KISS, or Keep It Simple, Stupid!

 My vision for this piece was to play on the word “break”. I hoped to get close to the line for meeting the client’s requirements, while staying true to my artistic desires.  Where my previous assignment was wildly abstract, this one was ment to show restraint.

 I looked through the reference, and I took parts from all the different models to create a whole new body. I wanted a pose that created clear, open negative spaces.  I purposefully left “breaks” between each of the parts. Here are my first takes, all done in Photoshop.

 

       

 

Once I found a design that I create the separate elements.  I had the dancer breakdown, the dancer highlights, and the text.

 

I set up the page according to the required specs for the Dance poster: number of pages = 1, deselect Facing Pages, page size = Tabloid (66 picas x 102 picas), orientation = tall, number of columns = 1, and margins = 3 picas all around. I set up a layers folder for text, graphics, and background.  I brought in my image using the hotkey, CTRL + D to bring in my TIFF.  I adjusted the position to be off center because I thought it would make for an interesting Z layout that forced the eye to drift down the dancer.  I checked my links. I adjusted the display performance to High Quality Display.  I set a rectangle to fill in the space to the bleed.

Next, I brought in the text using a copy and paste from the given media copy. I created a spot color for the text and titled the color highlight blue, R:72, G:231, B:214.  I created a process color and titled Yellow title, R:2544, G:199, B:0. I created and applied guides for the text to be aligned on the right side.  Each line was removed from the media copy, adjusted by creating a text box, and given a paragraph style that was titled appropriately. I used a font called Caviar Dreams for all the text, which I downloaded from a website, dafont.com, and is 100% free for personal and commercial use. 

MCCC Title had a bold, size 30, leading 35 and aligned to the right.  I wanted it to hover over and drape over the title of the dance series. DANCE TITLE was bold, size 30 and used the color: Yellow title.

The dance words: Jazz, Latin, Contemporary, Hip-Hop, Modern, and Ballet, and Directed by Dave Massey were left at size 18. I transformed the text, Hip-Hop and Tap, vertically, to cut the figure, while using the others as cuts horizontally. I felt inclined to do this to preserve the original inspiration of where I joined different parts of the dancers.

The performance dates were changed to size 14, and I made a decision to apply the color Highlight Blue to the date. The Location was given a given a size 12, and the color Highlight Blue.

For the bottom I wanted to try something different with the style.  I created three styles: Left Bar, Center, and Right Bar. I figured that by creating texts boxes that aligned to the guides I could quickly place text that were balanced.  The Left Bar was set for size 14 and left aligned.  The Center was set for size 14 and center aligned.  The Right Bar was set for size 14 and right aligned.  I add the Highlight Blue to the admission costs. I believe that this set up of styles give the bottom a foundation, a floor for the dancer to propel itself from.

The postcard was a different challenge. I hoped to meet some of the other requirements here. I set up a new document with two pages, dimensions of 8 ½ x 5 ½ . I didn’t forget to deselect facing pages. I set 0p9 for a 1/8-inch bleed all around. To leave text space I set up guides, for 2" x 4" of blank space at the bottom right for the address information,  1" x 1" of empty space at the top right to allow for the permit/indicia, and 1/4-inch from the outside edge of the postcard.

For the back, I followed much of the same as the poster. I applied the paragraph styles from the poster. The changes here were to change the MCCC Title to Left Aligned and size 18.  The Dance Title was now size 36.  Both were given a drop shadow effect. 

The text body was given a style of SimpleText with a size 12. I chose to keep its color paper white.  I aligned it to a guide that I place in the center.

I created a gradient swatch titled black to blue. I adjusted the buttons to have the gradient occur where the graphic ended. I left it linear to give the illusion of movement from the right to left with the character jumping off the text body.  

For the front, I wanted a simple image that related to the poster.  I placed the dance titles back into the dancer body.  I removed the dance titles on the back to showcase the sections of the dancer body. The text was sized exactly as the poster. I felt by simplifying the imagery of front, it would hit home my concept of “break”.  

Having the title only also amplifies the “break”.  I kept the same font size as the poster, and brought back the drop shadow effect from the postcard back.  

Overall, I believe this is a successful design that showcases a simple image used to emphasize a theme. I wanted to create a piece that represents contrast and growth from my assignment.  I look forward to our conversations on font.