Any assignment that makes me chuckle upon reading the description of is one I’m definitely taking on, so here we are. I’ve seen plenty of images like these before and I’ve always found them hilarious, but unfortunately have never gotten around to making my own. I figured this would be a perfect opportunity to do so.

When thinking of the mood I wanted, I dug into what’s currently going on in my life for inspiration. Not to go too off topic, but I’m having some problems with a very confusing relationship. I figured that this image could serve to display the dichotomy that I am actively feeling, a yin-yang of sorts.

I don’t consider myself to a bitter person at all, and this is mostly in good fun, though there are definitely moments where thoughts like these cross my mind. If anything, I thought it would be fun to channel it into something both creative and silly, two words I’d use to describe myself. To find this picture, I used my favorite photo site, where I get most of my cover photos for my blog posts, Unsplash. I figured that I could get some vastly different results if I just searched “love,” rather than being more specific, and ultimately it worked well because there were countless great options. I decided to choose this image of a couple on bicycles holding hands because it does a great job of displaying raw love between two individuals enjoying life. On top of this, there is a stunning background filling a great deal of the piece, making your heart long for someone to share a beautiful sunset with yourself. Then, I tried to think of the best way to appropriately contradict everything scene in the image. One of the biggest insults of my generation is “cringe,” bringing you a deep feeling of disappointment and sadness when someone refers to you as such. I’ve also heard many bitter people say that “love is overrated,” so I figured I would pair the two together for a powerful hit to a romantic’s gut. In Canva, I searched for “love” when looking for fonts and found one that certainly fits the vibe I was going for. To make the text fit with the image a bit better, I matched the color of it to the darker reddish-brown seen in the image. That brings us to our final product, a contradiction that I love.

The prompt

I was first drawn to this prompt because I thought it would be easy. Make a poster, but have the text be grossly misrepresented by the image? Should be easy enough. But then I realized that I was having a hard time coming up with two moods that were fully contradictory. The idea of using an image that is so incorrect for the message and text has been fairly common in media for a while. At first I thought of using a creepy image and bloody-looking font to say something cheerful, but I realized that horror movies have been using that idea for decades, and it enhances the scare rather than confuses it. A depressing image with happy text feels too much like a 2012 Tumblr depression post. Instead, I came up with a depressing text and used confetti and a cheerful font that makes it seem more like the invitation to a wealthy eight-year-old girl’s birthday party than a desperate cry for help. They were about as opposite as I could get.

I used Canva to design this. The font is called “Crafty Girls.” The background with all its colors definitely made it a little difficult to read, but I think that enhances the effect because it takes a little more effort. You take a minute to look at the confetti before reading it, and it makes it seem extra juxtaposed. It was just a happy accident.

“Create some sort of graphic. Design the overall graphic to convey some sort of feeling or theme, but then have text saying something completely contradictory to the theme or feeling. Sort of like one of those old anti-motivational posters, but with more design than a black box with a white frame.”

Contradiction Creation

This is based on those motivational posters only found in counselors or high school coaches’ offices. Like so…

So I had to flip the script. ‘Give up’ seemed appropriate and was the first idea that popped into my head. Once I found good references for the style I was going for, I thought of the byline, chose a photo of an army guy because so many of the similar posters had military people in them, and voilá! I used photopea and also a little bit of preview to add the words, lines, and white and black borders. Hey, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I spent a lot of time trying to find a similar font, but I think I nailed that part at least.

Now, after some light digging, I found that this style of poster is also popular with fans of a certain show whose name rhymes with ‘Moy of Mainting’.

Some of these are just as inspirational as the one I made…

^now this is just some good fun…

Feel free to print and frame {mine or the B Ross ones} for some great office decor!

“Create some sort of graphic. Design the overall graphic to convey some sort of feeling or theme, but then have text saying something completely contradictory to the theme or feeling. Sort of like one of those old anti-motivational posters, but with more design than a black box with a white frame.”

So, for this assignment, I made something in reference to something else that I am very passionate about: Hamsters! I love hamsters! They’re all amazing! They’re my favorite animal of all time! In fact, I could talk about hamsters all day! Except, this design assignment says otherwise.

I started by finding a background with a bunch of hearts on it, then slapped a bunch of choice hamster stickers on it, and finally put a nice title on it. I like it!

I actually love hamsters, mind you.

I redid this assignment because the motto of my life is still “I Hate People” but I recreated the picture using a background of a sunset that I took some years ago, back in 2916 to be exact, when I was in the car driving around with my mom. It’s a really beautiful sunset picture that captured the picturesque romantic loving mood which made it all the better for this assignment. Using my own background added that extra personal touch that I didn’t use the last time.

Create some sort of graphic. Design the overall graphic to convey some sort of feeling or theme, but then have text saying something completely contradictory to the theme or feeling. Sort of like one of those old anti-motivational posters, but with more design than a black box with a white frame.

https://assignments.ds106.us/assignments/contradiction-creation/

I had fun with this assignment! I used Canva to create this. First, I searched for an image that I thought would convey peace and tranquility. Then, I thought of something simple and negative that would contradict the theme of the photo. I liked how it turned out!

I usually try using contradictions as humor, and this assignment is perfect for that; create a glorious contradiction. I created this glorious image by finding a freely usable image of a rotting Coelacanth on Wikipedia, and used MS Paint to add text describing injecting the cold, rotting flesh and juicy preservatives as a great, crunchy midnight snack.

Here’s the original assignment: http://assignments.ds106.us/assignments/contradiction-creation/

This assignment was actually very creative. I enjoyed the idea to have a beautiful picture but a depressing or negative quote. I wanted this to be related to the 1980s so I had a picture from 1980s California. Just look at the scenery. The palm trees, the blue sky, the still ocean, the cars parked together, the sun out. If you’ve been to the beach you understand the calmness that hovers over you. However, the quote just ruins the whole picture, just like having a bad haircut can ruin your day. Who wants to think of themselves dying anytime soon? It’s depressing.

For this assignment, Contradiction Creation, I went to Google and searched for a beautiful landscape. I saved the image and then used my old friend Pixlr to add the text. For the text, I used the Print Clearly font. I downloaded the new image and then embedded it using the Image button.