Banksy - Political Street Art

'Banksy' is an English graffiti artist I discovered who creates murals and other street art which are often infused with political messages. Banksy uses stencils and spray paint to create satirical pieces of art on topics such as politics, culture, and ethics.

This artist relates to the graphic design 'Rebel' assignment as he uses art and design to convey political and cultural views, which is what is required for the 'Rebel assignemnt.

I like Banksy's clean, graphic style, and the way he combines his political views with art.

Guerilla Knitting

Today in Graphic Design we watched a video on guerilla knitting, or graffiti knitting, a concept I have heard of before and find really interesting. I like the idea of using the traditional craft of knitting in new and innovative ways to add beauty to the natural environment. I have done some further research on the idea of guerilla knitting and have found some interesting examples of this artform.

I think this crochet 'tree cozy' is really amazing. Apparently it took 500 hours to complete, and remained standing for three years. I think it would take a lot of patience and dedication to spend that long on a project to benefit the community and add beauty to the urban environment.

This abandoned gas station has been completely covered with knitted and crocheted graffiti which I think is completely incredible. I like the idea of using public property (an ugly abandoned building) as a base for an amazingly detailed and layered artwork. I love the varying colours, shapes, sizes and textures.

This is a 'before' picture of the gas station project.

During my research I came across a community called 'Knitta Please', a "tag crew of knitters, bombing the inner city with vibrant, stitched works of art, wrapped around everything from beer bottles on easy nights to public monuments and utility poles on more ambitious outings." I think the concept of guerilla knitting is really interesting, and the idea of using knitting as graffiti really appeals to me.

Visual Poetry

I created this image as an in-class exercise in Graphic Design. The idea was to create an image using words and letters, varying the use of fonts and sizes, to gain an understanding of typography. My concept was to use typography to create an image of a dandelion, using a variety of fonts in different sizes and hopefully create a sense of movement in the illustration. I am satisfied with the final result, but I would have liked more time to add extra detail.

I found the exercise quite enjoyable, and it helped me to gain a greater understanding of the use of typography.