Final Reach Out and Read Poster (Submitted)

Final poster submitted to the Reach Out and Read contest. After final critique the photo was redone. In the final for class the space on the left side of the book for the letter "W" was very small. In the reshoot I laid the book for "O" over this sliver of book on the "W". Also the "READ" was more properly centered above "GROW" and that was it for composition. On color, a totally different green was used. My original intent was to use the same hue of green as in the final for class. However, after cropping the photo, I immediately liked the green seen here far more. I changed the color a little to be more green and not so much yellow green. This version is a warm green while the one turned in for class was a cool green. I felt like the warm green spoke for a brighter future from reading and suggested a stronger sense of growth in the vibrancy of the hue. 

Final Reach Out and Read Poster (for class)

After my last talk with Marty, it was decided to switch from my "Plant a seed, teach it to read" to my "READ GROW" poster. Since I was working on both simultaneously anyway it was no problem. Plus no further photos were needed (at the time). I just changed the color a little to make the grass more vibrant and printed at the print center. I printed both of these versions here, but the one with the slightly crooked letters was chosen for its tactility in the placement of the letters. It had a better handmade feel and is certainly my preference.

READ GROW Side Project (Reach Out and Read Poster)

I finally cut all the letters I needed out of children's books and I took a few photographs of the letters on the grass. I tried a few different ideas. I started a few iterations with changing the perspective then I made the letters uneven and did two variations on the uneven letters. I really think one of these twelve iterations could either work as a final piece or be very close to a final idea. One more photo shoot at the most though and I think this poster will be done.

Reach Out and Read Fourth Digital Iterations

These are my final iterations before my final poster. The phrase made from birdseed was placed on a white background and then I spread some potting soil around the whole phrase. The soil is only below the phrase and to the sides. I first photographed just the phrase and soil. Then I added some plants to the dirt. Then I threw in some leaves and lone sprouts in the white space. Then I sprinkled some dirt into the white space and finally I added a few stray seeds to the white space. Each iteration is an example of different details being integrated into my poster.

Reach Out and Read Third Digital Iterations

After the last critique, my chosen direction was to combine the idea of using a plain white background and using a garden and soil as a background. The positioning of the soil was changed and some green sprouts and grass were added for different iterations this round. After the next critique I will set the letters up one last time and integrate the background idea that works the best.

Iterations on "Plant a Seed, Teach it to Read" Poster

Several iterations on my poster for the Reach Out and Read program. After the last critique, it was decided that a different background was needed for the text. So, I redid the phrase on a white background and took pictures of it. I deleted the background then placed the text in a variety of locations which consist of pictures I found on the internet and some that I took. These iterations are essentially a practice run on which background needs to be used.

The first four images are variations on the text. The first has no punctuation and the second one does, and the final two have excess seeds spilled around the text. For the placing in different environments I used the set of text that had punctuation.

Reach Out and Read First Digital Iterations

In my three posters I chose to follow the path of limited text. I wanted the phrases I used to be short, affirmative, and immediately understood. I also wanted to maintain a childish context. In the Read & Soar poster, the rendering style suggests this childishness. In the seed poster, the letterforms and playful colors suggest haptic quality of a child's handwriting. The Read Grow poster maintains the child context withe the children's books that were used to make the letterforms. 

Based on critique, the poster that will be pursued for the class assignment will be the seed poster. I have to think of a way to contextualize the font to children better though. The setting the poster is in now (just on top of a school desk) is not quite working. It isn't seen as a desk and it doesn't provide too great of a contrast for the letterforms. I plan to try sidewalks, classrooms, playgrounds, a garden, and pouring excess seeds around the phrase to stress the use of seeds in the letters.

On a personal note, after talking with Marty, I have decided to enter the Read Grow and the seed poster into the poster design contest. I feel like both posters have potential and the Read Grow poster is really close to its final form right now. It won't take a lot of extra time to finalize the poster. My focus for now though will certainly be the seed poster.

Reach Out and Read first sketches

My main concern behind these poster designs was to keep the text limited. In my own opinion, the parents that this program primarily needs to reach probably don't like reading and therefore don't read to their kids. They don't understand the importance because they never benefited from it. Therefore, they wouldn't stop to take the time reading statistics and research and all these explanations behind the importance of the program. So I tried to use rhymes and short phrases in my posters to keep it simple and appealing to those that don't appreciate statistics and text. I hope to catch the attention of people with the posters imagery (analog letters or imagery) and then hopefully from there they would read the bottom of the poster for the information that wouldn't have attracted them in the first place.

I wanted the phrases and words I used to be affirmative but somewhat vague. Vague to provoke the viewer to think deeper about the importance behind reading to children and just reading in general. 

Periodically Speaking Yo (Final Deliverable)

 Here's some digital versions of the final deliverables for the Periodically Speaking project in Typography 1. I was particularly interested in this project. The use of typography in creating the monogram and both layouts was very interesting. I often get lost in details with my work, so working with the details in these pieces (the leading, rags, orphans & widows, alignments, and grids) was an enjoyable experience. I am also very fond of chemistry and science, researching (chemistry and physics research especially), and the histories and stories behind many things. It was nice to design for something not human or human related. There are set characteristics in elements and we set out to exemplify them in the designs of the monogram, two-page spread, and web layout and these characteristics don't change like human moods and preferences do.

Refined Webpage Design

I chose this layout from my critique with Marty. She pointed out that the image and the text have a "push-pull" effect on the layout. I maintained this effect and tried to rearrange the rest of the page to compliment it.

These next five images are basically the process in my rearrangement of the layout. The last image is the final outcome and my final refined layout.