VISCOM 2: final icon set reflection

These final icons were built to represent the electricity, excitement and eccentric nature of the mad scientist (check it. three "e"s). The abstracted, angular forms give insight into the mad scientist's broken logic.

The icons are built from negative space carved out of what became a block of spikes.  To keep the icons cohesive, every form was kept as uncluttered as possible and still maintain legibility. These "simple" forms allowed me to have breathing room within the spikes and avoid problems when scaled down to the required half-inch size. I had a corner or edge of the icon break the boundary of the spike form so that the entire unit could be read as a single, whole form, rather than an icon within the spikes.

I originally began the icon set based in analog origins using ink splatters. The splatter motif was inspired by my culture book in which I used the form to accompany images of lab coats. I thought the splatter would be a nice, self-contained form that would convey the "horror" origins of mad scientist lore. From there, I cut out very basic forms of images pulled from the same culture book. This process helped me see the necessary information required to illustrate the icon, and extra information that wasn't needed that I sure as hell didn't want to try to carve out with an exact-o knife. From there, I traced over these splatters so I could gain more control over the manipulation of the form than ink and gravity would allow. Eventually, I streamlined the splatter into larger, more even shapes so that the icon and splatter would unify into a cohesive form. This was the point where the identity of the icons really took shape. As an instructor-inspired move in a different direction, I took these streamlined forms and threw them in the opposite direction, shifting the curvilinear forms into a wild, angular, and angsty direction. This move took the icons in a more electric direction, and with some re-working of the icon, produced a cohesive and energetic set. For color, I was inspired by a shot of a lab coat where green and purple lights were bouncing around the background. I thought the colors were good indicators of science experiments, potions, fumes and vapors, and even the classic green of Frankenstein's monster and decaying flesh. Since my forms were already so abstracted, I chose the soft color change of the gradient because I thought it the best solution that didn't distract or confuse the form of the icon. It also supports the "glow" of the toxic fumes and electricity that inspired the set.