Greetings From Marilyn Monroe
Greetings From Marilyn Monroe is a series of surrealist and conceptually-based postcards depicting the life of Marilyn Monroe.
Those looking to learn about Marilyn Monroe’s life through the lens of analogies.
Monroe, always looking for fulfillment, had several goals and aspirations in life that were unmet. Much like traveling with no destination, I created a series of handwritten postcards that reveal what her life was like outside of media representation. Each of these postcards contains a personal, handwritten message representing Monroe's values, hardships, and lifestyle choices.
The colors, image style, and collage method aim to display Marilyn Monroe's life through an unfiltered lens. She was depicted through the media as a happy and inspiring model, but secretly craved love, compassion, and emotional fulfillment. Each card contains halftoned images and a contrasting color palette to emphasize Monroe’s real feelings, without the mask.
To start this process, I conducted in-depth research about Monroe’s pop culture representation, lifestyle, and analogies that relate to her core values. I soon discovered that her happy and positive depictions were not always her reality.I found that Monroe had distinct values around emotional fulfillment, such as love, kindness, and compassion. I then created a moodboard complete with type, image style, and a warm color palette that emphasized my findings.
Early IterationsI began to create several iterations that followed the parameters of my moodboard, but I felt that these did not display Monroe’s warm and emotional side.
To add a more personal touch, I created a typeface from my own handwriting and decided to experiment with a postcard format. I also experimented with more image collaging and a halftone effect. This helped to depict a sense of Monroe’s sad reality, appearing almost like a mask. Each card now had handwritten notes to enhance the collaged imagery, allowing them to feel more vintage.