Portsmouth Uni - Illustration: 'Letter/Form Identity' (2010)

First project given at uni, the aim was to identify and explore different aspects of our identity through the use of image and letter form. Typography was a key part of my research and I explored different methods of combining text and image.

From my research I quickly moved onto looking at my own identity and seeing how people would describe my. I then created images reflecting the words they used.#

'Im so animated'

'Im so animated' #2

I starting looking into identity as a word and what its meaning and came across the idea of split personality which straight away grabbed my attention. The story of Dr jekyll and Mr Hyde immediately came to mind.

From here I moved onto researching and illustrating split personalities as well as conflicting personalities withing myself.

'Who I am hates who I've been'

'Who I was and who I am, merge'

'Sorrowful'

'Joyful'

After looking deeper into split personalities, I started to consider two aspects of my personality that contradict each other or conflict. I finally settled on 'imaginative' and 'inarticulate'. Im always imagining and daydreaming and theres a lot going on in my head but I can find it very hard to express my thoughts to others or even in my art. I think these are two of the most prominant aspects of my identity and very fitting for my project. For the next few images I looked at Tim Burton for inspiration.

The bubble around the head reflects my inability to release my imagination

Its small but the branches of the tree spell out 'Inarticulate'. I thought it interesting to combine that word with something as creative and iconic as a tree.

Again this shows how i find it hard to express my imagination or to put my thoughts on paper.

Final Outcome.

I really liked my illustration of the tree and so decided to use it for my final outcome. For me, nature represents creativity perfectly. Im very influenced by what I see in the everyday world and the environment around me, the shapes and forms of trees and plants can be so creativily influential. Having the word 'Inarticulate' mixed in with this idea perfectly reflects my identity and the aim of my project.