Dylan Scott Meschner

Digital Portofolio
Work from January to June - (2. Semester GRA2)
 MA 05
Photoshoot Awareness Campaign
MA 05 - Photoshoot, Awareness
Campaign
Dylan Scott Meschner

Brief

A21 is an international organisation working to eliminate human trafficking and abolish

injustice in the 21st Century. A21 wants to do a campaign regarding more attention
towards public awareness targeted towards Norwegians. The purpose of this campaign is
to get people to change their attitudes towards this subject as well as to create
awareness around the issue.

Process Description

I started thinking about what kind of awareness campaign would target the Norwegians
the best. What Þrst popped into my mind was forced labour, which I think is one of the
most realistic scenarios regarding slavery activity in Norway. So, next step I did was
making a moodboard that both showcase other posters about slavery and model poses
which I thought would Þt the theme (All mentioned pictures and material can as always be
found in the very back of the report).

I began sketching ideas booth layout-wise and what I wanted to communicate and how. I
early had the idea of: ÇDonÕt just see, but actÈ, but didnÕt fully know how to communicate
this message easily on a poster. One of my Þrst sketches includes a person encountering
forced labour while going on a walk with his dog. Someone forcing others to work can be
seen in the background, as our protagonist pulls out his phone to record the evidence.
The title of the poster was ÇSee & ActÈ. All tough I liked this idea, it was to complicated to
pull off. Several people wouldÕve have to been involved to visualise this, which is just not
possible for me personally to pull of in a week.

So, I went back to the drawing board and came up with another idea. It was still about
telling a story, but in a different way. This time, our protagonist stays humbly in front of the
camera with his story to the right side, telling about that he suspected forced labour in his
neighbourhood and acting upon it, resulting in the freedom of 5 individuals. The poster
furthermore encourages the reader to do the same: Not only to see, but also to act.

Since the story takes place in a neighbourhood, I needed to scout areas with both good
lighting and a neighbourhood feel. Why lighting? Since my model didn’t have time until
after 4pm because of work, natural light would already have disappeared due to the lack
of sun light in the winter. I found two places that both feature the Çneighbourhood feelingÈ
and have light posts that have white light, not orange, since this would make the editing
much easier.

On my PC, I meanwhile started working with the layout of the poster. First of I started
sketching the pose I wanted the model to have, so I can work with the text, before taking
the pictures. I also made an experiment on a photograph to see if I could realise the visual
idea I had in my head, working with gradings, levels, curves, and much more. To my
surprise, it worked nicely and Þt quite good. I worked a long time setting up the layout
and working out details, the process can be seen in the appendix.

Finally I got to take the pictures, which turned out quite Þne. I worked it down to three
pictures but ended up going with the one that is in the Þnal product. Since I already had
tested out how to work the image, I knew exactly what to do and only had to take some
slight changes to adapt to the lighting from the image, since it was darker. I made some
Þnal changes to make the individual stick out more, and that is when it was the project
came to an end.

Design Options

The poster uses the design scheme which is presented on the customers website. This
includes fonts, colours and other design elements, to create a continuity between the
poster and the messenger, which is in this case A21.

The photo was taken at approximately 5pm under a light-post to get as good lighting as
possible on the subject, considering it was not possible to take the pictures under
sunlight. The settings for the photograph were as follow: ISO 6400, 28 mm, f/4.2,
1/20sec. The main reason why the speciÞc photo was chosen was because it was the
photograph that makes most use of the rembrandt lighting, which makes the picture in
general look more nicer.

The subject has a quiet humble approach, which Þts nicely with the theme. He seems not
arrogant, but rather humble, hopeful, helpful but also a hint of wary towards the future
and if the one reading will actually follow the instructions.

The text on the poster tells the story of the subject on the photo, making it more personal
and directly encourages the reader to follow his example. The Þrst line says: ÇSi ifra!È
which roughly translates to ÇSay It!È or ÇActÈ. This is more underlined with the
megaphone that is worked in between the typography to show that: Çyour voice will be
heard and what you have to say is importantÈ. Thereafter, the smaller text tells the story of
Daniel, a teenager who suspected forced labour in his neighbourhood and acted upon it,
resulting in helping Þve individuals. The last line of the text says: ÇDo you see
something?È What your supposed to do if you do is immediately answered on then next
line, where it says: ÇDonÕt just see, but act upon it!È.

Thereafter, a brush stroke is used as previously mentioned to create continuity between

the poster and the messenger, since A21 uses it a lot on their website. They also go hand
in hand with a hand typeface, which is the main reason of the font choice. The text says:
Ç#SIIFRAÈ, which, again, translates to Ç#SAYITÈ or Ç#ACTÈ. The reason a hashtag is used
is to create a social media presence of the campaign, making it reach even people that
necessarily have not seen the poster. The last text is contact information and A21Õs logo
to underline who the sender of this campaign is, including where and how to reach them.

The layout takes good advantage of hierarchy and has much air, making it having a lot of
information, but not feeling cramped for a single second. The subject stands out nicely,
not just because of the white red gradient, but also because the background has been
slightly blurred and given texture. All in all, the poster presents an interesting theme and
offers itÕs solution in both a smart and visually pleasing way.

Self-evaluation

I was surprised to see that this was a one week project, which in my opinion, it shouldn’t
have been, but thats not up to me. On the other hand, I’m surprised over myself of how
much I still managed to do, even though it didn’t quite help with stress. All and all I’m
surprised of the high quality of this project and I’m honestly proud of myself. I always
blame myself after delivering a project and start passing around ideas like «If I would’ve
done this it would’ve been so much better.», and maybe that is true, but in the end,
hunting for perfectionism is a hopeless hunt, we can just try to do as best as we can, and
I feel like I succeeded on that term, regardless of what others might say.

Source references and references

-
Moodboard

Sketches
Process
Finished
 Mockup

Original Picture with optional

Modelcontract
Color Experimet
MA 06
Diamond Awards
MA 06 - Diamond Awards
Dylan Scott Meschner

Brief

Diamond Awards is an annual award show held by Noroff. During the award show,
students are honoured with category nominations and prizes based on the work they
have produced during their studies. Diamond Awards needs an animated opening title
sequence.

Process Description

This project started off with an intense period of learning the basics of After Effects.
Unlike programs like Illustrator, Indesign & Photoshop, After Effects shares almost no
similarities like these programs do with each other, making me start from scratch. My
journey started with watching a 4 hour Lynda tutorial. Although it was a neat introduction
to the program, most of my knowledge came from simply playing around with the
program, experimenting with features and effects, and thinking of ways to make the title
sequence.

Instead of getting worried over how limited my knowledge is of After Effects, I decided to
create a storyboard regardless of my limitations. After watching Þnished projects of
previous students and other various title sequences, I wanted to create something that:
ÇßowsÈ. To capture this feeling I found out that I need to have transitions that not
necessarily make sense, but furthermore that the animation never has any hard
transitions. But the most important job was to make all of this exciting.

So I started with writing down all categories and drawing the storyboard. After some days
of rewriting and writers block I ended up with the storyboard below.

Now the real work would start. I had no idea how I would achieve my goal. So instead of
being overwhelmed by entirety of the project, I would encounter this project step by step,
one step being one storyboard at a time. To help with this, I made a time schedule, of
when I should be Þnished with what.

So it all started, I could go into detail of how everything was, but most was really simple,
but here are some of the challenges. Pac-man needed to be animated individually and the
to be pasted into the project. The explosion transition between 3D Games & VFX was also
quite difficult as it had to be individual be alpha layered in another composition. Animating
the Clap Board was also difficult as it not only required to be in line with the rest of the
body, but also working while moving. Everything shown on the PC was also quite the
challenge, but the hardest one being the 3d cube that rotates. It’s the only object that
required 3d rendering in the project. Also Þguring colour shades that had enough
difference but looked similar was surprisingly harder than I thought it would be. The irony
of this paragraph is that this small text was a months hard work, although the project
ended up only lasting 30 seconds.

The last part was Þnding music, that not only Þt the project, but also was royalty free. This
was of course, easier said than done. Not only should it Þt nicely with the vibe of the
project, but also not take too much attention away from the animation. After long
searching I found a song that is royalty free which Þt those categories nicely.

Finally things started coming together and I worked a little bit more on timing, making
sure everything is readable, but still ÇßowsÈ. After a month of hard work, the project came
to an end.

Design Options

The animation starts of with dots appearing on the screen, then showcasing the category
ÇGraphic DesignÈ. This is not only so the transition can run smoothly, but is also an
hommage to the Swiss Style Era. The dots become smaller and get eaten by the well
known game character Pac-Man, revealing the category Ç3D GamesÈ in 3D text. This is a
hint at the evolution of video-games, starting off as simple 2D animations but today being
these advanced 3D renders of something that almost looks real or in some cases does.
The text Ç3D GamesÈ blows up, revealing the ÇVFX - Visual EffectsÈ category through the
smoke, explosions being maybe one of the most used visual effects today. Suddenly, a
graph is bursting out of the letter «x» of «VFX - Visual Effects» (a easter egg hinting
towards an x axis) and a table jumps down with the graph playfully ßoating on it, with the
text appearing «Digital Marketing». This of course showcases an imitation of a graph from
the stock market. Thereafter, a red dot appears on the line expanding quickly and taking
up the entire screen size. This is not only to, again, make a smart transition, but also to
pinpoint a new high of the stock.

Now with the screen being occupied by red, a new object is revealed through zooming
out: A clapperboard. With the reference here being towards Þlm production, it ÇclapsÈ,
symbolising action is starting. And it is, the clapperboard moves revealing the category
ÇFilm ProductionÈ. Next up, a white rectangle appears on the clapperboard, transitioning
to the next category ÇSound and Music ProductionÈ, the implication here being that
maybe a music video is being Þlmed. It zooms in to this very part showing a guitar playing
on the side with some notes jumping out. The composition zooms out again, revealing the
object being on a computer screen. This furthermore builds on the idea of a music video
being shown on a computer screen, or just simply the music being listened to on a
computer as streaming is more popular now than ever.

A computer mouse appears on the screen. As it clicks, a line appears and moves
upwards, making ÇSound and Music ProductionÈ disappear and making space for the
next category, ÇFrontend DevelopmentÈ. Frontend development is practiced over
converting data to graphical interface for a user to view and interact with data through
digital interaction, therefore it being on a computer. The mouse clicks again, making a
rotating cube appear on the right side, moving over to take away ÇFrontend
DevelopmentÈ and showcasing the category: Ç3D Design and AnimationÈ. The cube is of
course a symbol for the given category. A blueprint moves over featuring technical
drawings of a house, Þtting perfectly with the next and Þnal category, ÇTechnical Design
DAK 2D/3DÈ. The blueprint moves along, revealing the Noroff logo. A neat animation
plays to make space for the Diamond Awards logo. The composition ends with a nice
animation.

The colours are inspired from the noroff logo, adding black to give more colour. In the
end, the title sequence is meant to compliment and honour the categories, which it
perfectly does.

Self-evaluation

This was a huge challenge, since IÕve never worked in After Effects. But planning it the
way I did, with taking it step by step & having a time schedule, this project turned out
amazing. I never really talked about this on here, but I had some health issues that
impacted my output. I am now receiving medication and treatment and feel a lot better,
and I really think one can see it in this project, making it also a big personal achievement.
I worked hard on this, and considering my previous knowledge of animation, there is no
way I couldnÕt be more satisÞed.

Source references and references

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Front-end_web_development

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZkVShypKgM

Animation & Artwork created by Dylan Scott Meschner


Thanks for all the great feedback from teachers & friends
The entire animation is available here:

https://youtu.be/RXoVjLXZetk
 MA 04
Design History Website
MA 04 - Design History Website
Dylan Scott Meschner

Brief

To get a better understanding of graphic design history, we were tasked with creating an
interactive website showcasing Þve graphic design movements: International Typographic
Style (Swiss Style), Pop Art, Psychedelic, New Age & Street Art.

Process Description

This project started of rather bad, since I was unable to work for two weeks, due to
illness. Nevertheless is started sketching some ideas. Pretty early I had an idea of
creating a gallery showcasing all of the works. One poster I Þnished was for the Swiss
Style.

Although this idea wasnÕt necessarily bad, I scrapped it because I got a better one: an
interactive timeline. I started sketching the idea and how it should be executed.

The idea was to somehow create an interactive website in a short time, since I’ve already
missed two weeks. Previously I had a revamp job where the client wanted me to use Wix.
To my suprise, Wix was actually really useful when talking about advanced customisation,
and since I had no time to script it myself, that was exactly what I needed.

I made several version, but non worked out how I wanted to. I ended up creating
everything manually, everything from animation to placing items. So I kinda ended up
adding some script anyway. I also made a smart little logo for the website. The process, is
not really that interesting, I wrote the articles and placed them on the website. All in all it
toke me about 1 week with planning and sketching and 3 weeks with scripting and
creating everything. It was somewhat stressful, but ended up Þnishing before the deadline
thankfully.

Design Options

The website starts straight with a smart call to action: «EXPLORE THE HISTORY OF
GRAPHIC DESIGN THROUGH OUR TIMELINE». This does not only serve the purpose of
explaining what to do on this website, but also what this website is about.

Under it, the timeline itself, with all of them linked to their own well written article. The
website is both for students who know of movements, and people who know little to
nothing about the theme. It is pretty straight forward, functional and well easy to use.

The logo showcases a timeline and is a smart easter egg on the website itself. It also
plays nice fully with its typography.

The website is clean and simple. It does not have too many and too little features, it is
well balanced as intended. A lot of additional functions from previous versions have been
removed for it to be less overwhelming. The articles are well written and don’t use
language that is too hard to understand for people who don’t work with graphic design.

 Self-evaluation

This was a great challenge for outside factors. Those two weeks went really hard on me,
and Im surprised the product worked out that well. So I’m happy as far as I can be. If I
could’ve I’ve would’ve scripted it entirely, but scripting it on Wix took some weight of my
shoulders.

Neverthanless, here is the website:

https://dylanmeschner.wixsite.com/graphic-timeline

Source references and references

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Age

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_art

https://www.britannica.com/art/Pop-art

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Typographic_Style

http://www.historygraphicdesign.com/the-age-of-information/the-international-
typographic-style

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychedelic_art

http://www.arthistory.net/psychedelic-art/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_art

https://www.widewalls.ch/the-history-of-street-art/

All images are provided by Wikimedia Commons and is used under the Fair Use Law

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use

NOTE!

I tried to make changes to the website regarding the feedback I recieved, but was unable due
to the Wix Website Editor. I contacted them regarding this, but they were unable to give a
solution to this, what is frustrating since I really wanted to make changes to this project. Unfor-
tunatly this was not possible. Alltough this is not a good excuse, I wouldve been forced to make
a one month project in less than a week and recreate everything. I hope this will be taken in
consideration when evaluating this. Thank you.

- Dylan
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