Study Task 2

Study Task 2

First Artist

These images are part of a collection uploaded by Nasa on their webpage. They are available for free download and the images are large enough to be printed as posters. They are designed to illustrate a vision for future space tourism. They have taken influence from tourism posters of the 20th century, generating the "hand- rendered" style that is evidenced in posters of the time. They use a fairly limited palette, with a theme of 3 main colours and their gradients within. I really enjoy this aesthetic, it illustrates in a very exciting time in space exploration, which is happening now, and translates its hopes for the future all in a very heartwarming way. I enjoy the fact that they are available to anyone who would like them. The three images I have chosen are by Joby Harris. The artist has worked in film, television,  music, print, fashion, theme park and aerospace industries. Film projects include Pirates of the Caribbean, Bruce Almighty and Solaris. Currently employed by Nasa on an on-lab Studio specializing in supporting scientists and engineers with visual strategy for their missions and instruments. In the artists own words they "creatively communicate current and future JPL/ NASA space missions to the public for inspiration and education."

The project began as a celebration of Nasa's study of Exoplanets (planets that orbit other stars) and during a trip to the Gran Canyon an artistic director of the project, David Delgado, saw a poster that reminded him of the exoplanets they were researching. They decided to give a similar feel for their posters. The images were a result of a collective of artists know as "The Studio" 

The Studio is composed of the following artists:

Creative Strategy: Dan Goods, David Delgado

Illustrators: 

Liz Barrios De La Torre (Ceres, Europa)

Stefan Bucher (Jupiter Design)

Invisible Creature (Grand Tour, Mars, Enceladus)

Joby Harris (Kepler 16b, Earth, Kepler 186f, PSO J318.5-22, Titan)

Jessie Kawata (Venus)

Lois Kim (Typography for Venus and Europa)

Ron Miller (Jupiter Illustration)

Second Artist

Mark Smith is an editorial Illustrator who does somewhat provocative images with a buoyant aesthetic. I appreciate the themes of these three images as well. The first image was for Johns Hopkins Magazine detailing Families living in poverty. I like the simple straight forward visual choices to represent the serious topic, and the strong use of metaphors.

The second image illustrates work and travel and he titles it Keeping a check on employees travel expenses, for Entrepreneur Magazine. Again, very simple design with minor detail, yet a very strong, and anatomically correct image which I find stimulating and very direct in its message. 

Lastly, and I picked this two because they have subjects I am using in my projects, scientists. This is to represent the funding cuts to scientific research, a topic I find to be relevant to my project, and one that Carl Sagan Illustrates a point of concern for the future. Boy was he right. 

I found a webpage where he describes his processes. He begins all projects with initial sketches that wait to be approved. He then describes how his images are 50/50 digital and hand illustration, something I find to be very appealing as I would like to preferably keep as much of my hand illustrations as possible in the future. This is what I think now anyway. he puts it well by stating which just about satisfies my need to create something tangible while also allowing easy editing with last-minute changes on a tight deadline.

On the subject of metaphors he states it well in the following extract

I see the metaphor thing like a puzzle to work out in the form of an illustration, and once created, I want it to be a bit of a puzzle for the viewer to find out that meaning. The perfect balance is in creating something that is intriguing enough to maintain someone’s attention just long enough for the meaning to become clear. If the puzzle is too complex, the image won’t deliver its meaning; if it’s too simple, it’s boring and loses its appeal quickly. It’s this balance that drew me to editorial illustration in the first place 

Id like to apply some of these principles to my work. Glad I found him and other artists while researching for this task!