Swift Rendition
If you don't like Taylor Swift, sorry not sorry.
This week I was tasked with creating my own rendition of Milton Glaser's iconic Bob Dylan poster, as seen here:
This poster was enclosed in a Bob Dylan Record: Dylan, 1967. It has become an icon of creative thinking by connecting unrelated sources. Dylan's simple black silhouette was inspired by a cut paper self-portrait by Marcel Duchamp. Milton Glaser was inspired to create Dylan's hair by decorative elements of Islamic art. Glaser's idea is of linking things together that are unrelated and says his design is all about the imaginative content.1
Not only do I have to make my own rendition(s), but I have to think deeply about colors schemes, collection, presentation, and figure out who the subject will be!
Brainstorm:
While I was brainstorming, it didn't take me long to pick who I wanted to be the subject of my poster, Taylor Swift. I love her music and it fits in with the musical theme here. Since she's in the midst of re-recording her old music (other Swifties will know why), I thought I would use her portrait from the original album she just finished re-recording, Fearless, as the silhouette.
2008
Fearless
Album
2021
Fearless (Taylor's Version)
Album Preview
Color:
I had to create at least 3 posters, so I figured I would model each poster after a specific album. The albums I chose were Speak Now, Red, and Lover. I chose a color from each album that I thought represented them and used it as my primary color source. The color scheme I chose for my posters was monochromatic. For those who need a refresher on color schemes, monochromatic uses only one hue. The darkest color on each poster was my inspiration and was added first. Then, I added two tints to go with it. Tints are the base color, but mixed with white.2
Below you can see the direct comparison of the album colors and their corresponding posters:
2010
Speak Now
2012
RED
2019
Lover
Details:
Since Taylor loves to add small details and easter eggs to her work, I thought I'd add some to mine. Can you find them?
Each poster has her name designed in relation to her album cover.
Her lips are red in all of the posters because she always wears red lipstick and refers to them in her music.
Her album name is written on her eyes on the posters. Some more noticeable than others, depending on the font. The opacity on those are 15% to keep people looking!
Since I was sticking with the monochromatic theme, I couldn't help myself but to also make her Reputation album into a poster. It's probably my favorite one because the red lipstick is the only "color" on the poster!
2017
Reputation
Conclusion:
I found myself playing with color a lot in this project. I have so much that I want to include and then it doesn't feel like a cohesive piece, never-mind a cohesive collection. This project helped me realize that less is more. Once I decided to make the posters monochromatic and leave each poster's background grey colored, I knew I'd finished.
I hope you like my renditions as much as I do. This is a project I've never done before but really enjoyed it. I can absolutely see myself doing a "silhouette doodle", as I've been calling it, again in the future!
References:
1“Posters.” Graphic Design Solutions, by Robin Landa, Cengage, 2019, p. 180.
2“Visualization, Icons, and Color.” Graphic Design Solutions, by Robin Landa, Cengage, 2019, p. 127-128.