Edison's Brightest Invention

This design based on a famous technological invention is from my first Digital Media Course.

The illustration here is called “Edison’s Brightest Invention.” In my first digital media class, I was assigned to create a poster for a famous technological invention. I chose what I thought was the most influential and still relevant invention, Thomas Edison’s incandescent light bulb. In this design, I wanted to bring light, if you will, to the times from which it occurred. What I believed to be the most interesting thing about Edison and his bulb was how long before other pivotal technological inventions it was, so I sought to try and draw on those themes. I began making sketches of his bulb and other models he had drawn in Adobe Illustrator, and I decided to use them in the background like blueprints. I also wanted to create a sense of change and suddenness, and I thought, what better way than by using light? So, I created an illustration of Edison holding a brightly colored bulb and used a flare to create a bright glow illuminating his figure. This symbolizes the sudden and massive change from dark to light, much like the flip of a switch changing the room and the world. The contrast of bright yellows and dark blues plays well in creating this contrasting idea of change, from old to new, worse to better, and darkness to light.