Project #1
Less Is More Problem:

Suggesting an image, rather than directly depicting it, is the graphic counterpart to the idea of "Less is more".  This reductive approach is a powerful technique that a designer can employ, inviting the viewing audience to interact with artwork by mentally completing the implied image.  This problem is a six-part assignment taking the designer through various stages useful in creating such an image.  The six parts of the problem are to be executed as follows:

1. In keeping with the less is more idea, choose an animal and, using black and white only, design it in its entirety by simplifying its physical characteristics into flat negative and positive shapes.
   
2. Crop the original design you created for step 1, but retain its readability. 
3. Drastically crop the design you create for step 1, to the point where recognizability is no longer a factor.  The abstract shapes are the main concern.
   
4. Choosing one of the designs from steps 1,2 or 3, executes the chosen design in reverse field (all black areas become white, all white areas become black, for both subject and background.
   
5. Execute the design from step 4 using black, white plus one additional color.
   
6. Execute the design from step 4 in full color.

Analysis:  creating a simple black and white graphic is a complex design procedure that is fertile ground for experimentation.  However, the primary intention of this problem is to move past this point and introduce other design options, which are created by altering the initial design and lie in the realm of the reductive approach.

Examples: