Asgard

Fig: 1 -  The nine worlds in Norse mythology are held in the branches and roots of the world tree Yggdrasil. (Credits: Skjalden)

PREMISE

UNI invites Architects, Visual/Graphic Designers, and the student fraternity for the third edition of its series of Graphic Design Challenges as part of its unit block, Graphis. 

Challenges under ‘Graphis’ are carefully curated to bring out the best of visual communication and graphic language to educate, reflect, and inspire change with respect to pertinent world issues through visuals. 

A picture is worth a thousand words, and Graphis abides by that adage, to inspire participants to try and portray complex ideas and emotions through a still image. The competition understands the importance of efficient and effective communication in the digital age and aims to recognize innovative ideas and techniques that aim to redefine the notions guiding conventional graphic design, and foremost, create impact. 

Fig: 2 - Asgard is the home of Gods and is connected to Midgard via a rainbow bridge. (Credits: Richard Wagner, Otto Schenk)

THEME OF THE COMPETITION 

Thor is one of the most popular Marvel Comic series in the world. The story is set around the capital city of Asgard, which is the hometown of Thor and his family. Asgard is depicted as a fictional realm which is based on the realm of Asgard in Nordic mythology. 

Norse mythology is an extension of Germanic mythology, finding place in Scandinavian folklore as well. It depicts deities and heroes and their interaction with other beings like humanity. Its cosmos consists of Nine Worlds centered around the sacred tree of Yggdrasil. The representation of Asgard, in popular media, does not follow the old Norse sagas description. 

The challenge is to design a poster or artwork of the city of Asgard, on the basis of Nordic mythology. 

Understanding of the essence of its folklore and beings will help in designing the city form. Norse mythology is popular in European literature through Scandinavia, Germany and britain and the illustration can be inspired with their references. 
 

Fig: 3 - This representation of Asgard is the most commonly known version in the media. (Credits: marvelcinematicdatabase)

DELIVERABLES

You have to deliver a graphic/visual outcome representing the given theme, based on the following outlines. Only one final graphic design needs to be submitted. The image should be of size [2800px x 3200px] in portrait or landscape digital format (JPEG only). 

The graphic may be entirely hand-drawn and rendered, digitally created, or a combination of both. The usage of photographs, stylized/credited or otherwise, directly is strictly not allowed. 

The use of lassoed graphics lifted from an existing image is limited to half of the total graphic. (The guidelines are indicative, and are placed only to reduce plagiarized artworks – any infringement detected or reported will be notified, and may be removed from competition if found guilty). 

The list of deliverables are: 

• Title
• Subtitle
• Artwork
• A few process images
• A statement in about 100 words supporting the artwork - You can attach this as an additional image below your artwork

OBJECTIVES

• Awareness: Primary aim is to inform and spread information about this issue.
• Expression: The graphic should effectively communicate its intent and idea to the viewer.
• Lucidity: Clarity in composition and intent to communicate the idea better.
• Visual Delivery/Aesthetics: A distinct visual language to help the graphic stand out for better communication.