Tin Can Inspiration

Okay, so last year I really tried to dedicate myself to one of my dry classes and genuinely try hard. Last year the class was Art History. It was potentially a really boring class, but I made the best of it, concentrated on the subject matter and by the end of the term I was really proud of how much I absorbed from the class. This year the class I'm concentrating on is Information Illustration. Not many people enjoy the class because the subject matter is very geometric and stats based. Imagination can only take some people so far. The most recent project for this class was a documentation of a variety of information found on the site http://www.43things.com/. It was a vague project with unlimited potential, so naturally I tried to take advantage of it. I represented the life of my test subject "Lynnora Jean" through a tree. There needed to be a timeline, network diagram and graph displayed in the image. There is a lot of information to explain, so I would prefer for anyone who wishes to know more to click the image and read the captions. Thanks. I used a common theme and structure to help integrate the information into an appealing piece of artwork. The critiques were exciting because we had professional industry personnel on hand to give their opinions. Aside from our professor Claire Ironside, we were fortunate enough to have:

1. Richard Johnson, Graphic Director for the NATIONAL POST
2. Kagan MacLeod, Graphic Designer for the NATIONAL POST
3. Donna Braggins, Art Director for MACLEANS MAGAZINE
4. Angela Iarocci, Professor for the BAA of DESIGN between Sheridan and York University

It was so refreshing to have people around who actually knew what they are talking about. Most people thought they were kind of negative and brutal to some point. I thought it was entirely necessary. The earlier we begin to work along these people, the more prepared we will be for the real World. I was fairly confident in my presentation. My piece was rendered in Illustrator and PhotoShop at 600 dpi (17" x 22"). My inspiration for the image was the overall feel of a single can of Arizona Green Tea. Sounds strange, but it's the truth. The four all found minor compositional problems with my piece. Each of them agreed with most of my decision making. More so, they enjoyed my colour palette, and integration of the raw information into my general theme. It was a marathon of a critique, but it was enlightening to hear their experience and wisdom. There are so many other things I could say about this project, but it is just too complex in its process, development and product. It was a lot of hard work. With only a month left before winter break, it is really coming down to the wire. I have a feeling the midnight oil will be burning until then.