This task was one that I actually found quite difficult, interesting, but difficult. When choosing the article of which we were to produce a piece of editorial illustration, I decide to randomly select one instead of reading through them all. This resulted with me doing one that looked in to, 'Why do Smart People do Foolish Things'. Although an extremely interesting a thought provoking article, it was quite difficult to wrap my head around a way to portray its premise.
I started out initially by conducting some research into the actual differences between intelligence and critical thought. Through this I actually ended up personally disagreeing with the article I had chosen. It seems to be suggesting the intelligence and critical thought are two polar opposites and not things that can work in conjunction with one another. Once I'd done some research myself I actually believe that it's very possible for these two traits to both be present in many people, such as doctors, who require a significant amount of intelligence and critical thought in order to carry out their job. I realised at this point that in future this may be a situation that one could end up in and you simply have to find a way to see past your own disagreements in order to supply something for the client.
The design I ended up with showed a cracked lightbulb. I wanted this illustration to convey a sense of how lack of critical thought can impact intelligence. So the lightbulb is there to signify intelligence in that 'eureka moment' and then the crack suggests foolishness. I decided to produce quite a simplified finished piece as I really like the way that meaning can be addressed in most minimal a way as possible. To do this I scanned my hand drawn design in and then further rendered and experimented with my idea on illustrator. In the end achieving a piece that I felt happy with.
