However, as I began to plan out the design of this assignment, the process became time-consuming yet intriguing. Many citizens in society do not take the time to research and understand the data they are observing because it may be “too time-consuming” or “too confusing”. The task of designing data-based information allows designers to convey a message in a way that draws the audience’s attention. 

I decided to focus on human-caused climate change, specifically land-ocean temperature rise and antarctica vs greenland ice sheet mass decrease as they coincide with each other. I collected data through NASA’s Global Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet and I gathered the climate change laws through Climate Change LSE: Climate Change Laws of the World. I decided to incorporate the increase in greenhouse gasses, as well as information pertaining the causes behind these gasses, to teach viewers where they come from and a main component that is causing the damage. Though understanding the information for the ice sheet mass, as well as finding the right information to support my thesis statement, was a little challenging, I enjoyed doing the research and designing the poster in a way that grabs the viewers attention while incorporating graphs and dense information. 

I want to create a series centered around the consequences of human-caused climate change and the devastation currently happening as a result of society's choices. This series would support a larger project with the appropriate data to show the need to take action. I would like to create a line of stickers, clothing, and pins with illustrations of elements in nature (animals, landscapes, short quotes) with a QR code. The QR code would link to a website featuring the data-filled poster designs, illustrations, and links to multiple non-profit organizations and charities working towards healing our planet or slowing down the rate of change. One page could feature products with companies that are environmentally friendly and working towards making a change, such as Ecosia (a downloadable web browser that proposed to plant a tree every time a user searches a topic using their browser). This website helps clarify the amount of information surrounding the environmental issue and allows citizens to find multiple ways to help by placing them all in one area. 

Final: Research and Proposal - Merlee Vergara

 Merlee Vergara: Paper Pigeon Boy

Among his Kin, Pigeon Boy Concept Art, BFA Show

    During our preparations for an exhibition, we always get asked: What is next on our agenda? How will we use this experience to pursue future projects? To that, I’ll say, that what I finished for my BFA exhibition is not the end of this vision. For my BFA project, I visualized and designed a story surrounding themes of abandonment and expected social roles in the guise of a whimsical adventure of a bird boy named Pidge. I had drawn out several pieces of conceptual art to visualize and communicate my story to others, each piece being a small part of a puzzle that is the finished animated product. I want to expand upon this idea into a future project for the summer, going far beyond what I’ve currently done, containing both enhanced versions of my visual work and a variety of animated pieces. To achieve such a feat, it would require a deeper understanding of the current themes this story embodies. In addition, I would have to practice new methods to enhance my abilities and learn new techniques.  

Carrier Pigeon Pencil Illustration

    

To start off, looking at the roots of this project, much of the plot revolves around themes of ostracism; the protagonist being part of a group that was cast away, technically condemned from society. It may not seem like it, but this childlike tale draws parallels between newsboys and pigeons, both treated as nuisances during their time, one being still present today. Both were overpopulating the streets to such a high degree, to the point they were considered a disease that swept all of New York City. Furthermore, there would be a discussion regarding Identity and forced roles, delving into the corruption of hierarchies in our society.  The mistreatment of these children and animals and the history it carries is something I wish to incorporate better in these future projects, through both static images and motion. The remaining steps involve practicing and studying animation techniques taught by the masters. As a starting point, short clips conveying key scenes would be ideal and simpler (around 5-15 secs each) for a beginner like me. 

 

NYC Newsboys strike photograph, 1899

    Despite the heavy topics, it won’t necessarily take away from the whimsy and fun the story as a whole is meant to emanate. In the end, the story of Pidge is meant to be a memorable tale to entertain the masses regardless of age group. As I envision this future project, it is my intention to collect the necessary research and practice and use it to achieve the desired results before the summer ends. 

Character concepts, BFA show

                                                        Research and Purposal Presentation

Final Research Proposal

Blackness Series Project: 

Alternative link:

Blackness is a tutorial book on digital painting using the popular drawing application: Procreate. An embedded memoir and a 2023 - 2021 gallery of Nyasia’s artwork are included. It is written, illustrated, and designed by Black artist Tionna Nyasia Watson. In the book, there are tips and tutorials on how to take full advantage of Procreate. This book also includes techniques discovered that help create her still-life portraits of black women and explanations about why she approaches her art the way she does when creating. The tutorials included are about drawing hair, rendering textured skin, and blending skin tones. She also includes sections on clothing texture, and paper texture, and uses backgrounds as a bonus. 

Nyasia shares her journey in finding her style of art through the elements of design: texture and detail, and her medium of choice, the iPad application Procreate. This exploration began when she was a child. Her love for art was heavily influenced by her family, who, she mentions, have impacted her interest in using detail as a weapon of affirmation for women and artistic identity, and not just seeing it as an element of creativity. This book is a glimpse into her future and past; she wants you to create beautiful artwork and discover who you are the same way she has.

Proposal from Nyasia:

I want to take Nyasia’s Art Tutorial Book I: Detail & Textures with Embedded Memoir a step further and expand on the content inside, growing on the information I’ve provided in the book because I do feel the information I have included is limited and there most definitely should be more. I would also like to stray away from Procreate and not focus just on digital art because black spans all forms of art not just digital art. One major theme I would like to explore is skin texture and skin tones.

I realized that not only is skin texture diverse but there is also diversity in skin tones and shades.  No one can possibly know the number of skin tone shades there, but it’s fun to create as many as you can.  Skin tones are more than just honey, golden, almond, chestnut, nutmeg, espresso, and many other names written on foundation bottles. How these tones and used depends on the undertones and light sources. As a portrait painter, Watson has tasked herself to create skin spectra that are diverse and unique. 

What's Next:

I intend for Blackness to become a series and in the presentation, I present the next four to come:

Nyasia’s Art Tutorial Book II: The Sketch 

goes into detail about sketching the face. This is not just about the boring old box and grid methods we learn about in school. This book will be engaging and interactive with pages to practice and sketch.

Nyasia’s Art Tutorial Book III: Melanin Skin & Color 

goes deeper into creating all types and textures of skin, and skin tones. I want to explore this more because I’ve always been fascinated by different and unique identities. 

Nyasia’s Art Tutorial Book IV: From Start to Finish 

dives into the artist’s secrets and explains it ALL in a single detailed tutorial, creating a beautiful illustration from start to finish. 

Nyasia’s Art Tutorial Book V: Animalia, Nature, and

 Muliebrity 

I sort of fell for the word muliebrity, it flows beautifully with Animalia, Flora, and Nature. Another theme I am beginning to explore more in my artwork. So, this book will be all about the merging, comparing, and relations of Animalia, flora, and Womanhood.

Adriana Crow FINAL PRESENTATION- Research & Proposal

Presentation Link    

Memories of a Murder Cover (2023)

    My most recent project Memories of a Murder is a Graphic Memoir that depicts recent life events personified through American Crows. While this project was primarily based on my own life, a fair amount of research went into it. The crows, for example. Needing reference to draw these birds was a given. I wanted them to have a fair amount of stylization, yet I didn’t want them overly cartoonish due to the story being more grounded in our reality. To keep that balance I needed a fair amount of photo reference, as well as seeing how other artists have drawn crows. I also needed to do a fair amount of research in crow behavior. The story’s narrative is aided with a handful of crow tidbits. Such as them hatching in groups of 3-6, or them being a partially migrating species. These are very surface level facts that many people may just know, nothing that needs a degree to prove. However I still didn’t want to be talking out of my ass. Even if this knowledge had already come with this being my favorite animal, I still wanted to fact check everything I already knew with multiple studies and articles.


    A good amount of research also went into the production of the book itself . In order to keep the colors as vibrant as I possibly could, I needed to figure out my CMYK alternatives. I also needed to know how to prevent things like gradient banding, and lightening pages that may turn out too dark. These are all things I learned while creating the piece.

 

Memories of a Murder interior spread (2023)

    Something that’s always fascinated me is the design that goes into creating posters. Especially older posters that require some form of illustration and dramatic typography. Since I have experience making covers in this similar vein with my recent BFA project, I wanted to lean more into making covers and posters, even if what I’m making it for doesn’t actually exist. An idea I’ve tossed around in my head many times has involved remaking already existing movie posters. A lot of the time I’ll notice movie posters will involve a big photoshopped group shot with the title and cast, and while it’s not bad design it doesn’t captivate me like some of the other posters that really lean into simplicity and creativity. While I would still like to revamp movie posters as a fun little project on the side, I want to take that idea a bit further. Like my recent Graphic Memoir, I want my work to be a reflection of myself and the experiences that have gotten me here. I, like many others, have struggled with mental issues for as long as I could remember, and many of which I’ve learned to cope with on my own. With that, I decided that my next project will be a collection of fake movie posters that depict symptoms of mental struggle. Such as the restlessness of anxiety induced panic, the weight and bleakness of executive dysfunction, or the dread that comes with insomnia that going to bed early can’t fix. These posters would be made to depict the feeling of these things, rather than a by-the-book medical definition of what they are. The purpose is to create a sense of empathy, a chance to visualize the feelings they create.

Summer 2023 Research Proposal (Final)

Summer 2023 Research Proposal

American Propaganda by Uncle Sam

    My proposal for my next project is an extension of the previous project I have completed titled DIVE. In the previous project I created a world in which human beings are pushed to explore new boundaries by exploring the great seas. I was able to create this new style of table top gaming by pushing the boundaries of what is the usual setting of these types of games. However, I was not able to build up the world as much as I wanted to within the timeframe I was given. I am taking this opportunity to further expand on the world of DIVE through a series of posters which will all hit on a different topic present in our current history. These topics include politics, capitalism, pollution, rising sea levels, and desperation. However I want to be able to make these posters have more of a propaganda approach, in which they take these problems and put a positive spin on them. 

    I was heavily inspired by the propaganda posters used by multiple governments, especially during wartime. I would like to create these posters to be more of a retro style to emulate these types of posters. However many of these posters used the idea of patriotism to be able to sway the masses. I might decide to add a bit of patriotism to my posters but I want the focus to mostly be on the idea of “nothing is wrong”. By this I mean I want to give these posters a sense of how these problems within society are not actually problems, they are just being exacerbated to seem like problems. Essentially, I want to gaslight the general public. 

    In terms of research methods used, I plan on focusing mostly on internet articles and historical websites to be able to find patterns in our history. As a graphic designer my methods and materials are simple in terms of what is needed. Most of what I need is readily available, such as the Adobe Suite Software and free online resources for images. For a timeline I have laid out a plan that would take a total of twelve weeks, the first week being prep time, then ten weeks to create the five posters, and one week of finalizing everything. A budget of $750 would be sufficient in terms of what is needed to pay for software, and printing five large posters to be mounted on poster board and a thousand flyers to be hung up. I believe this project would fit better hung up around town than in a gallery. I feel like the impact would be more powerful this way.

Research Proposal Presentation

Final presentation - Heber Diaz

 What is Next? 

Personal Mission:

Heber’s personal mission is to share love, faith, and hope. He found all this in God, but he believes everyone could find these elements in different stuff, going from art, people, animals, or nature. The most important part is to always love, anything you do, always do it with love, and believe in yourself, doesn’t matter what is coming, you got it! 

Summary of most recent project

My Second Life is a printed magazine created and designed by Heber Diaz. This magazine supports the immigration experience and shares some different points of view about it. My Second Life is a magazine planned to be published every six months, exploring different countries from Latin America, showing touristic places to visit, and trying to invite the readers to visit the country.

Strong subjects to go

• Immigration 

• Bilingual education

How I’ll help?

Creation of a platform for legal and illegal immigrants. starting with a website and a mobile app.

Creation of a databases about:

• Legal advice offices

• Financial Aid offices

• Bilingual education institutions 

• Low cost health.

  
  

  Final Presentation - Heber Diaz
  

Mildred Roman: ARTIST STATEMENT

MILDRED ROMAN

Artist Statement: Living Through Acceptance 

Mildred Roman is a process based artist located in Jersey city. She works out of her home studio and participates in multiple community partnerships teaching process art to local families and organizations. Her mission in art is to showcase her current journey and help others understand the rawness in living with mental challenges.