soon to come
New project I'm working on. It also contains the project Empty Spaces. Additional to the usual print work is animation. Don’t expect too much of the animations, cause they are still a work in progress and I only know the basics.You can view some images at the following links.
Empty Spaces:
http://www.newcreatives.be:80/main/profiles.php?userID=408
http://www.addictlabbie.com/labfiles/Labfile.php?labuserid=1248
http://www.newcreatives.be:80/international/main/profiles.php?userID=75
Introduction:
Throughout my studies as a graphic designer, I started to realize that there isn’t much room for profundity in this branch. We are dealing with an art form that is commercial and evanescent.
The most commercial activity as graphic designer is advertising. As a graphic artist, one has to try to advertise a product the best possible way. Most of the time there is no room for an insightful concept. It has to be funny, light headed and easily understandable, due to the fact that people need to understand the message right away. It is comprehensible that people want ‘feel good’ products.
One is not likely to buy a product that is advertised by a negative and confronting emotional concept.
The messages we are confronted with daily are those by commercial facilities: from billboards, television commercials, flyers, talk shows, reality shows to the clothing we wear and our cell phones.
I try to combine the graphical technique with a meaningful concept. It is difficult to find the balance between pure decorative images and images with an insightful message. I try to make contemplative images that are at first sight deceptively gentle. When one takes a closer look, one realizes that there are sometimes disturbing messages hiding. I try to explore the darker side of the human psyche by approaching it with a positive attitude. My goal is to tighten the gap between the commercial industry and subjects with more depth. This project is not finished yet; it is still a work in progress.
Concept and motivation:
With this project I tried to gain a better insight into the topic of loneliness. This project is not an academic study, it is a work based on my own research, i.e. psychological and medical texts, philosophical concepts, songs, poems and my own personal experiences.
The information is a personal selection, based on texts of others, but with my own personal twist.
Loneliness is a social topic that is universal and timeless. It is one of the primary emotions, where everyone gets confronted with sooner or later. Loneliness is a complex and subjective topic.
To study this problem, the ability to look into the psyche of another person is needed. This activity is very fascinating and this is the reason why I chose this topic. In short, this project tries to explain loneliness through a contemporary concept.
It appears that loneliness has become a major problem of modern times. This can be illustrated by looking at the statistics of incoming calls at help lines. A high percentage of the calls concern loneliness issues. In fact, loneliness issues belong to the top three of most important subjects in help line centers. This points out the relevance of the topic of this work.
Although the topic is well known and a lot has been written about it, most of the time the common texts, like texts one finds in leaflets of help facilities or in conversations on talk shows, only go to the level of a stereotypical description of the matter. Off course, specialized psychological literature is not meant here. This literature however, is often inaccessible for the common public. The feeling that someone really understands, is not fulfilled for most. One must admit that it’s not easy to find the right words.
In trying to satisfy this shortcoming, illustrative images were created that speak to our hearts and souls, and leave the viewer the space to interpret them in a personal way. The images might be a little vague and mysterious at times, but at the same time they set a good atmosphere. Loneliness is after all not a truth, but a reflection of subjective feelings.
The purpose of this project is to try to explain the fragility, vulnerability and the depth of this feeling as good as possible. In general one could say that the issue here is the interactivity and communication between people and all the complexity it involves.
Related themes as individualism, dignity, reassurance, belonging, being different, selfishness, uniqueness, the difference between aloneness and loneliness are all subjects that have an influence on the problem. Loneliness is also about the meaning of life, the reason of our existence and the awareness that we walk the path of life alone and the fear to face this. It is about the struggle to conform to a group or to stay true to an own identity.
It is about willing to make compromises or staying true to our inner being. Each of these issues is a relevant aspect
of the problem.
Although everyone experiences loneliness in an own way, there is a similarity that goes for everyone. The feeling of loneliness is about the quality of contacts, not about the quantity.
The feeling of loneliness disappears when experiencing a point of recognition with something or someone else.
This project tries to create this point of recognition. This experience can also move people that do not feel this loneliness, without being judgmental.
This project includes a book, posters and post cards.
The book:
The book focuses on poetry. It creates its own symbolic language where texts and images complement each other. The illustrations contain hidden messages. The images are carried by minimal texts, in an attempt to avoid the moralizing character of the subject. Most of the texts that were gathered were song texts and poems of contemporary writers. Texts of unknown writers are combined with very commercial song texts. By combining those specific texts with the illustrations, they are experienced from another perspective. The book has its own personal character. Loneliness is a universal subject; therefore English is the chosen language.
The images:
The technique used to give shape to the idea is a collage of found material combined with my own material (photo grams, pictures, structures, fabrics, drawings). By assembling human body parts with animalistic elements and weird subjects, surrealistic images were created. This way an own symbolic language is developed.
Posters and post cards:
The posters and cards are the more commercial touch to this project. They need to be approachable to a broader public. The language that is used in titles and subtitles is simplified, without losing the double meaning that the images hold. It could be spread in specialized facilities (cultural facilities, waiting rooms…).
The whole campaign is designed in black and white images to reduce the costs, so it can reach a wide range of viewers.
On the back of the card you can find a code. With this code you can send the image shown on the front with a short text about this topic to another person for a very low price.
Specific description for each image:
An atmosphere specific for each stereotype was created. It was meant so that each group could identify with its own environment. Loneliness amongst the elderly and the archetype ‘Stone’ are more realistically shaped. Loneliness amongst children and the archetype ‘The Fallen Dreamer’ are represented by illustrations that are more childlike. The message behind each illustration is explained by a short piece of text. Parts of the literature that were an inspiration to create these images are included, because they fit with the impression of the image so well.
Individualism has an influence on the feeling of loneliness
Image 1: Individualism versus loneliness
This image is about making first contact. It is about a friendly nod, a smile, making eye contact when one passes a stranger or a familiar face in the street. The same goes for waiting on a red light before crossing the street, standing in an overcrowded bus. It is about shaking someone’s hand when one meets for the first time.These are all little gestures that have the ability to make first contacts or just passing someone briefly more pleasant.
The bird-hands stand for a handshake, but the person can’t reach the hands that swiftly fly by.It’s about the longing to be able to make new contacts, also about being noticed
and the lack of self-esteem.
‘Caged bird’
"A bird that stalks down his narrow cage,
can seldom see through his bars of rage,
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied,
so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings with fearful trill,
of the things unknown but longed for still
and his tune is heard on the distant hill
for the caged bird sings of freedom.
The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees,
the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn
and dares to claim the sky his own.
But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams,
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream..."
-Maya Angelou- (American writer and poet)
Sponge: Trying to absorb any elements that replace the empty feeling.
Image 2: Sponge
A sponge absorbs. For this reason a sponge was created in the shape of a human body. The meaning behind it is best explained by this little piece of text:
"We got these tiny love spaces
that we need to fill.
Filling up tiny love spaces
Getting lost inside of insatiable mazes
Looking for heroes in worn-out faces
Looking for a great big love in tiny places..."
-Jewel- (singer-songwriter)
Archetypes: We sometimes hide behind a disguise to hide the feelings of loneliness
(2 illustrations)
Image 3: Archetype 1: The Fallen dreamer
This image is about escaping from the reality of life by daydreaming, and the confrontation with the real world when one returns to reality again. Daydreaming and imagination is something that feels natural to a child. As adult it is mostly seen as a naďve and childish activity. For this reason the illustrations have childlike figures.
“Sitting alone with a head full of empty thoughts
Playing with time that she just doesn’t have,
praying the dream is as real as she feels it is.
Dreams bring you anything, hoping that chance
could bring you to the other side.
Wanting a future there, feeling that
love affair with the other side.”
Beverly Knight (singer)
Image 4: Archetype 2: Stone
This image is about hiding behind a mean and strong exterior. It is about building up high walls to not get hurt again.
'Studying Stones’
“I'm out here studying stones,
trying to learn to be less alive.
Using all of my will,
to keep very still,
still even on the inside.
There's never been an endeavor so strange,
as trying to slow the blood in my veins.
To keep my face blank,
as a stone that just sank...
until not a ripple remains.”
Ani DiFranco (singer–songwriter)
Loneliness children: 3 illustrations
Image 5: Fragile Flame
This image is about a girl that wants to belong somewhere and wants to find a home. The shadow behind her reveals her yearning for a gentle caring mother figure.
Image 6: Fragile Flame 2
This image is about being bullied and secluded at school.
Image 7: Imaginary Friend
This illustration is about creating an imaginary friend after being isolated by the other children.
'Imaginary Friend'
“My imaginary friend,
I know she's just pretend,
but every time we're out to eat,
her food is never sent.
And sometimes she gets sat on
so, please watch your rear-end
for me and my imaginary friend
My imaginary friend,
on her I can depend.
She’s ever not around,
except for some weekends.
We sound so much alike,
that some say our voices blend,
of me and my imaginary friend.
She's camera-shy in pictures,
so take one in your head.
Of me and my imaginary friend.”
Children’s rhyme by James and Paige Dague
Old people and loneliness: Trying to capture the feeling of being left behind
(3 illustrations)
Image 8: Weavers of Warmth
“I see my memories in black and white
they are neglected by space and time.
I store all my days in boxes
and left my whishes so far behind.”
-Elisa- (singer –songwriter)
Image 9: Forgotten Treasure
This illustration is based on an article in a newspaper: "Seventy-six year old woman found three weeks after passing away".
“My body may die now, but these paintings are real
So many seasons came and so many went
In the winter they were weavers of warmth
In the summers they were carpenters of love
Eighty years, sitting on the porch,
watching the clouds roll by…”
-Jewel- (singer –songwriter)
Image 10: Broken Record
An illustration about how replaceable we are.
‘Broken Record’
"In the back of a record rack,
voices sound, image fades.
The gramophone replacing,
the heart sleeves used to have,
they looks at us stall,
out greatest hits edition,
spins back and forth,
its the songs that end,
and it’s the rules we bend,
stylus please remain my friend..."
"Now I’m just a prisoner in that stereo Hi-Fi jail.
The needle pierced just like a nail,
as it rocks me to the bone."
Kinks - To The Bone lyrics
The person who is that crazy to read it till the end, gets a big hug from me.
http://www.kellydemeyer.com
http://smooka.dmusic.net
http://www.bedouinproject.com
a.k.a. Mr. 
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