Art direction intro – Kalina Pulit
Art direction is about communication, its about building a particular aesthetic for a purpose. You present content to a group of people by creating a communication-based experience. Illustrators often work with art directors even if I don’t pursue it as a discipline. I should consider: how does my illustration fit in a larger picture?
Art direction aims to trigger emotions, knowledge of symbology and visual and social codes is essential to create allegories. Semiotics, art, composition, light, narrative tools and visual tools
Job is to determine creative visions of a brand or project and magnify it through digital, print, film. Need history of art history, design history, pop culture, and counterculture. To make relevant communications to an audience. Create a narrative, compose a more editorial style of image to showcase my product. World building.
FRAMEWORK
What does the image say? MESSAGE
Where is it placed? CONTEXT
Who is it directed at? AUDIENCE
How does it make you feel? EMOTION
Photo analysis:
Production value – low or high production?
Style of photography- digital, analogue? Colour, black and white? Clean or grainy? HD?
Composition / framing / lighting.
Colour / contrast / saturation / depth of field / post-production.
Concept / mood / theme.
Set design / props.
Ferdinando Verderi – Italian Vogue Art Director
Would you be drawn to the art piece in the same way if itself only were the cover, I find myself drawn to it because you can put yourself in the shoes of the person in the image.
There’s nothing random about anything in a photo.
How does a handwritten font connect with the image? It feels more personal.
Does the image make sense in the context of which it’s presented e.g. Vogue Italia
Shoot Prep: my intention 250 words
I want to convey a sense of comfort, to convince the parents that this product is whimsical. I want to transport them to a fantasy place where things are perfect, and this is where my product exists. It will communicate to the parents that there is a possibility of achieving a calm that’s difficult to achieve with a new baby to look after. It won’t be just young parents but can be any age, so I will attempt to make it feel timeless, use a film camera to include grain? I could make it seem like a dream by including blur and flash, but I want this ideal to seem achievable. I will use soft shapes and a saturated set. No harshness or high contrast. Soft lighting. Baby blues and pinks. I could put the product on a podium to elevate it, to communicate a sense of ‘holiness’. I could also do some post product editing to make the product actually float. Ill use props to surround the item. I have two bunnies I want to use I could make them carry it? I think even though it is directed at new parents it could be targeted at anyone looking for stress relief so the imagery and symbolism will represent a happy innocence that a stressed person wants to go to.
Part 2- reference mood board.
General inspiration, Colour, Set design, Props, Lighting, Movement direction.