Planar Portrait

In this project students will explore a form of artistic expression that has many commercial applications. The idea of creating an illustrated likeness of an individual or object can be seen everywhere in our day to day lives, but most notably the KFC logo is among the most recognizable examples of how planar portraits can be a powerful tool for marketing.

Illustration – Realism

Rationale:	Understanding tonality is a critical aspect of design and requires a well trained eye. In this project you will develop your drawing skills as well as exploring the differences in creating artwork in various programs such as Photoshop which uses a bitmapped images format and Illustrator which uses vectors. What is the difference, and why would you use one or the other?
Objectives:	In this project you will develop a realistic planar portrait from a photograph. Decide what tones will be reduced to black and which tones will be represented as white. Unlike a computer a designer can choose different cut off points for different elements within the photograph such as skin, hair, and fabrics, depending on the designers professional judgment.
Process:	Select a photograph(must have high contrast). Sketch the tones as either black or white(use tracing paper). Make refinements to your sketches based off of feed back.
Procedure:	Develop an original Planar Portrait by hand. Digitize your portrait and clean it up in Photoshop. Recreate your portrait in Illustrator. Save your files in the program default as well as a PDF to print.