Propaganda poster design
Unit 1
For unit 1 I looked into propaganda posters and how they can
influence the opinions of their viewer. The aim of our propaganda was that it
should inform the viewer of the importance of the creative industry and how
much it would effect the whole of the country should it be lost.
I began by looking into styles of propaganda from around the
world from different time periods and decided to work with the bold style of communist propaganda with its bold reds and blacks. I felt like these posters
showed some sort of force and aggression that could almost I suppose dominate
somebody into listening to what they are trying to say.
Next I had to look at the information; I had to make sure
the facts and figures I had written were correct and that none of them could be false,
otherwise what would be the point in the entire poster. I found several sources
that all said the same, just to back up the facts.
Then I looked into the design of my poster. I had to stick
with imagery that would relate to the point I was making whilst still being
in the theme of my poster design. I began taking photographs of my fist
clutching a pencil, a tool that I feel starts any creative idea; it can create
the mock up, the plan, and it’s the very foundation of creativity. I raised my fist as if it was fighting for something worth fighting such as if it was
starting some sort of revolution. Then I began to put my imagery together; I
used a mix of mediums to create the feel of my poster being aged and worn.
To create the rising sun behind the fist I created a cut out
stencil that I printed with an old silk screen, which gave an aged effect with
lots of chips and scratches. I then tried to get this effect on the photograph
of my fist. To do this I took a picture of a damaged surface which I then manipulated
in Photoshop to take small notches and cuts out of my image to make the entire
poster appear to be screen printed in bulk with rough materials.
After creating our posters we began to look at how we can manipulate them into becoming sculptures. I looked into materials that would be useful when making my prototype and found that grey board worked well as it was sturdy and easy to shape. I decided that my sculpture would be my rising fist in a style similar to the font that I used on my poster, eliminating round edges and keeping a sharp bold shape.
I took a photograph of my prototype and used some of the textures I used on my poster to make my sculpture look as if it was made from scrap metal, then I placed it into different settings to see how it would look, one being made from scrap and left behind a building, the other, made from wood and placed in a forest.
I think this sculpture idea works well within the theme of propaganda because it creates the idea that a lot of societies issues are hidden in plain sight or that a revolution/resistance can begin in any location or situation. I am also very happy with the way these designs worked out with the use of a green screen because it means that I could make many more designs similar to these two with various other textures and locations.
