Topic of Interest #1: Law about Russian language in Ukraine

Ok, this subject is very personal for me so I am very subjective when it comes to it... 

In August of this year, the ruling party of Ukraine "Party of Regions" adopted a law about the languages of minorities in Ukraine (mainly Russian minority). This event included deputies fighting in the parliament, people protesting and going on hunger strikes..The law pronounces that the official language of the country is still Ukrainian, however if a certain minority's population is more than 10% in a certain region of the country, this minority can vote and have the language of the region to be changed to the language of minority: which means education in schools, government documents, TVs, newspapers, etc. For those who don't know, Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe, a former republic of USSR, it borders with Russia in the East, Belarus in the North, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Moldova in the West, and Turkey across the Black Sea in the South. Historically, the regions in the East had always more Russian people. Following the adoption of the "language law", several regions of Ukraine have adopted Russian as their "regional" language. What is interesting is that when Hungarian minorities in Western Ukraine tried to get their language to become "regional", they were denied that right, even though the law concerns all the minorities living in Ukraine.

Links with more detailed info on this subject:

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/up-front/posts/2012/08/21-ukraine-language-pifer-thoburn

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/04/ukrainians-protest-russian-language-law

http://www.voanews.com/content/ukraine_parliament_disputes_russian_language_law/1363287.html

Hello, Illustration 3 - One Hundred Circles

This semester, I will be using this blog for my Illustration 3. I'm happy to be back to school and excited about this class!

Our first assignment was to draw 100 circles of different colors and turn them into recognizable images by drawing on top of them with brush and ink. I actually did it backwards: I first drew everything out with pencil, then inked the images and then put watercolor washes on top. The only reason why I did it backwards is because I didn't have my paints and brushes at school with me when I started working on my circles. I liked this assignment, I spent this week constantly trying to think of more circular objects: I was looking for them around my house, school and around town when driving :)

Here are some of my 25+ favorite circles:

Book Cover: concept and final version

So, for my Project 4, I decided to create a book cover design. I picked The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, a novel from 1869 written by one of the greatest Russian writers. I've read it recently and fell in love with the story and the main character.

In The Idiot, Dostoevsky attempted to portray what he termed a “positively good man” in the character of Prince Myshkin. Endowed with Christ-like spiritual attributes and professing a childlike, innocent belief in the possibility of achieving heaven on earth, Myshkin obliviously enters a Russian society corroded by avariciousness, moral corruption, and spiritual desolation. The ensuing action presents a starkly apocalyptic and pessimistic vision of how inconsequential goodness and humility are in the midst of a society on the verge of moral and spiritual disintegration. The characters' hysterical preoccupations with amassing wealth, sexual conquest, intellectual egotism, and power all reflect the author's fatalistic belief that the Russian civilization was on the verge of a spiritual collapse and moral decay.

So because the main character Prince Myshkin, didn't really belong to the high class society even though according to his status he was part of it, in my design, I wanted to communicate the idea of contrast, isolation, individual vs. society.

Here are some of my original concept thumbnails:

I was inspired by the recent movie adaptation of the story and a brilliant actor Evgeniy Mironov who played Prince Myshkin, so I used this actor as my main reference:

I wanted him to look disturbed, almost crazy, kind of like a man from this famous Courbet's painting:

this was my first cover idea:

Then I got stuck there. I wasn't sure how to add idea of him being contrasted to society without overcomplicating the image..it seemed to me like visually it was complete, but conceptually it wasn't really communicating what I originally have intended.. so I started over, and came up with this design:

also this is my interior illustration:

I really hope to revise both of these by the end of the semester!!

Deck of Cards: Proposal and Preliminary Sketches

My deck of cards will illustrate the changing of the seasons. Each of the four suits will represent a particular season. Diamonds will be spring, hearts – summer, clubs - fall, and spades – winter. Each season will have a color theme, and the cards’ background color will gradually change its shade and eventually turn into the color of the next season. This way, when cards are put next to each other in order they will create a gradation of color, that will emphasize the progression of time and the process of seasons flowing one into another.

There will be a main character that the viewers will follow through the year. The character will be a dog, drawn after my pet dog Panda. The cards will create a narrative about one year from Panda’s dog life. They will illustrate her various activities throughout different seasons. The situations pictured will be imaginary as well as realistic.

My puppy :)

Rival Company Logo

I am designing a logo for the rival of Gino's company, that provides communication with the dead.

Our company's name is Dead Line, and this is our logo:

Rival Company Outline

Our company is rivaling Lexie's company Sole Foods.

For the logo design I am art directing Melinda

Company Outline:

Company's Name: Culinary Wizards

Company’s Mission: Our company is a team of professional chefs that will allow you to enjoy high quality freshly home-cooked meals that you love without having to spend time for grocery shopping and cooking.

Target Consumers: busy people (married, single, with kids or no kids) who would love to eat at home and have sit-down family meals but don’t have time for cooking and meal planning.

Our Services:

- diverse meal planning based on your tastes, diet goals and personal recipes with a grocery list provided

- meals can be cooked for specific days of the week only, or for breakfasts/lunches/dinners only, or every meal of every day, you pick

- we only use organic produce and brands of food, but we can also use specific brands of ingredients picked by you

- our dieting experts will give you advice on well-balanced diets and weight-management

Company Outline and Logo

Company’s Name: Aqua Pets

Our company specializes in pet scuba diving. We provide a high quality training course for dogs, as well as cats, that prepares your pet for extended stay underwater and helps it to get accustomed to the scuba diving equipment.

We also provide comfortable and lightweight pet scuba gear and offer a variety of diving adventures that are specifically designed for divers with pets.­

Aqua Pets – take your pet to your next diving holiday!