So far, I have come up with five concept thumbnails however I am aware that these are only ideas and am still thinking hard about how I could improve them. I also apologize for my complete lack of artistic skill- I tried!!
1. My first concept pictures a human hand coming out of the ground and forming the trunk and branches of a tree. This symbolizes the passing on of life from human to nature, which is one of the essential ideas I identified in my article. As my first concept however, it lacks the idea of a cleaner death. If i could somehow find a way to show that the hand coming out of the ground was in fact dead, I think this idea would be more effective. The background would just be very plain, as not to draw attention from the main picture- perhaps a white, or just natural blue sky. The ground would be green.
2. This concept is simply a variation of the first. Rather than just the hand showing above the soil, I would picture a full human body in a silhouette form. The circulatory system (veins) would be visible in the body, and would turn into and connect to the branches of the tree. Again, it lacks the idea of a cleaner death and also the idea of the dead being folded back into the fabric of the city. I could add a city scape into the background, but I’m not sure if that would make the image too cluttered.
3. Another variation on 1 and 2. This one however, depicts the human part of the tree as the roots, underneath the earth. The ground, therefore, would be a sort of cross section in which you could see the roots of the tree. The roots would be depicted as hands, stretching out into the surrounding soil, grounding the sprouting tree. I believe that this better represents the idea of the dead, because the hands are beneath the soil, but still contributing to the city. I have also added a city scape in the background of this thumbnail to illustrate my previously mentioned idea of adding the city into the background.
4. This idea is a little different, but still similar. It incorporates the three main ideas I mentioned in my last post, by illustrating a city and greenery growing inside of a coffin. This combines the traditional idea of death with the new, greener idea of building life from death. Again, I think I would keep the background plain white, or blue sky, just to keep the attention on the main image.
5. This is a variation on concept 4. Essentially it is the same, but I have added the idea from concept 1 to the image. You now see a city and tree growing from the coffin, but the tree trunk is made from a hand reaching out of a coffin. It’s kind of a spin on the pictures we often see of zombies reaching their hands out of the dirt to come back to life, except less macabre and more environmentally friendly! In this image and the previous one, I would not necessarily include the cross on the coffin…. I just drew it there for now because otherwise it looked like a pot plant! A real coffin would be much more identifiable.
Please, I am very open to comments and ideas! Like I said, this is not the be all and end all, they are only concepts that I am looking to develop further. Thanks!
Great thumbnails! I can really see how well these concepts will reflect the topics raised in your article. Cant wait to see how you execute these ideas. Good work! 🙂
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Thanks Sarah! I don’t know a whole lot about Photoshop at this stage, so it will be a learning experience haha
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Hi Phoebe, I like concept #3. The concept as you have drawn it is simple, and easy to understand. If you wanted to take it a bit further, the hands/roots of the tree could be holding, and reaching out from, a body in the ground….gaining sustenance, while also holding it safe…embracing…but this may be too literal? I like the idea of a cross-section showing what is happening under the surface. Good luck with the assignment! Katie (friend of Shirree’s from Cancer Sux 😉 )
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Thanks Katie! Ooooh I like the idea of the hands holding something, might have to do a few redesigns and see what I can come up with!
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