Two Cities

Fig: 1 -  The setting of the novel involves two cities spread over different parts of the world battling revolution and human rights.. (Credits: Gutenberg)

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 -  Unrest on the streets of cities made for a dynamic background for the novel. (Credits: Gutenberg)

THEME OF THE COMPETITION

‘A tale of two cities', a novel by Charles Dickens, is set in London and Paris against the backdrop of the French Revolution. The story deals with themes of resurrection, darkness and light (evil and good) and social justice, while multiple storylines take place simultaneously, in two distinct geographic settings. The contrast between the two cities is stark, Paris is on the edge of chaos and violence, while London is stable yet segregated. 

Dickens draws from his personal visits to both these cities.  While the cities may seem distinct, they are intricately woven into the storyline to give depth and tangibility to the book. When both the cities are blended at the end, the vision of a perfect city emerges. 

The challenge is to design a poster or artwork that would depict the physical settings of the novel ‘A tale of two cities’. 

The essence of the story can be extracted to create these depictions. The illustration must represent the cities as they are interpreted by Dickens, in that era. 

Fig: 3 -  The story is set to be relevant to social and political commentaries. (Credits: Gutenberg)

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