Preparing for Interim Presentation 1

Week 2 - Preparation for Week 3

These are my 4 Poster concepts that I will present for the Interim presentation on Monday. I rendered them up on photoshop and illustrator in order to see what my ideas look like done in a more graphic way. I tried to make them all communicate a different idea and take on the feedback i have received so far. All of them show the idea of there being a lot more people with less money and a small amount of people with not much money. In my research I found a lot of info relating to this idea like the fact that 10% of the richest new Zealanders own 60% of New Zealands wealth.

I chose to use pigs as this is a good mataphor for greed and money. I have made one big large compared to the others as a symbol for the rich and helping the 'rich pig' are a number of smaller 'poor pigs'
which are feeding him and propping him up. This relates to the idea of the rich having it a lot easier than the poor and pretty much having money handed to them, whereas the poor have to work a lot harder. 

I used a large, powerful figure as the symbol for the rich which is showed through the clothing and scale.
The money coming out of the tap shows the person is in control of how much money everyone gets.
Along the bottom are lots of figures reaching up in hope of catching some money which shows there is only a limited amount of money for those who aren't rich.

I wanted to use a quote in this one to introduce a different idea. As said by the quote I made this poster about how thousands of people in New Zealand live in poverty. I added in the stack of cash with parliament on top to illustrate the rich and powerful. The guy relaxing and the quote 'well thats a shame!' show the idea that the government doesn't make much effort to help those in need and instead use their money and power for other things. I gathered this from my research as I found a page that talked about how john key stated New Zealand was an equal country and we haven't become more unequal. This poster shows its as if the government is ignoring this factor and are trying to convince themselves and everyone we are an equal country.

I wanted to make this poster simple and cleaner as a different approach to my designs. I took the simple idea of an iceberg and used this to show the different in tax rates between the rich and the poor. I found in my research that wealthy people are paying less tax then they should in comparison to others. Considering the amount of money they earn the tax they pay should be a lot more. 

More Inspiration

Week 2 - Preparing for Week 3

 I was a bit stuck for ideas so I tried looking for more inspiration and possible design styles fro my concepts. I came across these posters and I really liked the simplicity of them and the minimal colour pallets. I like how lots of them have used only a couple symbols to associate with the topic. They are quite abstract but at the same time demonstrate the ideas well. I would like my poster style to be similar to this although at the moment im finding it hard to narrow my ideas down to the point they are super simple but clear. When we get to the development stage I would like to use these styles as some inspiration.

Creating More Concepts and Class Feedback

Week 2

In preperation for Thursdays class i have done multiple quick thumbnail concepts in order to generate a lot of ideas. I have used the research i've gathered to inspire my ideas. I thought about what symbols and metaphors I could use to represent 'rich' and 'poor' and to convey my idea across.

After completing a number of concepts, I drew a couple of the best ones up on A4 paper. I picked these 2 concepts as I thought they were both clear at portraying the idea that a small amount of people in New Zealand have a lot of wealth and power over a large amount of people who don't have a large amount of wealth and power. 

I received some useful feedback from the tutors which included thinking about simpler ways to convey my idea, also maybe thinking of more metaphors and ways of showing my idea without using the obvious symbols, like a dollar sign. It was also suggested I think of ways to incorporate something relating to New Zealand in my concepts. After talking to the tutors I realised I need to sort out exactly what I want to portray in my posters. I also need to work out 4 different angles to focus on  when creating 4 posters for Next week. I will continue to do research to ensure I am completely clear on what I want to show through my posters. I've also realised using an hourglass might not be the best way to show my idea as an hourglass represents time. It comes across as if our money is going to be completely gone and in the hands of the 'rich' in a matter of time, which was not my intent. I will continue to develop ideas and find inspiration to influence my concepts.

Initial Ideas and Concepts

Week 2

In Mondays class we spent a lot of time doing drawing exercises using symbols and quotes. I found this task very helpful as it showed me a quick way to come up with concepts and ideas for my posters. I chose to focus on 'income' as a topic this lesson as I think I will end up choosing this as my issue. 

I was given the word 'Truck' to work with when sketching concepts. I related this to the issue of income being inequal by using it as a form of transport taking money from one place to another, for example taking money away from the 'poor' and giving it to the 'rich'. I drew the truck at the bottom of a challenging pathway to show the idea of money being hard to gain. We were then given a quote to incorporate into our concepts. I was given 'What comes up, must come down' which i was able to incorporate quite well into my ideas.

In class we also sketched out a few quick symbols relating to our topic. This was helpful as it will help me think of ways to show my topic through simple imagery. 

At the moment I am pretty set on focussing on income inequality in New Zealand and the gap between the rich and the poor. After researching and gaining more understanding from the lesson, I have done a quick brainstorm or mind map of my thinking and research. As I have more ideas for my topic I'll continue to make mind maps in order to develop ideas.

Finding Inspiration

Week 1 

As I wasn't present for the first class I begun Thursdays class with some confusion as to what this paper was about. I joined a random group and listened to their conversations about whether New Zealand was an equal country or an Inequal country. I noted down important points from the debates which gave me a better understanding of the concept behind our posters. After Thursdays class I have been further researching the topics i'm interested in and gathering artist models and inspiration in preparation for the next class.

Here is a selection of some poster examples I found.

This clearly illustrates the differences between men and women

in the work force and the struggles women have in comparison to men. 

I liked this design as it is a clever way of showing an important issue.

I really like how the design uses only black and yellow. 

The negative space and simple symbols 

show the idea of gender inequality in the work force. 

This is a more comical approach to a significant issue 

and comes across humorous which is an idea i'd like to use.

It illustrates the idea of the pay gap between the rich and poor, 

or the government and the average person or student.

This is visually pleasing because of its asymmetry and use of white space, 

which makes the poster more engaging. This clearly shows what seems

to be the impossible path to gender equality. 

I like how the 2 symbolsused are the men and women ones, 

and how the used of scale illustrated the main idea.

This design suggests that women are 'walked all over by men'. 

This is very clear to understand with the use of symbols 

and scale to show the significance of gender inequality.

Again this illustrates the idea of the gap between the rich and the poor.

I like how a seesaw has been used to show the inequality, 

with the 'rich' weighing  down one side with the amount of money, 

heavier than the amount of people on the other end of the seesaw.

I will continue to find artist models and gather information until I narrow down the topic I want to focus own. Hopefully I will have a better understanding after the next class.