This semester my intermediate printmaking class volunteered at Freedom House, a shelter that provides homeless families with shelter, food, and care. When touring, we recognized that Freedom House needed help with adding some art to their shared spaces and rooms. I believe that the introduction of art to this space would make it feel more like a home and somewhere the kids can enjoy more as well.
For my work at Freedom House, I took on the task of creating an intaglio print that can be produced in a large series and used to decorate. The print I created features a girl biking up a hill as it is drawn. Freedom House is a Christian organization so I wanted to create something that can be interpreted as religious, but can also be seen as relatable by secular guests. The hand can be interpreted as God or even just a symbol of life or destiny. I wanted to create something that acknowledges a struggle but stays uplifting by expressing the message that the struggle is manageable.
Freedom House also has an event called Gallery of Hope where they bring guests in for a dinner, an art auction, and to donate to Freedom House and their mission. I created five logo variation for this event. I haven’t made a logo for a one-night event before. The design they had previously was a script font with a gradient of colors. I wanted to offer them some designs that are symbols instead of text that could be versatile in the way they can be sized and placed on things. The logos I created range from symbolizing photography and giving to symbolizing Bible stories that relate to the even or the struggle of homelessness.
This project was a good challenge for me. Creating five different designs in such a small window of time is good practice for coming up with ideas. I also have not created a logo in a while so it was nice to get back into trying to condense designs into something simple that said more than it showed. The intaglio print is also refreshing because it’s a chance to step away from digital art, which I find myself doing the most. Having to deal with variables like ink density, paper placement, and printing press pressure makes art a lot more interesting than the perfect vacuum of Adobe Illustrator. The opportunity to create work for the purpose of helping people feel better in a situation they don’t like being in makes all the time spent fine-tuning and communicating back and forth feel less like work.
