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references

all of the images featured in my visual essay are my own, apart from 4 in the first spread.

the images which are not taken by me, I do have permission to use, but here are references for them:

1.

Adam Mustil - Live Sail Die

2.

Adam Mustil - Live Sail Die

3.

Adam Mustil

4.

Isaac Lawrence - Hartas Production 

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image reference

this image was taken from unsplash, and I manipulated the image in photoshop to look like how it does in the final spread. 

link reference: https://unsplash.com/photos/J4yQp1lIJsQ

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rationale

front cover

for the front cover, I thought it was fitting and appropriate to have a his 49er sail boat which he currently sails (his pride and joy). having the ‘wake’ of the boat extend all the way to the edge of the cover towards the spine, allowed me to have the ability to play with it for the back cover. The direction of the boat is pointing and moving in a forwards direction, signifying the journey he's been on and only moving and improving from them and end up at his final destination of his ‘future plan/goals’.

spread 1

For the first spread I was inspired by playing with the geometric shape of the triangle. I did this as a triangle represents the sails on a yacht. the underlying meaning of the the intricate layout design and placement of each triangle is the unknown sudden shifts of wind which occur whilst sam is out sailing and him navigating his journey through tacks and gybes. with that, sam then has to make immediate decisions based from his deep understanding and knowledge as an advanced sailor, therefore this lead me to a very sharp and concise layout. The blue tint in the images allowed more fluidity within my visual essay. Since some parts of my visual essay is information design based, talking about sailing terminology and such, it was only fitting I including vector illustrations of each boat sam has/ is still sailing on and include the names for each one, allowing the readers/ viewers to feel included and can envision it for themselves.

spread 2

In the second spread the formal layout of the triangle images juxtaposing with the vector illustration is a nice balance of uniform and fast paced. The images used in the triangles show the process of which sailing gear sam dresses in first. The big triangle signifying his wetsuits and lifejacket and how those are the main things sam gets into first hence the triangle being the biggest. followed by this is two smaller triangles of his accessories; sailing boots and his sunglasses and those being the last items of sailing garments he puts on before beginning  the rigging stage. I made sam and his twin brother in the illustration gold as it gives the viewers a hint at what might be next to come. also differentiates sam and his brother to their 49er yacht showing how they are in control of the boat but also how the boat relies on them being the “brains of the boat”.

spread 3

the third spread is a vector of the world map. I really wanted this to be apart of the visual essay for the viewers to see how dedicated sam is to this sport. packing up his yachts and shipping them long before each competition, includes a lot of organisation, planning and time. with having his competition history displayed across this whole spread shows the amount of hard work, training, perfecting and mastering sam completes to be able to race in these big regattas. having the flags as keys is a clear indication of which country is what and is easy for the eye of someone unfamiliar with geography to make connections on where he sailed, which year, and which boat. communicating this with the views lets them feel they are apart of Sams journey.

spread 4

for the forth spread, I displayed an image of sam being a coach and mentor for these young kids. the triangle layout was specifically crafted to represent two things. first to represent a fleet of boats tacking up wind while sailing. In upwind you can't go straight so always tacking left and right to avoid irons (no go zone). as pictured in the image attached below, there are many boats spread out with different tactics in each sailors minds. this reflects back to the image I created with each blue triangle a different boat in a fleet, and each white triangle representing the ocean from empty spaces between each boat.

The second thing I reflected the triangle image and layout to, is each different triangle is all the different aspects in sailing as it is so vast. such as knowing the rules, boat speed, handling, boat care and maintenance, sail set up, understanding weather tides ect, which all creates a well rounded sailor (being sam). (all blue triangle is the point of view of sam). the empty triangles (point of view of the kids) represent back to the kids who he is coaching and how those kids are just starting out so their knowledge is not a lot, those empty triangles will then be filled once they learn something new (teached by sam) 

The diagram on the ridge hand side is a vector of an optimist boat which is what sam teaches the kids to sail in. he also teaches the kids knowledge on the boat which is crucial to know what's what when sailing in that boat. I included it for the viewers unfamiliar with sailing to feel included in a coaching session by sam.

spread 5

the fifth and final spread represents is goals. since sam has a very determined personality, when he wants something he works hard to earn it. the two triangle on the right side of the spread is in the shape of a fast forward button. reflecting back to the text on the left side of the spread saying “future” connects and flows onto the right side of the spread “fast forwarding” to the future he described in the text. I made the image tint both blue and gold this time to really emphasise the goals of his in the image (gold in the olympics - reflects back to the medal illustration - and earning a spot in the team nz americas cup team).

back cover

the back cover flows on from the front cover which reflects back to his journey being a long one. from starting sailing over a decade ago, he has been through a heck of a journey and challenges while sailing and a lot of training and hard work, and extending the wake from the 49er boat (which he sails now) wrapping around right to the edge of the back cover shows how long that journey has been. started from the bottom and now he's nearly at the top - (the back cover is usually always facing towards the ground so - “started from the bottom” comes from that.) 

the empty space the at the front of the 49er in the front cover  shows how he’s still got more of his journey ahead of him.

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inspiration moodboard

I really loved the array of different geometric layouts I came across. lots of inspiration!!

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colour palette

I went with the colours blue, white and gold.

The white was a little bit more of an off white as I personally think off white as a sold background colour is a little easier on the eye when contrasting a yellowish gold.

The blue signifies the ocean obviously, but also since the ocean is the reflection of the sky, it also represent the sky and from that comes to the overall message of the world being your oyster. - this reflects back to Sams lifelong goals he would love to achieve 

the gold is obvious aswell - representing his past achievements but also his goal of representing and winning gold for kiwis

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workbook notes

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workbook notes

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workbook notes

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went out early morning to take images for close ups and sam with his boat (not sailing) but doing more technical stuff

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correcting the kerning between the S & T

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front and back cover put together, 

added his name for more personalistion for sam.

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the making of the front and back cover. making it connect and warp around, different layout iterations for the cover title.

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went back to see how it would look gold tint but I didn't like it , didn't have the sam flow on effect the same way the all blue tint did.

playing with different colour concepts with the yacht illustrations.

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I really love how this turned out. the mixture of the blue and gold tint in one image, wraps up the entire publication all together and finishes it on a high. 

I played around with the contrast, brightness and expose on the black ring as it was very harsh compared to the rest of the rings.

the fast forward ‘logo’ (idk what to call it) as the triangle layout was a really good connection with the next suggest future plans and it being in the future referring to fast forwards to the future.

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aaaaaaannd here we go with my beautiful genius idea ahahah!! I  really sat down and gave it some HARD THOUGHTS on how I could make it BETTER! and I came up with the I sea of reflecting it back to two meanings. a bird eye view of a fleet sailing and empty triangles of missing knowledge the kids don't have which sam slowing fills up with each lesson he gives them. brilliant right!! 

played around with different layouts of the triangles ect.

also used a tool which Paul showed and taught me the compound mask for an easy way to clip mask and image into separate shapes. I would've done it the hardest way (individually) had Paul not showed me this so thank you Paul!!

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checked to see if it was the image that wasn't working, but the image definitely need to stay it was jus the layout of the image triangle that weren't screaming yes to me!

added a new Illustration in replacement of the rope as I felt it was more important to Show the boat he coaches the kids with instead of knots. and I really love how it turned out.

playing with the different colour options seeing what works best not only in that spread but for the fluidity of the whole essay

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really tried my hardest to make this page work and make myself like it before I totally dumped the idea and move on ahahah!

here are the different iterations I came up with though