Project 6 - Structures - 1

This is the second day back in the studio but so far for this project we have done location drawings as research, and we are just getting into development. I did location drawings at the SECC, the Scottish Transport Museum and Kelvingrove Gallery. The modern structures worked better for me drawing than the kelvingrove as the lines in their shapes seemed to much more defined, much less decorative and about the structure. It was easier to find lines I want to draw on the modern buildings, and it seems like it is those drawings I want to be using, but I'm hoping that doesn't take me in a direction of lots of developments looking the same, that could end with a final piece being boring. I'll go back and check on myself further on in the development.

I've been finding it difficult to develop these drawings in a structural way, so I am using parts of the photographs I like, changing them in different ways and hoping this will bring me to something I will want to pursue for the final piece.

Links

Here are links to five posts for assessment:

Project 4 - 1

Project 4 - 2

Project 4 - 3

Project 5 - 1

Project 5 - 2

Project 5 - End of Project

I've been quite bad at updating this blog because I've had lots to do for the text as pattern project that didn't seem to stop until my final presentation today, so I never felt like I wanted to write about what I had done. The project is finished now and I'm quite happy with my final four textile plans.

After my last post I did a bit more work mainly using the computer; making drawings and stencils/scanning them in/altering them on photoshop and making things I think look like good repeat patterns. I think using a few different techniques for the same image has created things that look a lot different to what I started with, I like that. And I think it is definitely important to use different techniques - just using a c

omputer makes everything so graphic and harsh, just using drawings, to me, doesn't seem like something that is finished or prepared to print on to a piece of material.

I chose to work on this project for a print. I have heard people say print is the favourite because it is the easiest, but I think my work would definitely look best printed. And I don't actually think print is the easiest, maybe it could be the easiest technique for some people out of the four specialisms, but the design process that happens before I get to the point of actually making something has always been for me as easy or as difficult as I make it myself.

Through scanning things in and editing them on photoshop I feel like my colour palette has changed slightly, but naturally. I could easily change that but I don't really want to - I like the idea of things taking on their own look through the process.

Project 5 - Day 6

Had my group meeting today and got feedback on my work for this project for the first time. Feeling encouraged that I didn't get it wrong but Jo did pick up on things looking the same and said that it would be good if there was more of a variety of things I had gathered for my alphabet, but I explained what I was thinking when I did that and it seemed okay. I also did a little line drawing of the H, I think the shape of the H will look really good as a repeat pattern - I'm imagining it looking a bit like a chain and I'm liking that. I also did some work on photoshop, cutting up parts of photographs, I think I will repeat them small and collage with them in the shape of the H. Jo said today that I should be trying to do at least some of it with my hands and not rely on the computer. I like working on photoshop a lot but I can see why it's important to have done some of the work physically - it is a lot more personal than working completely on a computer - computer work is kind of perfect in measurements and lines and things like that but that can be bad for work. Although I do feel better when measurements and lines are perfect-ish.

Project 5 - Day 4, 5

Over Tuesday and Wednesday of this week I just finished putting together my primary research, taking photographs and making letters of the alphabet. I'm pretty happy with the way it has turned out, I was inspired by the photograph of the rusty lock type thing I used for D to go with mechanical things and I looked out for things like that because I wanted to have a few of the same kind of letters to be able to use in my final designs, I don't know if this is what I should be doing but I think it will help me further on in this project. Looking over my completed alphabet I think a lot of it is along the same lines, but in a good way. Some of this was conscious but some of it was subconscious - I think by deciding on a colour palette at the start of the project I noticed letters/things that looked like letters in that colour palette. I don't know if this is a good thing or not - maybe I was ignoring things that could have been really useful for my development or final work.

I also got my secondary research done - finding examples of text being used in pattern, I looked in typography books in the library and photocopied the ones I liked. I have a group meeting tomorrow, then I will find out if I'm going in the right direction or not.

Project 5 - Day 3

I missed my first group review for this project today due to sickness, I can't handle missing things like this I always feel very disoriented when I do, and I now feel like I'm going in the wrong direction. It is Monday today and I won't see my tutor again till Thursday. I have improved my attendance so much since the start of the first term - I have realised how important it is just to be in the studio, but today I couldn't go in. I didn't get much done either but I'm hoping the rest of the week will be much more productive. In the evening I was feeling a bit better and opened up a few household electrical items to have a look for good letter shapes and I was happy with what I found. Nearly finished my alphabet now, tomorrow I will complete it and get some research done. Hope I don't go in the wrong direction in the mean time.



To find some of these shapes I had to take photos then look through them on the computer and search for letters in them, this is the only way I could have found some of the letter shapes. It's helpful to be able to look at things from a different perspective, and to be able to zoom in and see things too small for me to notice by just looking at it.

Project 5 - Day 2

Today was another day for taking initial research photographs and after looking through the few photographs I took yesterday and thinking about how they look together I decided I want to look at more machinery and electronics for more shapes from the alphabet. I didn't get much of this done though because I didn't know where to look - I knew what I wanted (wires, chips, metal, rust, mechanisms) but I didn't have anything that looked like that, I had a look under the hood of my family car but apparently engines don't look like engines any more and it was too minimal and modern to find any good letter shapes on it.