rhett i suppose

Give Yourself Time.

So much of this is just being in studio and just doing the work. I have a tendency to blow things out of proportion but found myself being able to control it without fully limiting myself.

Lean into it.

Whatever the weird thing is, just kind of do it. It's in there for a reason and even if it doesn't work out at least you tried, at least you can say you know it doesn't work.

Be. In. Studio.

Quite simple.

Speaking of simple...

Simplicity is best.

I think this assignment could've turned out better, both in execution and ideation. While I achieved all the goals I set out to achieve, I have to be honest and say I did kind of lose faith in this project for a bit. Something about the end of the semester absolutely drains my motivation and gives me this sort of paralysis.

Having pushed through it, all I have to say is just push through it. Just do the work even if it kind of sucks (this was a self-led project mind you) so it worked.

I really hate how trifold pamphlets look unfolded. you can have all the confidence in the world about your work and then you see the fresh printout/raw file and it all comes crashing down. "no! the reality of my work" bruh anyways here's my pamphlets, they turned out cool.

again, I wanted a loose refinement. The typography, while following a grid structure, breaks from it in the way that it follows the burnt paper text boxes (making the burnt paper textboxes made my kitchen smell god awful) so there's some "misalignment" which was intentional.

whether or not this reads as intentional, I don't know. looking back I don't think it does however it works for it. I know it's intentional but that may come off as unrefined or as a mistake, which isn't great but it happens some times.

a big part of this process (not just this assignment, all of these projects, this year in general I think) has been learning more about myself. I will say these past two semesters I think I've learned how to work with the mess that is my brain. I know myself in the way that while I can't necessarily do anything to correct it, I have found workarounds to fit within a certain form of organization that is presentable.

with that said, a lot of it has also been honouring that side of my work and myself, and approaching it with grace. it's a part of it and as much as I or anyone may want to get rid of it, for better or worse it is there. i think that part of my artistic process deserves just as much space as any other part of it.

BEHOLD

for this poster design, a wanted a very simple, clear message with a little bit of messaging and very little branding.

the five inline needles are intended to represent how 1 in 5 Canadians are at one point in their lives affected by substance use and addiction.

i wanted this poster to be playful and removed from the seriousness of the topic to provide a sense of approachability for this campaign.

while it is important to approach this topic with tact, this can be done with stylization and play in mind. I wanted to keep this as simple as I possible could with the typographical elements doing most of the work while being readable from a distance. The hierarchy is obviously typography forwards, and due to the scale of the main typographical elements it naturally draws your attention, leading you down the poster.

another way this poster can be read is by noticing the blue circle first, then working up. this obviously works less and isn't really intended however it also pulls you directly into the poster with a big blue splotch.

unsurprisingly the physical creation process of both this and the pamphlets were my favourite part of this project. this just in, artist likes making art. go figure.

I largely wanted to offer a contemporary, inclusive form of political media that didn't feel clinical or like it was made from a template in Microsoft Powerpoint. not that there's necessarily anything wrong with either of those, this is almost the exact opposite direction i wanted for this.

this community doesn't (in my opinion) benefit from all forms of media being clinical and so I wanted to design a campaign that I would personally want to see, rather than what is currently being offered.

I think stylization can be utilized to approach sensitive topics (with tact) and this is an attempt at doing so.

what is this project? why is this project? among other questions

if you ask me, this project could've probably been more. from the start i knew i wanted to keep it at least a little more lowkey and work with something more familiar, while still being able to push myself creatively.

so for the name, I wanted to allude to the prevalence of overdose deaths and to create a personal connection (not just to myself, but to the viewer.)

NMDF is an abbreviation for No More Dead Friends. We have reached a point culturally where it is getting harder and harder for anyone to live without having at least one "dead" friend, whether they are passed away or otherwise missing (psychologically, etc.) due to the consequences of substance abuse.

This process is tiring however it's one of the only ways I know how to work with my own brain. A lot of the time I am quite scatter brained (on a good day) and so I have to sort of develop this ongoing "working relationship" with myself. it can be tiring however it's worth it.

I will be doing this section for each work included in the campaign. right now is "Optional" of which there's been... changes.

this was 8.5x11"

why I originally decided to work on 8.5x11? unsure but here we are now

more assets!

so these are heavily stylized hypodermic needles. for the colour scheme of this I wanted simple colours, which i feel could've been approached from various angles.

finally.

so for this project, I have changed quite a bit. I have decided to lean very heavily into the handmade side of things and so most if not all digital assets have been made by hand and then brought in digitally. from various people I have been recommended to lean into the mess and work with what I have.

in the post before this is the lettering for poster #1, "Optional" and (here)