The Illustrated Self - More Visual Ideas

 I'm an opinionated person. I try to show this through my work with a lighthearted approach but I feel like I've not been able to do this as much as I would have liked to in the briefs set this year.

This is the poster is the perfect opportunity to do so. But I just don't know how.

I started making a list of all the things I have a passion or opinion about and tried to narrow it down to specific areas of these subjects.

How do I visualise this?

I used the inspiration from the protest posters by creating a relationship between text and imagery.

I need to work on the imagery to relate it back to me but I'm still trying to work out how.

Does the mouth look too messy?

Should I make it look more like my own?

At the minute I don't think it packs a punch or relates to me as a practitioner.

I've been holding off from drawing myself because I'll probably make myself look terrible.

 As I said, I look terrible.

But I like the fuzziness of the drawing. It relates to me as a practitioner who is constantly drawing in a stupid fashion.

It still doesn't seem to create the tone of voice I want. I want funny but serious.

These concepts are so hard to visualise, I'm a liberal person and I'm always aiming to make myself a better person.

I love the idea of showcasing my opinion and educating people on what's morally right and wrong but I don't think this is coming through in these designs.

I whacked the POSCA pens out. The love of my life.

In my opinion they instantly seem to improve my work. I'm obsessed with colour.

Using bold colours will also attract more attention to the design, making the viewer see my opinion and consider their own morals.

I don't know what's going on with this tongue being so high up but it seems to emphasise the shouting action I want to achieve.

I am going to continue making different imagery to relate to my ethical views.

 Hands are always a struggle.

I want to keep the colours as minimal as possible but it is clear I'm struggling with this.

The pink hand at the bottom of the page is the best drawing I've done so far because I've been ambitious with the use of no outline and minimal lines to make it a bit more representational.

But how does it relate to me as a practitioner?

Will the use of text make the idea stronger as a whole?

I'm not too sure on the idea of representing me as an ethical person anymore. It's draining me and I'm running out of ideas. The whole area of ethics is too much to cover in one poster about myself.

I've dared to draw my face again. I want to focus more on this.

Looking back at the word maps I made at the start of the brief I realised that my appearance and personality is a strong point for visual ideas.

The thought of creating a typology poster has popped into my mind again. I'm still questioning how I could do this.

 I began drawing myself. This time I'm a lot more focused on what I actually look like.

What are the main elements of my face?

• Eyeliner
• Piercings 
• Bald head

Is the spiky looking hair needed? Does it make me look stupid?

I need to slow down when I use pencil but I seem to struggle with this a lot. I just want to bang my ideas down as quickly as possible or I'll forget them.

 Apparently (according to myself) the hair makes me look like Dracula. So I got rid of the stupid pointed hairline.

The hair removal makes me look a bit funnier, but still representational.

How can I simplify myself down further?

The POSCA pens seem to make simplification naturally happen for me. If I try make a more detailed image using them it doesn't work.

Solid block colours are the answer.

 I looked back at my word map relating to my personality and realised that no matter what I'm feeling I seem to have the same expression on my face.

How can I put this idea into a mind map without making it too repetitive?

This idea is already appealing to me a lot more. I'm just stuck with how I can slightly alter each drawing of myself.

Could I be doing something different in each image?

Can I use the boring/weird things that I do on regular occasions?

I'm going to pitch my idea to Matt in my tutorial and see what feedback I get.