floor the love (final)
The final design was chosen based on functionality, visibility and attention. The three different avatars are of different colors such to distinguish the different styles. The colors, however, are also reflective of actual costume colors. The colors can speak to each other, creating a lively impression. Saturated and warm colors can grab attention.
Okay so after today’s critique session I’m still feeling confused /:
I couldn’t decide between 2 and 3, because of the similarity of colours with the background. I realized 1 could have been good too, if not for the white background. I could consider it too. Some people liked 9 and 12 as well, so in the end the suggestions were something like, change the colour of the third avatar (maybe to purple), colour of the background (to maybe blue), and consider a change of text colour (to white or black).
Just some minor tweaking post critique:
Is this better?
Spend an eternity figuring out the colour schemes and swatches! Using Ai CS2, hence not familiar with the colour swatch system (not like I was familiar with Ai CS4 in the first place.
I’m loving the colours :DDD
Feel free to give comments. A big shoutout to all those that put in their two cents’ worth, especially dancers because this is for you (in a way)!
Just to show you the work in progress. I stopped a few times to take screenshots, and get suggestions from friends. I found this to be extremely crucial if I wanted to see if it could be successful in the later stages. Indeed, I had feedback from fellow local dancers, which was SO TOTALLY AWESOME! 
First impressions: SO CUTE! I needed more concrete and constructive comments, so I probed further. A friend suggested that the locking attire was not obvious, which I later understood and corrected.
The basic characters shapes were out so I just asked for more suggestions again. Priscilla commented that they look kind of stiff so she wouldn’t have known it’s for a dance competition, and suggested to present them in dance moves. I did consider that, but these were avatars hence they look stiff and blockish. The focus would be on the costumes, to draw the attention of dancers (participants), who would recognize these costumes. Also, even if I used dance moves, non-dancers would not be able to recognize them. So to draw the attention of non-dancers, I would use later use colours and the entire design (may have been vague to some) to first draw their attention to the postcard. Responses have been positive so far!
Task: Design ONE postcard (both front and back) to promote, or create awareness of a chosen youth theme. The theme can be international, regional or local.
Exactly one week ago, I attended a dance battle event organized by the Korea-Singapore Dance Project and EMIX. I was so inspired that I chose it as the subject for this week’s assignment. What better way to celebrate youth exuberance and energy than through dance? In addition, this event was self funded by the project, hence they were not able to have proper promotional materials. This had to be a great opportunity!
So I started conceptualizing while I was still inspired - the idea revolved around the dance costumes of the original dancers that are still recognizable now.
Idea 1: paper cutout dolls, for example, from Teas2Dine4
Idea 2: The Invisible Man from Locking4Life
Idea 3: The “Polyvore”
Idea 4: Pharrell Williams Album Artwork
I chose idea 4 to work on. I guess the idea grew on me, because it reminds me of T-shirts, especially the A Bathing Ape clothing line. In addition, dancers and streetwear tend to go hand in hand. Another plus point was that it is similar to game icons and avatars, also seen in Habbo Hotel, etc.
After the brainstorming, I did some research by searching online and reconfirming them by asking my dance instructors about the costumes the original dancers used to wear. Nicholas (popping), told me that apart from the zoot suits, they also wore the “penguin” formal wear suits. KS (locking), enlightened me on the styles for locking - the mandatory stripes, suspenders, zoot pants, striped socks, vest, etc and referred me to http://www.locking4life.com/ Since he also dances hip hop in school, he told me about the baggy shirts and jeans, and “duregs” that hip hop dancers wore. However, it was not so common hence I replaced it with “New Era” Caps that dancers sport nowadays. Thanks to Nicholas and KS :D
More updates in another post!
By far
