Assignment 2 - Less Is More

Task: Present a visual statement by creating ONE pictogram that comprises TWO celebrities or politicians (worldwide, living or dead).

I chose wrestling celebrities for this assignment. Jeff and Matt Hardy are real-life brothers. Together, they had won many Tag Team Championship matches. My initial concept behind the pictogram is to show the close relationship between brothers.

Source of image: http://img48.imageshack.us/i/thehardyboyz1.jpg/

The comment that I got for the initial draft is the concept lacks originality as there has not been much changes from the initial photo. I have only applied the reduction process throughout the abstraction process.

I then change the concept of my pictogram. The concept behind my second draft is to show how brothers do fight with each other. I still use Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy for this assignment. The explanations can be found below.

1. After getting photos which are iconic of these two celebrities, I juxtapose the photo to make it look as if both are fighting with each other. While Matt Hardy is doing a pose, his brother is performing 'Swanton Bomb' on him, an athletic manoeuvre meant to inflict bodily harm.  
   Source for Jeff Hardy: http://images2.layoutsparks.com/1/207960/jeff-swanton-bomob-hardy.jpg
   Source for Matt Hardy: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Matthardyx8.jpg
2. I re-create the juxtaposed images using Adobe Illustrator, adding in all possible details. I add additional items like the necklace and hand sleeves (inner layer) for Jeff Hardy to make it look more realistic as these items are synonym to him.
3. I reduce the details of the sleeves, pants and shoes for both celebrities. I then change the logo found on Matt Hardy's shirt to something that has better association to Hardy Boyz. I use the Hardy Boyz logo and simplify it for easy recognition.
4. I crop out the legs as it does not give any details of Hardy Boyz. I also remove the facial features as it is not as unique compared to their arm sleeves. I add in the Hardy Boyz logo on Jeff Hardy's shirt to compensate the loss of details from his face. This is to ensure that he is still recognisable even without the details of the face.
5. I remove the legs totally as it does not give any information about Hardy Boyz. I simplify the image by using only two colours and re-work on Jeff Hardy's hair.
6. I further reduce the image by not putting in the celebrities hand and face. The hand sleeves remain to allow people to picture the action that both celebrities are doing. Another reason to keep the hand sleeves is because it is typical of Hardy Boyz.

The comment that I got for the second draft is that the positioning of the celebrities seems awkward. Jeff Hardy looks as if he is falling from the sky, while Matt Hardy looks as if he is aware that he is going to be hit, but not protecting himself. The other thing that should be improved is the size of Jeff Hardy, which makes him look as if he is in front of Matt Hardy, as he looks bigger in this series.

I then made slight changes according to the comments received. For this abstraction process, I have change the body position of both celebrities to make it look more realistic. I have make Jeff Hardy smaller to make it look as if he is attacking Matt Hardy from the back.

 I have chosen number 4 to be my final pictogram. In 4, I have removed enough details yet people can still recognised the two brothers.

The concept behind this pictogram, as mentioned above, is to show how brothers do fight with each other. This is portrayed by showing Jeff Hardy attacking his team mate, Matt Hardy from behind, while Matt is doing a pose of victory.