Research
The research of this assignment was to learn about Gestalt principles first of all. The instructor gave us a lecture about the principles and finished it up with an explanation of the Exercise. I went through the PowerPoint again and the assignment description to get some clear ideas about the project. Briefly, this assignment was designed to explore paper layering techniques to emphasize and exaggerate a sense of depth and space. We were to create a composition in greyscale cardstock that visually illustrates our space. Using a minimum of 5 flat layers of paper, we were supposed to explore the principle of scale to convey foreground, middle-ground, and background.
Exercise
For the first part of the Exercise, we had to select five fonts for our initials. The fonts should provide a chance to use the negative space to hide an image in its negative space that reflects our personalities and something about ourselves. The first word that comes to my mind when I think about myself has always been ‘soccer,’ which has been my favorite thing and played an important role in my life. I started thinking about how I was going to design my initial ‘B’ with characteristics of soccer. Then I came up with an idea to fill the negative space of the initial up with a soccer ball and a leg kicking the ball.
I first created a design that did not follow the rubric; I tried to connect all parts together so that I would come out as one piece when I used the laser cutter. As in the image below, I connected the ball and the leg with the word soccer to make it one piece.
However, I realized that the puzzle should have a maximum number of ‘three parts’ (3 per letter form). I did not fully understand the meaning of the three parts, but when I had one on one review with the instructor, I knew my puzzle had more than three parts. So I removed the word ‘soccer’ and the logos to meet the requirements. After fixing some design errors with the instructor, I finally created the puzzle of my initial that communicated something about me, and it was ready to be cut.
The cutting process must have been more straightforward than I had experienced before. Still, I had some technical issues using the laser cutter that delayed the process, and I had to reserve another appointment for the machine. However, I utilized the cutter to print the puzzle out and successfully finished the Exercise.
Iterations
Due to illness, I missed a class and had to ask one of my friends for catchup, and I had to complete my own research. Since the project was about creating deep space, I started thinking about what scene or element would visualize a sense of deep depth. Sky (space) and ocean were the first two things that came to my mind that strongly relates to deep space. Thus, I began to create sceneries with five layers using Illustrator.
The first scene was the deep ocean where oceanic organisms exist, such as coral reefs, starfish, and clams.
The second scene was four layers of mountains with the sun on the top of the composition.
These two compositions were rough drafts, and I just explored some of my ideas on them.
Then I created another composition where the village and the Eiffel Tower exist together. I simply trace the image using Illustrator. The purpose of this composition was to see how different elements look together.
It took some time to create these three compositions, and my progress was a little later than other students; however, after carefully reviewing my scenes, I was able to move on to my final composition quickly. I decided to create a final composition by combining my second and third compositions together. The theme was traveling, which is my favorite thing to do. I decided the theme to be reflecting my personality (hobby), which I gained inspiration from the Exercise. Things (building/ architectures) in my composition are places where I have visited before. Things I decided to include in the scene:
- First layer
- A plane
- It’s the transportation I use when traveling. I believe this element fits best with my theme.
- Plants and Sky (clouds)
- They are the frame of the first layer. They provide a strong sense of scenery and boost the traveling theme as well.
- A plane
- Second layer
- Tower Bridge
- I wanted the second layer to be expressed as a river, and it was one of the most beautiful architectures I’ve ever seen.
- Tower Bridge
- Third layer
- Opera House
- It is located near the ocean, so I put it above the first layer
- European-styled houses and a windmill: They convey a sense of European feeling that I’ve been missing so much
- Opera House
- Fourth layer
- Effiel Tower and Christ the Redeemer
- They are also one of my favorite architecture I’ve seen in person. The reason I put them in the fourth layer was that these two would create deeper depth; these architectures are big and tall, and by making them look small and putting them behind, it would seem like to have a deeper depth.
- Effiel Tower and Christ the Redeemer
Productions
I created all layer files on Illustrator and made them ready to be cut; they were all vectorized, 0.072 pt, and black stroke with transparent fill. Then I began to gather the materials I needed. All I needed were greyscale papers and cardboard for the box frame. I luckily was able to get the greyscale papers from my friends and cardboard from Hopkins Hall for free. My cut-out file was originally 12×12 inches, but since the paper was 12×8.5 inches, I reduced the file size to 8×8 inches. Everything seemed perfect at this point, but I was unable to reserve the laser cutter due to being full of reservations. I definitely was complacent as I thought there would be plenty of available times for the machine. I have to make sure to be proactive next time. What I did to get access to the laser cutter was wait for the person to be done and use it. The appointments were hourly, and people kept coming in for their reservations, so I had to stop the process and continue. It took much time for the cutting process due to stopping and resuming, but I was successfully able to get the cut the five layers out with the greyscale papers.
I needed something that would hold the five papers together and decided to make a box with the cardboard. Using laser cutting, I made four of 2X8 inches of cardboard. For each cardboard, I draw five parallel lines with equal distance and gently cut them using a knife to put the five papers into the lines. I combined the three cardboard first using glue then inserted papers into the gap. Then I put the other cardboard on top of it to finish the composition.
Concept Statement
My composition is based on famous architectures and buildings where I visited before. Traveling is one of my favorite things to do, and I decided to express my hobby by layering a space of five layers. The primary element of the first layer is a plane, which is flying in the sky with clouds around and grass underneath. I wanted to depict the river and ground simultaneously, so I had the second layer with Tower Bridge in the middle. The third layer is layered with an Opera House, a windmill, and European-style houses because the Opera House and these architectures are usually located near a river, so I layered them above the first layer where the river is. The fourth layer is mainly based on two worldwide landmarks I visited, Christ The Redeemer and the Eiffel Tower. They were placed higher than other buildings in other layers because not only are they tall and big, but they also are the top(high)-ranked landmarks I have visited. The last layer is mainly the Sky with four clouds. The Sky is so deep and endless as it leads to the universe, and since the theme of the assignment is deep space by layering compositions, I believed it would be best to make the fifth layer with the Sky and clouds. I made the layers with greyscale paper, with the first layer brightest and the last layer darkest.