Independent Project - Starting Points
- Sarah Zink
- Feb 12
- 2 min read
In starting the first stages of this independent project, I view this as an opportunity to reflect on personal creative styles and showcase the use of design in society to educate others and engage in a larger conversation about topics and mediums close to us. For this project, the central driving force behind my work is my emotional and intellectual responses to social injustices that deeply resonate with me. I want to create a collective end piece that illustrates the corruption of humanity, covering themes included, but not limited to:
Neglect of animal welfare
Political and religious extremism
Civil disturbance and riots
Environmental degradation
Sexism and intolerance
Child labor
My acknowledgment of these issues in humanity will take the form of a large collective poster project of about six to ten poster designs cohesive with each other. My illustration style going into this is greatly inspired by the Animal Welfare comics by Barbara Daniels, and the work of Tony Moore’s comic art in the Walking Dead series. My main visuals in this poster project will take the form of human figures depicted as zombies performing destructive, yet normal daily actions. The zombie imagery serves as a satirical yet strong metaphor for humanity's internal monstrosities, self-destructive behaviors, and exploitation of the world and each other. My mood board and first draft show my envisioned color pallete, which will remain simple and mainly feature hues of red, green, blue, and yellow. Some sections of the posters may remain unfinished in order to draw greater focus to the highlighted objects. In creating my first draft of this piece, I find that in regard to the technical and illustrative elements, these posters will be sketched briefly by hand, followed then by digital image tracing and printing, experimentation with ink and watercolors, and finalized through Adobe photoshop and illustration.
Overall, my primary goal in this project is to create a bold series that may both entertain and spark thoughtful conversation between viewers. It is a series which uses the appearance of zombies as a means to compliment the inward monstrosity of the human soul and emphasize our destructive tendencies and abuse of power over the world.
Zarah, the concept of your project is interesting. By addressing critical social issues through zombies, you exemplify the dark tendencies and self-destructive behaviors we experience in society. The color palette you chose (mainly red, green, blue, and yellow) triggers emotional responses in me, such as danger, decay, loss, and caution. I look forward to seeing how your project develops!
Your project concept is really compelling! The use of zombies as a metaphor for humanity’s self-destructive tendencies is a creative and powerful way to engage viewers with serious social issues. I appreciate how your work not only critiques societal problems but also encourages reflection through striking visuals and symbolism.
Your inspiration from Barbara Daniels and Tony Moore is an interesting combination, and I’m excited to see how their influence shapes your final designs. The choice of a limited color palette and unfinished sections adds another layer of meaning, reinforcing the themes of corruption and decay. I’m looking forward to seeing how your process evolves and how you bring these complex ideas to life. This definitely has the potential to spark…