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Statement of Intent

  For our redesign of Chess, my partner, Emerson, and I explore the everlasting conflict between the capitalist nature of our society and the necessity of respect for nature and the reality of human impacts on the environment. Elements of shape and form take the forefront in the overall design, in combination with contrast and texture to communicate each of our chosen forms and their relationships to one another. We collaborated closely with each other throughout the design process, brainstorming and combining our ideas for pieces on either side of the board. Each piece is a representation of either side of various societal issues affecting the planet, following the hierarchy followed by traditional chess pieces. One side is a display of the roots of these issues within consumerist ideals, the other being nature’s consequences of such practices and its opposing efforts. The individual forms are chosen from our various ideas based on how their shape and movement relates to and hints to the characteristics of pieces in the traditional game of Chess. Collaborating in this way allowed us to each build pieces for either side of the board from our own interpretations, while maintaining a sense of harmony throughout the completed set. Our primary material was wood, which makes up the primary forms of each piece. We especially featured the wood on the sustainability-focused side of the board, which became an interesting way to weave our concept into materiality. We furthered this idea with a simple coat of black paint on certain pieces within the consumerist-inspired side of the game, giving them a more modern appearance, almost suggesting an ignorance to the true issues shown on the opposing side. I also applied recycled newsprint to the bursts coming from each of the queens, the megaphone and gavel, to emphasize this key piece in the game while providing an abstraction to the different uses and interpretations of information from opposing sides of environmental issues. In these overlaps between concept and materiality, the set all together creates a bold back-and-forth narrative from the use of intentional detailing that emphasizes aspects key to its design. 

Ideation

My partner and I began harnessing ideas by creating a shared document, which I’ve found over this year to be the best way to get ideas flowing, especially in a group. Because I had minimal knowledge of Chess going into this project, I did some of my own research on the concepts and rules of the game, and even downloaded an app version to get a better understanding of how each piece works. I also did some research into the history and context of the pieces, and how their concepts relate to their role in the game.

 

 

My partner and I were able to apply this information to our brainstorming as well when deciding what each piece would be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once we were at a good place with potential ideas and understanding of the game of chess, we began focusing more on one of the main objectives of this project; to build all of our pieces in slice forms. We did some initial practice with different forms from templates provided in class, and did some individual research to figure out how to create some of the forms we were planning to use.

 

We were able to decide on our final concept after this research and sketching out the ideas we were both interested in. After comparing notes  and sketches on our concepts, we decided to move forward with Sustainability vs. Consumerism for our final chess set.

[Final sketches comparing two possibilities]

Iteration/ Production

After deciding on our final concept, we went through our ideas of pieces and chose what forms we wanted each piece to be represented by. We explored how to translate our chosen pieces into slice forms, sketching out what these pieces might look like and come together. We compared the models and sketches we each came up with during class meetings, and were able to make the decisions about who would create which pieces based on what we each felt most confident with. We were both interested in the pieces and concepts across both sides of the game, so we ended up each creating pieces for both sides.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Slice form sketches]

This, along with the models created in ideation, allowed us to identify areas of strength and potential improvement in our forms, and start creating illustrator files for further testing on the Cricut machines.

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The Cricut process, although not the most precise in terms of cleanly cutting smaller-scale shapes, did help us further any adjustments needed to our slice forms and begin production of our final pieces. Certain forms turned out successfully, but others were too slender, such as the graph pictured above, for example.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When discussing materials, our focus was on applying materiality that would blend clearly with our concept. Repurposed and or/natural materials were the best direction to go in order to achieve this, and we experimented with applying details and texture using a variety of previously discarded materials, including plastic bags, recycled paper, foam, among others. This also brought in the idea of color, due to the natural color variations that might come with recycled materials. We also thought that color could be an interesting way to distinguish the two sides of the board. Ideas about some of these details can also be seen in the slice from sketches depicted earlier in Iteration.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After considering these possibilities, we decided due to the small scale of the chess pieces that it would be more beneficial to the overall composition to go with a slightly cleaner, more minimalistic look. Having too much variety on such a small scale could easily overwhelm the viewer or player, and potentially make the pieces harder to distinguish. We decided to use wood as our final material, as it offered a simple, yet natural look. With this decision, I took both my partner and I’s files to be laser cut.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When purchasing wood, I chose a type that was relatively thin that would be able to be hand cut in case it was needed, due to limited laser cutter access. While this did end up being a fortunate decision, as I had to hand-cut certain pieces that I was unable to my partner’s and some of mine, it did point out the importance of communication on both of our ends, as my partner had planned her files for thicker wood than I had been planning mine for. However, due to the possibility of the need for hand cutting and adhesive applications, we were able to work around this and it ended up working out. Looking back, I would have used the same thickness of wood used for our bases and cloud piece, which needed a thicker form to balance on. Although the wood we used was a safer option in the circumstance of this project in that it could be hand-cut, it was much more fragile than we were expecting. However, we managed to make our pieces work and come together as well as possible, as we were unable to obtain or cut from different wood. I did have to sacrifice a few of the detail forms on my gavel, however, but the form and overall shape still remained present.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To distinguish the contrast between our two sides, we decided on the addition of black paint to certain pieces representing consumeristic concepts. The gave them a sleek, less natural look, especially with the idea of covering the natural wood grain. This was also a way to draw attention to and bring about contrast in certain pieces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bishop also ended up being a key component in this play with contrast, especially with  its character as a sneakier piece. We painted the dead tree within its full form black, which contrasted with the rest of the piece’s light wood and was further emphasized by the brittle effect created by the laser cutter on the dead tree branches.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This addition further tied in the concepts behind the pieces themselves, as the intention behind them is to represent government regulations in opposition to the spread of information and truth. After these final detailing steps, I secured my pieces to their bases with hot glue for added stability.

Following these steps, my pieces were ready to be paired with my partner’s for a game of chess!

Reflection

With this project, I definitely took away some valuable lessons, especially when it comes to navigating potential challenges that can come with working collaboratively. Overall, this was likely the project that I struggled most with throughout the past two semesters. My partner and I were able to generate strong concepts together, but ran into some roadblocks when it came to communication and collaboration throughout the production process, and what our goals for the final product were. The added requirement of creating our pieces in slice forms, while interesting and exciting, unfortunately made reaching a satisfying set more challenging an additional way. This experience definitely tested me as a designer, and, despite this, I still feel sene of success in having been able to produce a cohesive outcome. Our complete set of pieces come together on the board in harmony, brought together by a simple range of materials and use of simple, recognizable forms. The contrast between the light wood and black paint also creates a striking effect between the pieces, and is an element I’m glad we were able to reach a consensus on. It’s often challenging projects like these that make me even more determined to continue to strive to be a better designer, and increase my confidence in my ability to take on any future challenges that come about in more informed and experienced ways.

Portfolio Project

The page showcasing my final Checkmate project can be found through the link below!

Checkmate

 

Statement of Intent

My mentor, Abby, is a second-year Interior Design major, which is the program I will be applying to as well. While we were only able to meet up once, I felt that I was able to gather a lot about not only her design preferences and material tastes but who she is as a person and her values as well. This was also aided by communication through text, and social media, from which I found aspects of my inspiration and insight into her interests and design preferences. I wanted to take a very practical and empathetic approach to this project, while still aiming to explore new techniques and materials. One of the most important things to her as a designer is sustainability, so this was the aspect I made my number-one priority in this project. I also wanted to keep her interests in music and collecting vinyl records, and her design tastes and love for thrifting in mind throughout my process.  After exploring various ideas around materiality and possible final products, I decided to create a set of unique drinking glasses with an accompanying carrier, all from recycled materials. Following various iterations, tests, and explorations, the final glasses are a set of four repurposed mason jars, engraved with a custom pattern, with a foldable carrier and box constructed from thrifted vinyl record covers. I used her cat’s unique markings to create the shape within the pattern, drawing additional inspiration from the movement and form of mid-century patterning techniques. This addition drew in a personal element, while still blending seamlessly with and adding to the complexity of the design as a whole. One of the thrifted record covers featured a cat’s face, which I used in different places on the carrier’s exterior to give a subtle hint to the detail on the glasses. The use of repurposed and reimagined materials combined with modern techniques prioritizes sustainability and offers a reveal similar to uncovering a hidden treasure at a vintage store, while creating meaningful dialog between the packaging and the gift itself. 

 

Ideation

I started off my ideation process was getting in touch with my mentor! We arranged a time to meet up for coffee, and ended up having a lot in common, which meant I was able to really understand and resonate with many of the things that inspire and are important to her.  Based on what I gathered from this meeting, I was able to come up with an outline for potential concepts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After class discussions and exercises, I felt that I gained a better understanding and perspective of the impacts packaging can have on the perception, and even use of a product, which was an important piece for consideration in the design of my gift. Keeping this in mind, I continued building upon my concepts,  informed by conversations and mini-reviews with my instructors and peers. I also created sketches for what I imagined some of my ideas could look like.

 

 

 

 

From here, I  began crating physical models from my sketches, which I was able to get feedback on when we conducted a small peer review of our models during as a class. These models included two iterations of glass sets and carriers, as well as a tote bag and record display and holder. A few of my classmates who were knowledgeable about vinyl, unlike myself, were able to give me the little (big) tip in our review that records can not be stacked the way I had modeled below, but instead to be stored vertically. Luckily, I was already starting to be drawn in other directions not as directly related to my mentors love for vinyl, although it was a fun concept to explore!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Following discussion with my instructors and reaching a point of feeling that I had reliable options if things did not work out, I decided to take the slightly riskier route of creating a glassware set for my final gift. Creating a completely new piece or set from recycled glass scraps would not be an option due to not only time constraints, but accessibility and practicality of the necessary processes. However, I was prompted by my instructors and by my research to look into other ways to work with glass to achieve a result similar to what I was aiming for in initial ideations.

 

Iteration & Production

 

I began the production process by collecting materials, which is something I knew would be an interesting part of the process, as my primary material was glass, repurpose-able  glass, specifically. One of the possibilities I was prompted to look into that really struck my interest was repurposing empty wine bottles into glasses. I researched into the different shapes and types of wine bottles, and created some preliminary sketches for what the resulting glasses could look like. Because I would not be able to incorporate a custom element through traditional glass working methods, I shifted my focus towards etching pattern into the glass as a possibility.

 

As I was searching for my materials to begin final production, I explored with the previously mentioned addition of pattern into my composition. Something I noticed when I was getting to know Abby during our meeting, in addition to her love for her pets, was the distinct marking on her cat’s forehead. When considering pattern, I decided to play with the form of this marking using patterning techniques on Illustrator. I kept mid-century and retro-inspired characteristics in mind when creating this pattern, as this is one of the sources of  inspiration that Abby shared her interest in with me.

This was a relatively quick and spur-of-the-moment part of my process that would end up becoming the central anchor for the gift as a whole, as I was excited about the possibility of  etching this pattern into the glass set, which would add a unique and personal touch. Feeling confident in this direction, I worked on figuring out how to obtain the materials I would need. Because wine bottles were difficult to come across, especially when attempting to create a coordinated set, I ended up investing part of my budget into four soda bottles that I liked the shape and size of. After researching the best methods for removing the tops from bottles, I got started with the process by scoring around the circumference of the bottles. I was lucky enough to have access to a laser cutter with a rotary insert, which allowed me to easily achieve this.

 

 

Next was the more nerve-wracking part of the process. Following what I found in research carefully, I set up a system of exchanging the scored lines of the bottles between hot and cold in short intervals. This ideally allows the tops of the bottles to snap off in a clean line. However, this process proved to be for those with more experience, as every one of the bottles ended up breaking far beyond their  score lines. This was not helped with sanding, as it almost seemed to make the jagged edges more of a concern, in addition to causing more breakages.

 

Due to the limited budget of $15, which I had already spent half of, I couldn’t risk more attempts, or the time for this technique. I had to rethink my options, and even considered moving on to one of my alternative plans. However, after looking through what I had in my own home, I was able to find multiple mason jars that had been untouched, and decided that they would serve the purpose intended for my concept. I considered repeating the technique above to remove the screw tops, but I had a limited number to work with and decided that I had already taken the risk that this project’s time frame allowed. Keeping the original form of the mason jars, while not originally intended, ended up being a reinforcement of the repurposing part of my concept. From here, I went ahead and added my pattern to the mason jars with the same laser cutter technique used to score the bottles, but instead with etching. This required some brief calculating of the circumference of the jars that needed to be etched, and fitting the pattern to this size in the laser cutter’s software.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The etching turned out even better than I expected, as this was a new process for me, especially with a design that had to stretch the full circumference of the glass. Because the main component of my gift was complete, I moved on to what the container would look like. Referring back to my earlier sketches, I was aiming to create a carrier that would allow the  the glasses to remain the featured element. After searching for potential materials other than wood, which I was not confident would give the design what it needed, I looked into potential wire carriers. This material would complement the shine and texture of the glass, while still allowing them to be always visible. I found a wire carrier for under $1 at a thrift store, and looked into ways I could restructure it to take the form I wanted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, the process of cutting and reshaping this type of wire would have been a stretch in the time frame of the project, and I was advised to look into alternatives. At first, I was disappointed in this outcome, but eventually came to understand why alternate carrier designs would be the better way to go. Keeping sustainability at the forefront, I found inspiration for foldable drink carriers, which are typically meant for wine or beer bottles, although I was able to adapt their basic concepts to fit my project.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most of these carriers are constructed from cardboard or heavy paper materials, and I knew a set of four glasses would require a material with this type of stability. However, I wanted to tie in my mentor and the gift itself into the packaging as much as possible. With this issue in mind, I came up with the idea to construct and design a carrier entirely from thrifted record covers, which were my second material used in my composition.  I found a collection of random, and cheaply priced records at a local thrift store, choosing them primarily based on their color schemes and imagery and how they might coordinate with the design. The cat was an especially valuable find, as it would become a way to subtly tie together the gift and its packaging. Using images of the records I found I was able to create a basic layout for what the carrier could look like, guided by the standard 12×12 size of record covers.

 

 

After receiving feedback from classmates, I decided to alter the design to one that would better encapsulate and compliment the gift. From here, I started the design and construction of my final carrier.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A central box contains the glasses, with diagonally crossed dividers that pay mind to the movement of the pattern on the glasses. The carrier’s side panels also come up higher proportionally to the base and glasses, which is something I felt elevated and balanced out the form slightly.

I started the construction process with the box, using the proportions of my model above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, I used my model net to begin building the full-size carrier. I created a basic layout with measurements of it as well, so that I could arrange and secure the various pieces of record covers with intentionality and to the correct measurements.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once each piece of the various record covers was secured using hot glue, my third and final material in this project, my mentor’s gift was complete and ready to be presented!

Reflection

This project was challenging, yet exciting in so many ways that I had had yet to experience before its start. The main aspect of the project that really made it so unique was the fact that that it was our first time designing for a real-life client other than ourselves, besides the usual project objectives. The constraints of this project also allowed for wider exploration of materials, especially since each person’s concepts were so vastly different. I feel that I really took risk and explored in materiality with this project, and although not everything went exactly as planned, especially with the bottle cutting technique, these processes still led my work in a slightly different, but equally as unique direction. This also goes for the packaging of my mentor’s gift, for which I originally planned to use a more elegant wire material, but instead used vintage vinyl covers that not only fit with my mentor’s interests, but tied perfectly into my overall concept. It was also such a rewarding thing to see my mentor’s reaction to their gift, and just to see my work having a positive impact on people, no matter how small that impact is and even if it’s just for a brief amount of time.

 

Portfolio Project

The page showcasing my final Gifting Design  project can be found through the link below!

Gifting Design

 

Statement of Intent/ Concept Statement

With this stop-motion production, my partner for this project and I aimed to emphasize the simultaneous contrasts and similarities between our two songs. After exploring our combined  music selections, Cynthia chose to use the song Atom by Sleeping at Last and I chose Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns, both classical songs that have many interesting parallels to dive into. The video begins with two paths of squiggles extending out from diagonal opposite corners of the frame, both slightly different, yet still organic in form. The paths converge in a spiral together, before disappearing and bursting into a combination of the two energies, each returning to their initial starting points. The sequence of frames is designed to show the coming together of these two songs, and most heavily employs qualities of movement, form, and contrast to create a visual depiction of the ways they combine and diverge at different points within the music. The video begins with two squiggles extending out from diagonal opposite corners of the frame, both slightly different, yet still organic in form. The paths converge in a spiral together, before disappearing and bursting into a combination of the two energies before dissipating back to their initial starting points. We each choose a color to represent our song, Carnival of the Animals being represented by a light, airy blue, and Atom being represented by a brighter pink tone. These color decisions were primarily made based on the energies of the two songs, as the blue communicates the serene, more traditional and almost somber energy of Carnival of the Animals, whereas the pink communicates the more energetic, contemporary interpretation of classical music found in Atom. The two colors also provide a strong contrast to one another, yet still stand in harmony within a composition together and help to emphasize the core whimsical and almost elegant feel shared between the two classical pieces. 

 

Ideation

To start off the ideation process, my partner and I discussed our music tastes and types of music we each found interesting. We mainly focused our conversation around the energies we tend to be drawn to in music, and were able to find many of our commonalities there. Our music tastes were fairly different, but much of our suggestions referenced popular our memorable music from movies and TV shows, and how much it contributes to the feel of the production and can make something feel particularly memorable. One of the main commonalities we found was our shared love for listening to classical or instrumental music when studying or relaxing, and how this type of music also appears in certain films on our list. We were both especially inspired by the energy of the scores of the older Disney films we watched growing up, such as Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, The Aristocats, etc.

 

 

From our classical music selections we were able to identify one of the themes that influenced many of our design decisions throughout the project, which was a whimsical, softly flowing energy. We decided to focus on classical music for our song selections, as most of our combined interests led towards this route. Next, we created a collaborative Spotify playlist and added some of our favorite instrumental music songs, most of which we sourced from our respective study playlists.

 

 

The first exercise we did as a class focused on associations between shape and sound, specifically pertaining to examples shown in stop-motion animation formats. We were assigned to choose a song we were interested in and create our own visual depiction of the music using Illustrator. I chose the classical song Gymnopédie No.1 for the exercise, as it was one of the songs I was interested in for this project that had come up of Cynthia and I’s playlists as well.

 

 

We were given the opportunity in class to do some physical research into paper mechanics at Thompson Library, where we were able to see and play with books that utilized different “pop-up” -like mechanisms. When I was going through and looking at these many of them sparked my interest and it was definitely helpful to see the potential some of these applications had to potentially contribute to our design. We did additional in-class research on paper mechanics, where we used cutfoldtemplates.com, a website full of tutorials for different structures and individually chose some that could potentially work with some of the different songs we were considering.

 

 

 

Paper mechanics definitely had some interesting potential, however, after some testing with certain mechanics, my partner and I agreed that stop-motion animation resonated the most with our concept and the energy we were aiming to communicate.

 

Iteration and Production

 

We started the production of our final piece by continuing to brainstorm and record ideas, now with a more narrowed line of focus; stop motion inspired by two different instrumental songs. We each listened more to the songs we’d chosen, and were each able to narrow-down to two songs we were between by the time of our next class meeting. Both of the songs that we were each between ended up making perfect complementary pairs to one-another, so we discussed their most prominent similarities to help in making our decision. The two songs I had narrowed my focus to were Trois Gnossiennes and Carnival of the Animals, and my partner’s were titled I wanted to leave and Atom 1. The first of each of our pairs of songs possessed a slightly darker, even ominous energy, whereas the last two both took on the whimsical feelings we were both excited about. With this, Cynthia decided to use the song Atom 1, and I chose Carnival of the Animals.

 

 

With the Venn Diagram above is some visual comparisons between our songs, focusing on where/at what points their climaxes combine with different colors to represent each song. We really wanted to explore how we can depict the coming together we found between the songs in a composition. These sketches show how we started getting into the idea of squiggles and swirls, which led to us finding how these could be distinguished from one another, and what they’re coming together might look like. We also explored color, and how the energies and interpreted contexts of each song could be further translated into distinguishing colors. The image below shows my notes and sketches of shape movements associated with my song, as well as some of the forms and compositions we discussed for the combination of our songs.

 

 

Wanting to use materials we already had from previous projects, we chose colors based on our research from the color options in my supply of construction paper. We assigned a light , faded blue to my song and a brighter shade of pink to Cynthia’s song. Not only did these colors reflect our research, but they also compliment and somewhat oppose each-other visually while still communicating the same overall energy. In addition to colors, we planned to use separate backgrounds for each of our songs, white for mine and black for my partner’s. These color choices reference the more traditional, airy feel of  my song as opposed to the more contemporary feel of my partner’s. Each of our shapes would begin on their separate sides, then combine and bleed onto each-other’s backgrounds, as shown on the bottom right above. However, one of the colors in our composition being a fluorescent yellow-green that represents the glimmering, almost metallic sounds present in Atom 1 that we thought really blended with both of the songs and overall composition. This was especially a concern when we experimented with black light, as the effect not nearly as present on the white background as the black.

 

 

 

With this, we decided to keep the idea of the songs combining with each other from opposite sides, but to only use one background color for the entire composition. We decided on a black background in order to place a greater emphasis on the softness of the colors that would make up our shapes, and therefore the light and whimsical look as well.

 

 

This influenced our decision to no longer utilize black light, as the effect tended to be fairly insignificant given with the already strong contrast between the card stock and background. After making some of these major decisions we started on a rough draft of our composition to help us get a better feel for how our sides of the page would interact as well as any potential adjustments to make.

 

 

One of the main adjustments I made here was separating my shapes from one stretching path to separate squiggles, a decision that remained in further iterations and our final piece. This would have originally have been a part of the distinguishing characteristics between my shapes and my partner’s, but we felt that the differences in the energy levels and colors between our squiggles were enough to show their separation. This also helped balance out the overall composition. We next used plain printer paper to create another draft, which we practiced recording using the app “StopMotion”. We experimented here with adding more movement to the animation by slightly moving squiggles back and forth in between frames, as well as removing preceding parts of the squiggles paths (not sure what else to call them) as they moved further inward.

 

 

Linked below is a video of our draft of the spiraling portion of the composition. Here we added the previously mentioned movement to the animation, as well as a rough version of the “blob” that the two lines of squiggles explode into after disappearing to the center. This is a version of the ending shown in sketches pictured earlier in this post, as we wanted a way to show their combination into one mass consisting of each of their unique traits. This ending is something we really discovered through the process, and were really able to synthesize and depict the idea, even during filming of our final iterations.

 

My_Stop_Motion_Movie(2)

 

Once we felt confident in the direction we had taken the project, we each starting cutting out our individual sets of shapes using a simple hand process, which allowed us to make adjustments and changes to our shapes as we later worked together in person and discovered the ways they interacted with each other.

 

 

As a last-minute addition, we decided to add a “credits” scene to the end of our video. To do this we simply made an illustrator file of our text, using one of Adobe’s available fonts with similar attributes to the shapes within our production. Next, we used the Cricut machine to cut out over letters and animate the scene one word at a time during filming.

 

 

Reflection

 

Throughout this process, I was able to not only gain the experience of collaboration with a classmate, something new to me in design before this project, but was also able to a explore a different way of thinking about and approaching imagery. A lot of the driving concepts in this project were similar to those of the Shape Grammar project from last semester, so it was interesting to be able to strongly reapply and practice some of what I gathered from that project, still with the additional challenge of more layers, with interpretation of a progression or movement of energies that comes with taking inspiration from music. Some of the craft and production elements were also new and interesting to me, especially with my partner and I’s decision to use stop motion animation. This added an additional layer onto the learning outcomes of this project for us when it came to sourcing and planning out our means of production through different apps and learning the logistics of stop motion and how simple changes in each frame can create such effective visual impacts.

 

Portfolio Project

The page showcasing my partner and I’s final Dynamic Page project can be found through the link below!

Dynamic Page

Statement of Intent

For this project, our aim was to create a representation of the hidden (or not really so hidden) truths behind the carnival and its expansive history, and the aspects of this tradition that lie behind fragile facades beyond which we are not meant to see. The carousel was one of the earliest additions to the traditional carnival that is recognized widely across western societies today. As a result, although it has remained relatively consistent in its original concepts, style, and function, it has been present within much of the history of the carnival, with a view of both sides of the inner workings of its history. One of the main ways in which we emphasized these two contrasting realities in our design was through the use of bright, primary colors traditionally used within a carnival setting on the outer facade, and a dark, foreboding application of these colors accompanied by a heavy use of black on the interior.  By placing the structure on the head, the wearer takes the position of the insider; those behind or with knowledge of the less desirable aspects of the carnival’s past and present inner workings. The individual wearing the headpiece sees the brightly decorated horses seen by outsiders on the carousel as only skeletons, their gold poles worn and discolored. The decorative panels are impacted similarly by a clearer, more advantaged view, with the inner sides becoming either black or splotchy, with tape placed over the area on which they are attached; a suggestion of the temporary intention of such carnival structures. Those on the outside are able to get only a glimpse into the space behind the bright and colorful decoration on the exterior, only being able to truly see what lies behind if they take on the position of the wearer. They can also take a position above the wearer, where they would be able to gaze down into the space between the tent and outer panels, continuing to play into the idea of the ways in which those in higher positions keep their true intentions from those looking from plain view, even when the truths are right in front of them. 

 

Ideation

The ideation process was started in class by means of a timed exercise, in which each group created a body augmentation based on a randomly selected body part, concept, and aspect of the carnival setting. The three prompts my partner and I received were arms, “dirty money”, and ring toss. From this prompt, we had two hours to develop and construct an idea.

 

 

Following this exercise, we definitely had more of a grasp on the underlying concept of the project, and had a clearer idea of how to communicate such things through augmentation and costume ideas. Our next priority was to brainstorm our own ideas and concepts, which occurred mainly through quick sketching as we discussed.

 

 

We also looked into AI as a class, which attempted to use to build more inspiration. The results were definitely not as helpful as we maybe expected, but it was still an interesting exploration and something I kept on hand throughout this process. It was especially interesting to see some the characteristic visuals of these AI – generated images, specifically how when you looked closely at many of them, you can see sort of the the inner-workings, or places where images were almost stacked and pasted together. Something is always slightly “off” with the images, no matter how photorealistic or convincing they might be. I found this to be a notable conceptual overlap later on iteration.

 

 

We found that the concepts we were generating seemed to center primarily around the general hidden darkness behind the fun and idyllic facade of carnivals, and how these deceptions are truly different from the different perspectives we hold in society. We were especially interested in aspects of consumerism, exploitation, and how those most powerful, who don’t have the best interests of others in mind have used these things to create some of our fondest forms of entertainment. We were able to narrow-down our concepts to two potential options, which we created more in-depth sketches exploring.

 

 

The final ideas we were debating between were a more mechanical, roller-coaster inspired design that circled around the body, and a carousel-inspired hat, the inside and outside of which would be representative of the face-value presented to the masses by the carnival’s inner workings. After testing with the mechanics of the roller-coaster inspired concept, especially with a mechanism that might allow for two sides of an object to switch between each other seamlessly, we decided it would be more effective to continue on with our carousel-hat design, as we felt its concept was developing more strongly, and its mechanisms would be more attainable within the given timeline. We then began the process of further synthesizing this concept, and creating more sketches and plans for how we would kick-off production.

 

Iteration/Production

Production began with planning for which mechanisms we wanted to include, as well as how we would split up tasks to create our final product as efficiently as possible.

 

 

We decided that my partner would focus on building our spinning mechanism, while I would focus more on concept and design of the composition. We communicated back and forth during this process to make certain decisions, especially when it came to the sizing of the main octagon structure, which would hold the decorative panels and act as a support for the carousel horses to hang down from.

 

 

 

As my partner worked on the spinning mechanism of the carousel, I gathered inspiration and research into colors traditionally associated with the carnival, and other aesthetic aspects to influence the visual design of the carousel facade.  I ended up deciding to work with the three primary colors; red, yellow, and blue, to keep the design as typical and traditional of a carnival setting as possible. The aim of the outer face of the structure is to appear nostalgically and almost cartoonish and playfully recognizable, inspired by the typical associations one might have with a carousel and its place in the carnival setting as a whole. I also conducted further exploration with AI, just to see how certain characteristics might provide additional visual influence to our concept.

 

 

 

From here, I created Illustrator files for the designs of the decorative panels that would make up each side of the carousel’s octagonal overhead frame. We initially planned to print each panel and attach it to chipboard, but we decided to use layered paper instead, so as to minimize the weight of the structure. My partner ended up adding an additional set of supports on the interior of the outer frame, as we were concerned about the weight-bearing capabilities of the structure, especially when sitting on the head. I printed each of the panels, adjusting the files according to the sizing of the finished spinning mechanism to account for any uneven side lengths, potential gaps between panels, etc.

 

I also worked on testing and constructing the hat that would support the overall structure upon the head of the wearer, using recycled cardboard as one of our planar materials. I started with a cross-over design, which we decided would not be sturdy enough when compared to the main chipboard structure. However, using this same concept I was able to create a sturdier version of this using parts of chipboard layered with cardboard to create a more sturdy, square, yet still flexible design. This, combined with the hat’s adjustable back would allow for a flexible, yet sturdy structure that ended up supporting the final structure perfectly. I painted the cardboard red once this was finalized, as it would be openly visible from the outside, to create a coordinating, but not distracting background for the carousel horses in front.

 

 

I continued using the DALL-E art generator, and was able to generate a decent inmate of a carousel horse to use as a reference for tracing a silhouette on Illustrator. I added a pole to this outline, with two different lengths that would alternate to create the illusion of up-and-down movement when the spinning mechanism is activated. I used the laser cutter to cut sixteen of these outlines in total in chipboard, so that each side of the octagonal structure would have one horse with two separate sides.

 

 

 

Next, I used the same outlined horse silhouettes to create designs to print and attach to the chipboard horses, one a traditionally-styled carousel horse and the other a skeleton of a horse, as prototyped earlier in iteration, implementing the same primary color scheme and horse design used in the decorative panels. We decided to include four different horse color variations, just to add variety in a way that would maintain overall consistency through the still-identical costumes.

 

 

I then printed these designs, and we glued each to an individual chipboard horse cut-out, making sure each horse had a matching skeleton version of itself to be glued to the opposite  side of it’s pole. After attaching these to the chipboard poles that my partner hand-cut, I added rounded tips to the end of each pole and painted the front sides with a metallic gold paint, and the insides with a mix of metallic gold, black, and red to create a dark rusted, almost decaying look.

 

 

I also painted the underside of the main structural supports this same dark mix of colors, and painted the upper part of them, visible from a top view of the piece, the same red of the hat, just to continue this element of contrast throughout.

 

 

The horses were then strung onto the outstretching supports of the central spinning octagon, which allowed us to attach additional pieces between each support that would hold the decorative panels. Next, we attached the decorative panels after I resized them in Illustrator according to the side lengths of the octagon. We ended up being glad we chose not to create the panels with chipboard, as they ended up being slightly too heavy for the overlying structure. To help the panels stay as the glue we used dried, we attached some tape onto the back of each panel, which ended up being something we made permanent although not needed structurally, as it emphasized the aspect of our concept relating to the temporary nature of carnival structures, and their facade of permanence and stability. I later added streaks of black paint to the backs of these panels in addition to the tape, as we wanted to further emphasize this part of the concept if one were to peer into the interior of the carousel from above.

 

Our finalizing piece was the overhead tent, which we decided to construct from paper to keep the challenge of limiting materials. I initially wanted this to be an octagonal tent, and did some extensive tests of constructing a tent with this shape.

 

 

However, even with a perfect octagon as a net, the shape would not work as a tent for our structure, as it would only lay in a manner that covered too wide of an area and did not appear as desired when viewed from a front-facing view, as it is intended to be initially. Through my testing, I did notice that, although it didn’t work as an octagon, when I would remove sides and/or attempt to fold the structure, it worked almost perfectly as a hexagon. Although this shape was not a perfect fit with our base structure, it ended up looking exactly as my partner and I had wanted from a front-facing view.

 

 

 

After discussing and finalizing our design choices, we were able to attach these final elements and photograph the final product.

 

 

Reflection

Before starting this project, I was definitely feeling a mix of excitement to collaborate with one of my peers for the first time, and some suspense as to how this new way of working on and approach a progress would play out. The collaboration aspect definitely presented some challenges in the final production stages of our project, no matter how on top of our tasks my partner and I were, and definitely had both me and my partner questioning our project’s outlook at certain points, in all honesty. However, despite any unexpected design challenges we encountered and aspects of the physical project and concept that turned out differently than we might have expected, I feel that everything came together in unexpected ways that ended up being far more interesting both visually and conceptually than if this has been an independent project.

 

Portfolio Project

The page showcasing my final Body Augmentation project can be found through the link below!

Body Augmentation

Statement of Intent

 

With this project, my aim was to design and build a sketchbook for myself, using past experiences and research to prioritize functionality as well as personal preference. An additional priority I set for myself was to minimize the amount of materials purchased and used during production, remaining efficient and mindful about what I was using and why, making the most of recycled materials wherever possible.

 

Ideation

 

I began the ideation process by writing a quick “wish list” of elements I was looking for in my ideal sketchbook. This helped kick off some brainstorming and exploration with features and content.

 

 

Next, I dove into research and collecting inspiration. One of my main priorities was binding that would either lay flat and/or would allow me to flip the pages onto one another, so I started looking at examples of spiral binding, glue, and coptic binding techniques. However, my focus shifted away from spiral binding during my research, as deformities have always occurred easily in my previous spiral sketchbooks, and paper scraps tend to collect in the binding as well if pages are torn out, and I decided to look deeper into the other previously mentioned options instead.

 

 

I decided to steer away from glue binding as well, due to reasons similar to those for spiral binding. The aspect of papers constantly coming loose or falling out outweighed the pros for me personally, but I admire the flat-lay aspect (pictured in top right above), as it creates a perfect drawing surface and layout. This led me to investigate coptic binding techniques with string (pictured above on top left and bottom). This sewn method allowed for a similar flat layout to that of glue binding, but with added security and had an interesting appearance as well that could be incorporated into the more aesthetic aspects of the design. This is the type of binding that I planned to pursue, and for my first mini sketchbook I followed the video tutorial linked below.

 

 

 

 

In this prototype, I was also able to experiment with using recycled materials in addition to the binding technique, using old cardboard and scrap paper. I also experimented with cover design possibilities and tried a collage-style cover using magazine cutouts. After this prototype, I felt encouraged to keep this binding method in mind, but still keep researching other options, as the binding worked well, but the process was very prone to mistakes and did seem more fragile than I had in mind for a sketchbook I would be taking with me almost everywhere.

Another thing about sewn binding that I discovered when building my mini book was the potential to add more pages to the sketchbook simply by sewing in another signature. I love this flexible quality, and as I continued in my research, I came across ring binding.

 

 

This method immediately clicked for me, as it would allow for all of the functional aspects I had been on the hunt for. The flexibility of being able to add, remove, or move around different types of paper and elements was especially exciting. Once I felt confident in pursing this binding method, I was able to shift my focus into more of the potential elements I would include on the interior. Something I knew I wanted for sure in my initial sketches was a folder for storing extra papers and notes, which I was inspired to include from the folders that are often included in the pages of notebooks.

 

 

Incorporating collage and different textural elements has always been a big part of my personal artwork, and is something I use often in the sketching process as well. This is my main reasoning for incorporating a pocket folder into the design, but I also store the bulk of my collage materials in my accordion folder. However, although it’s perfect to have at home at my desk, it is pretty heavy and difficult to bring around with me.  I love the organization it offers, so I decided to find ways to design a similar accordion folder that would fit into the binding of my sketchbook.

 

 

This addition is something I knew I wanted to include in my final version, as it would allow me to take around more scrap papers and magazine clippings from my larger collection to always have on hand. From here, I was able to begin further prototyping and production for my final.

 

Iteration & Production

 

Using what I found throughout the research process, I generated new sketches for the final product.

 

 

Next, my second mini sketchbook iteration came about, which I constructed using more scrap paper and wire from the misshapen binding of one of my (filled) spiral notebooks, which was the best option I had in the moment to simulate the effect of binder rings. The accordion folder process was simple, during which I glued the edges of folded sheets of paper together to create pockets, and glued each pocket down the middle and stacked them.

 

 

I decided to make the paper in my sketchbook 8.5”x 11” in size, as this is the standard paper size that most of the paper I already had was in, and I figured this project would be the best way to put it to use. This was especially important to me as I wanted to minimize the amount of new materials purchased for this project. From here, I made prototypes to scale of the two types of folders I planned to include.

 

 

I had originally planned to incorporate pockets for my straight edges that I carry in my pencil case, just so I could always have them handy right in my sketchbook. They fell out of the pocket designs I tested very easily, and I figured it might be more practical to keep them in my pencil case. This was really just an idea I wanted to explore. I was also concerned about the bulk of the sketchbook, which contributed to this decision as well. This also steered me away from the idea seen in my original sketches of including an acrylic paint palette, as this isn’t something I would use quite enough to justify the added weight and material usage.

When I moved to considering what types of paper my sketchbook would include in more detail, most of the paper I planned to use was already my desired size. I wanted a variety of paper textures and colors, which I had plenty of from over the years. Some of these unique textures were in much larger sizes, however, which led me to not use them as often due to the difficulty involved with carrying them around. I kept some of these papers in their original size and binding to use in larger -scale works, but also took out a selection to cut into an 8.5” x 11” size. To do this, I created an illustrator file of the page outline with holes that would align with the placement of the binder rings and cut the paper with the laser cutter. I set the holes to approximately 1/8” in diameter, the same size as the binder rings I purchased, to give the paper a more custom feel, rather than the larger size of my own hole-puncher.

 

 

 

Coming up with ideas that excited me for a cover was a challenge, as I wanted something simple and versatile that I wouldn’t grow tired of with time. The recycled cardboard and craft paper I used in my first and second prototypes respectively were interesting to explore with, but were ultimately not quite as sturdy as I was looking for. I especially wanted a more solid backing to make drawing without a table or solid surface accessible. I decided through research online and in class that chipboard would be my best option, as I liked its more lightweight, yet fairly sturdy quality. I first explored the possibility of covering the chipboard with a textured fabric that I had extra of from a sewing project.

 

 

This fabric reminded me of some of the textures pictured in earlier images, however, the white color was a drawback, as this would inevitably be a completely different color, and potentially pretty worn after a mere couple weeks of use. I went back and forth with this idea for a short time, and decided to further consider alternative options. I didn’t necessarily want to feature my name or a specific etching design, and ended up finding inspiration in a more unexpected way. While testing hole punch sizes for my pages, I noticed the interesting ways the holes in my test sheet revealed snippets of what was underneath. I was immediately inspired by this, and began sketching designs using holes in the chipboard that would allow pieces of the pages underneath to peek through. This was the cover iteration that I felt resonated most with the ephemeral nature of the design, allowing the book to grow and change with me as an artist and designer!

 

 

I transferred these ideas into Illustrator documents, coming up with two different iterations; one using circles and another with a simple pattern I created during last semester’s card project, but didn’t end up using. I chose to go with the pattern design, and cut out each layer of the front and back covers using the laser cutter. I also added an etching detail of my initials onto the back cover during this process.

 

 

 

My sketches involved two layers of chipboard, as the material I ordered was not as thick as anticipated, so I decided to employ two sheets for each cover for added stability. I made the decision to keep the two layers of the front cover separated after seeing the effect that light had on the reflection of the pattern when the layers were opened separately. However, I used paper cement to secure the two layers of the back cover together. The effect of light on the pattern was also what contributed to the decision to leave the second cover layer unpainted, as I was more satisfied with the look of the raw chipboard.

 

I ran into my first major issue when I went to test the binding of the sketchbook with both the covers and paper in place, as a slight error I made in my Illustrator files caused the holes in the paper to not line up correctly with those of the cover. While this felt pretty detrimental at first, it ended up working out for the best. I originally did not want to use my own hole punch as I was after a custom look for each page, but this custom fit was admittedly much more prone to catching on the rings when pages were turned. This mistake also reminded me of the idea of adding more pages to my sketchbook, and how I would likely not always have access to a laser cutter or specifically- sized hole punch. Using the hole punch size I already had would allow new pages and elements added later on to remain consistent, in addition to allowing me to not have to take time on the laser cutter during this process to cut only holes in the pages already to size. Fortunately, this ended up being more of a positive than a negative for the overall design. For presentation purposes, I added new paper with these new hole punches, but will still use the paper I originally cut in this sketchbook.

 

 

After finalizing my paper and cover, I constructed the accordion folder element using the same method pictured in my second prototype. For this I used leftover black and white card stock from last semester’s projects. To add to this surprise element, I decided to add a pattern to the white pockets, so that the pattern would be on every other pocket. I designed a printable version of the pattern found on my cover, but was unable to print directly onto the card stock. Instead, I printed the pattern onto printer paper and folded it over and glued it to each of the white pockets.

 

 

Next, I used more of the black card stock I had to construct a simple pocket folder, using a half of a sheet secured to the back and lower sides of a full sheet of the same paper. This was a simple final detail, and after this only the final assembly was left. The pack of binder rings I purchased included multiple sizes, but I decided to start with the 2” option, knowing I can always move up to 3” if needed later on. Starting with the back cover, I added in the accordion folder followed by each section of paper types, the pocket, and finally the front cover. This ended with a final product that I was confident in and immediately eager to start filling with ideas!

 

 

Reflection

 

The primary goal of this project was to design a sketchbook customized completely to my own preferences given the materials and processes available. A priority for me was to recycle as much as possible, which is a goal I did manage to follow through with in using entirely recycled paper that I already had across my collection of sketchbooks and drawing pads. Not only did this save on materials, but it will also encourage me to explore with different paper types and textures that I otherwise wouldn’t use as frequently. There are definitely areas I could have reused more, such as with my cover, although I think I did well at using what I did have where it was possible. The one element I could have invested more in purchasing, however, was the binder rings. The only option I could find in-store were fairly cheap, and are defiantly not the most sturdy as a result, and tend to come apart easily when everything is placed in the binding. They did come with multiple sizes, which might allow me to go up in size as I add more pages, which adds to my reasoning for choosing a non-permanent binding method. The binding and simplistic design are decisions I am especially confident in, as they allow for the sketchbook to change and grow with time and with me, which is reiterated in the cover design that speaks for itself and displays the ever-changing contents and ideas within the book.

 

Portfolio Project

The page showcasing my final Sketchbook project can be found through the link below!

Sketchbook

 

Statement of Intent

My goal for this project is to create a composition of layers that convey a sense of deep space emphasized by the application of light. Throughout the design process, I wanted to explore both physical and conceptual perceptions of depth, and communicate deep space in a way that was accessible yet unique. In doing this, I chose to depict subject matter that appeared perhaps mundane or everyday at surface level, but that would be deepened by addition of light to the composition, allowing the perception of a space that one might not automatically think of as deep to be transformed.

 

Ideation

 

We began the ideation process by exploring different fonts and their positive and negative spaces and their relations to us as individuals with our initials. The negative space aspect was something that was at first a challenge, as I was using my first initial of a T, which does not have closed negative space. My initial iteration led me to reversing the positive and negative space in order to create an image that encompasses my first initial rather than using the negative space to create an image. This was technically not within the specific rules of the exercise, but was an interesting exploration nonetheless that helped build my understanding of working within positive and negative spaces.

 

 

 

I arrived at my final iteration using both my first and last initials, T.O., using the negative space within the O to create an image, which I tested first with seashells, and then with a ghost, and finally an old-fashioned smiling moon. I landed on the moon for my final, as this iteration met the challenge we were given of a maximum of three pieces when cut on the laser cutter. I also felt that it best exuded an aspect of myself, with my inclination towards vintage and slightly more quirky inspiration sources.

 

 

 

 

Additionally, we played with light and shadow during class by creating images from the shadows of random objects we found around the room, in our bags, etc. I used one of my AirPods and a tube of lipgloss, the shadows of which created a butterfly and batman, respectively, through my eyes.

 

 

After these in-class exercises came brainstorming ideas for my composition. Our first assignment in this area was to sketch out a number of initial ideas in between class meetings.

 

 

Once I shared these sketches with my classmates and instructors, I was able to focus in more on the ideas that stood out most in conversation and dive deeper into research. Out of my sketches, the ones I found myself resonating most with were ideas of cabinets, bookcases, and the like, and the various objects and their stories that lie within them. It was really the more conceptual depth that provided intrigue for me, and my instructor recommended I do some additional research into the concept of a “Cabinet of Curiosities”. I also did more sketching into the ideas of closets, windows, hallways, and thresholds in general as this was something I was incorporating into the cabinet composition, and wold keep in mind throughout the process to potentially shift my focus towards.

 

 

This concept of a “Cabinet of Curiosities” was essentially the exact idea I initially had in mind, but didn’t necessarily have the specific definition to convey. Although a bookcase is (relatively) shallow space in a physical sense, I felt compelled to explore the more conceptual components that might give this subject matter a deeper sense.  From here, I began the process of sketching out ideas for how to transfer this concept to a composition.

 

Iteration & Production

 

As a class, we engaged in some exercises involving the process of writing an effective concept statement in art and design. Applying these strategies to the concepts we were each developing for this project, we began the process of building our own concept statements.

 

 

The start of the physical iteration process involved first creating a model of my composition. I designed this first model at a smaller scale, so as to not use more Bristol than needed. The model included a couple different elements I found interesting within the shelves, and featured a dolls house as the sort of main attraction, which is where I started to add depth to the space, incorporating the concepts of views through doors and windows and what they might reveal. I also featured a skull, specifically the skull of an alligator, as bones, especially skulls were something I came across often in my research and saw potential in the cracks and crevices of.

 

 

 

Through this modeling practice, I was able to get a better sense of the way the layers needed to be arranged to produce the effects of light I was after. After this was when I began taking these layers into illustrator, preparing them to be cut using the Cricut machines. I had to do a lot of sketching during this Illustrator translation process, as the interactions of light with each layer were a challenge to visualize in a 2D, digital format.

 

 

Scale was also a challenge here, as the Cricut was unable to cut certain details. Laser cutter access was difficult as well, so I had to work around some of these issues by editing my composition and Illustrator files accordingly following test cuts, and cutting by hand what I was able.

 

 

With this iteration, I cut the layers pictured in the file above using the Cricut and the additional aspects of the composition using hand process.

 

 

Following feedback from instructors as well as the input from peers I received during our first class review, I decided to shift the focus of my composition to a deeper view of the dollhouse component. I had been back and forth with this throughout the project, as I began to notice earlier on in the process that most of the emphasis on the depth of the space was originating from this area. This decision was also influenced by the capabilities of the Cricut process when it came to cutting details, and because the laser cutter was not the most dependable option I wanted to remain flexible and be able to incorporate hand-cutting if I needed to do so. It also seemed to be the consensus, between the feedback I received and myself that the layers, and therefore depth of the space was somewhat lost in the amount of detail I wanted in the size constraints of the project. Ultimately, I found that communicating this idea of deep space would be more effective if I honed in on this area of interest. I then started building a new composition, one that focused in on the front facade of a home.

 

 

I then translated these sketches into Illustrator files once again, and used the Cricut machines to cut the more detailed porch layers and layer with the creatures. I cut the porch layer twice, one remaining partially hollow above the porch and the second layer being filled above the awning to create extra depth. I used the same layer to make this cut on Illustrator, as the Cricut was unable to cut the second layer for reasons unknown.

 

 

 

After cutting the my porch and creature layers using the Cricut process, I used these layers and a light table as a reference to visualize and hand-cut the remaining layers. The hand cutting process was, although more time consuming, an easier way to visualize the way light would interact with each layer as I was creating them.

 

 

I still wanted to incorporate the mysterious, slightly spooky energy of the contents of my original plan, and ideated with ways to fit this into my new composition. Incorporating the peeking figures seen in my earlier cabinet compositions in the windows and doors seemed like the most interesting way to do this that could bring in an element of reveal as well. After cutting these creatures on their own layer using the Cricut, I used a sewing needle to create holes through the layers behind their eyes. This created the creepy glow from the eyes I was after when light was shown through the paper, as without these tiny additions the light appeared more dull and less prominent.

 

 

I then dove into creating the relatively simple additions that would truly add depth to the composition. With what I had learned from my modeling and experimentation throughout this process, I decided to use stacked forms of Bristol to create the illusion of deep, dark hallways and even a staircase in the interior of the home. Using a light table, I first drew in the areas I wanted there to be a view into a hall or corridor, using only simple arches and rectangles, through each window. I then used leftover pieces of bristol from previous cuts to trace these forms onto. Next, I hand cut these traced forms, and glued them to the back of the layer of Bristol onto which I had originally chased, so they mirrored the way they would actually appear to the viewer.

 

 

I repeated a similar process to create the porch awning on the building’s exterior, using the additional layer of Bristol to darken the area and create the illusion of a roof over the front porch. I used this same process to create an effect similar to that of peering through glass seen on the front door.

 

 

My final piece was comprised of 6 layers, with some elements attached to the second and back layers for stability, as previously described.

 

 

 

Reflection

Throughout this project, I definitely learned some valuable things about not only the design process, but also about the intricacies of production and the value of drafting and revision. The aspect of exaggeration as an additional objective to deep space was an especially challenging aspect for me, as I tend to fall on the more realistic side of composition by nature. We did have an in-class review of our work to present our drafts and gather input from classmates, which was something I was initially hesitant about but ended up being very helpful in editing my composition. This also gave me more clarity and confidence as to how to move forward with my design, resulting in a final iteration that took a different focus than the original, but that I feel communicated the objectives of the assignment more simply and in this case therefore clearly as a result. Overall, I was able to find success in this project, as well as the balance between risk and clarity in developing a composition.

 

Portfolio Project

The page showcasing my final Layers project can be found through the link below!

Layers

Statement of Intent

 

The goal behind this project was to create a graphic for a word of our own creation that would communicate its meaning through application of isometric letting  and forms. The word I created project was Smemory, a combination of the verb smell and the noun memory that refers to a memory, or memories triggered by specific smells. I aimed to display my world in a way that would emulate it’ s more conceptual nature, especially through exploration with elements of scenery and the energy evoked by the lettering.

 

Ideation

 

The ideation process began with exercises in isometric drawing by hand, during which I drew  out a few random letters and forms, as well as different versions of my name and initials, just to get some practice with the technique.

 

We then did an exercise to help us practice with generating and editing isometric text using Adobe Illustrator in which we designed a graphic of our names that displayed some aspect of our style and/or personality. I went with a vintage, sort of sweet look with my design, and added in a grid pattern element as I was feeling inspired by the simultaneous pattern project in our Fundamentals class. I was sort of going for a vintage candy wrapper- like feel, using muted pink and creamy tones and a classic, retro-looking font, as I love older, vintage styles, and pink is just one of my favorite colors.

 

 

Next came the process of creating a word to define and illustrate. We filled out charts to help with this process, combining both nouns and verbs and nouns and adjectives to brainstorm possible ideas. This was definitely harder than I thought it would be, especially when considering how clearly the word would communicate to my audience, or if a good amount of people would be able to resonate with its meaning.

 

 

I did end up with a couple different words that I felt had some potential, but ultimately ended up going with one of the first words I came up with, combining Smell with Memory to create “Smemory”. I thought this world would be more relatable than some of my other options to a wide range of audiences, as I feel like the association of smells with certain places and memories is a fairly universal thing our brains tend to do.

 

Iteration/Production

 

The start of the iteration phase for me consisted mostly of sketching and brainstorming ways to display my mashup word and its definition. The word being more of a concept than a tangible object or action definitely made this challenging, as it isn’tnecessarily associated with specific objects or places (some smemories are more common than others, but a lot of them are also unique to each individual person!). I sketched out different objects with smells that I personally associate with memories, and that I know a lot of other people do as well. I created graphics for each of them in isometric on illustrator, just to experiment with colors and possible organizations of subject matter in relation to my chosen word. I also practiced different organizations of the lettering and it’s colors, trying to find a way to give the word the sort of wafting, airy, breezy feel of the mental image smell.

 

 

 

Next, I took the sketching process further by sketching out different ways I wanted to depict my word on the final poster, and came up with a sort of scenic depiction, which I felt was a good path to continue on, as this felt like the best way to communicate the more conceptual nature of the word.

 

 

 

 

 

I also played with the opacity of the lettering when placing the word in the scene, trying more ways to bring in the scent element of its meaning without sacrificing readability.

Finally, I added some final details such as smell or breeze lines, edited the opacity of the letters, and wrote in my definition. I also changed the background color from white to the blue found within the lettering, just to help tie things together more and draw the eye more to the scene in the center.

 

 

Reflection:

I was satisfied with the outcome of this project, although it was admittedly a very challenging digital process.  The word I ended up choosing; Smemory, being more of a concept was definitely one of the bigger challenges here. It was interesting to try to balance the feeling aspect and not being too specific to ensure more relatability, while still bringing in reminders of smells which is really only possible with objects and imagery. Incorporating the word into the scenery was also a challenge, although making the word the main focus of the poster would not have as effectively communicated its meaning. I feel satisfied with the steps I took towards reaching my goals for this project, and think that my final composition, while having room for improvement, communicated the meaning and sense of my mashup word effectively. I also feel that I learned more than I initially expected during the process, especially regarding the importance of hierarchy and even new perspective skills.

 

Portfolio Project

The page showcasing my final MashUp project can be found through the link below!

MashUp

Statement of Intent

For this project, I designed a set of greeting cards primary using a design inspired by an aspect found within nature. Using the abstraction process, I decided to use seashells in creating the pattern that would decorate my greeting cards, in combination with snowflake-like attributes to keep some inspiration from the season nature is currently in at the time of this project. In order advance the pattern and design, I made it a goal to apply color to the design that would hold its effect in grayscale to maintain widespread accessibility, and would communicate the mood and energy I was aiming for as well.

 

Ideation

The ideation began with diving into a little bit of exploration with methods of creating pattern in Illustrator. We created random repeat patterns as a class, and I then started by using simple shapes to create combinations that I transformed into different radial and grid formats.

 

 

Next, we began developing our designs using abstraction grids, in which we drew out and visually analyzed different attributes of forms from nature, such as movement, symmetry, value, etc. This ended up being a very useful tool for inspiration as I continued to make multiple throughout the process of designing my pattern.

 

 

I was especially inspired by the elements of movement found in some of these forms, and continued exploring this with a couple of my favorite abstractions.

 

 

I then began a new abstraction grid, using more forms I thought had the potential to bring forth some of the attributes I was interested in.

 

Iteration & Production

After deciding on an abstraction I was interested in exploring further, I starting using different illustrator techniques I explored earlier during the ideation process. As mentioned earlier, the elements of movement that certain forms more clearly displayed were what I found most inspiring, and I decided to further explore this using abstractions derived from seashells.

 

 

 

 

Starting to think about color, I generated some color palettes based on colors within images of seashells sourced from the internet and Pinterest, as well as winter images from my own camera roll, creating one color palette to apply to reference for the design. I used Adobe color through most of this process, and was able to get insights on my chosen colors and issues of accessibility, as well as consider more about the mood and energy I hoped to bring into the design using these colors.

 

 

 

I experimented with different possibilities of what type of features I wanted to incorporate in to the design, and was initially interested in the idea of cutting out and layering different parts of the pattern. After testing with the cricut was not super compatible with my designs, I decided to explore some alternative solutions that still involved dynamic and layering aspects.

 

I continued sketching out ways to use my pattern using previous ideas and iterations, which I was able to translate into a layout on Illustrator.

 

 

 

 

 

The structure of the card consists of two layers, adding more depth and allowing the bottom layer to act as an additional outline to the card’s border.  I applied colors from my color palette that matched the energy and fit well with the design, pictured above.

 

After finalizing my card design, I moved on to the accompanying envelope. I decided to keep this part relatively simplistic, using white card stock to match the whites found in the card design, and to allow the card to stand out to the recipient when the envelope is opened. I started by using a model of my card to layout the required measurements and built a prototype.

 

 

I then built my final envelopes from card stock using these measurements. As a way to close the envelope, I printed a coordinating sticker from sticker paper; a simple circle to coordinate the design with the circular attributes of my card in the deep red color found on the back side of the card itself. I finally printed each layer of my card design onto card stock, and assembled both copies. I them paired them with the matching envelope and photographed the final results.

 

Reflection

In this project, the process of creating and applying pattern to real-world contexts was what I found to be most interesting. The added challenge of incorporating a more in-depth production process, in terms of printing and assembly was an especially interesting aspect of this project as well, and really helped me apply new project management-related skills that I can continue to build upon throughout my time as a design student. Investigation into the visual characteristics of forms one might not otherwise have seen with the potential to become decorative was also something I found most interesting about the concept of pattern itself, as I ended up exploring with abstractions of things I never would have thought to at the start of the project. This also presented a unique challenge in itself, as it remained an important aspect to balance this explorative sense with what would appeal to an audience in search of a greeting card. Within these unique aspects of the project, utilizing color and through the primary applications and symmetry and rhythm, I was able to produce a design that I feel balanced the use of a unique abstraction with traditional pattern and color techniques. Another primary goal in my use of color was for its application to enhance the design, even if only the contrasting values are able to be seen, which I feel was something especially successful in this design.

 

Portfolio Project

The page showcasing my final Pattern project can be found through the link below!

Pattern

Statement of Intent

With 2D to 3D translation, my intent was to create a sense of movement and incorporate organic qualities into an octahedron, a  naturally rigid and structural form. Through exploring different possibilities and iterations with this polyhedron, I ended up using a combination of modularity and negative space to create the second, altered version of my chosen form.

Ideation

We began the ideation process as a class through an exercise in which we were challenged to built the “perfect cube” in terms of craft. I ended up building two cubes, as my first construction (back right) showed more gaps and markings than I was happy with. I attempted to fix this with my second cube (front right and left).

 

 

Expanding on the cube exercise, we were then prompted to choose a a different and slightly more complex polyhedron to make based on a list, from which I chose to attempt an icosahedron.

 

 

Following these exercises, we were then able to explore and choose a polyhedron that sparked our interests, and I initially decided to experiment with a rhombic dodecahedron, although this later ended up leading me in a different direction.

 

 

 

The process for building a rhombic dodecahedron, though not as intimidating as the name makes it sound, was fairly intensive, as measurements had to be very specific in order for the shape to be geometrically accurate. After I built it, I ended up not loving the overall form as much as I expected to, and I frankly had little-to-no experience with 3D craft going into this project, so I started looking into simpler forms. I was drawn to the octahedron, as it was simple but interesting, which made it less likely I would end up spending too much time on craft issues and would be able to instead focus on more design exploration.

 

 

After deciding to work with the octahedron as my form, I started to ideate more about possibilities and different routes I could take, elements and principles I wanted to emphasize, etc. I was especially interested in the idea of applying opposing qualities to a rigid, geometric form, specifically in terms of movement and how it can add an almost organic quality to such forms.

 

 

As you can see in my sketches above, some of my ideas around comparison and negative/positive space (top left) began to remind me of these qualities of motion, and sort of reminded me of jellyfish or sea creatures and the way they swim, for example. This thought process helped lead me down the path of pursuing “organic movement” with my chosen form, and finally into production.

 

Iteration & Production

 

I kicked off production by working on prototypes based on my previously mentioned sketches from ideation, using construction, deconstruction, and reconstruction. This almost felt like sketching, just in 3D.

 

 

The previous step allowed me to generate a rough, but useful template (below, top left) that I was then able to put to use through the rest of production. Once I decided to move forward with modularity and negative space, I was able to edit this new grid as needed to allow for the indented effect I had been going for in my sketches and prototyping.

 

 

I continued to use my prototypes below to create and visualize iterations of my the final form, which helped me figure out the placement of octahedrons among each other, how the balance would be maintained to prevent the piece from falling over, etc.

 

 

Finally, I was able to begin construction of my final piece (below). I was able to continue editing the grids of each individual octahedron in order to indent some faces and keep others original as needed.

 

 

This resulted in my final form, as pictured both above on the right, and below alongside my final unaltered octahedron.

 

 

Reflection

 

The process of 2D to 3D translation is one that was certainly outside of my comfort zone in terms of medium and technique, and this is something that I feel ultimately made me explore more throughout my approach. There are some things I would improve upon having gone through the process from start to finish, specially in terms of my hand-crafting abilities, which I do feel I improved significantly from this project. For example, I would probably have explored potential ways to create a net that accounted for more than one of the components of my final modular form in one, as this might have made the end result cleaner. Overall, I came out of this project with new skills, and even new ideas about the design process and the value of informed iteration and modeling.

 

Portfolio Project

The page showcasing my final 2D to 3D Translation project can be found through the link below!

2D to 3D Translation

 Statement of Intent

 

The primary goal of this project was to create a map that combines explicit direction with non-visual, deeper senses. With this in mind, my intention was to create a final composition that had a map’s ability to guide viewers from Hayes Hall to to chosen location; a nice little lookout over Mirror Lake, while emphasizing and communicating the senses of touch and texture that one might typically experience when following this route, as a non-visual context to this journey across The Oval.

 

Ideation

 

We started with exercises in class depicting our routes from where we live to Hayes Hall through various senses such as smell, feelings, etc. We then recorded written directions to a location of our choice starting from Hayes Hall. We then took pictures pictures of each step in this journey. This resulted in photo compositions featuring the key parts of our individual paths, pictured below. Later on in the process, we created collages using various materials and interpreted aspects of our journeys, which served as a somewhat deeper dive into the aforementioned photo compositions.

 

 

In class, we visited the Thompson Library map room to explore and source inspiration for different types of maps and mapping techniques. This ended up being super helpful and a great way to see all the different ways maps can be communicated to viewers, as well as ways that are most/least effective. Based on what I found during this exploration, I  was able to narrow down compositional ideas I thought would be interesting to explore in my own map.

 

An additional, but important aspect of the ideation and kickoff process was our in-class explorations of light, shading, and texture and the drawing techniques useful in depicting these elements. This was something that helped me in deciding where I would go stylistically with the project, and served as a good reminder of drawing the drawing techniques needed for the somewhat sketchily  detailed, textural drawing style I was aiming to incorporate into the composition.

 

 

With these exercises and plenty of inspiration sources, I was able to begin creating different iterations towards the final production of my composition.

 

Iteration & Production:

 

I began the iteration process with an initial draft of my composition, based on the inspiration I had collected and explorations I had worked through so far. For example, based on my collage composition depicted in the “Ideation” section of this post, as well as some of the pieces of inspiration I found on Pinterest and in the map room, I knew I wanted to explore some sort of contrast between sort of explicit and softer, more artistic ways of communication. I explored this through first drawing a basic map of the Oval, the primary space throughout my chosen path, and layering on drawings of points I found interesting as well as my outlined path with tracing paper. I continued to develop my draft throughout this process, with quick sketches of ideas, different ways to call-out points of interest, ideas for elements to incorporate, non-visual senses that we’re standing out to me, etc.

 

I started my final by creating a map of the area of focus, The Oval, to be the overall base and backdrop of my composition. This ended up being a more intricate process than I thought, as I needed to create a grid of my reference map to ensure my rendition would be as accurate to scale as possible.

 

I added in the most important locations on my path through drawings, specifically my start and end, with details of the in-between spread throughout. I also traced-in my route from start to finish, as well as adding my title into the designated space I left on the bottom of the page above, as well as placing the key above this section of the page. Additionally, I began to dive deeper into the non-visual aspect of my designated path I would depict alongside my directions, and eventually landed on touch and texture as the part of this route that stood out most consistently. I then looked at different ways to incorporate this into the piece, through visual suggestion of texture and eventually even through applying physically tactile elements. I first explored the unique texture of leaves, through both pressing-on their textures with ink, and even through embossing to create a 3D feel to the areas in which they would be depicted, eventually landing on the pressing method for compositional purposes.

 

Because I wanted to add a tactile element to the piece, I decided to experiment with using my crafting knife to create this effect. I started with the bricks composing the Hayes Hall archway, etching and carving into Bristol to create a section of the archway that one can physically feel. When I liked the results, I continued this in other parts of the map, adding texture to a rock and the hexagon-shaped bricks outside of Thompson Library leading up to Mirror Lake. I thought this created an interesting, yet subtle addition the piece.

 

Next, I added the additional non-tactile parts of my map, including the leaf texture. I wanted to apply this, as well as all the elements I included, in a way that would keep the viewers eye drawn from the beginning point to the end. Hence, my reasoning for adding minimal details to some of the more peripheral spaces on the map, especially considering the focus on touch and physical texture. I awaited to apply this in a way that would add to, and hopefully not distract from the intentions of the composition, and did so through adding circular areas of this texture along and among other elements of my route and destination.

 

 Reflection

Throughout this project, I was most effectively able to explore and learn about practical communication and ways it can be balanced with artistic elements to generate a sensory-pleasing, yet trackable experience. It was especially interesting to practice the various drawing techniques we worked on in class, which is something that inspired me to focus on the non-visual cue of texture throughout my designated journey. This aspect of the project was challenging however, as it made keeping a balance between artistic expression and practicality an especially pertinent factor, which led to me frequently having to scale-back, re-evaluate and alter various elements throughout this process. However, I do feel that my attention to detail in everyday routines like walking around campus has gained some importance and has become more of a habit since beginning this assignment. It was also exciting to explore aspects of texture and more detailed drawing techniques, and how they can contribute to the design of a composition.

 

Later on, after spending time reflecting on this project, I decided to digitally edit the composition into an alternative black and white version, which can be seen in my portfolio. I felt that this was a good iteration of my final product as it settled the strong emphasis added to certain areas by the red accents and areas of texture, without taking away from their emphasis and visual value. While my original version of my map is still a strong composition and serves its purpose well, the grayscale iteration of my final map is slightly more effective at allowing the variety of textures and layered elements to truly take center stage, while still maintaining the primary purpose of the colored details.

 

Portfolio Project

The page showcasing my final Observation & Communication  project can be found through the link below!

Observation and Communication