Evaluation

At the beginning of the module, I started with minimal work in terms of development, but now I feel there is no end to creating pieces of art work, and the more generated, the more successful my final outcomes will be.

Using blog for the first time was very useful to me. I liked seeing my work posted online and felt I could be more organized with the posts and layout as opposed to a separate hand written critical journal.

Without having inductions for anything yet I wasn’t able to use facilities such as screen printing which would have worked quite well for some of my projects. I learnt a lot about layout, particularly with the ‘Illumination’ project – I enjoyed playing around with the same design but from different viewpoints. I think I’m lucky in having fairly strong ideas from the beginnings of my projects.

I am happy with all my outcomes but particularly the poster design. I enjoyed the project because I loved all the possible variations of design I created for it, which turned out being so useful in the process of creating 24 drawings. One session I particularly enjoyed was when we were given a word and had to visually communicate the word in as many ways as possible – this really opened up my creative mind and enabled me to generate a range of ideas. The small grids we had to work in also added to the success.

I found group crits extremely useful as they gave me alternative ideas and people pin pointed their favourite designs. It’s good to have an outsider’s perspective.

I learnt a lot throughout – I learnt it was ok to do rough sketches and be proud during the development stages. Maybe with some of my projects like the first one, I could’ve experimented with more techniques and materials. With the ‘Illumination’ project, I could have generated a broader range of ideas throughout my book. Also, at the beginning with the blogging, instead of describing what I was doing, more critical analysis was needed and more questions to ask myself. This is something I improved on as the module progressed.

For future projects, I aim to blog a little every time I hit a problem or am inspired by something which informs my practice. I will also talk in more of an analytical, reflecting way asking myself questions. I also want to start using the facilities LCA has to offer to broaden my experimentation skills.

                          

Final book cover

This is my final book cover design. I think the simplicity of the design works so well and the fact I have decided not to put the title on the front cover works as a subtle compliment - making the book become more intriguing and alluring, wondering what this book is all about. I decided to stick with a particular colour scheme to not over complicate the design. The mirrored image works well as it depicts a sense of double personality, and showcasing the idea of many sides to someone. The fragmented shapes represent the complexity of the brain.

If I were to do this again I could perhaps make it seem more professional by scanning it into the computer and smooth up the edges.

Rough sketches for final outcome

                                         

      

I did some rough sketches to see how my final design will look in terms of layout. I have decided to go with the two faces facing each other, front and back, looking at the title which will be on the spine and not on the front cover (actually i haven't decided yet) I just don't want there to be to much going on with the front cover and feel the title may create too much chaos. 

Research and development

So i started to play around with shapes and continuous lines with portrait to show a completely alternative side to consciousness. I think these are so successful as it is not quite obvious that it is a person. The designs have both a sense of alter ego and multiple personalities, as well as a fragmented structure with the shapes breaking away from the face, representing the different thoughts and mind processes. I think the overlapping lines give it a real sense of abstract value and make the overall composition even more intriguing. I think the combinations of various colours works really well - on a white background making it really stand out. 

I plan on sketching out my book layout with this design on it and start thinking about type as well as what i am going to have one the sleeves, spine and back.

Testing and experimenting

Sticking with the idea of simplicity, i moved on with another design, which is an adaptation from the original book design.

 I took an area from the complex book cover and played around with the shape making it come across more powerful and significant as i feel there is so much going on with colour and line that it takes away from the beauty.

 

                                            

 The science symbol works so well and just a simple line drawing of that with the font represents consciousness in more of a subtle way, staying away from the more obvious side. I experimented with a range of materials with this design, from expressive abstract brush strokes to more refined line work. I definitely feel the ones with colour are most successful. 

I will now start to explore shape within portraiture, suggested by people in my silent crit group.

Some roughs

I created 4 rough designs with the exact measurements of my book, to give me an idea of layout for 

my cover.

With this design I wanted to show multiple personas. The idea of an alter ego and how we see ourselves and how others see us. The contrast between the two, the conscious mind playing tricks on us. The colours represent different moods and emotions. The over lapped effect works so well and i really like how i have taken a quite simple portrait outline and immediately made it become more intriguing. I had a silent crit about my roughs and they gave me some ideas on how to develop it further. They really liked the idea of shapes and suggested including the shapes within the portrait to move away from the obvious representation and create something quite abstract. I found this really useful and it is definitely something i want to explore.

Playing around with multiple pen line drawings - double exposure effect. I think the font works really well with the image in this design.

What i really like about this design is the simplicity of the shape but then the real complexity of whats happening inside. Representing chaos quite well. I think the sleeves also work quite well and correspond nicely with the front cover design. I do however feel that the design is maybe too complacent and not as interesting as maybe it could be due to the fact there isn't much going on  

I really like the contrast between the black and bright contrasting colours with this design. The strong silhouette is very striking and corresponds so well with the colours. My silent crit group loved the aesthetics but found the concept to be quite cliche and used way too much when it comes to consciousness, which i agreed on. They liked how the coloured shapes and lines went over the front cover and onto the back, something to consider when going forward.

Alternative ideas

So i moved on to other imagery which represents consciousness - more obvious concepts.

The brain.

I used simple line drawings to represent something so complex. I was thinking i could draw a simple brain and then start to add in pattern texture and colour within the brain to represent a sense of chaos.

The colours over the top of the drawing work well and the question marks inside the brain also portray a real sense of chaos and consciousness. It could be interesting to perhaps scan some of these in and do some photograph experiments playing around with opacities and shape - multiple exposures.

Initial ideas

I initially started playing around with the shape of a question mark just because there are so many theories and concepts regarding the conscious mind, we don't know what to believe.

Playing with cut out pieces of paper - combining them to create interesting compositions. 

The shape of the question mark has slowly started to vanish and i am now left with a very interesting shape conveying a sense of science and music...

Developing into more of a logo type design.

I played around with a range of materials using the same shapes, creating various compositions. I like the overlapped effect and feel the colour combinations work so well together, creating really interesting structured almost logo design. I want my book to depict a simple look with not much going on and perhaps some negative space surrounding the central image.

I particularly like the cut out shapes mirroring one another, almost moving completely away from the question mark shape into something more abstract - exactly what i want to achieve as the mind is so complex and no one really knows how it all works, so something so simple yet very abstract fits the concept quite nicely and represents consciousness quite well.

I aim to experiment further perhaps with other alternatives like the brain (more obvious interpretations made into more abstract outcomes) also with the face - perhaps play around with fragmenting the portrait through shapes and colour to depict the complexity inside the mind?

Brief 3 - Judge a book by it's cover

Initial stages of development

For this project we have to re design an existing book cover from the library. I chose a book about consciousness as i felt there is so much imagery around the subject but I wanted to try and create an alternative perspective.

This is the book. Because the design is so retro i have every intention of creating a modern twist -  more simple with less colour, as the complexity of the book design over powers the meaning.

I aim to play around with simple shapes and line drawings as well as more expressive brush work.

Final designs

Here are my final images for my article. The simple line drawing works so well, creating a clear, concise reading. What i also quite like about it is that the style is very much aimed at the younger generation which works perfectly because the whole concept is about having fun and making things fun out of everyday mundane activities. 

I had a group crit and I gathered up a few feedback comments. Most people particularly liked the yellow paint and felt it instantly makes the image more intriguing making the viewer wanting to know more about the image. 

Some people questioned the negative space and suggested that more clues as to what is going on could be placed there perhaps? 

Third design

 This work reminds me of artists such as Patrick Caulfield and Roy Lichtenstein - Pop art vibes.

This design depicts a painting by numbers way of brushing your teeth. Instead of a tooth brush I have used a paint brush and added numbers on each individual tooth to represent painting by numbers - making brushing your teeth more fun. I feel like with this specific design a lot of colours would probably work to my advantage as the whole concept is painting so if i had the option of using more than two colours i maybe would have experimenting with painting each tooth a different colour and had paint buckets with specific numbers.

But for this specific brief I aim to use more of a simple design with the paint clearly standing out amongst the teeth.

Other outcome developments

For my other concept I wanted to show more of a fun way to go to and from the shops. I experimented with the figure using a range of materials and process to create various compositions.

Like with my other design I wanted to highlight the main aspects of the image - the shopping bags. Because the yellow and black idea was so successful I thought I'd try it out with this design too. The silhouette intensifies my intentions of making the shopping bags stand out, so in that respect it is very successful. There is a real sense of fluidity as well, portraying a real sense of movement and motion within the image. I think the recurring motif in each drawing works well and corresponds nicely with each other creating a niche style.  I also played around with more expressive compositions and again, i think they work well mainly because it plays nicely with the whole idea of performance.

I do however believe that the expressive design becomes too abstract and again loses the sense of whats going on.

Testing and experimenting

 I scanned my initial drawing into photoshop and played around with block colours. I really like the colour combinations and feel the contrast between them creates a really interesting exciting composition. I think the prominent colours correspond nicely with my concept (fun and games) and this is cleverly juxtaposed with the mundane activity which is happening. I do however the more colours added takes away the simplicity of the design and makes your eyes wonder around the illustration not quite knowing exactly what is happening. With selected colours on specific important areas, you are immediately drawn to.

I think the digital effect works really well as apposed to analogue because its almost like you are looking at a computer screen (game). 

I have learnt the the use of less colour is much more effective in my outcomes.

Further Development

With this illustration you can clearly see what is going on. This is something I didnt want to convey as it takes away the sense of mystery. 

I have decided that the square layout is probably best suited to this illustration

I will now start experimenting with colour (2 colours maximum.

I think using more than one colour creates complexity and it loses a sense of whats actually going on. Using one colour to draw attention to specific focal point is definitely something I want to pursue.  

Idea development

 I started to create a series of rough drawings from my article.

                                           

This illustration is a more enjoyable way of making a cup of tea. Instead of the normal mundane routine, I have created a game-like composition with the objective to throw the tea bag into a selected mug, from behind the line - different sized mugs show different points you can score with. The larger mug carries the least amount of points because its the biggest therefore easiest. I used simple line drawings to clearly show what I aim to communicate. I didn't want to show an obvious representation as I feel that would take away a sense of interest from the illustration. I wanted to use a bright colour to really draw the viewer to that specific area, creating a focal point. I think the yellow works really effectively against the black line work, intensifying the message I want to communicate. The line work reminds me of David Shrigley's work an artist who definitely inspires me. 

I now aim to look at alternative perspectives and angles for my illustration. Play around with each of the three layout requirement sizes, seeing which one is most appropriate. 

Brief 2 - Illumination

Editorial Illustration

So we were given a newspaper article and had to start generating some visual responses. I decided to focus on a specific theme within my article - making everyday objects more fun. I wanted to play around with the idea of making every day mundane doings into games.

Making a cup of tea - using point systems where you have to throw the tea bag into the mug from a selected area.

Hoovering - using the floor as a dance floor, or snakes and ladders, working your way up and down the ladders and snakes.

Going to the shops - using different modes of 'fun' transport to get to and from the shops (walking on hands, rollerblading, skateboarding)

Brushing your teeth by numbers - painting by numbers using a paint brush.

Study task - visual communication

For this task we were given a word and had to visually communicate it in multiple ways as many times as we could. I used a grid format as a guide to illustrate each drawing. I got the word 'half'. I wanted to do quick rough sketches to get as many variations down as possible.

 

The more simple the design the more successful it is. The less obvious the more intriguing. 

This task made me learn a lot about idea generation - using lots of small areas to create a load of creations.

Brief 1 - How to Hide - Typology poster

For our first task, we have to create a 'how to...' typology poster in monochrome. We were given a problem and had to come up with 100 solution drawings. From these drawings we then have to pick our top 24 and use these in our poster design. I was given the problem 'How to hide'. I initially started thinking about ways in which you can physically hide yourself using hands, masks, etc. I then moved onto people hiding in  different kinds of objects. I wanted to explore as many aspects of my theme as possible so I could then refine my strongest ideas and select a sub theme for my final poster. 

Here are a few of my simple drawings from my A2 design sheets. I particularly like the idea of morphing people into objects, focusing on the simple aspect not over complicating the composition. I want to have a prominent style throughout my poster, perhaps using black white and one other colour.

To develop my ideas further I will now experiment with shades of colour both within the tonal structures of the design and as a background - using different coloured paper seeing what the designs look like on alternative paper to white. I will also experiment with different pens. I also need to figure out how the layout of my poster is going to be presented. Do I want it more structured or scattered around the page to create more of a flowing nature, each shape corresponding nicely with one another?

 

I had a really useful feedback session which I learnt a lot from. Majority of comments were about my particular style of work - the repetitive use of visual techniques works really well throughout. They particularly liked the character design - the same design in each drawing. What they questioned was colour. What would happen if I started to introduce shades of colour?

I started with adding colour to the darker parts of the drawing but I felt it was too subtle and the colour wasn't easily recognisable. I had an idea to colour each drawing with a different colour pen over the top of the black outline. I felt like this perhaps was too chaotic and quite messy with a lot going on, taking away the beauty of the drawings, making your eyes jump around the poster with no particular focus point. I think a coloured background works really well as it draws closer attention to the the white shape, making it literally come out the page. I then thought of drawing onto different coloured paper then adding bits of white used as subtle highlights. I think the white really brings the drawing to life. A darker shade of paper doesn't work as well because the black isn't easily visible and the white properly stands out. I was thinking more of a lighter orange as orange is too dark and with yellow the white doesn't show up as much. Also the lighter colour fits in well with my child genre.
Another option is a grey piece of card which would create a really nice gradation tone (middle
colour) with white and black. I also like the monotone effect as it's not lenient to any particular sex.

Final Poster

Feedback - People really liked my choice of paper as the white highlights really make the poster come to life and you are instantly drawn to each drawing. I decided to have more of a flowing structure with some drawings bigger than others to create focal points for my strongest ideas. The clock and bulb for example, both voted for by my peers as my strongest so I not only decided to have them relatively big, but I placed them closest to the centre of the paper.