Calligram

My Calligram 
 

    This piece was made on Adobe Illustrator. I had never used Illustrator before this, but it was simple to learn to use. I have made something similar to a calligram in my Computer Art class that I took my senior year, but that was on PhotoShop. This calligram was based on a picture that was taken after I made my commitment to come to the University of Tampa. This photo is a reminder of such a good day which is why I wanted to pair it with the text. 

   The text is a letter I wrote to myself but in 20 years. The full letter will be below. The letter came as a struggle for me to write. I didn't know what I wanted to say, the first reaction I had was to ask questions, but that's not it. I decided to wish myself well and define my hopes for the future. I described how I wanted my future to look. 

    The process of creating this piece was to first write the letter. I then imported my photo onto Illustrator and then I outlined it with the pen tools. I focused on utilizing the curve pen tool. This made creating my arms very easy along with the shirt. I then went in and added my text. I used the type on the path tool for the majority of the calligram, but I used the envelope distortion on my facial features. The letter begins on my left eyebrow and reads from left to right. My letter moves down my face before going to my shirt. It continues on my left arm and finishes on my right arm. I tried to keep it as simple and readable as I could in order for the viewer to make out the text. 

    The hardest part of this was using the pen tools and getting them to cooperate. I really enjoy how it came out and the color palette that I used. I'm really proud of myself for this piece. 

My Picture

My Letter 

Dear Bella, 

I hope this letter finds you well. I hope things are better. I hope the world is in a better state. I hope Covid-19 is a thing of the past. I hope our country and government are doing better. I want things to be better. It’s been hard dealing with bad news every single day. It seems that bad news is just something to expect, which is a terrible thing to say. 

Anyway, how are we doing? Did we make it through college (I hope so)? Did we get a big job like we wanted? Are we happy? Is there someone special in our life? How is Hazel? How are the family? How are the Patriots?

There are so many questions that I can ask, but yet not enough. I know I will finish this and kick myself for not asking another question. I need to not ask all these questions, but I can’t help it. We’re curious, but it is in our human nature that we are. It’s hard to refrain from being curious in a situation like this, writing a letter to your future self. It seems easy but is actually quite challenging. It’s hard to sit down and think about the future sometimes. Thinking about your future is hard. 

My ideas and wishes for the future are rather simple. I want 6 things, happiness, a good job, to be proud of where my life is at. a place to live, success, and support. I want to be happy because that is something, we’ve worked very hard to find and I don’t want us to lose that. I want a good job so I can support myself and feel good about the work I have done. I want to be proud of the work that I am doing. I want a place to live because we all deserve shelter. It is a basic human need. I hope to find success in what I am working it. I want to feel successful where I am at. I want to have a good support system like the one we have now. I hope we can maintain that support system and have others join our support system. 

These all may seem simple, but it is quite hard to obtain these. I know we can work hard and achieve these goals of mine. We’ve worked hard to get where we are. I hope you’re proud of that. I know I am. 

Bella, make sure we live our life to its fullest. Don’t get caught up in all the work and drama. Look at the adventures, life is a beautiful thing. We need to recognize it and take advantage of the life we have all while being grateful for it. 

I know we’ll get through this. We got this. 

Here’s looking at you kid,

Bella