"People are accustomed to seeing the background as a passive and unimportant relation to a dominant subject. Yet visual artists quickly become attuned to the spaces around and between elements, discovering their power to shape experience and become active forms in their own right." (An excerpt from Graphic Design The New Basics by Ellen Lupton and Jennifer Cole Phillips.)
FIGURE/GROUND Contrast and Composing Exercises 4 (A-F)
EXERCISES 4 (A-F) ARE DUE: The beginning of the next class posted to your blog in .PNG format. PLEASE REMEMBER TO SAVE BOTH YOUR ILLUSTRATOR (.AI) AND THE .PNG FILES.
EXAMPLES:
This project is based on an assignment created by Jennifer Cole Phillips, a faculty member of the Graphic Design Department of Maryland Institute College of Art.
Poster by: Joanna Gorska & Jerzy Skakun
FIGURE/GROUND Contrast and Composing Exercises 4 (A-F)
- Using Illustrator you will make (6) 10-x-10-inch square non-representational (abstract) compositions.
- Working within a 10-x-10-inch square, combine letterforms into dynamic compositions. Focus on letterform details to illuminate the unique characteristics and stylistic features of your letters. Use figure/ground relationships to contrast forms against each other as well as merge them together. The black elements in your composition should have just as much visual impact as the white. You can copy, overlap, move, rotate and scale (holding down the shift key of course) your letters. You may not use effects or reflect (mirror) your letters.
- Select contrasting letterforms for each of your compositions.
- Choose letters that vary in their weight, geometry, and complexity.
- Your letters must have a black or white fill with NO stroke (outline).
-You can not adjust transparency.
- Working within a 10-x-10-inch square, combine letterforms into dynamic compositions. Focus on letterform details to illuminate the unique characteristics and stylistic features of your letters. Use figure/ground relationships to contrast forms against each other as well as merge them together. The black elements in your composition should have just as much visual impact as the white. You can copy, overlap, move, rotate and scale (holding down the shift key of course) your letters. You may not use effects or reflect (mirror) your letters.
- Select contrasting letterforms for each of your compositions.
- Choose letters that vary in their weight, geometry, and complexity.
- Your letters must have a black or white fill with NO stroke (outline).
-You can not adjust transparency.
EXERCISES 4 (A-F) ARE DUE: The beginning of the next class posted to your blog in .PNG format. PLEASE REMEMBER TO SAVE BOTH YOUR ILLUSTRATOR (.AI) AND THE .PNG FILES.
EXAMPLES:
By: TJ Grier
This project is based on an assignment created by Jennifer Cole Phillips, a faculty member of the Graphic Design Department of Maryland Institute College of Art.
