Week 4 2D Design

This week we had to put forward our best ideas from last weeks practical for the exhibition and as a group choose the best two designs. To figure out which two ideas were the best we took a vote and decided on a T-shirt design and the screen print for lamp as seen in this image.

After choosing the two best concepts we had to explore and challenge both ideas. First we started exploring the T-shirt design by throwing out questions then answering them one-by-one as a group. Here is the brainstorming we went through;

Questions:

• Is it big or small
• Front or back or both
• Sider- location?
• What is it for?
• Young or old?
• Gender?
• Selling what?
• Image? Shape? Text? Graphic?
• Colour?

Answers:

• Design is going to be on the front of the shirt
• The t-shirt is going to be for young females
• Black text with graphic
• The colour can be medium grey
• Culture appropriate
• Printed

Once we explored and made decisions about the T-shirt we could see and make challenges such as;

Challenge:

• Could be too dark
• Might not appeal to the target audience

Solutions

• Make it as a lighter grey
• Image have “group of people brainstorming for what makes women happy”
• Magnify some of the words to give emphasis

Due to time restraints we couldn’t as a group explore and challenge screen print for a lamp so I did it in my own time. First I brainstormed the idea;

Questions:

• Colour?
• Images? Text? Typography?
• Large? Small?
• Fabric? Plastic?
• Printed? Painted? Stencilled?
• Mood?

Answers:

• Pale purple
• Small typography patterns
• Plastic
• Stencilled on and typography painted on in black
• Calming

From this I determined the following challenges and solutions;

Challenges:

• Paint could peel off
• Colours may not appeal to others
• Plastic may not be appropriate with a light due to heat produced from light

Solutions:

• Print stencil design
• Make several different coloured prints
• Use a non flammable plastic

After doing the group exercise we moved onto doing a practical. We had to choose any of our 2D designs we have created. I chose a logo i designed couple years ago that i feel missed its mark. It was a logo I had to design for a DJ company but the logo had to also incorporate my organic object, which was a wavy leaf. After choosing this logo I had to analyses it by thinking of two experiments to do to the design and determine the pros and cons. From thinking about the positives and negatives for both experiments I have to do a choosing and refusing strategy for the different ideas. Here is what I came up with;

(my design for DJ.C logo)

Experiment 1:

• Change the colour green to deep blue or purple with outline
• Background change to white or leaf colour

Pros

• Make the logo stand out more
• Portray the DJ concept more

Cons

• The outline will give too much weight
• Losing the green will lose the merging of the organic object
• Making the background white would lost the contrast of the logo

Experiment 2:

• Bring the letters closer together
• Extend the edge of D and C
• Add a full stop to decipher the DJ to the C so it doesn’t look like an acronym

Pros

• Bringing the letters closer together would help decipher the D from the J and the C and makes it look less like an acronym

Cons

• Extending the edge of the D and C might make it lose its shape of looking like discs

Choosing & Refusing

• Bringing the letters closer I think will help the logo pull more together also with the
• Extending the letters will show the separation of DJ and C as long as the extension doesn’t distort the idea of the circle shape of disc

• Don’t want to change the colours they already have good contrast and keeps connection with the organic object
• Don’t want to insert a full stop because even though it will separate the DJ and the C it doesn’t seem classy instead use other methods to show that definition.

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

Week 3 3D Design

This week in class as part of creative thinking techniques we got into a group and based on the concept of REDUCE as from "Laws of Simplicity" we had to brainstorm one design concept for an eco-friendly form of personal transportation. Also include a catchy name (which we have not come up with yet).

First up we were thinking of the following ideas to modify or make green:

• roller-skates
• kangaROO shoes
• bicycle
• skateboards
• car
• segway

Finally we decided on a Segway with solar panels to keep the electronics it has charged constantly. For those of you, including myself who dont know what a Segway is, here is a commercial on YouTube i found to be boring but provides detailed information you need to know.

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

Here is a quick sketch that i drafted up in class with a gist of the idea of what we were thinking.

After researching about the Segway i realised having a panel on top of it was impractical so my designs are based on having the solar panel else where. Here are my three drafts.

 

The design of the Segway has already accommodated anything I would think to include on it ie, storage, off-road. So my designes only differ in the placement of the solar panel to get the electronics charged.

All 3 designs have the function to charge the unit by storing sunlight and converting it into energy through the use of solar panels.

The style would be modern and compact.

each of the different design will target a different audience through the use of colour. One design would target a younger audience because it seems at the moment it is targeted to out-doors people and business people. I think colours and style needs to appeal to young adults ie uni students. The two other designs will target trades people (for on site jobs, instead of going back and forth to the van they could save time using this to get to the van) and teacher.

Week 3 2D Design

This week for group activity using creative thinking techniques we had to generate design ideas using random word combos the criteria with the following criteria:

• Break the two words into individuals and list what those words represent to you
• Collaborate the two words into ideas that could be designed 
• Each person in the group creates TWO 2D design options - based on the chosen word combo 

The word combo our group came up with was MONEY & SPACESHIP. Here is my break down:

Money –

• Plastic
• Paper
• Pictures of influential people on bill
• Coins
• Text
• Different values
• Used to buy and sell
• Coins are “usually metal or a metallic material and sometimes made of synthetic materials,” (reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coin)

Spaceship -

• Alien - UFO
• Flashing lights
• Futuristic - technology
• Aircraft - hover
• Stars – galaxies
• Form of Transportation
• Fictional ?? maybe…

Ideas

• Make a spaceship out of metal from same as in coins
• Flashing lights on money??
• Make money hover in flight
• Use technology in money ie, microchips, flashing lights
• Make a spaceship out of plastic notes to make lighter
• Image of spaceship on coin– tokens for museum of astronomy (reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money#Representative_money)
• Money in the shape of spaceships instead of round coin or rectangle notes
• Money box shape ship
• Ship size of coin
• Alien money that would be found on a spaceship

The two ideas I choose to demonstrate was

- Image of spaceship on coin

- Alien money that would be found on a spaceship

Here is a sketch of my idea of the coin;

I got the idea of the shape of the spaceship from this image

http://sandbox.yoyogames.com/games/151119-space-ship-game

This is the Illustrator version;

Here is the sketch of my idea of what alien money would look like;

Also this week we had to come up with 3 design concepts for our exhibitions. From these 3 ideas invent 2 versions of each.

These were my 3 ideas with their two variations:

• Timor Tourism

- Make up a poster using Cristo Rei main background, Timor Air logo on bottom, images of scuba diving and picture of locals

- Create fake magazine or broacher containing information about Timor and images of site seeing

• Handbag designs

- Draw up several types of handbags with different textures

example;

- create a logo for a handbag design company

• Book cover design

- Create different drawings of covers for fantasy books

- Create book cover for children's books

These 3 ideas differ in the following colour, audience and style.

The colours used in the Timor Tourism would be earthy colours ie, Blue (ocean and sky) shades of green (landscape) and browns (people, villages). The audience I would be targeting would be families and older couples because Timor is not really a party/ clubbing place (compared to bali) but there is alot of sight seeing and actives that would are family orientated. Taking into account of the audience and colour used the style would give a feeling of calm and peaceful.

The handbags I would design and target would be for people who are collectors of old style handbags so i would use deep royal colours ie, velvet red, gold and navy blue. Because my audience would be collectors the style of my designs would be like antique and old fashion style.

When creating book cover for children's books you would use bright colours and mostly primary and secondary colours. Whereas fantasy books would use deep mystical colours like  purple, blues, greens, gold all on the darker side of the colour scale. Audience would be young adults and book worms. The style of either cover would be exciting and inviting.


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

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.