Critique: From A to Z Project

I ultimately decided to have each of my three posters represent a different letter. I wanted to combine three factors: the historical representations surrounding these letters, their visual evolution, and the way they are depicted today. The image of the snake acting as the letter "s," displayed its modern look as well as its connotation of being irresistible. The grass in the foreground and background of the scene is filled with the previous representation of the "s" which looks like a modern day "w." The dog, along with the scarf-like structure flowing from it, represents the meaning of the letter "r." The black print surrounding the image, merging with the scarf-like structure, is the previous depiction of "r." The "j" represented the many forms that the hand could possibly take, so I used a repetition of this visual to build what "j" looks like today within our alphabet. The black symbols surrounding the "j" are the previous representations of the letter.

On all of the posters I incorporated a phrase which helped the viewer understand the meaning or the associations that the letter had. The poster for "s" was the most realistic, while the posters for "r" and "j" became more abstract. During the critique, Emily mentioned that my poster for "j" reminded her of an illustration from a children's book. This was really positive feedback because I was searching to demonstrate the narrative of each of these letters. On the other hand, Tyne felt that surrounding the letters with small versions of their previous depictions was not necessary. She was pretty adamant about this and I understand her point, but one could argue that most aspects of art are "not necessary." I think having the older forms of the letter associated with the newer form added to the composition in each poster. They drew attention to themselves, while framing what would be most familiar to the viewer: letters from our modern alphabet. Ultimately, the assignment was to incorporate the meaning as well as the evolution of the letter into one poster, while still making it readable to the viewer. I feel that my work was successful at this, while still having aesthetically pleasing qualities.