Flag Project
Title: Milwaukee Flag Design
Size: 3 in x 4.5 in (7.62 cm x 11.43 cm) Medium: Digital Media November 18th, 2015 Exhibition Text: I created the Milwaukee flag to represent the Native American tribes, Milwaukee's architecture, the bodies of water and its beer industry. I used the Chicago flag, designed by Wallace Rice as an inspiration for the structure of my digital media. I self-made this flag using paint which allowed me to create an original design using straight lines and shapes. |
Planning
The 5 Elements of a Flag Design:
1) Keep it simple.
2) Use meaningful symbolism.
3) Use 2-3 basic colors (red, white, blue, green, yellow, black).
4) No littering or seals (or words).
5) Be distinctive.
Besides following the elements above, I included hidden meaning which was recommended. Also, I created 1 in x 1.5 in rectangles to create my beginning sketches.
1) Keep it simple.
2) Use meaningful symbolism.
3) Use 2-3 basic colors (red, white, blue, green, yellow, black).
4) No littering or seals (or words).
5) Be distinctive.
Besides following the elements above, I included hidden meaning which was recommended. Also, I created 1 in x 1.5 in rectangles to create my beginning sketches.
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Second, I created a few designs based on Milwaukee's history and its aspects.
Lastly, I created my final design on paint.
Meaning Behind My Piece
At first, I wanted to create a flag that brought Milwaukee's history back to life. In my original sketch the 3 feathers represented the Native American tribes that were the earliest settlers. I decided to have only 3 feathers as they could also represent Milwaukee's founders, Solomon Juneau, Byron Kilbourn, and George Walker. I used the color green to represent land, the color yellow to represent happiness, and blue to represent Lake Michigan. I also included white to represent goodness since "Milwaukee" originated from the Algonquian word "Millioke" which mean good, pleasant land.
However, I decided to include more ideas and aspects of what Milwaukee is known for as a whole. I researched other city flags and gained inspiration from the Chicago Flag, designed by Wallace Rice. I decided to go for a more simplistic look that had greater meaning. I transformed the feather into a 3-dimensional building shape that represented the first tribes that settled in Milwaukee and now also its' architecture. Since Milwaukee has some of the tallest building in the state of Wisconsin. I made them green to represent land and nature as well. The blue stripes at the bottom represents the 2 bodies of water in Milwaukee, including Lake Michigan and the Milwaukee River. While the yellow stripe represents Milwaukee's breweries brought by Frederick Miller, Joseph Schlitz, Frederick Pabst, and Valentin Blatz. Because Milwaukee was known as the "Beer Capital of the World" is why I decided to place the yellow strip on top. Lastly the white stripe ties back to Milwaukee's history and it being known as a pleasant land.
Artistic Inspiration
My inspiration came from the Chicago Flag. The blue stripes represent the Chicago River and Great Canal. The white represents the neighborhoods. While the 4 stars represent Fort Dearborn, the Chicago Fire, the Columbia Exposition, and the Century of Progress.
Likewise, I wanted to incorporate Milwaukee's 2 bodies of water, the land and buildings, and important parts of its history. My flag also portrays similar characteristics of the Chicago flag. |
Reflection
When this project was first assigned it seemed like we were given way to much time. But I was wrong, it was a much more extensive process then I expected. I couldn't just create a design that was appealing, it needed to represent Milwaukee. I also had to follow the 5 elements of a flag design while creating it. Not to mention, all the research that had to be included within the design. I looked up symbols that could represent what I wanted the Milwaukee flag to include and I created my original sketch. Which is what I showed to the MIAD representative. He commented on the feathers and suggested that I should not only depend on the first Native American tribes that settled in Milwaukee, and find a deeper meaning. He also suggested that I should switch the yellow and blue stripe around since the black would not be as visible on the blue. I took that in to consideration and still kept the shape of the feather, but made it look like it could represent buildings as well. I began to create my design on Adobe Photoshop CS6, creating what I thought would be my final piece. A few days later, I looked at it again and was unhappy with it so I tried again on paint. Using paint I was able to create a clean image without any harsh black lines. But again I felt like something was missing, so I decided to add two blue stripes instead of one and eventually I was happy with my flags' outcome. Next time, I plan to create more sketches, to find the design I like instead of redoing the final piece more than once.