Typographic Piece Developments

After choosing the typographic piece I decided to develop my designs on further.

Filling in the shape on the poster made both the text and overall piece stand out more as opposed to just the outline which I had previously. The big block of colour draws the eye and by using red to allude to left wing politics as well as invoke emotions, the poster looks political and can be used to raise awareness in young people of the current issues going on in politics.

This was a variation I tried and liked the detail in the background but I thought it distracted from the main message. It also reminded me of some of the designs Tommy Hilfiger has released so I decided not to use this variation.

In order to make my poster more celebratory I decided to add in the date. After adjusting the position I decided I preferred it below the main element of the poster so it is not read first.

The red shape looked too flat with the rest of the poster so adding a kind of drop shadow using the same box repeated but in black added dimension to the poster.

Adding the date back to the poster again it started to come together. As well as the date, I decided to add more to the theme of public spaces by including the latitude and longitude of the Town Hall to the end of the date. The string of numbers looks fairly ambiguous and random but when studied the date and coordinates are easy to see. Alongside the use of the shape of the route taken in the protest links to Leeds a bit more and the idea of public spaces.

Typographic Design

For my idea of using one of the chants from the protest, I first focused on 'no Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA'.

Instead of using the word 'No', I thought crosses covering the words would be more effective and less obvious. The bold capitalised type echoes type used in protests and I have used a brush tool on Illustrator to create the crosses. I could hand paint this idea also which would look cool as most placards are handmade.

I decided to slightly adjust the chant to make it more relevant to the protest - I felt the quote before was very American, and as the protest was held in The UK and is about a UK politician, I felt something without KKK or USA in would work better. I came up with 'No Trump, No May, the UK is not the USA', which still follows the same rhyming pattern as before but is much more relevant. Instead of creating it all out of words, I used a symbol - an equals sign with a slash through it - which means not the same as. This way it is less wordy, more catchy and fits better on the page. I have made the 'No's and the symbol different colours to break up the text. The piece is fairly simple, and needs further developing.

I decided to develop the piece onwards to add colour. Adding a red background and inverting the colour of the text makes the piece stand out, while making it obvious it is a political print. From my research I discovered that red is used in politics in particular as it stimulates people and evokes strong emotions and reactions.
I changed the colour to blue to reflect colour used in UK politics - blue is used for the Conservative party as it invokes feelings of success and reliability. However after doing this the overall appearance of the poster - if you didn't read the words - looks more like a poster promoting the Conservative party, a look I really didn't want in my piece since the protest is against Theresa May.

For these versions I used the route of the protest, from a shape I drew over a map.

I straightened out the bottom of the shape to make it more consistent and visually less obtrusive, and placed it onto the poster. I prefer the filled in shape as it has more of an impact to the eye. 

Collage experimentation

I have begun to experiment with collage, the subject being politics. I have chosen to pursue a satirical route as opposed to a serious one. The subject of politics can be a contentious one and one that is often avoided because of its well known ability to divide people. Turning this on its head and making light of what is a serious subject is a good way to bring people together as they can laugh despite their differing opinions.

The situation in politics right now around the world is, in my opinion, so bad right now that it is laughable. With leaders like Donald Trump and Theresa May, the idea of satire suits my theme perfectly - the people themselves are easy to make a mockery out of.

My first experimentations with collage I think turned out quite successfully. I am particularly happy with the left piece, even though Boris Johnson isn't relevant to the protest the piece still has comedic value. 

For my collage idea I was inspired by this poster I found of a presidential campaign featuring two people, Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore. The poster is from the 1800's which I thought could represent the fact the world seems to be regressing instead of moving forward (the Republican party in the US are on the conservative side of politics, meaning they seem to look to the past instead of the future). As the protest was not about just one person but rather 2 I thought this could be perfect to include both Trump and May.

For this collage I really wanted to mock Trump and May, so while keeping the general idea of the campaign poster, I used a pigeon instead of the patriotic eagle, and a graffiti'd shop shutter instead of the grand curtain in the original. I also labelled May as 'Theresa the Appeaser', a nickname I'd heard at the protest, and labelled Trump as 'the Antichrist'.
I think the idea behind my collage went well but it feels quite busy as a whole. There are lots of clashing parts, making it hard to focus on one aspect. The pigeon blends into the grey shutter (could change to a seagull) and the names are scruffy. However if I were to recreate this piece it would be digitally anyway so I could tidy up the piece. It also may be too complicated for a screenprint, so I would have to convert to black and white.

Colour in Politics

Politics generally is divided into two denominations - left wing and right wing. 

In the US, the left wing (Democrats etc) is generally given the colour blue, which is used to brand the parties and included in campaigns. The right wing (Republican etc) is red.

However in the UK, and most other countries the opposite is true. The Conservative party leans to the right and uses blue as their colour. Taking their colour inspiration from the Union Jack (red white and blue) they initially used Red, but after Labour adopted a similar shade, the Conservatives dropped the red and white and instead chose to represent themselves using blue. Blue logos invoke a sense of confidence, reliability and success.

The colour red is associated with left wing politics since the French revolution where British soldiers mutinied near the Thames and hoisted a red flag on some ships. The red mean to symbolize the martyrs blood of those who had been killed. The Labour party used a red flag as their emblem until 1986 when it was replaced with a rose. Red is also the colour for socialism - a belief that the Labour party was founded on.

Colour theory

Blue is a very cool colour, used to reflect relaxation and stability. On the other hand, red is the most emotionally intense colour. It can be used to show passion, love, fear and strength to name a few. It also raises blood pressure and and has very high visibility. The high visibility plus emotion invoking capabilities of the colour alongside its alignment with left wing politics makes it the perfect colour to use in my political print.

Political prints/posters inspiration

1. The mix of photo and type here works well. The overall feel of the piece is slightly anarchist, but I love the appearance and messy David Carson - esque type laid over the photo, which is of John Key, former New Zealand Prime Minister and leader of the New Zealand National party. I could recreate this piece with Donald Trump or Theresa May as the background - all 3 of these people are right wing politicians so a similar style would be appropriate. 

2.This print by Bases Loaded represents the ceremonial first pitch on Opening Day of baseball season, where the US Presidents traditionally throw the first pitch. The print is loosely political, but I like the illustration style and the limited colour palette which is something I could recreate in a screen print.

3. This print focuses on immigration and ethics. I am inspired by the handwritten nature of the piece as well as the typography focus, which I think could work quite well with one of the chants from the protest.

4. 'Gaza One Year On, Still in Ruins' clearly shows the effects of the bombing the strip recieved from Israel. The print recreates the Palestinian flag in the colours and shapes it uses.

5. This very relevant anarchist poster could be perfect for my project if I went down the illustration route. The bold type makes a statement - I would like to use something similar in my print. Using the idea of borders/walls - potentially showing them breaking down - to show the intent behind the protest would commemorate the event well.

6. This was one of the chants from the protest so I think the use of it could be quite effective in my final poster. 

7. This poster reads ‘The world now knows that the Fascists have nothing to offer the youth but death.’ It shows a skeleton removing a mask, which is the face of Hitler, and alludes to the fall of the Nazi regime.

8. This poster was created by a prankster during President Nixon's presidential campaign. He used the slogan 'Nixon's the one' and the prankster Dick Tuck hired groups of pregnant women to go to Nixon rallies wearing buttons sporting the slogan, which indicated he was ‘the one’ for a number of other areas as well. The poster has a satirical element which I am interested in including in my own poster.

Initial design ideas

Design ideas

recreate a scene from the protest - in collage
(would require use of other people's photography)

make a typographic poster from one of the chants from the protest
- No Trump, No KKK, No Fascist USA
- No borders, No nations, Stop deportations
- Can't build the wall, hands too small (satirical)

- create a placard
- use the shape of the route we walked in the protest as a feature
- collage based around Trump/ May - satirical or showing something defeating/overcoming them
- a collage piece based on the theme of acceptance
- a collage piece playing on the theme of walls/ borders and them being broken

initial digital sketches

Protest

On 30th January myself and a few friends took part in a protest against Trump/Theresa May/the Muslim Ban. 

It was an event on Facebook organised by Stand Up to Racism - an movement with branches/groups all over the UK set up by people including Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbot. These protests happened all over the country with simultaneous events in York and London etc.

The event generated a lot of public interest, with over 1000 people attending and marching. 



Starting out meeting at Dortmund Square, our route took us along the Headrow, down Park Lane, along Boar Lane and up Briggate to Dortmund Square again. From here the march went onto the Town Hall where the whole protest group gathered to chant and listen to people speak about the relevant issues.

 *(film photos by Jessica Heap)

The above photos were taken on the march, the first 2 on Park Lane and Briggate during the march and the bottom 3 at the Town Hall where the group gathered.

The protest was a really interesting evening out and it was amazing to see people of all races/genders/ages/sexualities coming together to protest something that mattered to all of us.
Even though a protest technically isn't a celebratory event, the fact that everyone came together to peacefully protest a man preaching hateful things and the muslim ban (an act based on hate) is great to me and I wanted to celebrate this.

Place wise, my poster will be based on the Town Hall or one of the main roads we marched on the protest (Briggate or Park Lane). The Town Hall might be better as it was a place where most of the chanting took place and it would be easier to capture a moment as everyone was stationary.

Celebratory Poster research

75th Anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Fransisco

The 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge was May 2012, and these illustrative posters commemorate the occasion by celebrating the architecture and beauty of the bridge. The illustrations feature the iconic rust red as the main focus, and also plays with shadows and blues for sky and water. Type is secondary in these posters, only added underneath to give a hint to the occasion. There is no date - something that could have perhaps been added, but the minimalist appearance and arrangement of the text allows the beautiful illustrations to be the central focus in the posters.

70th Anniversary CCCM A series of 7 typographic posters to commemorate the 70 years since the first Congress of Croatian Cultural Workers. 

The above posters are some from a series of 7 that commemorate the 70th anniversary of the first Congress of Croatian Cultural workers. I loved these posters as they use only type - and no illustration. The arrangement and layout of the groups of text is eye catching and structured - the clear lines allow the colours of the prints to pop (red white and blue from the Croatian Flag and yellow and green as additional colours) and the large scale coloured '7' and '0' provide a backdrop to a seemingly otherwise minimalist piece.

I am drawn to the bold primary colours of these posters coupled with the colossal numbers which draw your eye but do not distract from the text. The date is also included in these posters, the placement of each main element moves from poster to poster - providing difference between the series but the colours and overarching theme keep a sense of consistency too.

 Queens Diamond Jubilee Commemorative Poster

This poster is reminiscent of the Keep Calm and Carry on style of posters produced by the British government before World War 2, in order to keep up morale. The style has become typically British and has inspired many other posters. This commemorative poster for the Queens Diamond Jubilee in 2012 uses this "Britishness" and the typographic style of the Keep Calm posters to create a slightly tongue in cheek vibe. The relevant and cheeky quote written in the 'Queens English' would appeal to many patriotic individuals, and the colour scheme, cream red and a hint of blue in the upside stamp also heralds from the Union Flag, adding to the Britishness of the design.

35th anniversary of The Battle of Yavin Commemorative Poster

The Battle of Yavin took place at the end of the first Star Wars film and was a battle in the Galactic Civil War that led to the destruction of the First Death Star. The Battle was significant as many events in Star Wars stories are typically dated in terms of years BBY (Before the Battle of Yavin) or ABY (After the Battle of Yavin).

The poster itself contains a warm colour palette - browns, reds and yellows which are probably taken from the colour of the planet Yavin, a large red gas giant. The imagery from the poster is taken from the events in the film, featuring the fighter ships as well as thh large guns and the helmets worn by the fighters. The symmetrical appearance of the poster works well to create a detailed but uncomplicated scene and the stylized type fits well with the overarching theme.