Under the Shadow of the White-Faced Bromeliads

Emblem

sliversofmoons — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 19:21:37 +0000

My Emblem

For my emblem, I made a sun image with rays coming from a warm background. The color scheme is that of a firey sun and the hope is that it convey passion and beauty. I made the rays of the sun the text of Romeo’s name. This shows that from Juliet’s beauty stems the visible images that Romeo conveys outward. In the middle, I choose to put the letter “J” for Juliet. This also represents Juliet as the beginning from which all of Romeo stems. Despite the wholeness of the theme, I decided that Rome’s name as the sun rays should also represent the misofrtune of Romeo not being allowed to love Juliet. The words Romeo are spatially aside the circle. While I wanted a “whole” theme, I found this to necessary to convey the truth of the story.

Yet, in my opinion, the emblem does convey the visual wholeness apparent in the balcony scene. Romeo says, “Juliet is the sun”. Here, in my emblem, she is at the center of the sun inside of a heart. This heart represents the love and wholeness that brings both Romeo and Juliet together despite their names.

Analogy

sliversofmoons — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 19:02:27 +0000

Vital Bodies.Com Logo

To me, the VitalBodies.Com logo displayed everything that I was going for. It is a bright, easily visible logo which generates a sense of well-being and beauty. The logo makes the buyer feel happy for having participated in buying their products. Moreover, the logo allows for a sense of wholeness and imagery makes the buyer aware that “as a part of wholeness, our actions affect the whole” (Macnamb 38). The sun logo also represents “all for one and one for all” as Macnab points out when accessing the Target logo.

This wholeness and group strength is a vital factor in the play. Because of Romeo’s love for Juliet, he cannot live without her. He is “one for all and all for one” in that he her death must be followed by his own. She is his strength, his beauty, his world, his “one” and “wholeness”. The Vital Bodies logo portrays the same sense. It makes the buyer feel that if he or she does not buy the organic/green way, the Earth will die. Thus, I have taken the elements of this logo as a starting point and launched into my own logo.

Design

sliversofmoons — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:48:31 +0000

For the Visible design, I wanted to use the number one. One is the number “wholeness and completion” (Macnab, 27). I decided that the just as Romeo describes Juliet as the sun, it was appropriate to use the circle, a representation one, to present a whole and undivided images that was easily visible. Working loosely off of Romeo’s description of Juliet, I aim to make an emblem that encompasses not only beauty but the beauty of wholeness. The balcony scene personifies Romeo’s love for Juliet through words. Yet, the whole of the play begs the notion of becoming one with other–so much that the couple dies together. While the star-crossed lovers are still alive however, Romeo does get to show how Juliet completes him.

Bearing this in mind, I propose to start with a sun-like images to show beauty and radiance. Then, I will pull together elements from analogy to try and fit together an emblem that portrays unity and visibility. To maximize visibility, I have chosen to create an image that is undivided and is easily taken in by the mind’s eyes.

A sun

Experience

sliversofmoons — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:38:34 +0000

Calvino’s visibility is that of visible images that can be easily seen and accessed in the mind. He also describes two types of visibility. “One that starts with the word and arrives at the visual image, and the one that starts with the visual image and arrives at its verbal expression”. From this I have tried to find in Romeo and Juliet a scene that conveys the imagery necessary to fit Calvino’s definition. While difficult to find the first type of visibility in the play, there is in fact visiual imagery that arrives at verbal expression. For this, I have chosen to deal with the Balcony Scene. In this scene, Romeo’s monologue describes the beauty of Juliet. For sake of brevity, I will quote only a minimal portion The entire scene can be read here.

Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven
Having some business, do entreat her eyes
To twinkle in their spheres till they return. (6)
What if her eyes were there, they in her head?
The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars
As daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven
Would through the airy region stream so bright

This passage invokes immense imagery from which I can draw my emblem.

The Balcony Scene

Emblem

sliversofmoons — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:17:32 +0000

My Emblem

For my emblem, I chose to take a Matrix feel and put my own twist on it. I took the letters “R” and “J”, Romeo and Juliet’s intials, and put them in the background like the Matrix poster. I chose to put Juliet’s intial instead of Tybalt’s because I feel Juliet is the underlying cause that forces Romeo to make these “quick” physical decisions. Then, I repeated the letters until this spawned from the image in “quick” manner. I was trying to convey the effects of movement, much like when an artist draws lines off an object. Then, I added the visuals and names.

I chose to add the daggers because they are sharp and one can wield them quickly. Also, Romeo kills Tybalt with a blade weapon. I chose the dagger instead of the sword because I feel a sword conveys a feeling of heaviness while a dagger can wielded quickly by anyone. The daggers are also very sharp visually. They are crisp and quickly come off the page. Furthermore, the daggers convey a relationship to the physical.

After I added the daggers, I added the names. I chose a very crisp font that made the text appear as if moving,. Through all of this, I tried to convey the underlying theme of quickness in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.