Letterpress Triptych Project: Sketches

Our final project for GD1 came quickly. For this assignment, we were asked to create a triptych that utilized the letterpress, which were essentially the requirements. With only three days to complete the project, we were required to think of a concept in a short amount of time. Due to the broad nature and short deadline of this assignment, I became extremely stressed and confused about what to do. As a designer, I love adhering to guidelines and have trouble when I am given full creative capacity. Seeing my frustration, Ange suggested I create guidelines for myself and build a concept off of my own limitations. So, I decided that in my triptych I would only be able to use one color for the letterpress, my images had to be my own illustrations, and the size of each piece would be roughly 9 x 8. Like many other projects, I began to find inspiration for my concept on the internet. I googled "things in threes", which sparked many ideas. I was particularly intrigued by the idea of "the good, the bad, and the ugly". I thought it would be fun to choose a subject and then illustrate what I perceived as good, bad, and ugly of the subject. College was one idea that readily came to mind seeing that the semester is ending and exams, papers, and projects are a few things I definitely dislike about school. Without much time to mull over a solid concept, I chose to run with this idea. I started to think of images that would relate to each word. I instantly thought party cups could symbolize "the good" since everyone loves the party aspect of college. Books could represent classes and studying, or "the bad". Finally, I thought a diploma could illustrate "the ugly" because who actually wants to graduate and go into the real world?! When I chose all the images I wanted to use for each word, I tried to figure out how I would incorporate the text and image together. I immediately thought that using images to represent letters would be a great way to integrate the two and add some playfulness and interest. I plan on having the triptych series to evoke a somewhat vintage feel by using my own pencil line drawings as well as creme, textured paper, and a dull, red ink for the  letters.