Research
For the research aspect of this project, the class was only allowed to work with shape and line but only with circles, triangles, and squares to create a bunch of compositions. These compositions would later go on to inspire the final product for this project. So, I researched how these different shapes interacted like how they are applied in the real world. Many countries use simple lines and shapes in their flags, companies do it within their logos, and it’s the same for articles of clothing as well. All of these examples use simple shape forms and line usage to effectively convey what their goal is. From there I had one exercise with two parts, analogously and digitally. To create six boxes equally spaced on an 11×17” sheet of Bristol with six different compositions following the previously mentioned rules.
Within the Shape Grammar assignment, I was challenged first to create a template of six, 3×3” squares, evenly spaced within an 11×17” Bristol sheet of paper. Then I had to make circles, squares, and equilateral triangles of half-inch measurements to create designs exploring points, lines, and our nine principles. I started first off by creating multiple replicas of the template and randomly creating designs. First with squares only, then with triangles, and lastly with circles. I then explored and played around with a combination of multiple shapes. After filling out multiple templates we brought them into class and discussed what principles they demonstrate, as well as what feeling they exert onto the viewer. After our first-in-class discussion, I wasn’t happy with my designs and I felt I could do much better. While working and creating designs by hand, I was working simultaneously with the digital version of the project which was the same idea. The whole time I had felt more confident and more artistically free while working digitally. So, after struggling the first go around with designs I went back to the digital templates, taking what I learned in class and tried to push the boundaries, and ended up creating multiple more designs that I felt were much stronger. In my final project, I only used one design from my original iterations and ended up using five designs that I created in my second go-around of iterations. I then found it much easier to assign each design a primary principle and sensory feeling. Below is the final product of the exercise while the creation of the iterations can be found in the iterations section below.
Exercise 1: Analog
Exercise 1: Digital
Iterations
All of these iterations for both the analog and digital parts of the exercise were done digitally
Production
For the final project, the goal was to take one of our final iterations and transfer it to an 8×8” cardstock. One would be a cutout of white shapes onto black cardstock and the other being the inverse. I struggled at first to figure out which iteration I felt was most confident. After assigning principles to each as well as sensational feelings I felt that the design pictured below was my strongest and most confident image as it strongly communicated multiple principles and strong sensational feelings.
Portfolio Project
View final project at Shape Grammar Project