Wor-Ship: Project 2

Howdy y'all. This project was a labor of love and frustration. The initial conjure of ideas came quick with agreement between Janet and I. We shared sketches, talked and bragged points beween our own rural upbringings. We agreed upon Port Orchard as the town of choice in which we could cover two monstrous topics: religion and war - now we had to build our own creative ship.

This was the frusting point in "Project 2", a point that left us beautifully mangled in a web of more points of unforgiving vectors. In the beginning we felt trapped underneath the ship in the murky-gray waters of the inviolable illustrator, but with practice, perseverance and Advil we were able to grasp the rusted hull of the battle worn schooner and scamper on board. We started by building the religious image of "the crucifixion of Jesus x Battleship" in photoshop. With the image sliced and pixel-glued to our liking we transfered it to illustrator in which we live-traced it and vectored off the parts we wanted/needed to manipulate further. In an accidental act of the big man on board, the image was moved upward leaving behind the previous "shadow vector" of the boat. This wonderful and purposeful slip resulted in what many have said to be the fitting saving grace of the image; it grounds it, it's a wake, it's a trail of blood, it's a melting nike swoosh - whatever it may be, and it's open to interpretation, it works and brings the work together.

With the image in place - the text is next. "In Port Orchard We Wor-ship" was chosen, choosing to play off the word worship and load the letters by crane into the calloused world of the shipyard. The minute Janet saw the phrase she said, "There needs to be an A here, behind the O in Wor-Ship, War-Ship". This brilliant idea added yet another dimension to the piece and as we would find out later adds a great design element but also anchors the text.

We wanted to bring to awareness that war-ship building is what Port Orchard worships. Their lives are lived by the prayer of the steam whistle, and like that steam, their lives are short and hot before they vanish into Northwest rain. The ships give and the ships destroy; the yard is filled with the moral turbulence of the crusades.

In this project we hope that through social awareness we are able to enact social change in the little Orchard by the sea. And if not, I feel the symbol we created can serve and be used universally. I had a blast working with Janet and am proud of what we created!