Files
Description
- Mixed-media digital collage
- 18 x 24 inches, vertical
Publication Date
10-13-2020
Keywords
Pandemic, Graphic Design, Poster
Disciplines
Art and Design | Graphic Design
Recommended Citation
Glavic, Colleen, "Colleen Glavic: 1918 & 2020 Pandemic Poster" (2020). COVID-19 Graphic Design: Posters. 21.
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/stu_vad_covidcollage/21
Comments
I am very interested in the topic of sustainability, so I tied it in with this poster about the 1918 and 2020 pandemics. I wanted the focus of my poster to be on the environmental status and effects of both of the pandemics. COVID-19 has had serious environmental impacts including the increase in environmental waste. This increased waste has come from the rising use of single-use plastics and masks. Also, there have been positive impacts on the environment due to COVID-19. It provided a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions temporarily due to less traveling, as well as the closing of factories and companies briefly. Pollution was actually mentioned as a harmful factor in the 1918 flu pandemic. In 1918, pollution increased the susceptibility to the viral infection and heightened the risk of severe complications. I wanted to include the negative and the positive impacts on the environment in 2020 and 1918.
The process to get to the final product was long and difficult. I started from scratch midway through this project because I was unhappy with my original ideas. I finally ran with the idea of sustainability during the pandemics. I included and merged two photographs of cityscapes, one polluted and one not, to show the contrast in the positive and negative effects in relation to the pandemics. I also included duplicate photographs of littered face masks that have polluted our environment already from COVID-19. The text I included goes along with the concept of the importance of our environment and what someone can do to stop the excess waste with face masks. I found this text in old and current news articles and scanned them to give a collage effect to the poster. I also traced a selfie I took with tracing paper and scanned the image in and digitized it. The selfie digital drawing masks are filled in with a transparent bandanna pattern to demonstrate an alternative to disposable face masks. The high-key color scheme makes the poster cohesive and feel light.
The process of making this poster has made me realize that with trial and error, there will eventually be success in delivering the desired message through artwork.