Beall.

During the month of April, the southern United States has been hit with some of the worst tornado outbreaks in recent years.  These tornados have completely devastated areas in states like Alabama and cost hundreds of people their lives.  In lieu of these circumstances, we were given the opportunity to create posters in the style of Lester Beall and his Rural Electrification Administration posters to help raise awareness about helping those affected by the storms.

I used the following posters as inspiration. 

Beall’s posters were very simple in design.  Common characteristics of his work include, angled objects, horizontal lines, arrows, black and white images, color blocks, simple shapes, and red, white, and blue, to convey his message.  The red, white, and blue, helped to show that the issues he was promoting affected all Americans.

In my image, I used red, white, and blue, but with a twist.  I chose crimson red to represent Alabama and from there decided to darken the blue so it would compliment the crimson better.  One of the largest tornados touched down in Tuscaloosa, right outside of the University of Alabama, which is why I felt the color change was appropriate.  I used the crimson as a color block, like the ones Beall’s images often contained. 

The element that stood out to me the most from Beall’s posters was the arrows.  I knew I wanted to include them so I decided to create a spiral shape to represent the tornado.  I placed it at an angle on the paper to add movement to my image. 

I found an image of people sorting through a devastated building in Alabama to represent the need to rebuild.  After disasters, people tend to pull together to accomplish a common goal so this image represents people working together to overcome this tragedy.  I altered the picture so that the colors are the American flag would come through.  I wanted to incorporate that spirit of patriotism and togetherness within the U.S.  I wanted people to feel like by helping the tornado victims in Alabama, they are helping the country as a whole.  I feathered the edges of the color on the flag to allow the flag to still be connected to the black and white image behind it.  I just wanted to mention that in case someone thought I just didn’t want to finish masking the image. 

I also tried to find a font similar to the type found on Beall’s prints from the 1930s, to bring in more elements of the inspiration. 

Here is the finished product.

Let me know what you think.

I also posted this image on a couple sites to help promote disaster relief efforts in Alabama.  Here are the sites: 

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2mq3wis&s=7

http://www.flickr.com/photos/62705729@N02/5707398475/

http://shalant.deviantart.com/art/Tornado-Poster-208338430

"Joy of Design" Facebook Forum:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_124675937593174

Then, I posted it on my personal facebook and twitter as well.