Statement of Intent

The project brief is Take a Closer Look wanting us to explore a subject that has two opposite sides that may not always be accepted or seen. I have chosen to take forward the subject of Ballet Dancing, not only is it a passion of my own but I think its not something that many would see as possibly being controversial and having two sides. One being the pure beauty of ballet dancing and that a lot aspire to be a dancer but secondly that in reality it is both physically and mentally demanding due to the pressure and how perfect it has to be. I aim to produce a general piece of graphic design, either an advertisement/campaigne style poster using typography and illustrated imagery or a serious of simple images evolving showing the opposing sides. I will be using Adobe Photoshop software editing and adjusting imagery which is a building on my digital skills as I have only used it once before. I will also be taking my illustrator skills to a higher level.

So far I have took influences from designers Josef Muller-Brockmann and Paula Scher looking into their layouts and styles of their advertisement and posters they created. Brockmann's Swiss international style is simple and uses light tones of colours. Researching into Schers Public Theatre and New York City ballet advertisement I like the strong bold type she uses which is mainly sans serif fonts and how she places them against images. Also I researched into the new Black Swan movie and the way in which they perceived the ballet world and it does show the side that I am taking a closer look into, being that it is not all beauty. However I still do need to further my research into designers who use both Photoshop and illustrator and how they use them to manipulate images or to create their own imagery. I may explore dance photography and how a simple captured image can make an impact. Opinions are the strongest thing when looking into controversial subjects, I could gain these by going to talk to a dance school or dancers that have trained from being young, this allows me to have a real point of view to work with.

For this Project I intend to produce my designs using Photoshop and Illustrator. However I hope to combine them with traditional made images using watercolours, sketches and stitch work. Stitch work I feel would be appropriate to use as it often looks elegant like ballet dancing and using ribbon relates to the dance shoes they use. If I was to change and produce hand made work I would photograph the work displayed either in frames or on the wall to upload to the computer.
I have a vague idea of how I will manage my time. I need to dedicate my time most to the development of ideas and producing my final pieces as they are time consuming and need to be of a professional and presentable standard. I will divide my time into weeks, dedication either one or two weeks to each element of design. For the next 2 weeks I hope to develop my imagery and typography that I will put in my final pieces. Experiments will be the main part of this stage.