FINAL PROJECT (40%)
WEEK 5 - WEEK 7
TIMEFRAME: FEB 6 - FEB 24
TIMEFRAME: FEB 6 - FEB 24
INSTRUCTION
FINAL PROJECT BRIF
In the Final Project I am tasked to do a full visual analysis on art medium of my choice, and I have to create a design that is inspired by the art medium that I have documented. In addition, I have to apply design principles in my artwork. Throughout my progress of Visual Analysis, it required to pick one goal for United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and the influential artwork must be related to the chosen goal.
From then on, I have to explain in around 50 words, on why I have selected on that particular design and how it is link to UNSDG goal. Write a 300 - 350 words visual analysis of the selected artwork. Lastly write a 50 – 100-word rational explanation of my design choices.
United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals:
- No Poverty
- Zero Hunger
- Good Health and Well-Being
- Quality Education
- Gender Equality
- Clean Water and Sanitation
- Affordable and Clean Energy
- Decent Work and Economic Growth
- Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
- Reduced Inequalities
- Sustainable Cities
- Responsible Consumption and Production
- Climate Action
- Life Below Water
- Life on Land
- Peace, Justice and Strong Institution
- Partnership for the Goals
Chosen Goal: No.13 Climate Action
VISUAL ANALYSIS
Phase of Visual Analysis:
- Phase 1: Observation
- Phase 2: Analysis
- Phase 3: Interpretation
PHASE 1
This stage about observing an art piece to identify the visual element
present in the design. Those observation have to be record accurately in
a form of descriptive paragraph based on my judgment.
PHASE 2
With observation information being collect. Phase 2 is at that stage
where is require me insert the Design Principles knowledge on the
observation to make statement on the artwork.
PHASE 3
Finally in this phase, my findings along with the analysis of the work
is supported with rational facts about artwork or its historical
background from accurate and trustworthy sources. And I have to search
what is the true intention of the artwork.
VISUAL ANALYSIS
PICTURE NO.1
Why I Choose this design:
I was Intrigue by Banksy message because it is a topic that hasn’t been talked about that much due to the fact there is a small population of people who do not believe in climate change. In my opinion, this might be a big issue in the future because this minority don’t bother to make a difference to solve an ongoing crisis thus making it worse.
Phase 1:
Phase 2:
The color red within the words gives contrast to the white
background of the building. Not only that the color red gives a sense
of urgency to the viewer to highlight one of the most overshadowed issues
of what Banksy is trying to warn us. This is an effective way to create an
emphasis on the words to give more attention and it catches
the eye to of the message on display. The stream of water seems to be
reflecting the words as it shows repetition. The reflection effect
signifies the grey area of which side are we supposed to trust. Although
we studied climate change at a young age, there are people out there who
still don’t believe in climate change despite millions of scientists
having solid evidence.
Phase 3:
A famous street artist goes by the name Banksy whose identity is
surrounded in mystery known for his/her stencil style complete with
activist message. In 2009, he/she wrote a climate change denial statement
quoted “I don’t believe in global warming” half submerged into the water
of the Regent’s canal in Camden, North London. In my own words, I think
Banksy is using sarcasm in order to spread awareness that there are people
who are blissfully ignorant of the ongoing issue at hand. One of those
reasons being that the lack of awareness as the 2017 study have shown 90%
of American are unaware that majority of anthropogenic scientists’
approval on their climate change theory. Misinformation is also guilty for
it cause; the fossil fuel industry uses misinformation as a marketing
strategy. Example: The company Big Oil is fully aware of the climate
change for year, but they turn a blind eye
PICTURE NO.2
Why I Choose this design:
One of the effects of climate change is drought and this magazine cover perfectly depicts drought without overusing stereotypes from a lot of drought awareness illustration or posters. Such as using dead trees and dead animals to portray the dryness of the land or to show a picture of people suffering from drought.
Phase 1:
On the magazine cover it took place on a desert with lack of vegetation. A mixture of color schemes is present as, it consists of muted color which are tan, grey, black and white and solid colors which are red and dark blue. There are two figures both wearing the same outfit being positioned differently. The one wearing the mask is placed on the foreground where else the other is place on the middle ground.
Phase 2:
The photo uses the golden ratio (refer to Fig 2.2) composition to balance out the subject and the text. It is shown when the title of the magazine “When Sands Expand” is located around the central part of the golden ratio along the subject matter being located at the biggest area of the golden ratio. And the way the two figures and the fence are arranged, allows the viewers’ eyes to follow through the striking red fence and then it ends with the two figures. The rule of third (refer to Fig 2.3) is applied on the photo to balance out between the sky and ground and this helps to determine the main focus which is the figure wearing the mask. There is asymmetric balance found where the two figures are both wearing the same dress but one of them is wearing a mask while the other one is wearing a beanie: the figure at the center is also highlight the divide between to the second figure on left and the fence on the right. These two elements bring to the use of emphasis it uses bold and solid colors such as dark blue and red to help the viewers on what focus. It even helps to differ between the subject and environment as it creates contrast.Phase 3:
The photo is from the cover of “The Washington Post Magazine” it contains an article about the Sahara Desert growing bigger due to climate change which could pose as a problem because it can dry up the vegetation of the tropical terrain leaving no room for crops. The article is written by Darryl Fears and photo is taken by Aida Muluneh.
PICTURE NO.3
Even though I am aware that this kind of concept has been overused in
thousands of climate change illustrations, but I believe with those
generic illustrations. I think that has a lot of room to reinvent new ideas.
Another reason being that artic animals are mostly likely vulnerable to
habitat loss and disruption of the food chain.
Phase 1:
It is a simple vector art that does not use any outlines. It depicts a
polar bear sweating under the sun struggling to survive as it was left
stranded in the middle of the ocean with no food, using a small block of ice
to keep afloat. The polar bear has a miserable expression as it holds a fork
piercing a soda can presumably taking it as food.
Phase 2:
This vector art uses the polar bear as an emphasis subject to show
that even an apex predator such as a polar bear can fall victim to
extinction, because of climate change it can kill off the polar bears’ food
resources thus disrupting the food chain. The color coordination used
in the illustration create unity as multiple shade of cold
colors and warm colors are blended. But effectively it does not
clash. However, contrast has been used as it was done by having all
of the cold colors to be at the bottom of the illustration while the
warm colors being on top of the illustration. There is even a sense of
movement present in the illustration, it is found on the sun and the
ocean. The flare of the sun is divided into 3 layers that are spread out in
radial patterns. Each of them has a different scale (starting from the inner
layer being the smallest while the outer layer being the biggest). The waves
of the ocean are in a bilateral pattern as the waves are pointing upward
while they are moving either left or right.
Phase 3:
I found this illustration on Pinterest made by an unknown artist. He/she uses a simple vector art to illustrate that climate change can cause heat waves to destroy the ecosystem, and he/she is trying to spread the awareness by using bright and cheerful color to grab the viewers’ attention.
PICTURE NO.4
Why I Choose this design:
One of the of the effect of climate change is a that facilities such
factories that release greenhouse gas causing a major heat wave all
around the world. Melting Men (Figure 1.2 and 1.1) demonstrate how the
heat waves can cause animal to lose their habitat and thousands of
deaths. This type of situation has yet to be to solve due lack of
acknowledgement or the ecofriendly alternatives are
deemed too
Phase 1:
Phase 2:
There is repetition element found where every single ice sculpture is designed to look similar to one another to represent the generalize crowd of people where none of them stand out. They are also aligned in a repetitive manner, and the ice sculptures are sitting very close to each other. (Notice: sometime there are gaps on the stairs which allows visitors to walk around it, using the Hierarchy element on the arrangement) There is some fluid sense of movement when the ice sculptures are placed on a curved staircase (Notice: The location of the artwork varies; some ice sculptures are either place on curved stair or straight stairs refer to the pictures Fig 1.1 and Fig 1.2). The effect of the different timelines of the ice sculptures melting, visually creates varied proportions to the original sculptures. These melting structures present themselves harmoniously sending one unified message across.
Phase 3:
Around 2009, a Brazilian artist named Nele Azevedo created ice
sculptures as a public art installation, it was crafted all 1000 by hand
in a form of men and women. She created for the sole purpose of
depicting global warning, climate and biodiversity loss. The sculptures
were placed outdoors on a hot sunny day on purpose, until they turn into
its liquid state. If we pay close attention each one of the ice
sculptures have a characteristic of their own as their body position and
head angles are distinctive. The artwork was originally located in the
Berlins Gendarmenmarkt Square but then it was recreated in Ireland
during the Festival of Queens.
DESIGN PROGRESS & IDEA EXPLORATION
PICTURE NO.1 SKETCH (FIG 1.1)
VISUAL ELEMENT REFERENCE
I use flooding one of the effects of climate change as the main subject, and I pictured having a person on a boat being wash out in the sea of words in the form of Banksy’s message. This creates a sense of irony where people who do not believe in climate change will get hit by karma. At first, I create the words using a bubble style used in street art. But then I notice it feels too rigid, so in the revamped version the words are inspired by one of the 60s poster by Wes Wilson (refer Fig 5.1) and the Lovebus font by Gleb Guralnyk (refer Fig 5.2). I make sure the words have an organic flow like the sea.
PICTURE NO.2 SKETCH (FIG 2.1)
I want to depict another cause of climate change which is drought.
The melancholic tone and the golden ratio composition was inspired by
one of the Washington Post Magazine covers. My idea for this concept
is to create a peaceful and laid-back area set within a miserable
wasteland. I draw a skeleton sitting on a bench being shield from the
sunlight by a palm tree, symbolizing how humanity live in a blissful
ignorance of climate change and mother nature will give them what they
deserve.
PICTURE NO.3 SKETCH (FIG 3.1)
From the Pinterest image I decided to turn the direct approach to make it more elaborate. So, instead of a polar bear standing on a tiny block of ice I imagine that the polar bear is standing on an ice cube afloat in a beverage. Symbolize that humans are responsible for the polar bears’ habitat loss.
PICTURE NO.4 SKETCH (FIG 4.1 - FIG 4.4)
In this sketch I has this idea where I use the papercut out style to give a lighthearted and friendly tone to attract the audience and to make the message memorable. I incorporated the repetitive element of “Melting Men”, and I reinterpret the human concept into a folded paper cutout. I added the tear effect on the fire paper cutout behind the human paper cutout to display chaos created by humans unwilling.
FEEDBACK
From the feedback given by Mr. Charles. He said that he like revamp
version of Concept 1 had some potential on the typography as it each
of the words has a lot of character being shown with a sense of
harmony. He suggested that maybe the words can be using the figure
ground element to effectively make used of the negative space. In
addition, he told me that the person on the boat doesn’t go well with
my design.
For Concept 2 he states that the concept is generic. Concept 3, it can be taken as a spoof of a exist piece. He suggests that the glass can be swapped out for a grail since rich people care no less than climate change. As for Concept 4, it is the same for Concept 2, he even stated than the single shaped silhouette can be offensive to people of different genders and the LGBT community. He like the idea of a paper cutout style but it some I have to think about it further.
DRAFT
VISUAL ELEMENT REFERENCE
FINAL DRAWING
After some consideration the silhouette pattern did turn out what I hoped for, so I make the bomb fuse shaped on to one silhouette in the final drawing.
Influence by Concept 1, in the final drawing I added the climate change denial message on the bomb to display that people who refuse to believe in climate change can cause the earth to self-destruct. The color scheme is inspired by the Soviet Union propaganda poster (refer Fig 6.1). I use propaganda poster is because that one of the causes of the disbelieve is misinformation by a person with greater power, exactly like propaganda has done.
REFLECTION
The final project is got to be one of the most challenging things I have done, because it is hard to find the appropriate design that is fit within the specific category of the United Nations goals. On top of that there some of the artwork that I found can serve as great asset to my work, but the downside is that there is not much more to describe it. I also find it frustrating that I there are other references in mind that will benefit my artwork, but I can’t use them because those references don’t relate to the United Nations goal. Nonetheless, I understand that those limitation are used to courage me to think out of the box.
REFERENCES
Picture No.1: Visual Analysis Phase 3
- Kate Yoder (2019) It looks like Banksy just created an Extinction Rebellion mural. Available at: It looks like Banksy just created an Extinction Rebellion mural | Grist (Accessed: 23 Feb 2023).
- The Guardian (2010) Banksy red over climate change. Available at: Banksy sees red over climate change | Banksy | The Guardian (Accessed: 23 Feb 2023).
- Joseph M. Pierre, M.D (2022) Why Don't People Believe in Climate Change? Available at: Why Don't People Believe in Climate Change? | Psychology Today (Accessed: 23 Feb 2023).
Picture No.2: Visual Analysis Phase 3
- The Washington Post Magazine (2019) 24 Magazine Covers About Climate Change. Available at: For Earth Day, 24 magazine covers about climate change - Washington Post (Accessed: 23 Feb 2023).
- LUXUO (2014) The Minimum Monument (Melting Men) by Nele Azevedo. Available at: The Minimum Monument (Melting Men) by Néle Azevedo - LUXUO (Accessed: 23 Feb 2023).
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