Page Layout ideas

    Using the provided star photo and passage, I created three different compositions that represent classical, post modern and experimental page layouts. The first picture is inspired by the traditional book. The second picture I made could fit well in an urban magazine. The third page layout was influenced by modern poster designs. We were told to put the star anywhere in the layout and to do with it whatever we wish.

 

The Quinn family name design is on Clothing now

    My teacher Mr.R helped make my vision to see the Quinn family name design on T-shirts come to life. It can now be found on Amazon. Click here to go to the store. It ships to the USA. Use an American zip code to see all the options in the store. I think the design looks pretty good on clothing.

FYI– In the future, I might be updating this blog entry with pictures from the customers when I receive them. 

Celtic Irish Illuminated Lettering Design for my stepdad

    Kathryn Finter is a Canadian artist whose fifteenth-century materials and techniques of panel painting and manuscript illumination have earned her a place in the Medieval Academy of America, the Canadian Society of Medievalists, the Society of Tempera Painters, and the Calligraphy Society of Ottawa. She influenced this modern age. Around 1970s to now. Her fascination with medieval painting and illumination techniques has inspired an ongoing research project copying 15th century master works at the National Gallery of Canada and more recently at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. By studying how medieval miniature paintings were adapted to accommodate the differences in size, support, and medium between panel paintings, she is rediscovering how artists' styles evolved over time. Although not all artists were proficient in both mediums (such as Simon Marmion), little was known about how they adapted their painting style to suit different media until now. The techniques and methods learned over the course of this project have been applied to her own contemporary artwork. Not much is written about how Kathryn started painting or about her early life. Simon Marmion influenced her greatly though. Click here for her website.

If you’re still dreaming of French castles, monks, and luscious medieval gowns, imagine a woman artist delicately illuminating a book cover or names on birth commemoratives, or wedding invitations and diplomas by hand in this day and age. That is what Kathryn Finter has been doing most of her life. As I mentioned before she also loves replicating 15^th century paintings and has also created original miniature paintings inspired by them. 

    Kathryn has made illuminated lettering techniques accessible to everyone by hosting classes at the National Gallery of Canada in the Scotiabank Great Hall in Ottawa, Canada. And at other locations. She also has a “How To” guide on her website that explains how she goes about painting an illuminated letter. 

    Kathryn inspired me to create my stepdad’s family name, Quinn in an illuminated lettering style. I researched the Quinn family crest colors and incorporated this in my digital rendering of illuminated letters. I also made the triquetra knot the colors of the Irish flag because Quinns are originally from Ireland. I added the Pegasus because a Pegasus is also found on their family crest. The letter “i” has a Celtic Sailor’s knot cross on the top where the dot should be. I then added Celtic crosses on the border of the square. The majuscule Q is on a green square in that same Kathryn Finter style and also in a The Book of Kells style. I researched different ways to draw and paint the letter Q and the other letters in the name Quinn. I added a long tail to my Q just like how Kathryn does on her letter. I added orange dots all over the black “uinn” because each letter in the Celtic style is decorated with similar dots, knotwork, and spirals patterns. Just like the letters seen in Irish manuscripts like the Book of Kells and Lindisfarne Gospels. Kathryn Finter also adds dots but on the border of her majuscule letter in white. It is subtle. The Book of Kells is one of the most elaborate manuscripts of its kind, created in a monastery. The four gospels are compiled in this manuscript, and it has inspired not only the text but also the ornate lettering which "illuminate" inspired words. Throughout the manuscript, letters are lavishly decorated with tight and fluid Celtic knots illuminated with bright pigments and gold leaf. It is an astonishingly creative approach to letter construction for that Era. Kathryn Finter takes all these influences and keeps that illuminated lettering art style alive in her work. She is a treasure. She has made me appreciate and love illuminated typography. I learned a lot trying to make the Quinn name have that style. It’s a beautiful and dazzling look with a lot of history. Click here for a website that explains Irish Celtic symbols. 

Kathryn Finter

The Q letter made by Kathryn Finter

I drew/wrote Quinn first

De Stijl art and Dadaism art merges

    I was highly inspired by Theo van Doesburg and John Heartfield. Theo was heavily influenced by Wassily Kandinsky. Theo van Doesburg made the switch from a representational painting style to one that prioritized a minimalistic and geometric approach because of this influence. The Dutch artist championed the De Stijl artistic movement and has inspired many graphic designers over the decades with his thought-provoking art theories. The artists of De Stijl produced artworks that stretched far beyond painting and sculpture. They aimed for a unified synthesis of form and function in all media, covering literature, music, typography, and industrial design in addition to the fine and applied arts. Founded in 1917 by the ground-breaking abstract artists Piet Mondrian and Theo van Doesburg. De Stijl magazine’s name literally translates to “The Style” in Dutch. The De Stijl movement emerged as an Interwar Period artistic expression in reaction to the catastrophic devastation of World War I. In its effort to separate from the intricately ornamental and excessive artwork of previous eras, the movement strived for simplified and minimalist works of art.

In 1916, John Heartfield and George Grosz experimented with a form of art and combining images created what is now recognized as Photomontage. John Heartfield crafted highly political images that left a lasting impression with the Photomontage technique. He was known for taking iconic images from the illustrated press - like photos of well-known politicians or noteworthy events - and re-arranging them to form new and provocative messages. John Heartfield and George Grosz were pioneers of the German Dadaist movement, actively participating in the renowned Berlin Club Dada (1916-1920). Through their trailblazing work, they were instrumental in elevating the concept of montage to an art form that is recognized worldwide today.

My Creative Rationale: In much the same way that the De Stijl artists did, I recognized the boundaries of my poster space and filled it with geometric shapes. The background of the poster is made up of original De Stijl magazine pages that I found online. I added the De Stijl magazine name at the top. I also used a font that resembles Theo van Doesburg’s original lettering at the bottom page. The words written make a sentence that is similar to what John Heartfield wrote on the photomontage art piece of “The Happy Elephants.” I changed it to happy animals because in my art I included elephants and cows. Theo van Doesburg created cow art. He began with a series of figurative sketches of the cow and then transformed them into a geometrical composition. I wanted to be different but still show how I was influenced by Theo and John, so I drew John Heartfield’s happy elephants with wings with my pencils and then I turned them into shapes in Adobe Illustrator. I added both the pencil drawing and the shape components in my poster. Theo’s cows thus were turned into a photomontage in my art and I added wings to the cows to match the happy winged elephants. Photomontage is the method and outcome of combining multiple photos by cutting, pasting, rearranging and layering them together to form a unique image and that is what I did in my art poster. Dadaists revolted against the capitalistic logic and reasoning of their bourgeois society, which had driven them to war, by utilizing artistic forms that appeared to disregard rationality and instead celebrate chaos and absurdity. Thus, my art poster has a bit of chaos in the layering of the geometric shapes in the background. I merged Theo and John’s art styles to create my art piece. Combining them was thrilling. This was a fun artistic experiment for me.

The next page has original works from Theo van Doesburg and John Heartfield. After this are pictures of my art poster inspired by them.

My geometric shape sketch

My drawing of the Happy Elephants

The first rough draft

The final product

I designed a WW1 Vintage Poster style in Photoshop

    I am not into wars and politics so when I was told to recreate any WW1 art posters that used recruiting tactics I wasn't sure what to make...So I Googled and did research and I came across a vintage "Join the Land Army!" poster. 

    What was the Land Army? I dugged deeper and found out that women of the Land Army were assigned to farms in need of extra help, acting as their farmers' employees and undertaking the same duties previously assigned to the men. At first, many farmers were not willing to accept the idea of women toiling in the fields, but labor scarcity made the decision for them and the capability of farmerettes to accomplish farming tasks became evident. Women in the U.S.A, regardless of their role in society, played a part in the war effort too. All housewives were asked to sign a pledge card promising to follow the Food Administrator’s advice on managing their households, such as canning food, cultivating a backyard vegetable garden, and restricting their consumption of certain goods like meat, wheat, and fats. Above all, women everywhere were asked to do their utmost to lift the spirits of those they held dear both in their home and across the sea.

    The women of the Land Army in WWI inspired me. I absolutely loved the original yellow Land Army recruiting poster. The painted lady is made in an almost vector art style which inspired me to try and recreate it and I managed to do something similar. I also loved the “Get behind the girl he left behind him, Join the Land Army.” Slogan. I kept this meaning in my refreshed slogan but changed the words a bit. I thought the shadow of the soldier behind the farming lady was profound so I put a soldier saluting’s shadow behind my farming lady looking all around her for help. The lady looking for help on the farm on my poster conveys the recruiting that is needed. I also made my poster speak to Canadian women by adding a Canadian flag to my art piece.

The original vintage Land Army poster

My own creation

6 years of being a YELP app Elite

    I received YELP elite status for year 2023. This means I've been a YELP app elite for 6 years now but I've been reviewing restaurants and businesses for a lot longer than this. Why? Because I love helping people especially small businesses get noticed online. I also love trying new dishes and meals. I leave good positive reviews unless I get food poisoning which is rare. I like to travel and wherever I go I try to find the restaurants or food joints that don't have a lot of exposure online. I give them a good number of stars and set up their business page on YELP and Ta-Da! They now can be found when someone Google's their business name. I do this for free. Maybe someday soon 😉 I can help out businesses as a graphic designer and promote them online and do their social networking too. 

I love cheesy foods

Digital Typography

    My teacher adores Jessica Hische's lettering designs. Yesterday I was told to design my own letters and words and to choose a book title to revamp. I chose to re-design Laini Taylor's "Daughter of Smoke and Bone" book title. 

    The book is a fantasy novel by author Laini Taylor. The narrative follows seventeen-year-old Karou through a fantastical war between angels and monsters. It is a modern, urban fantasy spanning human cultures and monster worlds. Karou, the protagonist, perfectly balances both her roles in life; one as a normal art student and the other as an errand runner for a strange creature who she sees as her father. Her family is made up of chimera monsters and they have been with her since birth. Karou begins questioning her existence and being when she meets the fierce, serious and beautiful angel, Akiva.

My original lettering design

    I made the letters and words of the book’s title more interesting. I researched glitchy font styles and was inspired to try and recreate my own version of glitchy font. The word daughter is in my all-original designed font. The colors cyan and bright magenta around the white letters are feminine yet visually exciting because they have breaks in the letters. Broken pieces seem to hover around them as well which makes the word appear as if it’s glitching. I wanted the word daughter to have a glitchy effect because Karou, in the book, is the daughter of Brimstone, a chimera and her birth in the human world is kind of a glitch. An unexpected gesture of mercy but also an act that made some beings in the chimera world angry. The word smoke was made in photoshop. I liquified and added a smoke texture to the letters. I also distorted and skewed the letters, transforming them to my desired shape. I was inspired by smoke. Smoke is fluid and very wispy. The word bones were easy to create. I chose a bold, thick font and added white lines that I sometimes attached little white balls to the ends to make them bone like.

My 2nd Radio interview

    I was interviewed by CBC Radio about the CDI contest reward before Christmas vacation. This is my second radio interview. I was also nervous speaking to the radio host this time but I am glad I got to elaborate on what and who exactly helped me get back on my feet when I came to Winnipeg. I couldn't have done it without the team of people that rallied around me. I hope my encouraging words can influence people in similar situations to not give up and to ask for help when it's needed. There are a lot of organizations in the city of Winnipeg ready to help individuals find normalcy and purpose. This place cares.

    To listen to my second radio interview please go to CBCListen's Live Radio and select the city of Winnipeg next to the search bar and click this sentence. Then type: Up to speed in the search bar. You will find "Up To Speed with Faith Fundal" now search the schedule's list for December 28, 2022: A Graphic arts student overcomes houselessness and wants to give back to the place that showed her care. Click on that title and listen to my 6 minute interview.

Click on "Up To Speed with Faith Fundal"

Make sure your location is set to Winnipeg

Search bar search "up to speed"

Look at the list/schedule

Click on Dec 28,2022 A graphic arts student....Click that title