(Un)Common Objects

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I was tasked with creating meaning behind a series of arbitrary marks made with random objects and pairing that meaning with a word that could then be formed from the series of marks. We started our design process with just our mark-making process using random household objects that were brought in for us to use. I was challenged with finding new ways to use the object to make a unique mark. After making pages of random marks we narrowed down to our strongest mark and began the process of concepting and designing our mark to fit our concept. We spent time researching what concepting was and how to do it successfully. My mark that I narrowed down to was made out of bubble wrap and black acrylic paint. To me, the marks reminded me of animal spots so I ran with that line of thought and landed on my concept of endangered. From there I started the design behind endangered and really focused on how I could get across the meaning and connotation of the word through image. I worked through several design concepts but ended with a long horizontal composition and ran the marks very heavily on the left side of the page, a diminishing of mark as you continue through the work towards the right. I did this to represent the process of the diminishing species behind my concept of endangered and really was looking to portray the ideas of endangered before adding the word into the composition. From there, I took pieces and parts of spots and arranged them in a way to organically add “endangered” into the composition without taking away from the organic shape of the marks. I also made the end of the word get smaller and skinnier with the diminishing of the marks to continue to get across the nature of the word. I felt as though these design decisions of diminishing the marks and word really accomplished the task of putting meaning behind meaningless marks, and I really could see this design being shown in a zoo or exhibit detailing the process of animal endangerment.