Technical Explanation

Design Process
The design process began with brainstorming of the various ways that I could depict the flight
endurance competition. Upon sketching out some of my ideas that had the most potential, I
was able to narrow my designs down to the one that best fit flight endurance. Since my design
idea was primarily vector based, I decided to turn my idea into a reality using Adobe Illustrator
as my vessel. Following the rule of thirds, I laid out a grid on my 8x10 document so I knew the
best way to handle space as the design process continued. I then proceeded to create vector
art of the various parts of my original sketch by using the pen tool to draw the shapes and using
the convert anchor point tool to modify them. After drawing the shapes, I was able to
maneuver them around the screen until the design was balanced. It is important that the
person, sun, clouds, and trees are balanced around the plane so as to add context to the scene,
but not take away from the focal point of the design. After completing and positioning the
vector art in Illustrator, I decided to bring the entire graphic into Adobe Photoshop in order to
makes some enhancements to the graphic that were not possible in Illustrator. These
enhancements included darkening a few areas and layering a texture over the entire graphic,
which served to unite all the separate elements.
Inspiration
The idea of simplicity plays a large role in this graphic design. I love the stark power of a few
well thought out lines and shapes. My design does not have a lot to it, but each element in my
design is critical to its overall power. Some design elements that contributed to this minimalistic
style were the use of vector art and a small range of colors. Instead of including complicated
and superfluous designs, I chose to keep everything to a minimum so that the message is
striking and clear. Some of the artists in the minimalist art movement who inspired me were,
Donald Judd, John McCracken, and Agnes Martin.
Theme
The competition that I chose to represent in my graphic design was flight endurance. But rather
than depicting how the flight endurance challenge in TSA works, I thought it would be much
more interesting to take a glance into the history of flight itself. By doing this, flight endurance
challenge looks like more than just another TSA competition, but an event that celebrates the
achievement of two brave men, the Write Brothers. The phrase, Carry on the Legacy of the
Write Brothers is a call to action that gets the audience interested in the event, and informs
them of the deep rooted history that this competition is founded on. In fact, this marketing
tactic expands the audience of the competition by getting students with a thirst for knowledge
interested in a technical competition they may not have otherwise been interested in.


Resources and References

"TSA Logo." TSA Web. TSA, n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2014.
<http://www.tsaweb.org/sites/default/files/TSA_Logo_4c%20no%20white%20copy.jpg>.
"Design Principles: Graphic Design Principles Index." Design Principles Index. Duke University, n.d. Web.
18 Feb. 2014.
<https://www.math.duke.edu/education/ccp/resources/write/design/graphicindex.html>.
Bellis, Mary. "The Wright Brothers - First Flight of an Airplane." About.com Inventors. About.com, 20
Dec. 2013. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.
<http://inventors.about.com/od/wstartinventors/a/TheWrightBrother.htm>.
Jakob. "Graphic Design Principles." Graphic Design Principles. Michigan State University, n.d. Web. 18
Feb. 2014. <https://www.msu.edu/~glazered/tc801/graphic.html>.
"Creative Bloq." 30 Eye-catching Examples of Flyer Design. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.
<http://www.creativebloq.com/design/flyer-912663>.
"44 Cool Flyer Designs For Inspiration." You The Designer. You The Designer, 24 June 2011. Web. 18 Feb.
2014. <http://www.youthedesigner.com/2011/06/24/44-cool-flyer-designs-for-inspiration/>.