I would like to start off and say all of them were absolutely AWESOME. The one that stuck out to me the most though was “Palentinesday” http://inspire.ds106.us/palentinesday/

The Artists: Annie Belle Trsulow and Rachel McQuirk

There image found below on FLICKR:

Being a female and have had many “single awareness days” aka “Valentines Day” this is hilarious and relatable. It contains almost all of the elements of designs. Something that a newbie (beginner) like me would have a lot of trouble with. Starting off with COLOR, the artists use three colors, black, white, and red. Black and White are perfect colors for a base. Red on the other hand is bold and stands out especially among whites and blacks. This quickly grabs attention (mine at least) and holds it.

TYPOGRAPHY,  the next element, grabbed my attention immediately because of “Fuck”, lets not lie to ourselves anytime anyone hears or sees that word, attention is grabbed. The font is not very professional giving it a humorous feel. The main message is placed right in the middle, for attention purposes which is very effective. Then to add on to it at the bottom right hand corner “happy valentines day” is small and not capitalized to show how this holiday has not much respect from the two artists.

METAPHORS/SYMBOLS

A Wedding ring, the perfect symbol for a Valentines Day hate image. It shows these artists are ironic and have a nice dry sense of humor. Instead of the typical “broken heart” or a fat girl eating ice cream, a wedding ring is supposed to symbolize commitment and love, something these two artists are not rooting for (maybe just temporarily).

MINIMALISM 

This Valentine hate image, could not have been simpler. The use of (or lack of) colors helps add to the minimalistic value. A simple image is used with two short phrases. Its quick and to the point. There is no fluff involved which makes the audience of the image focus on the message of what the artists are trying to get across.

DOMINANCE 

Though the red font is bold and is the first thing I looked at, the Wedding Ring is the dominated feature of the design. It makes up the background and towers over the font(S). However it balances really well with the “Fuck that shit”, they are good compliments to each other which can be hard to achieve when trying to balance a font/message and a graphic image.

FORM/FUNCTION/MESSAGE 

What I took from this image as a message, is don’t take these types of Holidays (well  I guess this the only one) too seriously. Have fun with life and don’t tie yourself down to someone just because its what your friends and family is doing. Now maybe I’m knit picking this image too much but then again art is free to interpretation. It depicts the message that love isn’t totally lost  just because there isn’t a red circle with a line going through it placed any where.