To get started with this project I began brainstorming visual ideas for the composition. I took elements from my extensive research and incorporated them into my designs. 

Some key research points are Basquiat's artistic style following the neo-expressionist and abstract art movements. Visual motifs in his artwork include crowns, scribbled out words, and skulls. Spot colors I considered in my design were red and yellow due to its striking appearance and strong usage in Basquiat's own work.

From my brainstorm I also briefly worked out animation ideas. Scribbles are used extensively in Basquiat's work so I considered the use of it in multiple scenes. Interactions of graphical items included crushing, sliding, and falling. The intent behind these interactions is to make large impacts to match the power behind the narrative.

As part of the design process to help in the production of the final project, I made two moodboards to inspire the typographic and visual direction of my project.

The main typographic styles that I wanted to capture was a more handwritten, messy style used to highlight text, and a strong, bold sans-serif font to nail in the text that drives the message. I researched handwritten examples, some from Basquiat's own work to study the way he writes and also to analyze the tone of the unique handwritten style. The secondary typeface I examined was sans-serif fonts used in impactful and boldly. I considered not only the aesthetic design of the type, but also the arrangement and scale of letters and how I could incorporate such details in my project.

For my visual design I had two different directions that had to do with color. One direction used black and white primarily, leaving little space for color. This style created good tonal contrast and matched some of Basquiat's style well. The other direction was the opposite and used many colors to convey chaos and disorder. I also noticed color blocking being a significant visual motif in Basquiat's work which was featured in the visual moodboard.

To guide the visual and typographic narrative of my project, I created a creative brief to further analyze and explain my design intent. 

PROJECT SUMMARY:

This project is about Jean-Michel Basquiat’s art and it will use some of his quotes to convey how anything can be considered art. I first of all want to base my project after Basquiat because he has a very unique art style and is pretty popular because of it. His art can be seen as unconventional or weird to some, making it controversial when it comes to whether or not it is considered as “real art.” In my project I want to share and introduce his art style to my audience, while also giving time for my message to come through. The narrative intended for this project relates to the idea of someone invalidating an artist’s work because their method of depicting or conveying their artistic vision is not traditionally aesthetically pleasing. Many people agree that realism or visually pleasing imagery is what makes “real art,” which is a valid statement. However, some people go beyond and start dictating what cannot be art. That may include styles like abstraction, minimalism, cubism, etc. These styles are often reduced to images that lack meaning, are hard to look at, or are straight up just ugly. In my project I want to convey that there is no correct way to make art. Any style can be art and people should not place restrictions on art.

AUDIENCE PROFILE 

My primary audience would be young adults and adults that are a bit older as well. So that means ages between 18 to 30. These adults are my primary audience because they would be old enough to have learned about Basquait along with being more open minded about different expressions of art. Some older people may not be as interested because they would find Basquait’s unconventional art style as unpleasant. Younger generations tend to be more open to learning about new or different topics, which is why they would be the primary audience. My primary audience would have no restriction on gender identity or cultural background. My secondary audience would be the older generation of Americans that are familiar with Basquait because they were born or alive during his lifetime. This time period would be around the 1940’s to early 80’s. Because of that it is possible that these people would be familiar with Basquait and therefore would be interested in my project. These people would have an interest in art and are curious to learn more about Basquait’s style. 

PERCEPTION/TONE/GUIDELINES 

To convey my narrative I need to first introduce Basquiat and his artistic style. Basquiat is an abstract and neo-expressionist artist who also has a slight graffiti influence due to his experiences with it in his youth. I plan on having scenes that depict abstraction and neo-expressionism to convey that. To enforce the quote I plan on using clever transitions in the motion graphics to captivate the viewer. One of the typefaces I chose is more handwritten, reminiscent of graffiti to relate to Basquiat’s experience with graffiti art. Additionally this typeface is similar to Basquiat’s own handwriting that can be found in basically all of his pieces. This typeface is meant to be perceived by the viewer as more casual to capture the more neo-expressionist style. The second typeface I chose is a bold, all caps, condensed, sans serif font that capture the power of the quote. This typeface is meant to be used for words that are impactful. Using this typeface will allow viewers to feel and remember the strength of the message. 

COMMUNICATION STRATEGY

The overall message of my project is to spread Basquiat’s art along with presenting a narrative that validates neo-expressionism as an art style. Many people are quick to dismiss art styles similar to Basquiat’s because of its unconventional and messy nature that many relate to “children’s art.” I want to convey that anything can be art and no one person is to determine what art cannot be. 

TARGETED MESSAGE 

“I don't listen to what art critics say. I don't know anybody who needs a critic to find out what art is.”- Jean-Michel Basquiat

To understand and develop the visual design of my project, I created four styleframes. These styleframes implements visual components found in the moodboard along with information found during my research. 

These styleframes also serve as a way to experiment with type and how it interacts with graphics and space. I also went ahead and played around with tints and tones of a shade of yellow to create depth. 

I also recreated one of Basquiat's most famous paintings, Untitled (Skull), 1981, as one of the focal visuals for my project. I made this decision to fully capture the style and identity of Basquiat's art. 

As the final piece of the process work I created a storyboard to plan and conceptualize my motion ideas. This storyboard tackled the transitions between scenes, and different visual options for the piece. This was also just a rough draft, some scenes in the storyboard differ from the actual scene in the final animation.