Assignment: Colour Me…

This assignment draws on what you have learnt through the projects and exercises so far,
working with visual dynamics, colour, collage and visual language.

The Brief

To produce a poster (297mm x 420mm) that celebrates a colour of your choice.
Choose a colour that has a meaning that you want to explore and celebrate. Think about
what the colour you have chosen means both to you and to other people and create
something that celebrates that meaning, for example you may choose a golden brown
because you like real ale, a vivid green because of a particular landscape, green to celebrate
Irish identity or the yellow sandstone of Bath’s architecture..

Requirements

Work only with your chosen colour, its complementary colour and black and white. You can
include text, collages, illustrations and photographs. Use black and white to help establish a
range of tints and shades with your chosen colour. These limitations are to get you to work
with colour thinking creatively about how to make a limited palette work for you.

This project is as much about visual dynamics and contrast as it is about creating something
with meaning. Make full use of it to show off to your tutor all the skills and processes yo
have learnt so far.

You need to submit at least three variations of your poster as well as the finished artwork.

Exercise Response

Subject: Homelessness

Keywords

  • Shelter
  • Unemployment
  • Financial instability / No bank account
  • No fixed abode
  • Discrimination / Benefit Discrimination (No DSS – Petition)
  • Hungry / Starving / Malnutrition
  • Cold / Hyperthermia
  • Poor / Poverty
  • Begging
  • Sleeping rough
  • Substance Abuse
  • Violence / Abuse
  • Danger
  • Embarrassment
  • Mental Health Issues
  • Loneliness
  • Sleeping Bag
  • Suicide / Suicidal thoughts
  • Social Housing
  • Waiting list
  • Temporary accommodation / Sofa surfing
  • Stigma
  • Vulnerable
  • Charity
  • Eviction / Repossession
  • Prison
  • Crime / Petty theft / Drugs
  • Prostitution
  • Death
  • The Big Issue
  • Hidden Homeless
  • Food Bank / Food bank voucher
  • Soup Kitchen
  • Day Centres
  • Labour Party
  • Human Rights
  • Support / Advice / Help
  • Citizens Advise Bureau
  • Blame / Victimisation / Shame
  • Benefits
  • Statistics
  • Free School Meals
  • Fundraisers / Volunteers
  • Law / Legal Advice
  • Streets
  • Hope
  • Goodwill / Generosity

Homeless Statistics

  • As of December 2019, there were 320,000 people homeless in the UK.
  • Numbers have risen by 75% since 2010.
  • 135,000 of Decembers’ figures were Children.
  • As of March 2019, 84,740 households were stuck in temporary accommodation.
  • The above figures had increased to 93,000 by March 2020. (The first week of the Coronavirus outbreak).
  • Alerts regarding members of the public regarding rough sleepers rose by 36% between April and June 2020.
  • An estimated 726 homeless people died in England and Wales in 2018.
  • In 2019, deaths had risen by another 22%.
  • A homeless person died every 19 hours in the UK, in 2019.
  • Suicide is the second most common cause of death for homeless people. (Recorded in 2018).
  • Homeless people are among the most in need of Mental Health support, but are the hardest to reach.
  • In November 2016, the government announced a ban on letting agency fees.
  • Every 13 minutes, a family in England becomes homeless.
  • Average house prices are now eight times the average salary in England, meaning most people cannot afford to take on a 95% loan.
  • Black people are more than three times as likely to experience homelessness.
  • More than 380,000 homes granted planning permission between 2011 and 2019 remain unbuilt as of September 2020.
  • 230,000 renters are at risk of ‘Covid eviction’ when government ban lifts.
  • People in need of benefits rose to 2.8 million between March and June 2020.
  • A child becomes homeless in Britain every 8 minutes.
  • 9-12% of rough sleepers are estimated to be 55+.
  • 19% of Women, and 16% of Men released from prison are homeless. (July 2020 report).

Refining the message / Focus – Child Homelessness / Poverty

Key statistics

  • A child becomes homeless in Britain every 8 minutes.
  • 135,000 children were homeless last Christmas (2019).
  • In 2019, Child homelessness surged by 80% under Conservative-led government.
  • 300 British MP’s vote against extending free school meals.

Focus

  • Poverty
  • Hunger
  • Homelessness
  • Cold
  • Food Banks
  • Eviction / Repossession
  • Homeless at Christmas
  • Free School Meals
  • Britain
  • Children
  • Vulnerability
  • Help / Support
  • Charity
  • Awareness
  • Change

Inspiration

Other Inspiration

Concept – Homeless Children at Christmas

Christmas Keywords

  • Children
  • Santa
  • Presents / Toys
  • Reindeer
  • Sleigh
  • Christmas tree
  • Stocking
  • Stars
  • Christmas dinner / Pudding
  • Letter to Santa
  • Wishlist
  • Chimney
  • Bed

Call to Action / Purpose

  • Call for support, donations and education.
  • Provide Facts / Statistics.
  • Shock Viewers.
  • Raise Awareness.

Colours

Red

The colour red is used a lot in the homeless sector. For example: 2 of the most prevalent homeless Charites in the UK – Shelter and Crisis, both use the colour red for their branding. In addition to this, I found a large amount of poster designs used hard hitting photography, along with red typefaces, flashes, and other elements of red. When you look further in to the meaning of ‘red’, you come to understand why red is a ‘thing’ in homeless campaigns, charities, ads and so on.

Red is also the most obvious colour for Christmas, so is relevant to the message.

Red Meaning:

  • Action
  • Strength
  • Energy
  • Passion
  • Attention
  • Motivates
  • Stimulates
  • Caution
  • Sexuality
  • Desire
  • Courage
  • Confidence
  • Anger
  • Danger
  • Revenge
  • Aggression

Green (Complimentary)

Green is the colour of Safety, growth, encouragement, generosity, hope and health. Quite the opposite of red. A good colour to use in contrast for this particular subject. In addition to this, Green is also the colour of envy, materialism and judgement, so could be used to imply a more negative tone.

Again, green is also a Christmas colour.

Green Meaning:

  • Safety
  • Harmony
  • Growth
  • Health
  • Revitalizes
  • Balances
  • Relaxes
  • Encourages
  • Hopes
  • Generosity
  • Prosperity
  • Luck
  • Judgemental
  • Envy
  • Materialism
  • Inexperience

Red & Green metaphors

Red

“Red Like fury”.

“As red as a crime scene”.

Green

“Gave the green light”.

“Green old age”.

“Green as grass”.

“Green with envy”.

“Green in my judgement”.

“The grass isn’t always greener on the other side”.

Sketches

Design progress

Final Designs

Conclusion

The assignment is normally a summary and an opportunity to demonstrate what you have learned throughout a particular section, but as ‘Visual Language’ is all about discovering your own interests / tastes, and establishing your own personal style, I wanted to test myself further than I had in any of the exercises, as they had been fairly limited / restricted throughout.

Keen to try out some grungey-styles and other more simple designs, negative space etc, I needed to better understand GIMP.

I watched various videos on Youtube about GIMP layers, layers masks, and channels. In all honesty, I found myself scrolling through endless videos and simply picking out the projects that ‘looked good’, rather than anything specific. I like a lot of different styles, but I don’t always know a name to pin to what it is I like, so exploring and getting lost in Youtube tutorials felt like the best thing to do, and I seemed to gain a lot of knowledge from doing so.

Finding a balance between something so dark and hard-hitting, yet relevant to Christmas, was quite difficult, but through the use of colour, brushes, layers, and textures, I was able to achieve relevance across most of the deigns.

Overall, the assignment tested me and taught me a lot of new methods. I learnt more about GIMP, including layers, layers masks, channels, creating textures etc. I managed to try out some of the concepts found in my inspiration folder, although not all of them which is a shame. The posters all have some form of relevance. Do I like all of them – No. Would someone else – I think so. I’m getting to a point in my learning now where my expectations of myself are growing higher, and personally I just think if I had more knowledge I could do better, but I’m happy with what I learnt along the way.

I wasn’t able to think of any completely original negative space concepts that hadn’t already been done, which was quite frustrating because this is an area I hoped to develop throughout this assignment. That said, I definitely learned a lot in other areas so not all is lost.

Another criticism is that I have not used my own photography. This is something I have to incorporate more in future.

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