Final Project: The Old Maid

HOORRAAAYYY for the last project! The day has finally come and we are all just soo excited! Okay, we are all too busy to be excited about anything. Ever. For the Final Project we were to create a personal version of Old Maid with the Old Maid being a factor that keeps us from being creative. If anyone knows me ... headaches wear me out. I made one extra card because I can not count until AFTER the project is over. I am awesome like that! I also chose my handwriting for the type because this card set is about the things that influence me and the headaches that keep me from being creative.

Here is my version of the Old Maid card. When a headache comes ... nothing else does!

Headaches keep me from doing anything creative or otherwise.

 

Here are the remaining 25 cards with the background image at the end of the series.

Asian culture and art has always been a great source of inspiration for me.

Cleaning the cobwebs in the house cleans my creative senses as well.

Salvador Dali has always been a source of inspiration because of his surreal imagery.

Yes. I like to talk and get ideas through gabbing.

Cassandre is by far my favorite graphic designer and I hope to have a skill close to his before I die of Dubonnet.

I can not do anything without my iPad. Ever. I am constantly using it for design research.

My phone is attached to my head most of the time brainstorming ideas with fellow students.

The best time to be alone and think is when you have a kite in your hands.

Manhattan (the only part of New York worth going to) has been a dream world of ideas and influence since I was a kid.

Napping always recharges my batteries ... I totally need one right now. For a month.

Reading novels is a great way to relax and immerse myself in my imagination with guidance from the author.

A lot like Manhattan, Paris is a beautiful city of art and culture. Inspiration at every turn!

An artist is nothing without his pencils!

I lived in Sydney Australia for two years and always think of the relaxed nature of the people and wish my work showed that.

Smoking is such a disgusting habit but a necessary evil. Without it I may explode.

Much like my pencils, I can do very little without my Mac.

Magritte. Genius. Period.

Shoe shopping is always the answer for inspiration and good design ideas.

Travel recharges the senses and thrusts me into a new way of thinking ... with every trip.

The Vatican is phenomenal and the architecture of the city-state should be an inspiration to anyone.

As a child I saw da Vinci's Anatomy of Man exhibit and I am still in awe of his work as seen in the Vertruvian Man

I have Van Gogh painting in my home and I reflect on their aesthetic every day.

Many think that Andy Warhol is overrated, but his influence is always welcome in my designs.

From whistling to singing ... a positive outlook fosters great thinking and design.

Taking a stroll and stepping away from my office keeps the world in focus and allows for greater concepts.

Trellis work has always been a source of joy for me. I love the imagery it provides when stared at long enough.
Stop! That's too long!

Letter of Purpose

Project 7: The Bard

My Pseudonym, Alastair Declan, has been hired by the Royal Shakespeare Company to develop a program cover for King Lear. In his usual way of simple yet detailed sketches, Alastair expresses his aesthetic of sorrow.Alastair was successful in his creation using hand drawn type to express the broken kingdom and mind of King Lear.

Alastair's direction for this program cover was to represent the fracture in King Lear's kingdom when he divided rule between he to eldest daughters, Goneril and Regan with the incorporation of the imagery of the feather mentioned at death of Cordelia, King Lear's youngest daughter.

Project 6: Simplification Through Symbolism

This weeks assignment is to develop a symbols to resemble a quote. This weeks assignment is straight forward and requires little clarification but and example would be the skull and crossbones having a meaning for poison.

Andy Warhol: "Art is what you can get away with." I often think artists get away with murder ... especially when art is produced solely for the sake of it being called art.

When doing research for this assignment I came across a very interesting quote from Magdalena Leska which I find awesome.

“To know the difference between good and evil, you need to have been through good and evil, therefore be good and evil.”

I often have similar thoughts as my friends and am accused of being a psychic freak for saying what is on their minds. I always have to remind them that "Great minds think alike!"

Week 6: Between Ugliness & Beauty

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder; as is ugliness. This assignment was to show the midway point between beauty and ugliness and show our interpretation through our drawings.

I have always thought the chaotic manner in which butterflies maneuver is beautiful. I can just as easily say spiders are exceptionally unattractive and creepy. The idea was to show ugliness wining the fight with beauty.

I took a tour of Maine when I was a child and I thought it was one of the most beautiful places I had ever been. Upon the road trip though the forest we came upon a forest fire and the stark difference was depressing and ugly. Lightning Strike is intended to remind all of us to not blame people for bad things ... Mother Nature has been destroying things for much longer that we have.

Pretty dolls and frilly things are a favorite to many. Many Porcelain dolls are beautiful in their artistry ... until neglected.

South Central Los Angeles, like many parts of LA is very ugly. One thing I have always enjoyed is the creativity evolved in the graffiti that is tagged by many street artists in their effort to leave their mark. Store owners think it is an eyesore, but it sure beats the original appearance of many buildings that make the perfect canvas.

Week 5: Emotional Cyrk Poster

Alastair Declan created a Cyrk poster in his usual style of detail while working the emotion of fun.

Week 5: Pseudonym

Chase has so much up his sleeve! We had to come up with our Pseudonym ... the name and identity in which we can be creative in a manner we are not accustom. It was fun to be able to think of my personality and form an opposite persona. I had the most fun just being creative and experimenting with my Rapidograph pens.

Week 4: Totally Looks Like

I can not say this exercise started as the most fun assignment due to the amount of EXTREME creativity that had to go into  it, but I actually enjoyed it. Simple concept ... find and object that looks like something else. We were required to provide 10 comparisons ... I did 11 for good measure.

This was the coolest one I ran across. I instantly saw an alligator in the rocks.

Call me weird but I have always thought a basketball court looks like a basketball. Wait ... is this a tennis court? Volleyball?

Every time I load my coffee maker with beans I have a craving for toast.

For some reason when I make myself a cocktail I have the sudden urge to call a hit man ... from Louis Vuitton!

Wow.  Who knew doing your dishes could be so pretty!

When I saw this I wanted to play with Lego!

Even this iPad stand is a bit creepy.

It may be obvious, but can you blame me?

Yes, more Star Wars. This utility box has reminded me of the Star Wars drones since I was a little girl on the Death Star.

These stress dolls always freak me out because of the bulging eyes, nose and mouth.  About like my salt shaker. Comparison?

For good measure I added a photo of my ex ... and his dog.