Icarus
The Greek myth of Icarus tells of Daedalus, who built a labyrinth for a king and was later imprisoned with his son, Icarus, to keep its secrets hidden. To escape, they made wings from feathers and wax and flew away. Despite his father’s warning, Icarus flew too close to the sun, melting the wax and causing him to fall to his death in the sea.
Project
Create a triptych and poster series that captures three key themes from the story of Icarus. Then design a final poster that tells the story in a single image without using any words.
Source imagery
First, I gathered images that represented the story both literally and symbolically, focusing on themes of imprisonment, escape, and flight.
Action words
Next I chose three action words that would set the premise for my triptych. Prison, Escape, and Tragedy.
3 Compositions
Use action words—prison, escape, and tragedy—along with lines and circles, applying opacity, layering, and transparency to develop each concept.
3 Compositions
Add a distorted or altered form to your composition, then rearrange it to create strong visual relationships with the existing elements.
Mass media image
Next, I was asked to find an image that directly reflected the story. I chose the Colditz Cock, a glider built by British prisoners of war during an escape attempt from Oflag IV-C (Colditz Castle) in Germany.
3 Compositions
Experiment with manipulating a mass media image within a square format, exploring how each change alters its meaning and impact.
Typography
I chose the quote “Like a bird…” because I appreciated its simple, literal expression of Icarus’s flight.
Triptych
Representing my action words Prison, Escape, and Tragedy
Prison
Escape
Tragedy
Final Poster
For my final poster, I depicted Icarus following his father out of the prison. The large circle represents Daedalus watching over him, while the smaller circle shows Icarus being released into the open sky. The letterform suggests the shape of a body, and the lines create a wingspan. The Colditz Cock image is used as a photographic element, broken apart and reconfigured to fit the composition.