Good | Bad Design

For this assignment, I decided to evaluate fan-made posters for AMC's popular series Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead, otherwise known as my go-to shows when I feel like binge watching Netflix and eating my weight in junk food.

The Good

The law of closure states that objects grouped together are seen as a whole. The law of closure was not used by accident in this poster for Breaking Bad. The small faces/bits of methamphetamine beneath Walter White are grouped together and seen as either a composite of either one large piece of crystal, or a composite of Walter White, whichever the viewer prefers. This also plays with the psychological context of the storyline of the show. Muy bueno! 

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This poster for The Walking Dead proves to be a good example of the manipulation of figure/ground relationships. What’s the background? What’s the foreground? The artist manipulated this relationship by placing the figure in a ground that is also a figure. (Whoah—what?). Suppose there was negative space around Rick rather than a zombie’s head. Would this have the same effect? I think not. Also, look at Rick’s placement: right where his bullet needs to go in order to kill the thing for good. This is another good example of how design can also comment on the emotional/psychological context of the series. A quick word on the use of color: while it’s very monochromatic and some might argue is boring, I think it works here because of the other elements going on in the piece. Design and contrast are not always about color!

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The Bad

To me, this is a bad example because of the lack of color and context. While this example does include the main logo and actor’s names (typically a good thing for branding and such), it falls short because it’s very busy and doesn’t give the viewer a direction to go. In design, everything should be done with a purpose. What is the point of the gradation on the left hand side of the poster? Rolling hills, maybe? The lack of contrast in font color and background color also don’t help this poster catch your eye. To someone who’s never seen this show before, I think he or she would look at it and go, “OK…So now what?”

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It’s extremely obvious that this design was done by an amateur. As I stated above, everything in design should be done with purpose. The placement of the zombies on the figure’s body are scattered, and because there are an even number it looks really bad. In interior design, a good rule of thumb is to avoid even numbers because people will want to count them. Also, while the arms coming out of the left hand side balance the weight of the poster, they come off very elementary looking.

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Some more fun designs:

Contrast | Balance | Harmony

I painted this a few years back. It's a mix of oils and acrylics on canvas. Ignore the white frame I have it in (sorry).

Contrast is present here in texture, color, shape and line. I wanted to make the texture of the back ground (speckled, rough and earthy) contrast with the smoothness of the curved lines and circles. I used a number of different brushes for the back ground and for the gray circles I used a fan brush to make them look smooth. Contrast in color is apparent in the earthy tones that make up the background versus the stark white and deep black in the abstract shapes. Also, black and white are complete opposites. In the back ground there are subtle lines that bleed from the top to the bottom and vis versa. This directs the eye to the center of the frame where the abstract black and white lines lead the eye inward toward the circles.

The painting is balanced asymmetrically. Balance exists here in the single circle on the far right because it's directly on an intersection line following the rule of thirds. The black line on the left hand side balances the objects by moving the eye upward and making the shapes more dynamic.

This painting is harmonious because it conveys movement and energy using contrasting elements such as color and texture.

Michelangelo's "Creation of Adam" was my inspiration for the piece. Specifically the hand portion:

On an unrelated note, my husband pointed out that if hung vertically instead of it's intended orientation, my rendition resembles a dancer. (Because of his realization, we keep flipping it back and forth and can't agree on how it should be hung).

Visceral

This assignment has made me realize quite a few nit-picky things about myself. For starters, while at first I thought there were many things I could share that were truly stupefying, I was wrong. I had all these ideas in my head and I thought to myself, "How the hell am I going to pick just one thing to share on my blog?!" When I started looking up different clips, photographs, typography and other media related to design, I found myself horribly disappointed in all of my ideas. Maybe I thought too much about it; or I thought maybe too much about what other's responses would be because this is a public blog. Who knows. Maybe I was so critical because I am judging all this "meaningful-to-me" material for a class and I have to evaluate why I thought it was beautiful to me in the first place, when I'm not so sure an individual can relive that first "Wow!" moment. Sometimes you just can't explain or evaluate exactly why you got that feeling in the pit of your stomach.

In the end, I chose the scream scene from one of my favorite films, Garden State. This scene will always be perfectly beautiful to me. In class, Eric talked about the importance of contrast. I personally think contrast is the most important element in design. Whether it's as in-your-face as irony or subtle to the point where only your subconscious notices, the dramatic effect is the most moving. Simon and Garfunkel's "The Only Living Boy in New York" against a dirty, rainy day makes me nostalgic for some sort of sweet melancholy that I can't quite describe or put my finger on.

I guess the whole movie is just that--sweet melancholy. The most stupefying films in my eyes are those that are made up mostly of grit and drama. When I saw Garden State, I was in middle school. It changed my life. Thanks, Braff.

I was deciding between this clip from Garden State or another one from 21 Grams (highly recommend this if you haven't already seen it.) I also considered some of the design in the ending credits of Blue Valentine, which is also a great film.

Introduction

I'm Emily! The end.