Final solutions to the project asking students to design a poster speaking to Czech (design) students as a visiting American student. The posters are shown where they would be posted around Prague: three different contexts in dialogue with the poster's content. (Click on the images for a larger view.)
21 February 2007
Ahoj Metamorphoza
I designed this poster with the intent of playing on the word metamorphosis, taken from Franz Kafkas novella written in 1915. The word in the context of this poster plays off the constant change that has been sweeping the Czech Republic for 20 years now. I wanted to use the informal greetings of 'ahoj' in Czech, and 'hello' for American, to try to promote a casual exchange of culture and communication. Also by letting the typography for the Czech and English words for metamorfóza/metamorphosis meld and move together to become more formal but still legible.
AZ: POSTER: Handmade & Digital
***HELLO! POSTER***
I am interested by the relationship between the handmade and the digital that we saw at AAAD during our visit. The seemless influence of these realms on each other is evident throughout the work of the students and throughout the graphic language I've witnessed v Praze.
By using a recognizable icon specific to Czech history and culture, a general audience is created. I've chosen to speak to designers/design students about the coexistence of the digital and handmade by changing the traditional representation of the crest. 2 panels (lions) are hand-drawn and then water-colored, while the other 2 panels (eagles) introduced new interpretations made possible by the computer. The colors are CMYK which connotes digital reproduction.
The panels begin to bleed into eachother showing the fluidity between traditional art and more modern design while still echoing the original structure of the crest.
***IN CONTEXT***
Putting the poster at the main entrance to AAAD would speak to the design students at AAAD, as well as visitors to the school and professors. This main passage way would attract the attention of people coming and going and would be printed on vinyl or something transparent so as to not obstruct the light in the entry way.
I felt that in this context the meaning of the poster is slightly expanded beyond an audience of designers to an audience of appreciative art-lovers. With the National Theatre in the background, the appearance of a poster such as this might take on a different meaning, such as the coexistence of traditional and modern performances that take place inside of a theatre such as this.
To see such a famililar symbol represented in a non-traditional way would be further made noticeable if put on small back street where you wouldn't expect it. This doorway was covering a construction sight. the wooden door itself already feels out of place for the building but seemed like it needed some company. The poster could perhaps be made into a stencil and spraypainted rather than being on paper or vinyl.
Hello Juice
This poster is intended to be a shy 'hello' to Czech design students. The poster makes reference to the Czech juice brand 'HELLO' with which I assume the local designers are familiar. I used the idea of juice because juice is a pretty friendly thing. The word 'Hello' is upside down as a comment on the simultaneous familiarity and unfamiliarity I experience with my Czech surroundings.
When I digitally placed the poster around town I figured that it would loose its background and be placed as a cutout. Because the 'hello' is intended to be of a shy nature I decided to put it in places that would be unnoticed at first glance. I treated the poster as street art. I figured this type of placement would catch a designers eye while going unnoticed to most of the public.
The third placement uses the opposite approach: placed where it could not possibly be missed.
Posters up in the city
These images show my posters in context. The first two images show my poster outside of the Academy of Arts Architecture and Design in Prague. Hanging it there ensures that the design students of the Academy will see it.
The third image shows it hanging at a tram stop, close to ground level, which would highlight the visual connection between the cobblestone side walks and the cobblestone texture in the poster.
The last image, taken at the Fraktaly book store. Fraktaly sells art, architecture and design books and magazines. Practicing designers, design students, and design conscious individuals likely frequent this store. Placing my poster here allows me to reach a broader range of designers.
Photo Manipulations
This street sign is located directly in front of the Academy of Architecture Art and Design. Because many of the icons used in the poster were taken from or influenced by student work at the show we visited, I wanted to place the poster in a context that would be appropriate to its inspiration. It also shows how students or other people might add to the poster and change its meaning by placing stickers or other signs on top of it.
The Fraktaly design bookstore at Klub Architectu is an appropriate venue for this poster because it has an inherent audience and clientele that are both relevant to the content of the poster. Designers are responsible for asking and answering the questions the poster poses, and the sheer exposure of design-minded people to the poster in this context makes those questions more relevant than ever.
The third venue I chose to display the New Spirit poster is the busy Mustek Metro station. The platform has a large projection screen that airs news briefs, movie times, etc. The placement of the poster in a main hub of public transportation is especially relevant to the idea of direction and movement. The idea behind this location is that the film or animation format might offer new dimensions to the printed version of the poster. Perhaps questions and answers may become animated, different paths highlighted, or symbols emphasized. 
poster in context
I chose the metro as a location for my poster for a few reasons. First, the visual identity of the metro was part of the subject matter in the poster (the stylized wall patterns, which came out of the soviet era, are a definite piece of the complex visual puzzle that is Prague); secondly, the metro is a place that everyone, designers and otherwise, use daily. I put the poster smack under the Mustek typography because everywhere else in the metro is covered in adverts and tags. It's interesting that a place as mundane as the metro would in itself ask the question I'm posing in my poster. I guess that's really my point.
My second location is directly under the metronome in Letna Park. Again, the metronome was once a monument to Stalin, and is now a huge, currently non-functional icon of the city. In the same way I feel the metro is a place that hangs suspended somewhere between "where-we've-been" and "where-we're-going", the metronome sits above the city, ironically enough, not counting the time but serving as a reminder of the phenomenon.
Lastly, Charles Bridge, the tourist destination and one of the most well known images associated with Prague. How many people have snapped photos on this bridge? How much of the city does this place actually represent? 
Surely there's not one location that can wholly represent a city. That being said, the bridge in all of it's religious and political splendor still holds a lot of weight in the answer to my question.
Cesky Design od Mladych Tvurcu
"Cesky Design od Mladych Tvurcu" (Czech Design by Young Designers)
The image of baby's head in this poster represents the young designers in Czech Republic.
This poster was particually designed to young designers in Czech Republic to ask question that needs to be asked for the future design by assimilating the traditional design.
Using the image of baby's head that was found in the antique market and placing so that their heads are fixed between the bars of question symbolizes the history of Czech Republic where there was less freedom for the people, and also represents the begining of new era for those young designers.
Color in this poster represents the color of flag in Czech Republic.
Poster was placed in the environment where many of other graphic designs can be found. Placing this poster within other posters that was created by the Czech designer creates a link between posters and establish a new meaning for the viewer.
project one: saying hello to czech designers
For my project, I made a typeface out of tidbits of detail that I found around the city. I used elements both commercial and traditional in the design, marrying them to make a design that was ascetically pleasing. What I was trying to communicate to the Czech designers is that though commercialism is inevitable, you can disguise it in a way that it blends into the cityscape. Wenceslaus Square may be a pimple on the face of Prague, but with care designers here can prevent the destruction and cheapening of the beauty of the rest of their city.
I made two variations of my poster, one gold on black, intended to fit in with the traditional decoration around the city, such as iron fences, detailed architecture, etc. The other variation of my poster is a gradient of purple on chartreuse, intended to fit in with the loud, bright advertisements that draw attention away from the beauty of decoration. In my photomanipulations, I place each variation in both Wenceslaus Square and Old Town Square. What I found was that the traditional variation fit better into Old Town Square, which has not yet been overrun by advertisement, whereas it was a bit lost in the attention seeking advertisement of Wenceslaus Square. Likewise, the chartreuse variation looked completely tacky in Old Town Square, but looked completely normal/at home in Wenceslaus Square.
From my photomanipulations, I learned that maybe it may be hard to revert the areas of the city overtaken my tackiness back to traditional design, because the beauty of decoration and subtlety are drowned out by the bright colors, and so that which is subtle might simply not be noticed.
I also found it interesting that the chartreuse variation read as though it was an advertisement for some large corporation or something, whereas the gold on black variation read as it might be something informing about a museum or something. It's amazing how much color can change the meaning of a piece.
From this project I learned about the importance of color and location. Before this project the only posters I had design didn't really have a context, and it was interesting to be able to see my poster in action, if only in a photomanipulation.
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