BIG PICTURE FROM SMALL PARTS
ARTS 210 – GRAPHIC DESIGN I
BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY (SUNY)
HARPUR COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Objective:
Students were asked to choose a group of simple elements that are serving the same purpose and start creating small silhouettes of them (small parts). They could repeat and arrange these small parts in such a way to create a big picture with the representing object that is related to the smaller ones. Students were also asked to try to achieve the contrasting effect where small parts would be typically larger in the real world than your choice of the big picture object in your design. They had to consider how they could achieve interesting contrasting effect through scale reversal. Small parts would serve as building blocks of the big picture. Students could use black and white, or one color only. They had to make sure choice of color matched somehow the chosen object(s). They could use different values of that same color if needed. The goal was to create captivating composition of easily recognizable smaller parts and one big picture establishing meaning coming from their similarity and relationship but unexpected (reverse) scale.
Students were encouraged to use tracing and paste up techniques as well as incorporating analog methodologies.
* Original project concept is inspired from the book Graphic Design The New Basics by Ellen Lupton and Jennifer Cole Phillips
