Last semester I got the chance to make an original piece for a graphic design exhibition my advanced class was hosting. The class had to work as one big group to come up with the theme, all of the advertising materials, all of the merch that would be given out day of, social media, and all of the actual exhibition pieces. We broke all the work into smaller teams.
The theme we settled on was titled you to You, and the concept was reimagining an art piece from elementary school with your current graphic design skill set. Each student was to make a poster for the exhibition and have all the original inspiration pieces underneath so you would be able to compare the two when looking at them.
I was personally on the team of students that did the marketing, so that meant the brochure that would be passed out day of and all of the posters that would be put up around the school before the event as advertisement. I was also the person that came up with the measurements for the wall and decided how the posters and photos would be set up in the exhibition room.
For my individual poster, my inspiration was an old koi fish drawing I did in 4th grade. Working with a direct art inspiration can be difficult, especially when the focus is reimagining and not just reference. I still had to make sure that the two could be seen as a reimagining and not a totally different art piece.
I chose digital illustration as my medium to create a more fantasy feeling, almost like the koi fish are dancing or playing. Koi fish art is all over the place and a very popular subject, but I’ve always loved how they flow and what they represent: perseverance. The very nature of a graphic designer is perseverance, making sure a design stands the test of time.
I fell in love with this project and love the experiences that came out of it. I have the art prints of my koi fish poster available in my shop, link below!