Done

So I've finally finished my concept, all that's left is to print it out.  I ended up going though nearly a dozen different versions before settling on one that arguably works.

So the font that I wanted to use to introduce my "speaker" I found online and was miniscule. To scale it up to bigger than a few pixels tall was to re-draw the letters from scratch.  Sorry if it's a bit hard so see because of the transparent background.

So after redrawing the font to a point I was happy with, I arranged them exactly how I intended from my earlier concept.  And I'm fairly happy with how the stark black and white signage looked, however I felt that exploring color couldn't hurt.

I attempted many backgrounds behind the letters.  The green-orange paint splatter looking one is actually an interesting texture concrete that I felt might be interesting.  Then I used the literal wall from the art & design building, simply a monochromatic version of it. But I could never get the lecture title legible enough against the background.

I also got super explorative with my digital drawing tablet, and started creating a flowing organic looking background that was a lot of fun to draw. But it was so super detailed I feared it was too interesting. Then I realized why not use the organic idea as a ribbon over the brick background.

So that was my final signage concept and all that was left was putting everything together. While putting the signs up I realized I could use the ribbon as "wind" so I added just a skoch of blue

 above the three signs to anchor everything together.

I thought it would be a good idea to attempt to show the idea from a slightly different angle, just to see if how it would look.

And lastly a legible, close up of the front on design photo. This project was a lot of fun for me personally. If I were to do it again, I might try a smaller idea.  I think I've got nearly 7 gb of work done for this project, and the files started to make the computer chug. Saving some of the files took 10 minutes or so to save.

Site Scouting

One of the things I'm most grateful for in this class is this project in particular.  Not only does it allow me personal creativity room, it also is letting me place a "banner" at a location that I've wanted to cover for nearly 4 years.

Though I wanted to make a banner, on Budig Hall, that said, "Here Comes Tomorrow," I'm willing to settle for, "I have no idea what I'm doing and it's wonderful."

There was a good point brought up that black and white images wouldn't translate very well on the white-ish stone. So I took a few concept images of how they might look.

These images make me agree that if I do use this wall they must be colored, or have a far stronger contrast than I originally intended.

While taking these shots I became intregued with one of the art and design building's exterior walls, and wondered what my images would look like against a brick wall.

I feel that the red, tan, color of the bricks favors the black and white imagery as opposed to the full colored imagery.  I feel that the Budig wall is far more impressive location for my imagery, but the Art & Design wall fits the audience better. I also think that the colors of the A&D bricks would add to my concept more than the plain white stone.

I still really want to cover that exterior of Budig, but while writing this blog post I've realized that it isn't the better location for this particular project.

Title Project

While discussing my project, and ideas, in a peer group setting I received interesting responses.  Firstly they correctly argued that my title was obscure and kinda stupid.  They felt I should just use the quote that I was taking inspiration from and use it.

"I have no idea what I'm doing, and its wonderful."

Secondly, I've worked down some of my best ideas down.  I'll update with images of the ideas soon, but for the time being, enjoy one of them colored in a potential color palette idea.

Here are a few initial ideas that I had for the project. Please forgive me for getting the title wrong.

Oddly, I felt that the lightbulb and the image of the man flying a bicycle with a flock of geese were the most interesting, captivating images.

However during a group critique, those images were considered too abstract. They preferred the thinker and scarecrow concepts.  

I'm gonna bite the bullet and design using the bicyclist with the geese despite the group's opinions.  I feel it's abstractness adds to the title of the presentation, and is captivating in a way that feels right to what the presentation would be.

Possible Title Designs

So after a quick deliberation, I settled on "Feeling Wonderful with no Idea" as a "promotional" lecture title Paul Sahre might use. It was taken from a quote of him, "I have no idea what I'm doing, and its wonderful."

Using this title as a guide I began to sketch ideas.

Some of my personal favorites of the bunch are: Plotting Charlie Brown, Guy Falling With Balloons,  and the Whistling Broken Lightbulb.