GRAPHICS AND CREATIVE THINKING

WEEK 5 DAY 1

Using a media we would not usually use we drew the ear of someone sitting nearby. I chose charcoal and after the time limit for the task the whole class placed all works together on the floor in order to see how others had gone about the task.

I drew my friend Matt's ear which is one left from bottom right. I found charcoal easy to manipulate in order to generate tone although it was messy.

It is clear that the most striking ears are the ones done in another colour or where a pitch black tone contrasts against a near white tone.

Another task involved experimental face drawings; (from top left going clockwise), 1) Using biro whilst blind I attempted to draw a friend. 2) Using permanent marker and without this pen leaving the page I attempted to do a self portrait from memory. 3) Using charcoal and my weaker hand. 4) Using ink pen and drawing with my mouth. 

I thought drawing using my mouth was a very off the wall approach to portraiture and surprisingly I am actually quite pleased with my final outcome with its jittering lines but I think I like its simplicity and accuracy in scale.

This is a bit of a mess when you consider that it was supposed to be the face of the person sitting opposite me however, if you look more closely you can see recognisable parts of the face scattered around; for example the hairline is very distinctive.

The next task involved collage where again thinking out of the box we had to create a face using cut outs and various face parts from different people/ animals within magazines.

Using a viewfinder we had to select a square of our piece that we thought was most interesting. I liked the lion nose and whiskers combined with Keira Knightly's lips smoking a cigarette with Sir Patrick Stewarts (AKA Professor X from the X-men) wrinkly neck.

I started another drawing but increasing the scale of the chosen square. The reason for increasing the scale is because a lot of graphic design involves working at a large scale where any finished product can either be further increased or suitably decreased in scale.

REFLECTION

I found todays tasks very eye opening in that I really began to appreciate how thinking out of the box can aid a graphic designer in discovering the new and original. The drawings I made weren't the strongest however I feel fairly confident in my ability to accurately represent form through various medias now; trying charcoal is something I rarely do and I found it to be a method very capable of attaining great toning with ease. Even at this early stage I am very interested in the graphic pathway so I need to really put full effort into all upcoming tasks and research the topic to look for further inspiration. If I could pick a weakness from my work today I would say that I could improve by working at a much faster pace, simply practising this will improve my accuracy whilst working at speed.

 

Images: Authors own.

 

CHC

KEMISTRY GALLERY

WEEK 4 DAY 3

The Seymour and Milton Poster exhibition at the Kemistry gallery in Shoreditch was a great place to see find some classic inspiration in the form of fairly retro but often simplistic graphic posters. 

This is possibly my favourite poster where unexpected colours have been used alongside text to create a recognisable form with in my opinion a lot of character.

Some of the colour use was bright and attractive and the background being basic squares was very visually pleasing despite being so simple.

There is a lot going on here but I really like the old style 'entertainment posters' and the inaccurate scale is compelling.

This a section of 8 posters on the wall, many of the posters have been created using different media types. They have a sense of childishness which I find quite intriguing.

Above: a page from one of the comic like books held on the wall of the gallery room. This is a very simple idea yet again but there is a lot to look at and its engaging.

This is another of my favourites, I love how effectively the atmosphere  has been created with smaller scaled weapons attacking the character. It is almost as if they are mental images revealed by the smoke from the cigarette and this would make sense seeing as the character looks a bit paranoid of someone attempting to attack him, perhaps he is a gangster with that coat and hat on? I think a great piece of art should provoke a fascinated response like mine here.

Shoreditch is a very trendy area and Charlotte street which is the same street as the Kemistry gallery holds a range of shops and design offices. This is the windows front of one of the design centres; different hearts with 'love' written in various languages and fonts within the heart.

This was the range of font used on the front door of another design centre. This area provided a lot of inspiration and is definitely currently a major hub for creativity with street art abundant on most streets. I will definitely be visiting Shoreditch again, potentially for the next exhibition at the Kemistry gallery or even just to explore the surrounding area more. I definitely recommend constant visits to gallery's and places where art is on show even if at first sight it may not seem to impressive simply because you will always learn something or look at a particular technique which you could adapt or use in your own work.

 Images: Authors own of posters in Kemstry gallery (Seymour and Milton Poster Show)
 

CHC

SPAGHETTI TOWER CONSTRUCTION

WEEK 4 DAY 3

When designing I set myself a goal to create the tallest spaghetti tower in the class which would still hold the balls much like how an apple tree holds apples.



Here my tower has been reinforced by ladder like spaghetti groups to make the structure more rigid which some suggested made it look less elegant than it did before.



At this point in the design stage I noticed that a few other people had created taller towers so I decided to step up my design by adding another level of height through longer legs.



I like the way it looks quite human like, juggling the balls.



Notice the small white figure at the bottom of the tower, this is supposed to represent scale.



Feedback on my tower stated that it reminded someone of the 'Wickerman' and another said it was quite an aggressive design so I suppose I have succeeded in my how my tower is able to generate a response in the mind of the viewer.



Here it is clear to see the landscape of spaghetti towers across the table and how achieved the over-towering effect successfully.



The next stage involved using a sheet of paper to add support and defence to our designs, I tried to create a deflecting cap to my design which was more visually pleasing than the skeleton of my design.



I found it hard to fit extra defence onto the tower seeing as the spaghetti was so fragile.



All the reinforced designs before having a basketball thrown on them.



After the basketball struck- no survivors.

 

REFLECTION

I found this to be a good task because you had to be really thoughtful and skilled when creating your designs seeing as the materials were a nightmare to work with and often snapped under the slightest pressure. However I created a huge tower which I personally thought had character and it seemed to provoke a response from others which after all is what all good art should do. So in that sense I believe it was a success even if it didn't quite survive the gravitational force of the basketball crushing it into the ground but neither did anyone else's towers survive the destruction so its not too shameful considering this. I believe I went about this task well wanting to almost redeem myself from day 2's disaster by proving I can actually design and build well. I will take my ambitious approach into all future tasks as it generates the best results and I think that an aspiring attitude is a good one to adopt in order to keep improving.

 

 

Images: Authors own

 

CHC

BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION

WEEK 4 DAY 2

One of my bridge designs, I decided to look into complex ideas which would be visually pleasing which is what I attempted with the two path bridge above.. 



In groups we started to plan and construct a much larger bridge using cardboard and 30 bamboo sticks along with masking tape to secure the joints.



Only two points were allowed to touch the floor when supporting the bridge. Also the width of our bridge was small but enough to cater for the remote control car which was going to travel across it.



The use of triangles in the structure support and final aesthetics design were what made our bridge consistent but also unique from the other groups.



Above: shows the process of the framework being built, adding extra rigor through the use of stretched elastic bands connecting to the main bridge like the suspension cables on a real bridge. 



Another positive aspect of our bridge is that we used minimal materials and such a simple design made it very neat yet it was compact and strong enough to hold the weight of the remote controlled car.



Above: shows the large (almost square) change in angle between the main stretch of bridge and the hill to it. This turned out to be a major problem for the remote car which got stuck on this steep change in angle.



From a glance this neat looking design would look perfect in its straightness and ability to aid the car cross from table to table however others did not seem to realise that such a change in steepness would prevent the car travelling over the bridge.



Above: most of the bridges lined up parallel to each other. Designs showed that some people went for very abstract or very unoriginal designs. Most of the other bridges were more of a messy design than ours and were much larger because they made use of the extensive amount of card and bamboo.

 

REFLECTION

This task was right up my street seeing as I have always built model bridges using all sorts of materials throughout my childhood alongside my brother; however I am disappointed in myself for not taking charge in the group situation. I feel that I held back too much allowing others to present and construct unoriginal ideas that were boring and didn't work in the end. The bridge looked nice and neat and was different to the other designs within the room which was a success. Yet when it actually came down to the real purpose of the task it failed simply because of one aspect to the design which I had actually emphasised to all in the group to watch out for and avoid; so I was disappointed that the people in the group did not notice this basic fault in the steep change in angle at the point where the beginning of the bridge path meets the 90 degree horizontal at the centre of the bridge. I have learnt a lot from this task; in the future I will be more forceful and much louder when I have a strong idea of what to do to make sure that no-one misses out on important advice and so that the task can be completed successfully.

 

CHC

 

Images: Authors own





3D WEIGHT HOLDING DESIGNS PART 2

WEEK 4 DAY 1

Above are my sketches from a quick exercise of imagination. Starting from top left (going clockwise) is where I drew a circle, square and triangle and then had to draw a method of transport unknown to modern times so I went for a giant big wheeled vehicle. From two vertical lines, a horizontal line and a diagonal line I had to create a birds eye plan of a shopping mall. Then my mp3 belt Bluetooth head set design was sheer imagination. Then after drawing a human body I had to manipulate it into an animal so I ended up with a human/ crocodile hybrid. Then using the pattern from the sole of my trainer I had to design some jewellery. The final drawing is where I adapted two similar squiggles into a pair of shoes.



Again from top left (clockwise) is my favourite clothing turned into a light (the white squares represent lights). Then from an orange (my favourite fruit) I had to draw a rabbit hutch. In the middle of the page is where I randomly drew lots of dots then connected them up with lines which provided a floor plan for a double bed bungalow. Finally using a large scale version of my house number I had to design a bus shelter.



Using only one sheet of card and a limited amount of masking tape I designed a 'chef hat like' bottle holder.



To make it appear more interesting I first drew lots of hands all over the design to help emphasise the fact that it was a holder.



Here the picture proves that the bottle holder adequately does its job and looks good despite its simplicity.



 I really enjoyed these tasks and feel this enjoyment and passion inspired my creativity which combined with my methodological approach lead to successful designs in that they did what was asked of them whilst looking visually pleasing (although some feedback would suggest that improvements could still be made in the visuals department of the design. I have made mistakes during the making but I quickly corrected them which was perhaps why I never ran out of time on these tasks. The primary sketched designs for various briefs really altered my perspective on how I looked at things- it really showed that for some great designs you have to think out of the box. Thinking out of the box encourages originality which cannot be underestimated as a source for creation because it brings something new to the table and generally that sort of thing is in extremely high demand all over the world. 

 

CHC

 

Images: Authors own.



3D WEIGHT SUPPORT DESIGNS

WEEK 4 DAY 1

The purpose of today was to look into paper and cardboard manipulation in order to create a 3D design that would hold our body weight.

This picture is a birds eye view where I have used the slot into place hexagon formation which evolved into more of a triangular shape.



I put more folded cardboard into the centre of the main frame to enhance the stability and strength of the structure.



Here I realise that the design is strong but fairly dull so I have changed the heights of certain flaps to make the design more complicated and visually attractive.



Another birds eye view with the seat roof on, I folded it over so that it would both be more secure and comfortable to sit on.



I can easily sit cosily on my creation without worrying about it collapsing or falling over.



The seat is durable enough to hold my whole body weight with my feet off the floor as shown above.



To make the design more interesting I have folded over some of the overlapping slats of cardboard into an arch like form and I have cut out slots within other parts of the design to cope with the arch piece.



I started adding cut outs and bird hole like additions to the design which I feel was relevant because I believed my design strongly resembled a tree.



At the end of the day everyone compared they're seat designs and critiqued each other. We also tested them by sitting on them and it became clear to everyone which were the more successful designs.

 

REFLECTION

I found this task very eye opening in that you have a limited amount of resources to make something you require to be strong and reliable. Whilst carrying out this task I feel I was successful in that I used a method of building which I knew worked and once I had created a strong frame with minimal materials I had plenty of time to enhance the visual aesthetics of the seat. I have learnt that visual aesthetics are an important factor to make products stand out but I found it harder trying to combine good looks and sound functioning together. Also another thing I have learnt and will use in the future is that in  3D design the idea of originality is essentially fundamental because anyone can build a chair but making it stand out from the rest is much more impressive.

 

Images: Authors own.

 

CHC