For this project we were asked to research Public Service Campaigns and see what really spoke to us. Was there a style we liked,or maybe a particular font? After we had collected our collection then we were assigned to brainstorm and list oodles of topics. After we chose a topic that spoke to us we began sketching. 

All projects seem to begin this way. Researching, brainstorming, sketching, and creating. This is a process I now seem to adore. Following the process and constantly tweaking and discovering what works and what does not.

We then transformed our pencil sketches to digital color comps.

Here are mine.

My proudest achievement was working with the pen tool. I find the pen tool challenging, and all this practice helped me to get better at it. After lots of tweaking and thinking I was able to come up with posters that pleased me.

This process even though repeated is not always easy. I find sometimes I struggle wanting to come up with the perfect concept. I kept wanting a fantastic idea. Finally it all came together and I was super excited when I combined stress with cracks. To me this was fun because I feel stress can crack you, and something can have stress that creates cracks in it. So once the idea came the sketching continued, and more sketching every time I got stuck. As new ideas came I added them to my piece.

With my girl, I really felt so many of us smile, hiding all our troubles. I kept changing the layout and playing with her hair. Her hair may look simple, but it took quite some time to make sure each hair was in place. I also wanted to use real people in photographs, but felt the illustrations with the blank faces helped with the concept, it could be anyone. One could imagine someone they know, or even themselves in my posters.

I love doing mockups. This was probably the hardest one. It took me the longest to come up with the wording. I had lose the load, lighten the load, lose weight and lots of others and finally came up with feeling crushed. I sometimes feel like the weight of the world does try to crush us. There are lots of similar ideas out there, but I wanted mine to be unique. 

I really wanted to connect my posters. I tried to use similar illustrations, and pick colors that compliment. I also tried to us big strong text for the content, and got the ideas to add text of some of the actual challenges we face into each poster in matching the same font family, just a lighter weight and similar opacities. I am most excited when skills I have added to my hodgepodge of knowledge are needed, and I am like hey I need to do …. and I remember how it’s done and do it. Yay me.

In closing I hope you like my posters. If you are struggling, don’t worry. The CDC (Center for Disease Control) has lots of helpful information. This was a college assignment. I do not work for the CDC I just needed a company and purpose, and they were a perfect match, I was so impressed with how much helpful information is available at cdc.gov. The important thing is if you are hurting for whatever reason, there is help available, please seek it out, you will not regret it.

Thanks. Would love your thoughts,

Erin.

Just remember this has no actual connection to the CDC, it was a school project, where we learned how to create posters for a company like the Center For Disease Control. Thanks. Erin