R e a g a n - S c h o o l
F l a g - P r o j e c t
Size: 9" by 12"
Medium: Color Pencil on Drawing Paper
Completion Date: April 2019
Medium: Color Pencil on Drawing Paper
Completion Date: April 2019
MIAD & Reagan collaborated for this project. The flag I designed for Reagan is composed by a circle symbolizing unity and harmony as well as the balance and well-roundness that Reagan students portray. The colors in my flag are due to the colors of IB, MPS and Reagan itself. The inspiration for the flag was taken from the new Milwaukee flag along with some geometrical patterns that symbolize growth with the diagonal shooting up.
ARTISTIC
I N S P I R A T I O N
"Sunrise Over the Lake" by Robert Lenz Retrieved from, https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2018/07/19/city-adopt-peoples-flag-milwaukee-its-official-flag/799842002/
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There has been a new design proposed as the Milwaukee flag has an interesting piece in the middle of its body.
The “sun rising” is marking a “new day”. The three light blue and thick lines contesting on the dark blue symbolize the founding cities and rivers of the city. Similar to this ideology, I wanted to utilize the concept of the sun with a division of three portions to represent MPS, IB and Ronal Reagan High School. I chose to also add or employ the same color palette to my designs. The yellow and white hues can be found in the MPS logo while the blue is undeniable part of the Reagan spirit. Not to mention that are colors found in the original Milwaukee flag that had been first established in 1954. Thus it would be even more meaningful to add the colors to my flag design since we are located in the city of Milwaukee after all. |
New Mexico Flag Retrieved from, https://emojipedia.org/flag-for-new-mexico-usnm/
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Another flag that really inspired me was the New Mexico Flag. It o my uses of two colors, red and yellow which are tied to their “Spanish Conquista” in an earlier century. However I don’t think I will be using the red hue in my own design.
Within the flag, there’s once again a bold but simplistic design of a sun. This sign is a tribal symbol of the Zia people found in the state. Each side of the sun has exactly good point because it hold a lot of meaning to the axis tribe. It represent the stages of life, the seasons and periods of the day. I want to incorporate a “tribal” symbol as well in my flag but I am still in the roces of figuring it out. |
Furthermore, I decided to focus my research into the geometric shapes that I was to include in my design of the flag. As I looked more into the symbolism of the figures I was rather surprised by all the different things that a circle and a triangle could mean. After meeting with Nicole, a MIAD professor, and the new knowledge that I gained from my research I re-designed my original designs with a deeper meaning.
THE CIRCLE:
The circle is one of the most basic shapes seen by humanity in nature. The way in which I would summarize it's meaning based off my research would be three main ideas: protection, unity and infinity.
As far as the flag goes, the circle will be representing all of the previously stated universal ideas of the circle, but this time with a touch of IB, Reagan and MPS. The circle in my flag is a representation of the the whole that are Milwaukee Public Schools. The aura of acceptance and security that the system can bring to the student body is engraved in the flag through the use of a COLOR HERE circle. Not only that but it is also representing the student body of our school as balanced and well rounded scholars.
THE TRIANGLE(S):
After looking more into the significance of a triangle, I discovered that a triangle pointing up represents male energy while a triangle facing down will represent the female energy.
I wanted to show a coexistence of both by aligning them. The purpose for this was to also show a balance in between.
THE CIRCLE:
The circle is one of the most basic shapes seen by humanity in nature. The way in which I would summarize it's meaning based off my research would be three main ideas: protection, unity and infinity.
As far as the flag goes, the circle will be representing all of the previously stated universal ideas of the circle, but this time with a touch of IB, Reagan and MPS. The circle in my flag is a representation of the the whole that are Milwaukee Public Schools. The aura of acceptance and security that the system can bring to the student body is engraved in the flag through the use of a COLOR HERE circle. Not only that but it is also representing the student body of our school as balanced and well rounded scholars.
THE TRIANGLE(S):
After looking more into the significance of a triangle, I discovered that a triangle pointing up represents male energy while a triangle facing down will represent the female energy.
I wanted to show a coexistence of both by aligning them. The purpose for this was to also show a balance in between.
01. Brainstorming & Creative Ideas
After taking some notes on the MIAD presentation we did some brainstorming by creating some mind maps.
I decided to focus four main points to MPS, IB, the student body and colors.
Afterwards I dived into the creative ideas and dug deeper into the visualization of possible flag designs.
I decided to focus four main points to MPS, IB, the student body and colors.
Afterwards I dived into the creative ideas and dug deeper into the visualization of possible flag designs.
Most of my designs revolve around three figures/ideas: MPS IB RONAL REGAN HS Repeating Colors: White Light & Navy Bleu Yellow Black (occasionally) A repeating shape: Circles, Semicircles These figures show up the most in my design because I wanted to keep that idea of "a new day" and translate into "a new era" or "new generations of the future" here at Reagan. Not to mention that it may also signify "a "well rounded" student, who is balanced in their life as they are student athletes or do more beyond their academics. |
02. Revised Flag Designs:
Please contact me about my flags via email at [email protected]
After Nicole's visit to critique our flags, we were given a chance to re-create and edit the pre-selected designs to expand on their potential.
I decided on four flags with the same concept of the circle and triangles as essential parts to their compositions.
I decided on four flags with the same concept of the circle and triangles as essential parts to their compositions.
03. Choosing A Flag Design.
After redesigning the flags and having Nicole see them again she suggested a couple things:
I began to work and sketched out the outline of my final flag on a clean sheet of paper, 9 inches by 12 inches. I used a stencil with a size 3 circle to outline the circle with the cleanest craftsmanship possible. Afterwards I did as Nicole suggested and using ruler I reorganized the placement of the lines going across my flag. |
Once I had the basic outline to the flag, I made a copy of the same design and experimented with the color combinations on the flag.
I wanted to see which set up of color palette would make the flag the most appealing considering that I would only use three different colors.
I wanted to see which set up of color palette would make the flag the most appealing considering that I would only use three different colors.
04. Cutting the Board.
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The mounting of the flag itself was the most challenging as I had to be careful when it came to the cutting of the black board on which the flag would be pasted on for the final presentation.
I made some light marking to see where the the corners of the flag should go. |
Once I had all the markings and measurements done I went in with a T-ruler and a X-acto Knife to perforate through the board. To cut the board I had to first make a "path" for the blade to travel through and jut followed it 10 times to neatly cut the board with dimensions of 12.5 inches by 15 inches. |
05. Adding Adhesive to the Back of the Flag.
The last step to mount the flag was to add some spray adhesive to the back of the paper by placing it into the spraying booth and evenly spread the glue on the whole at about a foot away from it.
CRITIQUE
SIMILARITIES:
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DIFFERENCES:
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REFLECTION
The project was significantly easy to complete yet very difficult to develop since I designing a flag. Most of my works revolves around bright and warm hues, I have the tendency to incorporate a lot of it thus being limited to only 2-3 colors and simple designs did hurt a little.
However I am satisfied with the amount of research I was able to collect to give my flag a deeper symbolism that I thought initially possible. I enjoyed the process of making the physical flag itself because since I found it to be easy going with the in progress critique and "casual" talks with students from MIAD.
However I am satisfied with the amount of research I was able to collect to give my flag a deeper symbolism that I thought initially possible. I enjoyed the process of making the physical flag itself because since I found it to be easy going with the in progress critique and "casual" talks with students from MIAD.
ACT
R E S P O N S E S
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
I was captivated by the simplicity of the Milwaukee flag from the beginning and thus I knew that I wanted to incorporate something related to acircle inmy own flag. Not only that but the history and symbolism of the figures that I chose really pushed me to build the flag as it presented now.
I was captivated by the simplicity of the Milwaukee flag from the beginning and thus I knew that I wanted to incorporate something related to acircle inmy own flag. Not only that but the history and symbolism of the figures that I chose really pushed me to build the flag as it presented now.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The manner in which the authors referred to MKE's flag was very systematic yet creative and connected to all of its history and details about the city. Every block of color and line was carefully thought out and it was insightful to know all of these little things that made up Milwaukee the city that it is.
The manner in which the authors referred to MKE's flag was very systematic yet creative and connected to all of its history and details about the city. Every block of color and line was carefully thought out and it was insightful to know all of these little things that made up Milwaukee the city that it is.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Symbols and flags alike hold universal meanings, it is a language on its own thus if one is to work with all of those components correctly then words are not as necessary to get an idea across which is the main objective of a Reagan flag overall.
Symbols and flags alike hold universal meanings, it is a language on its own thus if one is to work with all of those components correctly then words are not as necessary to get an idea across which is the main objective of a Reagan flag overall.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
Unity and working as whole through the inclusion of the diversity of the student body at Reagan.
Unity and working as whole through the inclusion of the diversity of the student body at Reagan.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I thought that the history of every country, state, or city is intertwined onto to flag one way or another no matter what other purpose it may have. It sort of builgs a face to a nation-state as it represents what it was and who it is at the moment.
I thought that the history of every country, state, or city is intertwined onto to flag one way or another no matter what other purpose it may have. It sort of builgs a face to a nation-state as it represents what it was and who it is at the moment.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Beyer, Catherine. “Symbolic Meanings of Geometric Shapes: From Circles to Dodekagrams.” ThoughtCo, ThoughtCo, 14 Jan. 2019, www.thoughtco.com/geometric-shapes-4086370.