Mariam Ali Work
Idea Description
After searching about the topic and making my mind map and mood board, I did two sketches.
The first one was an illustration of the perfect face that toxic beauty standards are pushing into the media. This “perfect face” is usually seen next to quantification with specific numbers of how much should the space between the lips and nose be, how high the eyebrows should be from the eyes, and more. Instead of these numbers, my sketch took the lips and eyes with “not enough”, to show that it’ll never be to even have all of these quantification done on your face because the beauty standards are going to continue to be more toxic.
The second sketch is more direct and clear it's about a girl looking at the mirror and feeling again “not enough”. When I took the sketch to the illustrator I changed to only a hand holding a mirror, to not emphasize the girl's look but rather that anyone who hold that mirror could feel not enough.
There was no reflection on the mirror to state that you are much more than your reflection which goes with our slogan.
Even though I liked both, I did go with the second one cause I felt I focused too much on the idea on the first one rather than the design while the second felt more balanced.
I focused on the serif typography with my posters as it is a part of 2021 trends. I played a lot with the composition of the text to get the best out of it, I tried 3D typography but ended up changing it.
I created the lines around the title for the final poster to have a better composition. I’ve used LTC Pabst Old style for the title, and Memoriam Pro Headline for the text, both serif.
I used more warm colors that go with the idea as well as the design and its part of 2021 trends as well.
There is a contrast between the text and the background and I felt it made the design stand out more.
I used a gradient for the mirror to emphasize it in the design more, I used gradient with 2 colors and more throughout the whole design process as it's a 2021 trend. The poster at the end felt more cohesive with the use of only 2 colors and the gradient for the mirror, it felt most suitable to the topic and that was the art direction of the design.
Visual Research-Mood Board
MindMap
Sketches
Designing Process
Final Poster
My Reflection
At the start of the project, we divided the teamwork among us. I was responsible for the survey, I wrote the questions and created the survey, and distributed the link. After a week from creating the survey, I analyzed the results and wrote them down. I put in both the presentation and the research.
For the project itself, it was quite enjoyable, the team was great and we connected well. The design process was quite difficult despite being simple, I had to constantly go back to research for more visuals, typography especially. I used multiple fonts and ideas until I settled for the last one.
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I loved the topic and learned a lot regarding it, and its influence and impact on people especially young women, and it made me more motivated to create a design that will connect with them and continue to work on this project.
The process helped me a lot with identifying the graphic design trends of 2021, and as more, I am involved in the project as much information and new designs & trends I am exposed to.
I learned how to create lines and connected them to the typography, and I learned how to create light within the mirror to give it more feeling.
Also seeing my teammate's work and how each one of them had approached the trends in a different way was refreshing.
Moreover, each one of us did a self-illustration as an icon to represent us on the blog.
Having also consultations with my teacher was a great help, her feedback helped me noticing my mistakes or elements I forget to include. Usually, I tend not to share my work with my teacher but this time hearing the feedback brought me back on the right track every time, something that I’ll surely continue to do in the future.