Elliot Stemen: capstone
Date
2021
Authors
Stemen, Elliot, artist
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Abstract
The artist's statement: My design work is centered around the idea of being organic. I use the word organic because it relates to aesthetic qualities as well as having an environmental undertone. I achieve an organic design by treating text as a form that can be molded or shaped to best suit its environment. This results in a lot of hand-drawn illustration work paired with delicate typography choice. My background in painting has translated well to this portion of my design work. I put lots of thought into my compositions in order to achieve harmonious and informative graphics. My design work also shares many similarities to my painting habits as I place a large emphasis on shapes of color and using a minimal palette. I believe that graphics are easiest to digest and understand when the information provided is straight-forward and to the point. I try to achieve this by forgoing strokes, ridged edges, and gradients in pursuit of imagery and text that can be easily identified and easy for the eye to move around. In a world so cluttered with information, I truly believe that the best design is the design that cuts through the noise. I am intrigued by design elements such as gestalt, negative space, and particularly alignment. There is so much communicative power that can be provoked when moving a particular body of text from one side of the page to another or putting text where you're not used to seeing it. Graphic design is the language of our time. Whether it's a title, a body paragraph, an illustration, or logo, we are able to draw so much information from such little amount of substance. This relationship of communication and design is what motivates me to create work that can be best understood and appreciated by our increasingly attentive and observant global audience.
Description
Colorado State University Art and Art History Department capstone project.
Capstone contains the artist's statement, a list of works, and images of works.
Capstone contains the artist's statement, a list of works, and images of works.
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Subject
graphic design