Symbols are everywhere (on signs, products, maps) and quickly evoke things, ideas and concepts visually (and sometimes transcend language barriers). Their forms and colors can represent abstract ideas as well as literal things. We were introduced to the matrix method, which gave us a model of guiding our concepts and thoughts and translating them into vector images. The first row involved tracing images (literal shapes and icons), in the second row we worked on combining ideas into stylized images, and then the abstract layer of making we were to communicate concepts that were not possible to imagine through a literal object (for example, the noun “hope” or “ingenuity.”

Using the Matrix method, I was able to develop multiple concepts that called for different shapes. My overarching topic began as the city of Corpus Christi and a symbol for its plans to replace one of its landmark bridges with a new one. This idea generalized into the evocation of Corpus Christi’s community, wildlife and architecture as I began to abstract images of the fish, architecture, and overall feeling of wind and movement that is present in the city. In my first layers I traced images of a swordfish (wildlife), the new bridge (renovation), and a guitar with a rose (culture). I then took these ideas and abstracted them further, and worked to combine their elements. To produce my final symbols I sliced my previous symbols even further in order to try to produce fluid shapes representative of Corpus Christi’s atmosphere and multi-faceted identity.

This project helped me develop my technical skills (a great introduction to Adobe Illustrator and vector image making, as well as printing the vector image onto vinyl sticker sheets) as well as my concept and form-making processes. Throughout this project, line weight, impact and meaning became essential lessons. I began to develop the understanding of merging ideas together–the shapes of wildlife and the architecture of Corpus Christi.