I wanted to develop a strong theme for the site that would communicate my design philosophy. I brainstormed quite a bit, writing lists of words and making sketches. In my History of Graphic Design course we had been discussing what makes something graphic design and what makes something fine art. it seemed that there was no clear answer, only a blurry line that was defined by whomever was looking. I thinking the difference is mainly in media and the inclusion of textual information. The blur appears especially in the presentation. Barbara Kruger's work becomes fine art when it is put in a gallery setting though it would likely be considered graphic design if anywhere else. I played with the idea of theming my website like a gallery as I had seen done in other websites, including lookatme.com. After much thought however I decided that I didn't necessary want my work to be shown in a gallery and rather on the street, and in the hands of anyone that came across. I liked the idea of graphic design as art for everyday people. Underground, grungy, colloquial, practical, fun. I searched my neighborhood for a red brick wall that I could photograph and use as my background to show that my work was intended to be see for the public and not just people who took the time to visit a gallery.
After more thought, I decided that it was more important to me to show how I valued hand crafted work rather than my philosophy on the audience of graphic design. I wanted to move away from photography and use mostly illustration and hand-drawn typefaces. I decided to use the theme of communication primarily and chose the icon of a speech bubble as a motif that would be seen in the links. I considered combining the look of a writer's brainstorming branch diagram and the speech bubbles for unique approach to my symbol, but the drawings I developed felt too new age and technical than the arts-and-crafts-movement-feel I was wanting to evoke. I visited the website of an illustrator and graphic designer Kevin Cornell (bearskinrug.co.uk) and was influenced by his use of watercolor wash and the gentle shade of purple.
Below are some sketches and notes that document this conceptual and visual development. You'll see my word association lists, symbol sketches, thumbnails for the layout, and notes on color and typefaces.
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