One World Flag Reflection

Technical
For this assignment I used a lot of my previous knowledge of photo shop techniques.  For example turning a photo into a brush, which I used for the people that I erased out of the earth.  I also used the layer blending option to change the style of the layer.  I used this technique on the vector of the world so that you were able to see it through the the coloured waves.  I also used the shape tool to create the water waves in my flag.

Idea/Concept
The idea that I eventually used for this assignment was to show that throughout the world people are equal and connected.  I showed equality through the people in the world, by showing people of different age groups in different sizes throughout the world.  To show the connectedness of the world I tried to incorporate the four elements through the water symbol and the colour I used in my flag.  While doing this assignment my idea changed a lot since at the beginning I had almost no idea of how I wanted this to look.  From the beginning I knew that I wanted to show that the world was connected in different ways and that everyone in the world was equal.  The original idea that I had started with was to show that everyone was equal by hands around the earth in different colours.  However this idea was extremely complicated and I was having troubles making the image look connected.  So in the end I decided to show equality through the people in the world, and show that they are connected through the elements. 

Influences
For this project there was no particular artist that influenced me.  However, I was really influenced by wanting to show equality of all people of different races, cultures, ages, disabilities etc. 

Composition
For this assignment I balanced my flag symmetrically.  I think that by balancing it symmetrically it helps keep my flag look simple as it is supposed to.  In this assignment I put emphasis on the waves of water by making them the largest item of the flag and by putting them at the front.  However, you can still see the world in the back due to the layer blend.  The layer blend also helps to move your eye around because even though you automatically see the water waves, your eye is drawn to the background of the picture since you can see it through the waves. 

Motivation
Beyond fulfilling the requirements for this assignment, I was motivated to show that even though there is poor countries in the world, everyone is equal and connected in some way.  I was motivated to show this because some times people forget about these poorer countries and just believe that our world is connected through Internet or phone; although not all countries or people in the world have these luxuries.  So I was motivated to show that the people and countries in our world are connected by much simpler things, for example the 4 elements.

Critical Assessment
I feel that the most successful and interesting element of my piece is waves of water in the front.  I think this because it does an excellent job of showing the elements through the shape and through the colours used.  The one thing that surprised me was how well changing the layer blend of the world connected the piece.  This surprised me because before I changed the layer blend I thought that making the piece come together would be extremely difficult because the pieces did not look connected, and then when I changed it, they looked like one.  With additional time I wouldn't change or add anything because I think that if I changed anything it would look to complicated.