Visual
Storytelling POrtfolio
Visual
Storytelling POrtfolio
Visual
Storytelling POrtfolio
RISO PRINTING PROJECT:
Designing & Printing a Poster
Process & Final Result
Initially I wasn't sure if I wanted to create a riso poster for the song "Daylily" by Movements or "Yellow Love" by Citizen; so while listening to these songs and examining the lyrics, I made a list of word/phrase associations. From this list, I was able envision potential avenues for design and theme for my poster.



Still unsure which song I wanted to make a poster for, I made an initial sketch for "Daylily."

Daylily- Movements
Outside for the first time in a longtime
Lose yourself sinking to the sunlight
It's been a while since you felt right
But the warm nights are coming soon and you'll be just fine
You'll be just fine
You'll be just fine
Outside for the first time in a longtime
You said you can't remember what it's like to feel more than cold on the inside
But the sunrise will come again and you'll be just fine
You'll be just fine
I think it's time you had a pink cloud summer
Cause you've gone too long without a smile
I think it's time you found another reason to stay for a while
You should stay for a while
I sit and watch for the few lights for the green side
Lose myself sink into your sunlight
Breathe in the breeze like a sweet sigh keep me tongue tied
If this last forever I'll be just fine, oh I'll be just fine
You are the rustling of leaves
And you are that honey suckle breeze
You are the sunlight, shine on to me
Shine on to me, shine on to me
I think it's time you had a pink cloud summer
Cause you've gone too long without a smile
I think it's time you found another reason to stay for a while
And I think it's time you gave yourself a little colour
I don't know much but I hear that red's in style
I think it's time you had another reason to stay for a while
I think it's time you had a pink cloud summer
Cause you've gone too long without a smile
I think it's time you found another reason to stay for a while
These are sketches for "Yellow Love." I had more inspiration for this song, so I decided to develop "Sketch #3" further on Adobe Illustrator.
Sketch #1
Sketch #2

Sketch #3
Sketch #4

Displayed below is the progression of the poster design for "Yellow Love." Besides the differences in design and composition, note the changes in font as well.



These are the master prints for the following colors used for riso printing: black, orange, and gold (the colors were printed in this order).



FINAL PRODUCT

To me this song is about an undeniable attraction to someone; this feeling is as if the gravity in the universe can't help but pull two people together to make a whole. I wanted to play with the idea that this type of love is fate, meant to be, or even divine. I thought the best way to show this was to create a poster with two colliding bodies in space.
I wanted the design and text to be clean and simple. In order to create dynamism, I made the mirroring asteroids swoop into the black frame off the white page into a diagonal head-on collision with each other. Likewise, the font fits in between the spaces between the asteroids in a diagonal way that trickles into each successive line as the lyrics are read. The font for the title and the body are the same in order to keep coherence and minimalism. The letters of the font are both sharp and perfectly curved-- the 'O's are perfectly circular in a way that resembles the asteroids' shape.
Originally, I chose the colors black, gold, and yellow, but upon seeing that the fluorescent yellow was too harsh, I changed the colliding planets into orange. Additionally, the orange is able to make the gold outlines standout more than the yellow would have. I used the black background to exaggerate the bright orange, gold outlines, and white text.
Riso printing in general was more complicated than anticipated, the machine stalled multiple times and refused to print the master several times. The machine printed imperfectly because it wasn't able to print the orange circles exactly into the negative white circle space. Although the machine is very finicky ultimately, I think the results turned out very crisp and as anticipated.