Illustration & Visual Narrative / Task 2 / MyTIGER Values Poster Competition

3.5.2023 - 1.6.2023 (Week 5 - Week 9)
Elysa Wee Qi En / 0355060 / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylor's University
Illustration and Visual Narrative
Task 2 / MyTIGER Values Poster Competition

INSTRUCTIONS

Fig. 2. Module Information Booklet (5/4/2023)

Task 2: MyTIGER Values Poster Competition

In this assignment, we had to create an entry for the 2023 Maybank MyTIGER Values Art Competition. For the competition, we were required to create a poster based on the 12 (out of 17) chosen Sustainable Development Goals. The SDG that I had chosen to portray in my poster was SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being. 

I wanted to focus on child mortality as my topic, so with that in mind I began creating sketches. It took a long while for me to come up with an idea I liked, but in the end I settled for idea number 7.

Fig. 3.1. Idea sketches (31/5/2023)

This idea depicts a baby mobile of stars suspended in the sky surrounded by real stars. 

At this point, I had decided on a direct fact as my wording, with the poster simply saying 'Around 14,000 children under 5 years old die every day.' 

Later on, I manage to come up with a much better saying, 'Take care of yourself. Talk to your doctor. Save your baby.' I left the factual information at the bottom of the slogan to add seriousness and inspire action.

Fig. 3.2. Digitisation process (31/5 - 1/6/2023)

I imported the sketch into Illustrator and begin by creating the baby mobile. In the beginning, I had both the top of the mobile and the stars be 3D, while I left the ropes as 2D shapes. The background and the white stars however are 2D shapes. The sky is a shape that was coloured with the gradient tool. 

Fig. 3.3. Using a shape to create the illusion of the rope overlapping the mobile (31/5/2023)

Soon I decided that it would be more realistic if the ropes were in 3D, so I changed them to be so. But because they overlapped the top of the baby mobile and I could no longer cover that with a 2D shape (as shown in the figure above), I decided to trace over the top of the mobile (which was 3D) with the pen tool and use a 2D shape instead. I used the gradient tool to colour it similarly to the 3D shape to add depth.

Finally, I decided to add a cloud to emphasise that what I'm illustrating is a baby mobile. It contrasted with the background, since the sky is during nighttime, and it also acted as the centrepiece of the mobile. At first, I had used another rope to connect it to the rest of the mobile, but in the final piece I changed it to be a metal pole instead. I also 3D rendered the yellow star in the middle, but left the others unrendered. 

FINAL Poster Submission

Fig. 4.1. 'Twinkle Twinkle', Final Poster Submission (1/6/2023)

Fig. 4.2. Final Poster Outline View (1/6/2023)

The description sent into the competition:
This artwork shows a baby mobile suspended in the sky, surrounded by stars.

The SDG I've decided to focus on is 3: Good Health and Well-being, specifically tackling the issue of child mortality. A lot of children under the age of 5 die due to preventable causes. Therefore I believe that by raising awareness of symptoms and concerns, and by supporting research conducted around these causes of early death, we as a society will be able to improve in this area. This also showcases the growth value of Maybank. 

Child mortality is a tragic thing. Not only do the children barely get to experience life, but the grief that spreads through the family, especially the parents, can be the driving force towards more drastic problems like divorce or even suicide. I wanted to use this innocent and simple imagery to show how easy and common it is for child mortality to happen, while also invoking these sad emotions. I want everyone to band together and save the children that still stand a chance.

REFLECTIONS

Experience
Unlike the first assignment, coming up with a good idea for the poster took more time than creating it digitally. However, thanks to the various techniques that I learnt in the tutorials (the gradient tool, creating 3D objects etc.), I was able to create the digitised poster relatively quickly, so the loss of time spent on thinking was not too detrimental to this poster. I was actually chosen as one of the finalists in the competition because of this entry, and I am so grateful for the lessons I learnt on how to use Illustrator. I started the module having never tried the program before, but now I can say I'm relatively comfortable with it. 

Observations
There can be a lot of creative solutions to problems, but sometimes the solution is relatively simple, even if it means you have to spend more effort. I tried many ways to make the rope and the top of the mobile not overlap, like using shapes to create the illusion that the rope is on top of the 3D mobile. However, when I made the ropes 3D as well, the shapes became obvious. So instead the solution was to make the top of the mobile two different 2D shapes so I could layer them. It took more effort but created a better illustration, and could have been done much earlier.

Findings
Because of the wide range of tools and techniques in Illustrator, there are a lot of ways to create the asset that you want. Like how I could have made the top of the mobile in both 2D and 3D. It's good to be able to tell when something should be 2D and something should be 3D, and I learnt that I can always just create the 3D shape to act as a template I can trace over with the pen tool later on, so that I don't have to worry about the unchangeable aspects of the 3D asset that would be easily changeable in 2D.