#journal_prompt

I use this mug every morning with breakfast and every evening before bed. I use it primarily for tea because it has a tea filter which fits perfectly in it but occasionally it features my hot chocolate and coffee. Most mugs are of similar design, but what makes this mug unique is its heat sensitive leaf design, which indicate the level of heated liquid contained in the mug without needing to look inside. This design is not only functional, but extremely visually pleasing. The leaves change to warm colours to further emphasize the warmth of the drink and makes you want to keep your mug full and warm. Because of this unique and simplistically effective design, I reach for this mug before any other. I think this is a perfect example of how a little innovative thinking combined with a beautiful design can cause a consumer to appreciate an everyday and ordinary object in a new way.

Pattern I did for the journal prompt this week. I had several patterns in mind, and will hopefully get to upload them as independent work as I finished them. In the meantime, this was the one that came out the most successful after many frustrating attempts with sizing. The pattern uses complimentary colours to create a nice contrast and draw your attention. I also used hexagons as my shape and placed them in such a way to resemble a flower.

In my opinion, the simplistic and bold nature of these images serve to enhance the article written by Jon Ronson, without overwhelming it. These images have a very minimalistic design despite having 3 dimensional qualities, which are predominantly isolated to just the birds to highlight their visual importance. Harsh contrasting colours are used within most of the images to create a feeling of distress and danger (emphasized by the colour red), although when the image has more details to interpret, the colours become analogous or even monochromatic, to allow focus to be kept on the subject itself. Primary RYB colours are used to enforce the simplistic design. The illustrations keep things very general to align with the way the author wrote about the issue, which was generalized to encompass many stories similar to Justine Sacco’s. A variety of stories and experiences could be applied to these images, and even allows for the viewer to have the ability to imagine being in the position of the targeted bird. There is a lot of impact gained through the colour choices and simplistic illustration style and was an effective visual choice to accompany this article.