One World Flag

One World Flag, Matthew Zeinstra, Photoshop, Complete Friday December 6, 2012

Tech.

-The first technical step I used was to find a picture of the earth that was somewhat cartooney yet at the same time still accurate in its physical boundaries.  I used telephone wires around the world at first, until my incredibly bright teacher mentioned that not everywhere has telephones.  I promptly agreed.

-The second step I used was to add the time lines.  I realise that there is really no one thing that can connect every person on the planet except for time and war.  Seeing as the message is to be positive, I chose time lines to give the impression of togetherness.  The sun and moon I added also symbolise time and its relevance to life on the planet.  The sun is the largest timepiece known to man. 

-The last thing I did was to give each side a colour.  Blue symbolises night, when the moon is present, and the sun and it's orange symbolise a new rise of the sun, bringing the world a new day.

Idea/Concept.

-The underlying concept of this flag is time.  The Earth, no matter the events or disasters that occur on it, always progresses at the same speed.  It's progression cannot be stopped, in the same manner that time always continues.  An unrelenting force, it continues on to the end of days.

-The circles of the opposite colours on opposite sides of the Earth symbolise the mixing of the world's races and ethnic groups to create a world of unity and peace.  This shows that, though many different people come from many different places, we are all people and deserve to be treated as such.

Influences.

-The influences that helped me with project include other flags that have already come into existence, and a vision I had on the bus.

Composition.

-I balanced the composition symmetrically by putting a line diagonally through the centre, and made each side the same size and shape.  The only real difference is that of colour.  Even the sun and moon are symmetrical, and the dots representing people of other races are balanced.

-The eye moves around the Earth in this picture by means of those dots.  They encourage the eye to move around the flag in a circular motion.  They are also complimentary colours, which makes it all the more appealing.

Motivation.

-My motivation for this assignment was to create a flag that, though realistic in nature, it is idealistic in it's symbolism.  I thoroughly enjoy making things seem irrelevant but, upon reading my reflection, do make complete sense. 

-The idea I really wanted to explore in this assignment were really a way to make the world seem not quite as bad as it really is.

Critical Assessment.

-The elements that I feel are the most successful in the piece are the time lines and colour balance.  They work well for the image I created, and also go well with the theme I tried to utilise.

-The part of this that surprised me the most is the difficulty of the Earth and how to place it.  I considered spinning the Earth so that the Global South wasn't the South, but the North, showing the equality and fairness.  I tried this, but the Earth did not look good upside down.

-The only thing I would really improve in the flag I created is the graphic of the Earth (I would probably find a clearer, more colour-blocking image), and perhaps I would improve the symmetry (the spots representing different races are not symmetrical to a complete extent).