Assignment #1 Poster

The goal of this project was to capture the essence of Stephen DiCerbo. To that end, I began my creative process by interviewing Stephen and using his answers to sketch out a broad concept. I quickly realized that my big challenge would be to create a visually efficient design that reflected Stephen. I fused Stephen’s answer into one or two manageable concepts that revolve around the one central theme of transition. In this case it is Stephen’s transition from a full time job in engineering to the role of an artist (a full time natural science illustrator). The piece depicts a brocaded koi fish jumping from an ordinary goldfish bowl. The koi fish symbolizes Stephen. In Asian cultures the koi fish is seen as not only a symbol of luck, but of perseverance and success in life due to its natural grace and beauty. Koi are typically depicted swimming upstream against the current, which demonstrates their perseverance. These fish also reflect a certain amount of grace, detail and beauty, which nicely mirrors Stephen’s ability as a natural science artist. The koi is also the frequent subject of Japanese prints . Stephen teaches Japanese print making in his spare time. I tinted the fish with a red hue, which is my subject’s favorite color. Red is also seen a passion and love color, which also plays nicely to Stephen’s passion for art and his drive to change careers. The goldfish bowl acts as the world that must be overcome so that Stephen’s transformation into an artist can occur. Simply put, the bowl is the mundane world occupied by cookie cutter, inartistic fish. Their world is surrounded by grey bland water while Stephen’s new world is flooded with color and light.