THE ASK:
Design an Instagram graphic describing the life and work of an important graphic designer.
THE ANSWER:
A carousel-style infographic that echoes Greiman’s style with saturated colors, 8-bit typefaces, and color halftones. It further expands on this style with elements of the Anti-Design movement, breaking borders and experimenting with layouts, as this movement mirrors much of Greiman's design viewpoints.
Mockup of the graphic with a still of the animation for the first slide.
The infographic posted on Instagram.
First slide animation
PROCESS
Initial Research
I chose to research my personal design hero, April Greiman. I reviewed her life and work and summarized this research in a poster in her style.
moodboard & Typefaces
From my research, I created a moodboard of the specific style I wanted to emulate. Most of the work is Greiman's, but I also included pieces from other avant-garde designers at the time.
I chose typefaces that both paralleled those used by Greiman and celebrated the digital era of design, as Greiman was one of the first designers to embrace computer-based design.
Animation
To animate the first slide, I modified Greiman's past works in a Risograph style, then used Photoshop's timeline feature to make them appear one by one. Then, I animated Greiman's name in spinning cubes in After Effects, a nod to one of her posters for
the Southern California Institute of Architecture (Sci-Arc). Greiman's first and last name face forward at different times so that the viewer always has something to read, even if they see the video when some of the cubes are backwards.
the Southern California Institute of Architecture (Sci-Arc). Greiman's first and last name face forward at different times so that the viewer always has something to read, even if they see the video when some of the cubes are backwards.
Bringing it together
Using a still of the animation as the first slide, I created the rest of the slides. Graphics on the slides are continuous, both to encourage the viewer to keep swiping as well as to mirror Greiman's breaking of design boundaries. The slides contain multiple references to Greiman's individual works, such as the halftone effect on the animals referencing her 1989 French Revolution Tribute poster.