Week 2 3D Design

In this weeks 3D class we were given  35 mins to create a design for a CDU Design Student Shoulder Bag.

While creating it we had to think about three key ideas, these being;

o  Shape 

o  Media 

o  Style 

First thought i had was i wanted the bag to be a shoulder bag style so this is where i began my research. here are some examples i found that had pieces i liked:

http://curiousphotos.blogspot.com/2009/03/20-creative-designer-handbags.html

http://freshpic-reviews.blogspot.com/2009/11/50-unusual-and-creative-handbags.html

http://www.designerbagscheap.info/christian-dior-handbags-c-18.html

http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/green-school-supplies-44071008

http://movies-yoshiodaquandrew.blogspot.com/2011/03/shoulder-bags-for-school.html

After looking at all of these i decided on the idea to have my bag look like it been made out of random scrap pieces of fabric. 

Shape: Fabrics used would be odd shapes to make one complete bag. each fabric will have different shapes on it ie. squiggles, cross-stitch ect. Also use the basic shape of keys from a keyboard to spell my nick name

 Media: I used my drawing book, HB pencil, Derwent Studio pencils and scanner

Style: My train of thought was, as a designer we throw things together and also tear them apart or break them down. I wanted the bag to portray these things by being mismatched colours and textures. To give it my own style and personality i used keyboard keys to represent my IT skills and my nickname on the keys. I wanted the keys to be the colours of rubiks cube because to me a keyboard represents order (something in which i must have in my life to some extent) and the rubiks cube can also represent this however once the colours are moved and mixed it causes chaos and a complex puzzle (these elements also found in my life). I also wanted to include the CDU logo on the bag because it would make the bag represent a place of learning (which designers are continuously doing).

Here is the final image of my bag:

Also in class we watched a TED film as seen below;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b694exl_oZo

This video demonstrates the artistic and inventive mind of Theo Jansen. He has created moving, kinetic animals using only plastic tubes and lemonade bottle as materials. These animals are built to survive on their own and move independently. The complexity of these creatures are amazing, you can really see the amount of time and research that Theo has put into his creation. He has incorporated unique technology and science to prevent the animal from “drowning”, used the basic rules of the wheel and modified it to become the moving legs of the animal.

After seeing this video I was overwhelmed by the imagination of Theo and the effort he has put into his work to produce the outcome that he desired. I feel his passion for his “animal” is intoxicating and inspiring, and can see this being absorbed by viewers.

"That's all I have to say about that. " Forest Gump...

Week 2 2D Design

This week our class had to email our lecturer links to our blogs. After this we were given 40 minutes to create a background design for our blog.

At first I couldn't come up with any ideas of what i wanted to create on the blank canvas. I had ideas about having the background of my blog for the exhibition have something to do with Timor considering that is my focus for my exhibit. When playing around with colours and shapes from the basis of Timor's flag I didnt really like any directions i was going with it. So i took a step back and thought about what colours i like and what jumps to mind when my friends might see me to help the image represent me. 

Colours were light blue and light purple for two reasons one because they're the colours of Eeyore...(my favourite character) and they're just my favourite colours.

My nick name from my dad and friends is NEEDEE, this is also the name and number plate of my car. This name holds alot of sentimental values to me and cheers me up when my friends find random ways or meanings to throw it into conversation the word "needee"

Once these two things came to mind i decided i would try make typography pattern that i liked. The reason i like typology pattern making is because of the strange shapes and illusions you can create.  To make the overall pattern trick the eye i added angled lines, this makes the eye think that the lines with slight gaps in it do not run smoothly at the same angle. However they do! :)

As part of the exercise of creating this background we had to address 3 points;

• Shape
• Media
• Style

The shapes i created were to create eye trickery as well as a whole look intriguing. The letters could have been in straight lines but that wouldn't have produced the results i wanted so by selecting individual letter they became shapes instead of letters part of a word. This also gave me the ability to arrange them in a way to make the word as a whole demonstrate movement.

Media that i used was Illustrator CS5 to create my background image. I choose to use this software to re-familiarise myself with Illustrated because i haven's played around with it for a while.

The style is my own. In the sense that its cute, simple, clean with the use of my favourite colours and personalised by using my nickname as the centre attention.

To keep some continuity to my blog I used the same image with different colours for my Exhibition blog. The colours I chose to use were from the timor flag;

http://www.123rf.com/lightbox.php?lid=498768&start=80

As you can see there is a lot of red (which represents the blood lost during the war) and "according to the Constitution of the Democratic Republic of East Timor (Timor-Leste), the yellow triangle represents "the traces of colonialism in East Timor's History"; the black triangle represents "the obscurantism that needs to be overcome"; whilst the star, or "the light that guides", is white to represent peace."(reference:http://www.worldflags101.com/e/east-timor-flag.aspx)

These are strong meanings and colours so i thought it was important to represent it as best as I could within my original pattern. I did this by having the centre N of each section white to represent the star. I coloured the angled lines yellow to represent the shape and colour of the yellow used in the flag and last of all held it all together with the black background.

Shape: While trying to keep true to the colours I wanted to ensure that shapes were not affected and the eye trickery still remained.

Media: To change all the colours I still used Illustrator

Style: To represent my exhibition ideas using Timor traditional colours and still maintaining personal touch using my nickname.

"That's all I have to say about that. " Forest Gump...

Week 1 Design 2D & 3D

Well first week back at tackling graphic design. I have survived my first two classes. My first class was getting to know InDesign. We learned several shortcut keys to help move around the program easily such as,

• zooming in (ctrl +),
• zooming out (ctrl -),
• moving to the first page in the document (shift + ctrl + page up),
• move to last page (shift + ctrl + page down),
• to previous page (shift + page up),
• go to next page (shift + page down),
• move to next spread (alt + down)
• and move to previous spread (alt + up)

In the 2D class we had an activity to look at different sources that were available online for reseaching, viewing or getting ideas. I found that universities, blogs, and tutorials were good to look at examples of work and seeing idea and steps taken to produce different pieces. these are links i found

      http://losmedanosart.blogspot.com/2007/10/2d-design-values.html


      http://noearphonesallowed.blogspot.com/2009/07/i-stumbled-across-this-vogue-cover-when.html


      http://www.dzinepress.com/2009/06/15-photoshop-tutorials-for-design-advertisement-products/

 From the first link I really liked and found inspiration from the following image.

 This paining started from 9 painted pieces of paper each with a different shade value. The paper was then cut up into random shapes and used to create a self portrait. This image is a cropped section from a full portrait. I was amazed to see how random shapes with limited shades to them could create an image with great detail.

       

After everyone had a 15 min research we collaborated our links to make one page as a source of information for all of us.

We also looked at last years students work they presented in the exhibition. I really liked the student who did like a fashion show type display.With the quick look i got the dark contrasting colours really stuck in my mind and the use of a box as a 3D advertisement.

After going through the photos of the exhibition, i started feeling very overwhelmed and nervous at the skills and strengths i will have to bring this semester. It seemed everyone had a hobby or interest to use as inspiration and i couldnt think of anything.

Then while i was changing my desktop background to one of my favourite photos of Timor, i realised that i could do my exhibition on advertising timor's tourism industry which is needed a boost. I have many ideas that floating in my head. Some of which i want to focus on Crista Rei (a large statue of Jesus on a mountain), scubber diving the reefs, art ie traditional timor house and tais. There was an art exhibition in the museum and im curious to see if they have any pamphlets or info that my be useful to to my idea.

Here are some images I am thinking of using as sketch material or as starting point.

I selected these images because when I think of Timor and my favourite things to see that is unique icons to Timor these are the images that jump to mind. These are also my own photos i have taken in the times i have visited there

Well thats what i have gathered on the first few day... hopefully having a focus on my exhibition is going to be a bonus for me.