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Meaning of My Piece
At first, I was going to use the unity in diversity symbol of the West Africans, a symbol Milwaukee may strive to be. It may have the diversity with all the different ethnicities, races, backgrounds, culture, and point of views, however, it does not have unity. Not everyone gets along and that is a bit dismal. Even though there are so many different people, they rarely interact and share their lives with one another. There is no peace and love, it is full of an unwelcoming feelings to those who do not belong in the community. Even though in reality, everyone is human and can get along just fine, merely feelings block actions. Although my sketch says otherwise, I was going to use olive green color as the background for peace and it is also the nature color of Milwaukee. Also, for the symbol, I was going to recreate my own based off of the original symbol, but I never got to it before I changed my overall design because I wanted to create something simpler and related to Milwaukee's appearance and what it contains.
However, I decided to recreate my ideas and this time, I used the U.S. flag as my inspiration for its simplicity and it's relevant history. My flag contains 18 stars that represent the 18 districts of Milwaukee and the two blue lines going horizontally to the right of the stars represent the two great lakes of Milwaukee; Michigan Lake and River Walk aka Milwaukee River. My flag shows the beauty of Milwaukee's nature and the conserving of it's health. The colors of my flag represent Milwaukee in which: Blue representing the color of water and the two bodies of water, the two lines go horizontally because it displays the path in which the water travels, which looks like water in all the negative green space surrounding it on both sides. As for the green color, it represents the nature of Milwaukee, which is full of greenery and is distinct for it's wildlife. Lastly, the creme color of the stars represent the theme Milwaukee is known as, creme city, because of it's vast creme colored buildings. Having the green ad the background color shows that the districts lay on top of Milwaukee's nature and likewise the two bodies of water. As for the way I structured the flag, it is the way the U.S. flag is structured, also, to show that districts lay on top of nature and water. Stars represent number of cities in the Milwaukee Union.
However, I decided to recreate my ideas and this time, I used the U.S. flag as my inspiration for its simplicity and it's relevant history. My flag contains 18 stars that represent the 18 districts of Milwaukee and the two blue lines going horizontally to the right of the stars represent the two great lakes of Milwaukee; Michigan Lake and River Walk aka Milwaukee River. My flag shows the beauty of Milwaukee's nature and the conserving of it's health. The colors of my flag represent Milwaukee in which: Blue representing the color of water and the two bodies of water, the two lines go horizontally because it displays the path in which the water travels, which looks like water in all the negative green space surrounding it on both sides. As for the green color, it represents the nature of Milwaukee, which is full of greenery and is distinct for it's wildlife. Lastly, the creme color of the stars represent the theme Milwaukee is known as, creme city, because of it's vast creme colored buildings. Having the green ad the background color shows that the districts lay on top of Milwaukee's nature and likewise the two bodies of water. As for the way I structured the flag, it is the way the U.S. flag is structured, also, to show that districts lay on top of nature and water. Stars represent number of cities in the Milwaukee Union.
Artistic Inspiration
Process
Reasearching
1) Look through the history of the place the flag is being created for, in my case Milwaukee. (I've written down some of the history of Milwaukee and what it's most famous for).
Helpful History Websites
-Milwaukee History
http://www.milwaukeehistory.net/education/milwaukee-timeline/
-History & Meaning of Symbol
http://www.adinkra.org/htmls/adinkra/funt.htm
-Native American Symbols
http://www.warpaths2peacepipes.com/native-american-symbols/
-History of U.S. Flag
http://www.usflag.org/
-Milwaukee's Bodies of water
http://www.milwaukee.worldweb.com/SightsAttractions/BodiesofWater/
-The creme city meaning
http://www.terrypepper.com/lights/closeups/cream_city_brick/cream_city_brick.htm
http://www.milwaukeehistory.net/education/milwaukee-timeline/
-History & Meaning of Symbol
http://www.adinkra.org/htmls/adinkra/funt.htm
-Native American Symbols
http://www.warpaths2peacepipes.com/native-american-symbols/
-History of U.S. Flag
http://www.usflag.org/
-Milwaukee's Bodies of water
http://www.milwaukee.worldweb.com/SightsAttractions/BodiesofWater/
-The creme city meaning
http://www.terrypepper.com/lights/closeups/cream_city_brick/cream_city_brick.htm
Brainstorm
2) Create designs based on city's/country's history. (Do not create a sketch with no meaning for the design, rather, create something that has history and is meaningful in order to have a significance as the representing flag of the city/country).
Materials
3) Unless you are using printing paper, you will not need any materials. I created my flag through paint. Some of the websites used to look through the history of Milwaukee.
Designing
4) Come up with several designs for you theme and experiment with paint and choose the most appealing.
Experimentation of Designs With Paint
Reflection
When the project was assigned, at first I thought it was such an easy project and that I could finish it in under a week, I was very wrong. I had to create several designs that were meaningful and had actual reason, not to create something just because it looked good. I researched and created many sketches in order to have more than a few options. At first I decided to create a flag in which it's theme was about diversity, even the comment I received from the MIAD representative were positive towards it by saying that Milwaukee can have a reason to strive towards unity in our diverse environment, I really liked the idea, but I found a stronger (in my opinion) idea. I based it off the United States flag because I thought that getting inspired by the flag is a strong reason to change my whole theme and idea up. However, it was not fully my idea, thanks to my mother suggesting some themes and inspiring me, I was able to combine them and come up with a final Idea that related to Americas flag.
Although I've created my final flag, I regret not filling the green negative space behind the stars as a blue color, because that way, it would show more uniqueness and a little bit more of beauty.
My experiences using paint was difficult and very painful at first because I was not able to create and design the lines and get the correct dimensions, it pained me and I got angry at every little thing. But afterwards, I looked back on it and I thought everything was worth it because I made a design I am happy with, sort of. Also, having a professor look at our art made me a bit nervous because what if it was not good enough, eventually I realized that it's not about how good it is, rather, it's about the meaning and the effort you've put into it.
Although I've created my final flag, I regret not filling the green negative space behind the stars as a blue color, because that way, it would show more uniqueness and a little bit more of beauty.
My experiences using paint was difficult and very painful at first because I was not able to create and design the lines and get the correct dimensions, it pained me and I got angry at every little thing. But afterwards, I looked back on it and I thought everything was worth it because I made a design I am happy with, sort of. Also, having a professor look at our art made me a bit nervous because what if it was not good enough, eventually I realized that it's not about how good it is, rather, it's about the meaning and the effort you've put into it.