Creative Strategies
A graphic design project
In this project, I created seven cohesive posters that all showcase a common, everyday object. Each poster portrays one of the creative strategies, and exemplifies what that strategy looks like within a design. I chose a lighter as my focal object, and used it to create various ideas using the specified creative strategy.
1. Combination
This strategy is about combining two unrelated ideas or objects to make one new idea or object, that still makes enough sense to the viewer.
I combined a lighter and a flower pot, what a combination of two unrelated things! I wanted to play with the idea that fire is symbolic of rebirth and regrowth. The idea behind a lighter growing from a flower pot symbolizes that when fire burns and destroys, it is really giving things a chance to regrow.
2. Juxtaposition
This strategy is all about showing the differences and contrast between two things, rather than highlighting the similarities between the two things.
3. Isolation
This strategy’s main goal is to separate an element in a composition by separating it visually, so that the focal point and emphasis is clearly obvious.
In this image, the lighter is visually separated from the surrounding popsicles.
4. Metaphor/Simile
This strategy is more about the context and places more emphasis on the meaning of the image, as it relates to or implies something else beyond than just what is literally seen.
This piece demonstrates a deeper meaning behind just what is visually seen. Symbolism behind the flag and flag portray the context behind the title, "Let Freedom Breathe."
5. Change of Context/Environment
This strategy shows contrast between objects and their natural environment with an unnatural and uncommon environment to put emphasis on a certain concept or idea.
6. Physical/Shape Similarity
This strategy uses physical likeness between objects to showcase the connection between things that normally wouldn’t be related.
7. Material Change, Swap, Focus
This strategy focuses on changing a material element from what we are accustomed to.
Instead of a plastic shine, like what most lighters are made of, I swapped it for a grainy, log overlay. This change of material shows a textural difference from what we know a normal lighter to have.
Final Images
