Poster Ideas.

After completing my research stages into posters and websites I began designing and drafting some of my own early ideas. I thought it best to begin with my poster ideas, as they were easier to come up with and I felt as though the designs created through them may eventually dictate designs and themes for my main website design.

The story for 'Those Who Wander' revolves around a young boy, Stefano, whose trying to find his place in the world. He is what is known as a 'wanderer' someone who has no specific place to which he belongs, but someone who is keen to explore, to find things, to learn things, and does so through his short adventures. The story is also about who he meets a long the way, a girl, who opens his eyes to new and wonderful things. The story is about self-discovery, and a journey that many young men take at a certain time in their lives.

Stefano is an avid reader and writer. In the film he often quotes his favourite books and original works to explain or relate to whatever situation he may be in. Immediately, I developed a concept of drawing over lined paper, to symbolise how he lives through writing and words. I began designing without really thinking, and just letting the work happen. Here are two of my favourites from my earliest designs:

 I liked the idea of using a stencil for the characters, leaving their bodies open and filled with lines and text. I felt like it symbolised their 'wandering' natures well, that they were empty and waiting to be filled by something, anything. It was also the messiness of the work that I was attracted to, I liked that it looked a bit scruffy, a bit rushed, and especially, hand drawn.

I remember through my research seeing a few posters which had using iconography within them, and also, the poster for The Silence of the Lambs which uses an insect to cover the mouth of the protagonist. I decided to then play around with this idea further. Since the beginning of the project, I had been playing around with the image of a butterfly. I loved the symbolism behind the butterfly, a once ugly, slow, pointless creature that turns into something so free, beautiful and whole. It related very much to the character in my story. I decided to use the image within the film, and thus, it became relevant within the design work.

 I think this idea came out well through my illustrations. I liked the style of the butterfly with text but I found it to be less effective without colour. Additionally, the colour of butterflies are so unique and so beautiful that I feel as though they would only enhance an image, thus, replacing the colour with text would damage the beauty that it could originally have offered. I felt this design was also relevant as the covers the protagonists face making him somewhat anonymous. Part of the drive for this particular story is to create a journey that is relatable. The tale is about growing up, finding yourself, and enjoying life. Thus, this anonymity allows an audience to feel that whoever they are, and whatever they look like or feel like, they can feel beauty, and this is signified by the image of the butterfly.

 My next idea spawned through some images I'd seen online and some doodle sketches I had made. I found this picture of a boys head stuck in a cloud. The detail of his baggy vest, skinny frame and the bubbly cloud really caught my eye. I felt as though he was a symbol of so many teenagers with their heads in the clouds. Dreamers. This definitely relates to the films protagonist.

For this idea I decided to use the subject for the first time and actually insert him into the frame. He's looking up but all he sees in the clouds are words, scripture, and literature; the quotes he lives by and creates to guide him through life, with one stand out quite, the tagline for the film: Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost. This is a quote from J. R. R. Tolkien, the other of The Lord of the Rings books. I liked this idea because of the colours of the sky, and the idea of using different quotes to symbolise different moments in his life and his opinions on different things such as life, love, death etc. One of the things that I didn't like with this idea was how it would look if I tried to sharpen it up. I felt that it was appealing through rough sketches, but would lose its qualities once tidied and possible editing on photoshop or photographed, due to the use of superimposed clouds and real photography.

After experimenting with both text-filled backgrounds, butterflies and the use of the character, I began to showcase my work through various social media platforms, such as tumblr, Facebook and twitter, in order to get an understanding on outside views. I got positive feedback all around, but other students especially enjoyed the style of the text and outline ideas, and some even asked to see me experiment with it more. So I decided to buy a vintage book from an old local bookshop to use real pages rather than from my own notepad, in order to construct a more authentic identity with the style. 

I began sticking random ripped pieces of the pages together to create a messy, scripted background. 

 I began to develop some ideas expanding on my early designs. I continued to use the silhouette design on my work, which I much preferred with the ripped pages background.

 

I think out of the two full body silhouettes, I much prefer the second idea with the bold title at the bottom. I think it looks more eye-catching, a lot bolder, and just generally more effective. I also really liked the portrait silhouettes as it was personal and more intimate. Again, it shows anonymity but with both genders.