I first started with an idea of silhouettes for my header image because I didn’t want to put a “face” on my website just yet. The most prominent image within my header image is “Silhouette” by Mike Campbell, CC-licensed, via Flickr.
This image was chosen because visually, it shows human silhouettes against a dark red background. Representing unrecognizable people (because of the silhouette) being surrounded by energy, danger, and power (because the color “red” symbolizes these things). Because you can’t make out who the humans are in the image, they’re almost like “cut-outs” where you can insert almost anybody in their place, no matter who they are.
Looking at the header you cannot make out any faces or expressions but you can tell each human is different and playing a unique role in the image. Because my website will be about different people and the role they place in our society, it fits the header image well.
These “unrecognizable people” in the header can be anybody from the different groups I’m looking to interview and show on my website, surrounded by energy, both positive and negative. They’re also surrounded by danger because they live in a difficult world with divisive rhetoric. But, these unrecognizable humans are also surrounded by power, because there’s so much opportunity in the world around them that they can potentially seize for themselves.
I coupled “Silhouette” with text images of the Sneakers Script Medium font I found on Typekit. I used the vertical text tool in Adobe Illustrator to write upright like you see in the header. I choose this specific font because it was blocky enough that it almost looked like they were another human silhouette in the image. I did this purposely because, in a way, words are humans too. Coupled together into sentences they have personality and can tell a story.
With words and humans, this website is on a mission to tell a bigger narrative.
Humans of Dirty Jersey 