A few weeks into winter term, I was asked to complete a poster assignment in Deborah Morrison‘s portfolio class that would visually or textually represent a vast variety of people, objects and activities that provide me with creative inspiration. The directions were simple: identify at least one inspirational item corresponding to each letter of the alphabet, and use an 11×17 sheet of paper to communicate or illustrate your ABCs in a manner of your choosing. Check out my finished poster below:
Many of the items and activities I chose to include in my inspirational ABCs can be considered playful and eccentric. Some of them may even be classified as silly, so I chose to approach my design from a similar standpoint, creating a children’s poster with a whimsical illustration of a hot air balloon rising through the clouds. Appropriately titled “Inspiration Uplifts,” this piece is a creative representation of my design skills, my typographic knowledge and my ability to innovate. The hot air balloon is filled with contrasting letters, and within each letter is a script font that lists my inspirational items. Some letters only correspond to one word or phrase, while many contain as many as four or five.
I’ve considered the idea of creating a series of similar posters that each illustrate a different concept—things I imagine or dream of, things that motivate me, things I’m interested in learning more about, things I’m fascinated by, etc. Each would depict a different type of transportation in the same playful style, and they’d be titled as follows: “Imagination Soars,” “Motivation Moves,” “Education Excites,” and “Fascination Fuels.” I’m not sure if these will ever come to fruition, but for now, take a more detailed peek at my initial design in the following images:
