Read it and weep Brothers and Sisters

Here are the final layouts for the Into the Woods brief, Poster, Programme Cover, Two Post Cards + the Back. Two Invitations in 2 colour and a 2 colour ticket.

Read it and weep Brothers and Sisters

Above are some sketches drawn as an exercise beyond the mood boards. Some are better than others and approach the brief more clearly. Colour and final layout for the final design solutions will be done in Abobe Illustrator CS2 because its what I am familiar with.

modern and 1950s interpretation of characters

The sketches above and below are both 1950s and modern contemporary interpretations of characters found in the story. Like the multi layered and deconstructed fairy tales and emotions explored in the musical I have interpreted the characters in this visual style.

More 1950s Style characters

Above and below are some examples of the styles I have drawn in respect of the brief being in a 1950s style with contemporary and original input. Like the story deconstructing fairy tales and the emotions of the characters so these sketched interpretation are intended to do the same in a visual manner.

Painted Backgrounds

Above I have grouped together some backgrounds. These are photographs taken by myself that have been placed into Illustrator CS2 and live traced using 4, 6, or 8 colours sampled from the original bitmap. The bottom right image is my chose for this project.

With further consultation with the lecturer's it has been decided that the use of photographically sampled images may not be appropriate for this brief.

Mood board showing 1940s and 1950s styles

The mood board above again shows 1950s art and design aspects of the period, the departure from conservative traditions formed from nature to a greater exploration of the simplistic and contrasting elements of colour and shape.

The mood board above purely of Jim Flora's work I feel lends itself well to the "Into The Woods" design brief as his work shows 'artificial stylistic and not natural' representations in an eye catching and wity way.

This mood board above depicts works created in the 1940s and 1950s, featuring work from Jim Flora (quoted as a designer of Monsters by artist JD King) he stretched the laws of Physics visually wreaking havoc with his portrayal of the human form and other visual elements.

Paul Rand's work is also featured, often seen as one of the originators of the "Swiss Style" he was one of the first to convince Corporate America the effectiveness of graphic design.

The posters and design elements featured in Josef Muller Brockmann work illustrate his use of photography and typography with aspects of the "Grid System" with which he also championed.

Lucienne Day's arresting fabric and wallpaper designs are featured here with Husband Robin's furniture at the Festival of Britain held in London in 1951. Modern materials and construction techniques allowed 1950s design to reach new experimental highs. 

Alvin Lustig believed in the curative powers of modern design having a direct influence on all aspects of American Life, his mid 1940s work here can be seen at the for front of the "International Style".

Also featured below are mood boards compiled by photographing /copying images from Robert Opie's 1950s Scrap book.

Mood boards of post war British styles

The two mood boards above, compiled by Robert Opie from his Scrap Book of 1950s Britain. 

Most of the work show here is very illustrative, probably due to the technologies of the time using the air brush to colorize photographs, I sense in some of the images the Japanism style of wood block printing popularized in France and Britain in the 19th Century.

These images below were compiled as a visual trigger  for the design brief "Into The Woods" which as we will see further on has to be depicted in a 1950s visual style.

Having loads of fun (not really) trying to get my head round the 1950s and the major influences there-in. 

I must admit these essays we have to write are really not my scene, but needs must as the devil drives.

I  started some mood boards for the "into the woods" project, hopefully to spark some inspiration, more works needed me thinks.