Wednesday, April 10th, ART 230 "INTRODUCTION TO TYPOGRAPHY"
Brigham Young University's Idaho Campus Curricula.
Assignment:
"WEEKS NINE-FOURTEEN CREATION OF A COMPOSITE TYPOGRAPHIC BOOKLET FOR WIDESPREAD PUBLICATION AS BASED UPON A 2023 GENERAL CONFERENCE TALK."
Instructor's Name: Professor Simone Bradford.
Student's Name: Marla Antonella Gómez Carrillo.
PROJECT BRIEF OVERVIEW AND ANALYSIS
"INTRODUCTORY PORTION":
Good afternoon, Dearest Brethren and collegiate peers, alike. First and foremost I just wanted to take the time to thank each and every single one of you as I am immensely appreciative of the sheer and unwavering dedication that each of you invest into our shared profession and I am truly awe-inspired by your profoundly unique artistic aptitudes as they have consistently inspired me to become a better artist and human being. Throughout the progression of this finalized project, I had experienced numerous challenges and successes that ultimately came to shape the final iteration of this beautiful project, however the more challenges I came to face, the more motivated I became to see to it that this project could yield and come to fruition in a highly satisfactory and personally-affecting fashion in a manner that could deeply resonate with other people after its respective process of completion came to a close and as the semester at large is now coming to a close.
I wanted to additionally express that I am tremendously grateful for our wonderful Professor whose consistent encouragement of my personal, academic and professional capabilities as well as her unwavering belief in my potential not only provided me with the necessary resolve and dedication to culiminate this project in a manner that was far more ideal and effective but it additionally gave me the necessitated mettle and consistency to continue to move forward in spite of the challenges that presented themselves along the way. My personal connection to the source material upon which this project is based is truly immesurable. Firstly, for this fourth project brief, we were comissioned with the incredibly special task of utilizing various typographic and allographic representation and storytelling methodologies to adapt and rerpesent the lessons and sacred principles exalted in the General Conference talk of our choice from either one of the previous year's sessions respectively. In my particular case, I was immediately drawn to a wonderfully introspective and incentivizing talk given by Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of The Quorum Of The Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints which not only served as a distinctively helpful and inspired call to action to redirect the focus that I had been investing in specific aspects of my life, but it additionally allowed me to evaluate the many ways in which I could prioritize my spiritual health and focus in a much more personalized and sincere fashion, maximizing the level of personal dedication and spiritual investment that I could make to further procure and protect my spiritual resevoir and health. The talk that I had selected for the purpose of my own personal enrichment as well as for the objectives of this final semester project brief was that of "The Prodigal and The Road that Leads Home." The talk in question, is primarily centralized upon the story of the titular Prodigal Son who was the principal protagonistic figure of the parable given by the Savior Jesus Christ in the New Testament.
It was a beautiful and ancestral parable that has been trasmitted from generation to generation as a means to teach individuals hailing from various backgrounds and circumstances of life that they were indeed not alone in their struggles with their faith and that they had the magnficent and extraordinary opportunity to access the fundamentally healing and atoning power of The Savior's Grace and healing. As I was working on this particular project, I started to remit myself to all of the moments in which I felt as though I was neither strong spiritually nor mentally and I have come to the realization that the parable of The Prodigal Son is one that provides a timeless and highly accesible message of forgiveness and of the boundless love of God, speaking to the fundamental core of our faith and having been celebrated and interpreted in diverse ways throughout the course of history. One of the most profoundly spiritually and personally healing aspects of the Prodigal Son is its portrayal of God's unconditional love and boundless and merciful belief in the growth and potential of His children.
Throughout the course of my mortal journey on this Earth, my personal experiences have been incredibly difficult, dealing with feelings of self-doubt, personal guilt and navigating the complexities of mental health and it has also led me to feeling like the titular Prodigal Son himself who had initially felt that he was unworthy of receiving the Savior's love. What I didn't come to realize in those particular moments, through the lense of those very same tempestuous times in time in which I felt that I was perhaps failing to live up to a specific standard defined by the expectations thrusted upon me by society and by those who knew me, was that like The Prodigal Son, each of these experiences ended up deepening the uncontainable joy found in the immensity of my appreciation for having reached a greater extent of personal empowerment and enlightenment amid those moments of suffering as well as in those fragments of time in which I didn't feel like I was capable of accomplishing the goals that I had established for myself because I still (very sadly) depended upon the opinions of others, that was until I realized that I couldn't live in the same way anymore. Like many individuals around the Globe, my initial or pre-existing personal problems were further exacerbated throughout the course of the Pandemic as just six months earlier, I came to experience a life-changing event that would forever alter my perspective on life and deepen my appreciation for myself and for what I know that I am capable of contributing to others in similar cirucmstances.
The magnitude of this event radically transformed the way in which I could interact with others and it made me realize that I could reach out and connect with others in a much more valuable and personal way through my artistry and it led me to the promise of rebuiling the foundations of my life as I had once knew it and finding myself again, reconnecting with those things that bring me joy and fufillment and it was fundamentally important for me to make that decision. The decision consisted of two options. I could either recoil in fear and allow myself to be burdened by a responsability that was never mine to begin with (that of living up to the unrealistic expectations of what others wanted for me), or I could begin anew and I could transform that dark chapter of my personal story into something productive and immensely empowering and follow a path of light.
The story of the Prodigal Son chronicles the tale of a young man whose life is radically transformed when he is allotted a great portion of his Father's inheritance. His Father is a keenly empathetic, intelligent, financially and spiritually prosperous yet humble-hearted man who has done everything in his power to provide his two chidlren with the safety and resources that they need to succeed in their lives, working tirelessly to ensure the stability of both his family as well as that of those who assist him in caring for his land. As an employer, the Prodigal Son's Father is tremendously kind and generous, treating everyone with the same care and attentiveness that he would extend to his own children.
The Prodigal Son's older sibling is a dilligent and obedient worker and son who had never contested his Father and continuosly expressed the desire to help his Father succeed in his many pursuits. Overtime, as the announcement of who would be receiving the inheritance of his Father came, the older son started to feel heartbroken and frustrated because of the decision that his Father had made.
He had shown his unwavering support and dedication to his family's estate and his younger brother (The Prodigal Son) greatly struggled to navigate these responsabilities on his own and The Prodigal Son's initial free-spiritedness soon turned into a subconcious rebellion against his principles that would become the foundation of his internal struggle for redemption and his primary ethical dilemma. Although the Prodigal Son was always a good and well-intended person at heart, he unfortunately was led to believe that the material and financial security that he had received because of his position could be the ultimate vehicle to cementing his happiness on this Earth, however this notion could not have been farther from the truth as he unfortunately still sought to fill his spirit with what material possessions he could gain and none of them satisfied him throughout the course of his journey. As The Prodigal Son had set out to explore the world seemingly free from the responsabilities of his position, he then started to make specific decisions that would ultimately prove to be detrimental to his spiritual wellbeing, security and identity.
As he had started to become aswayed by the many promises that his monetary resources could give him, he soon became exceedingly generous towards those who he considered to be his friends, however, as much as he thought that these seemingly kind and appreciative people were his friends, they were only siphoning his energies and depriving him of the opportunity to grow spiritually, mentally and emotionally. This revelation devastated him as he must have felt that he should have been more attentive towards the specific details that he had disregarded because he was much too immersed in his own luxurious life to notice that he was only superficially connecting with others who did not share his same values and vision for the future and instead they were only conciously stifling his potential because they unfortunately only saw him as a means to an end and they did not reciprocate The Prodigal Son's good intentions.
As The Prodigal Son had started to travel to different countries and to become exposed to experiences that he would have never been exposed to otherwise, he started to feel a profound semblance of loneliness consume him and he started to doubt whether or not he was truly a person worthy of receiving kindness and affection. As his self-esteem began to wane, soon did his willigness to continue to recur to other sources of personal fufillment and he unfortunately started to engage in self-destructive behaviors that robbed him of his personal agency and freedom.
Once he was left towards the brink of bankrupcy and poverty because of his personal decisions, he started to feel deeply alone, disheartened and unsupported by everyone around him. Because he felt deeply ashamed because of his actions, he did not feel sufficiently worthy of accessing the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ , he unfortunately did not feel capable of returning to his family and so he responsively resigned himself to the pain and dehumanization that his situation brought upon him. Out of the desperation of a famine that had swept the land, the young man then sought to find employment at a farm where he was comissioned with feeding the swine that were being cared for in exchange for shelter. The young man became so immensely famished because of his lack of resources that his only source of nourishment came from the scraps that were being fed to the swines, symbolizing that he had reached his lowest and most dehumanizing point. As the swine were considered unclean by the Jews as they were not fit for their consumption, there is enough scriptural evidence to support that the man who was raising them was in fact a Gentile man and this additionally reflects how far the young man had been from his home and religious community.
Although the agricultural industry was something that he was familiar with because of the nature of his family's trade, his position was very humbling and he was unfortunately very unhappy with himself and with his life. As he continued to work arduously alongside the man who had employed him, he received the prompting that it was now his time to go back home, however he had felt so ashamed and humbled by his circumstances, that he did not feel worthy of being treated with the same love and respect that he had once received from his family and as such, he was determined to return with the promise of finding work as a servant instead of enjoying the privileges that his family had once brought him as he felt that it would be the only way for him to atone for the mistakes that he had made in his past. The Prodigal Son then sought to take it upon himself to say a gracious goodbye to the man who had given him a place to stay and to the gentle and compassionate swine who had once shared his food and who had been the generous hosts to his company. As he embarked upon his journey back home, he became awash with a tremendous amount of shame and bitterness because of the fact that he now had to face his Father and Brother, who were both very concerned with his safety and whereabouts and had felt extremely heartbroken because of the decisions that The Prodigal Son had made. Once The Prodigal Son returned home, his Father, overcome with a tremendous amount of emotion and joy recognized his Son from a distance and rushed to his son's side and embraced him as he had always done before, greeting him and receiving him as though he had only been gone for a brief moment.
As the young man soon came to the realization that his Father was never disappointed in him but rather that he was saddened and deeply affected by the negative decisions that his son had made, the young man's Father then proceeded to give his son a warm hug filled with an immense amount of happiness. His Father then comissioned for all of his employees to make a spectacular feast and to apparel his son in the finest robes and gifting him with the most beautiful ring. As he was confronted with this magnificent scene, the young man's older brother became saddened and later angered as he confronted his Father in private, telling him that he was far more obedient in following the principles that they (he and his Brother) were both taught and yet he was never rewarded for his actions. His Father then said in disbelief that he loves both of his sons equally and that just because he wanted to celebrate the monumental return of his younger son, that it did not mean that he wished to forsake his eldest but rather that the celebration was just as much for his Brother as it was for any of the people who were assisting and maintaining their land afloat because they were celebrating the return of a person who had lost his way and had been spiritually dead but who had now risen from the ashes of his suffering and had grown into a better and more appreciative human being because of his many toils and that even though his journey was once initially shrouded in darkness, the tremendous learning experiences that he was able to gain as a result were what ultimately made him realize that our Heavenly Father was simply redirecting his focus and allowed for those tormenting moments to occur so that he could remember the the things that he needed to prioritize most in his life, were in fact right in front of him all along.
The loving family that he had sought in others was standing in his corner this whole time, the reciprocity and kinship that he had sought to gain from other people who did not truly appreciate him for who he was, lied truly with his Brother and especially with his Father. All of the happiness that he had striven to gain from a place of materialistic power, wealth and excesss was for naught because he would have never been able to find answers to his most deepest concerns by dissociating himself from the world and wallowing in his perceived privileges.
The one true wealth that he had failed to see this whole time, was the unwavering support that his Brother, Father and community had provided him with for many years and the love and care that his Father sought to genuinely give him so that he could grow up in a stable environment surrounded by good principles and exceptional people who truly saw him and appreciated him for who he really was.
As we reflect upon the tremendous impact that this parable has had in the world, it has not only touched the hearts of millions of people within the Christian community but it has additionallty had a profound impact on those holding several and different belief systems as well. This particular talk was one that was tremendously important for me to adapt as it has not only had a profound resonance in my life, but it has additionally been a story that has provided me with so much self-reflection and solace. This transformative biblical story has additionally represented so many different moments in my life in which I had felt just as The Prodigal Son once did. Unworthy, incapable of change and broken beyond the point of irreparability, however what has truly transformed my outlook on life has been the many different positive interactions that I have had with the wonderful and like-minded people who I have had the chance to interact with throughout the course of this semester. The immensity of their support and kinship was instrumental in bringing this final project to life.
Utilizing the Garamond and Avenir Next LT PRO typographic fonts respectively, I sought to create a layout that could encapsulate and be evocative of an almost oceanic stylistic sentiment, transmitting the duplicity of the human experience by utilizing gradations of the shades of cerulian, perriwinkle and teal blue to convey the different stages and underlying emotional facets of the spiritual journey as I wanted to utilize the duplicitous nature or interpretational duality of cool color palettes to convey the semblance of profound tranquility that the Savior provides us with through his expiation. In color psychology, the color blue is one that carries a tremendous amount of rich psychological, emotional and spiritual symbolism, evoking a wide range of associations and multi-faceted subtextual responses.
The color blue can firstly be connotative of a sense of profound emotional maturity, stablity and security in one's abilities and identity. It can additionally provide a semblance of mental grounding and safety, offering a tremendous amount of comfort and reassurance in times of uncertainty or stress. In the Akiane Kramarik painting entitled "The Prince of Peace"; the Savior is depicted as having beautiful seafoam teal eyes as his gaze holds a tremendous amount of safety and love. In the titular parable, the young man experiences a progressive paradigm shift which leads him to make costly mistakes throughout the course of his personal journey, leading to a moral dilemma that will forevermore change his perceptions in life.
Upon his return there is a presence of emotional responses oftentimes associateed with these shades of blue characterized by their connotations of oceanic themes. I chose to represent this thematically through the diverse selection of colors because of the fact that I additionally wanted to utilize the symbol of the young man drowning in the depths of despair and ultimately finding peace and enlightenment while he is as his lowest point. I wanted to additionally show that this descent into his traumatic life experiences were what redirected his eternal focus and allowed him to prioritize his relationship with Christ by aknowledging his necessity for redemption as well as the immense necessity to reconnect with his principles and to excersise faith amid a tremendously difficult time in his life. The tonalities of fern teal present within this specific composition are intended to represent spiritual renewal, emotional rectification and growth; and teal shades are known for their capability to promote health and emotional wellbeing.
They denote lapses of tremendous empowerment, creativity and innovation. I additonally chose to utilize specific Pine and Fern Teal tonalities as a subversion of the themes of material and spiritual wealth present within the story. As a more retroactively deep green could perhaps have connotations of enviousness or greed, I wanted to utilize more muted shades of teal that were just in between the spectrums of blue and green to demonstrate The Prodigal Son's gradual ideological shift in his priorities and his personal and spiritual evolution as he soon realized that the true wealth was his family and his relationship with God all along. For the inner cover page, I chose to additionally represent the visual asset that we could use which was an illustration or photograph of the speaker of this talk, who was Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Utilizing the Avenir Next Pro LT typographic family in the styles of "Bold"; "Italic" and "Regular"; and glyphs such as lower case "r", "u", "s", "ö" and upper case "A" and "I" in bold variations , I wanted to simulate the structure of a home so that it could be aligned with the themes of familial love and domesticity present within the story.
The medium of typographic artistry further permitted the creation of visually compelling narratives through the arrangement of letters and glyphs to convey the evolution of The Prodigal Son, his journey and spiritual development from the moment of his departure, squandering his wealth, to his eventual return and reconcilliation with his family as the utilization of the Garamond and Avenir Next LT Pro typographic font families further assisted me in conveying the central emotional arc of te story. Each particular glyph has been imbued with a tremendous level of personality and emotional profundity, further allowing additional space for the representation of the various facet of the spiritual journey. From The Prodigal Son's initial free-spiritedness to his humility, I wanted to represent every single aspect and subtextual nuance of this wonderfully universal piece as I possibly could.
COLOR TONALITIES UTILIZED WITHIN THE FINALIZED COMPOSITION PROCESS:
CYMK Codes:
"Fern Teal",
C: 54%
M: 0%
Y: 7%
K: 46%
"Observatory Green",
C: 52%
M: 0%
Y: 9%
K: 47%
"Deep Sea",
C: 51%
M: 0%
Y: 9%
K: 49%
"True Cerulian-Teal";
C: 63%
M: 0%
Y: 25%
K: =0%
CONCEPTUALIZATION OF THE IDEAS AND VIGNETTES PRESENTED:
FINALIZED LAYOUT SELECTION IN COLOR (DEMONSTRATION AND PROOF OF CONCEPT).
PROSPECTIVE VISUALIZATION PROCESS AND GIFT BOOKLET MOCKUP EXECUTION:
Bibliographic Resources:
The links to the wonderful and soul-bearing source material upon which this gift booklet is based upon are as follows. I am confident that it will transform your life just as much as it has impacted mine.
I strongly recommend that you may listen to or read this wonderful talk and I promise you that it will open the doors for so much emotional and spiritual healing.
"The Prodigal and The Road That Leads Home by Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf for The October 2023 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, filmed conference excerpt."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NILmizHm3BY
"The Prodigal and The Road That Leads Home by Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf for The October 2023 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Written Transcription."
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2023/10/45uchtdorf?lang=eng
