Pro-Prac Digital Commons Assignment

Author/Artist Name

Simon McNeilFollow

Files

Academic Level at Time of Creation

Senior

Date of Creation

Fall 12-5-2019

Artist Statement

As a person, I thrive inside confinement; I have to know I was in a box in order to think outside it, so the formidable task of constructing my own box required a certain amount of self reflection. Sure, I would always produce, but what really pushed me to make Art? During a wistful trip down the six-pack aisle, I had an epiphany; in a sea of Millers and Bud Lights, I always ended up picking drinks with interesting packaging/design, be it heavy illustration, bold color, or at the very least a logo with that ‘handmade’ quality. As a designer, that was how I wanted my work to be consumed, and it was the knowledge that people enjoyed what I made that drives me to not only make, but improve.

For my BFA show, I want to share that interest. I have conjured a fictional brewing company, Hops Noir, and my show will feature Packages, such as 12oz bottles, a 4-pack cardboard carrier, Advertising, such as beer posters and magazine ads, and a Branding guide and collateral for the Brewery. My work has moved toward keeping the hand-qualities and imperfections that come from designing and sketching manually as the work transitions to a digital space. My recent work in screen printing have enforced my desire to blend the best of both worlds in my work. There is something incredibly human about this quality that I want to bring to the lives of the people who see and consume my work, as our capitalist future stretches nightmarishly onward.

Since having done a research project about Keith Haring, I’ve found a new interest in Pop Art. Haring’s illustration style has given me inspiration, especially in working with a more loose, messier style, and simpler forms, which still communicate without being busy. The crowded compositions of his work speak to my own tight, puzzle-esque sense of design, and in my work I have become fond of balancing this illustration style with layers, either of gradients and patterns, or with other illustrations of varying opacity. This contrasts to bolder, often darker, typography, ensuring that vital information is still easy to find and read, but the bottle, sat alongside it’s competition, still catches the eye of a consumer. Vintage advertising has also played a role, in conjunction with my new screen printing work, in inspiring my show work. Playing off my earlier interest in historical type, the way vintage advertisement, especially posters, utilise their economy of space is fascinating; type is large but not too intricate, and illustrations are just visually stimulating enough to get their point across. This clear and effective communication is something I want to translate to my own work.

Advisor/Mentor

T. Michael Martin, James P. Bryant

Description

1. Haring Cafe letterhead, Digital Print of letterhead, 2018 8.5” x 11”
2. Breathe Rite, Box of adhesive nose strips, 2017 4” x 6” x 1”
3. runSafe Icon set, Digital Print of icon set, 2019 14” x 11”
4. Ride Along [front], Digital Print of brochure, 2018 8.5” x 11”
5. Ride Along [back], Digital Print of brochure, 2018 8.5” x 11”
6. Just Ask, poster reprint, 2018 11 x 17”
7. Jarritos [strawberry], Digital Print of bottle proposal, 2018 22” x 36”
8. Hops Noir dielines, Digital Print of package dielines, 2019 12” x 19”
9. Hops Noir bottles, 3 bottles of Hops Noir beer, 2019 12 oz. bottle aprox. 9 ¼” tall
10. Hops Noir Drinkin’ Set, Pint glass and coaster, 2019 4” x 4”coaster, Pint glass
11. Neon Noir, digital print of neon lights, 2019 25” x 36”
12. Business system spread, digital print, 2019 24” x 18”
13. Glorious Spray, wall vinyl (proposed), 2019 6 ft x 8 ½ ft
14. Andy’s round, poster, 2019 18” x 24”

15. Fallin’ for you, poster advertisement, 2019 24” x 18”

16. Smitty’s Cola, poster advertisement, 2019 12” x 19”

17. Pink Flamingos screening, poster, 2019 12” x 18”

18. Isn’t it Love, Event poster, 2019 18” x 24”

19. Werkin Class tour, Tour poster, 2019 18” x 24”

20. saveWell screens, Digital Print of uiux design, 2019 17” x 11”

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

McNeil, Simon, "Pro-Prac Digital Commons Assignment" (2019). Professional Practices (ART 399). 72.
https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/art399/72