Tim Wise Project: Redux

After working on the Tim Wise project, in which we were asked to create images to supplement Wise's text heavy blog, I had a chance to re-work my image a bit with the help of Lace. After the images I'll run through what was changed and why.

The original version

The redone version

As you can see there are some font changes, object movement, and a more detailed "Welfare Queen" with a backdrop. I changed the fonts to differentiate the main text more from the font I used for "TV Star." It makes the message visually different from the two examples I use to illustrate the double standards.

Then there's the "Welfare Queen." It was pointed out to me that this part of the design was lacking when compared to the "TV Star" and it's not hard to see why. In the original the teen mom and her infant are given a context -- the TV -- and have simple bodies while the "Welfare Queen" and her child are disembodied and on an abstract background. To remedy this I added bodies to the faces. That was the easy part. The hard part was figuring out what to put behind the mother and child. From my research I knew that the stereotype of the "Welfare Queen" was invented in Chicago. With that in mind I searched for urban skylines to use as an outline for the silhouette I eventually made. Most skyline photos are cluttered and have too much overlap to make a good silhouette. I wanted to work Chicago in but the only iconic part of their skyline is the Sears Tower, which is much taller than the buildings around it and makes for an unbalanced silhouette unless the photo is from a very particular angle. I was lucky enough to find a photo of Chicago that fit my criteria, but it is still hard to make out the shape of the Sears tower, as it is mostly obscured by the mother's head. Once I had found the photo, all that needed to be done was trace the buildings and choose a color that fit the scheme already established in the design.

What do y'all think? Better? Worse? Both better and worse?

Project #3 - Tim Wise

Tim Wise, what an interesting man. I must admit, having only his articles as an introduction to him was somewhat unsettling. His word choice and topics of discussion intimidated me. However, within the first few minute of Wise's lecture, I was reassured. He is smart, funny, and to a certain degree, easy to follow. And considering what Wise was discussing, these were all qualities that were much appreciated.

The inspiration for this illustration came from one of Wise's last stories. He shared with the audience and evening when he was at home with his wife and children and they were watching a movie, "Bruce Almighty". His youngest daughter asked if Morgan Freeman was God. Wise explained Morgan Freeman was not God, but an actor simply playing the role of God. Upon explaining this, Wise's eldest daughter piped in claiming that couldn't be God because God is white. He knew that statement was coming, the entire audience knew that statement was coming. But what really impacted me was the fact that he does not condone or support this idea in any way. His home contains no pictures or illustrations of God. Still, racism had managed to creep it's way into him home, and it was poisoning his children. I held onto this idea and decided to run with it for my project.

I chose to create an outline of the U.S., but not the states. I thought this would create a better sense of racism as a national issue. I then places poison beakers throughout the country, with one being tipped over and spreading in the middle. The beakers contain black "R"s which vaguely resemble skulls and crossbones. It was to emphasis the seriousness of the issue, and I also thought it looked pretty cute. I also chose to include the statement "RACISM: is poisoning our children". I went with the American Typewriter font. I wanted to make the point that this issue was and is newsworthy.

My final product looks nothing like my original sketches, but I am extremely happy with and proud of how it turned out in the end.