Assignment 2 “Nursery Rhyme” – Project Prep

Principles of Design 

The principles of design that describe how artists use different elements in their art/images to create visual interest – and can also serve as a very general guideline for designers to understand design elements. Of course, there are other sets of guidelines that might be equally if not more applicable in conscious design (a personal favourite being the 5 Principles of Flag Design), and artists often break or contradict these rules, but it is interesting to see these common elements to present in different artists’ works nonetheless.

 

Figure-ground (gestalt)

gestalt

The figure – ground element of design consists of the relationship between an object (the figure) and the negative space surrounding it (the ground). The relationship between them is mutually exclusive, but their relationship inseparable – either must be viewed in relation to the other.

 

Balance – Symmetry/Asymmetry

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Balance refers to the distribution of the visual weight of objects, colours, textures, and space. In a symmetrical balanced composition, the elements used on one side are similar to the other side; in an asymmetrical balanced composition, the elements used on each side are different but still weigh out to provide an overall balance in the composition.

Contrast/ Emphasis/ Dominance

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Contrast refers to the juxtaposing of drastically different (and often opposite) design elements to draw the viewer’s attention to a particular point in the composition. It counteracts monotony in the composition by generating a particular point of interest.

Cropping

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Cropping refers to the intentional discarding of certain portions of an image, either to reduce the amount of distracting elements or to generate visual interest on a particular point in the composition, thus emphasizing it. Effective cropping of letterforms, images and shapes can be used to make an image more visually dominating.

Hierarchy

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Hierarchy can be created in an image by manipulating the aspects of design elements (e.g. size, shape, colour, contrast, arrangement) to create an order in which different elements in a composition are to be viewed. By varying these elements, the viewer’s eye can be guided along the image to view it in a more coherent manner.

Scale

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Scale is the size of an object in the composition as consciously chosen by a designer – it can be magnified to provide emphasis or to provide a different way of perceiving an object (e.g. the difference between a large circle and a dot).

Proportion

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Proportion refers to the relationship of two or more design elements in a composition and how they relate to each other in terms of scale and size. Similar to scale, this can be manipulated to create an illusion of realism (in balanced, harmonious compositions) or distorted to create a sense of disharmony or surrealism.

Repetition/ Variety

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Repetition refers to the repeated use of particular design elements in a composition, though not necessarily in a particular order. It helps the composition become more active and creates a greater sense of unity in the work. Conversely, a wide variety of design elements can be used to create a sense of discordance and chaos.

Assignment 1 “A line is a dot that went for a walk” – Part 2

emotion: lyrical, turbulent, nonsensical

Lyrical: melodic, musical, symphony/harmonious, lilting, flowing, musical notation, soundwaves, beauty 

Turbulent: stormy, unstable – changing motion, turmoil, juxtaposition, harsh contrast, swirling, irregular, always changing, moody, dark

Nonsensical: Non sequitur, not making sense, meaningless, silly, childish, into the rabbit hole, ridiculous, random patterns, no relation to each other

Lyrical was one that I also had a lot of trouble deciding – all my previous experimentation looked too similar to Sensual, so I tried experimenting with musical notation and stacked lines to invoke the feeling of flowing movement.

My initial idea for nonsensical was to emulate a child’s doodle or drawing – but after getting feedback about that idea I decided to change it to something more abstract instead.

emotion: nonsensical (cont’d), systematic, ambiguous, sloven

Ambiguous I, Ambiguous II, Sloven (closeup)

Ambiguous I, Ambiguous II, Sloven (closeup)

Systematic: grid, mind map, interwebs, connections, regular, stable lines/dots, part of a system/machine, gears, solid, categorized, sorted, mathematical)

Ambiguous: neither here nor there, more than one meaning, not decided, foggy, veiled, vague, muddy, unfamiliar, faceless, no recognition

Sloven: untidy, messy, crumpled sheets/fabric, unmade bed, chaotic, scribbles

From my initial experimentation with Systematic, I tried doing a grid style with the spacing between the dotted lines following the proportions of the Fibonacci Sequence. However, I decided that that reference was too obtuse and indirect, so I tried a different style for systematic instead, focusing on how different parts are connected to each other to form a coherent system.

emotion: spontaneous, awkward, aggressive, indecisive

emotion: spontaneous, awkward, aggressive, indecisive

Aggressive (closeup)

Aggressive (closeup)

Spontaneous: creative, energetic, instinctive, unrestrained, impromptu, changing direction BUT with flow, single stroke, confident, bold, unplanned, on the spur of the moment

Awkward: uncomfortable, squeamish, uneasy, clumsy, bull in the china shop, feeling out of place, feeling big and bulky, not belonging, high contrast

Aggressive: angry/forceful, confrontational, high energy, violent, explosive, bold, pushy

Indecisive: fickle-minded, changing direction, changing style, forking paths, unsure, going back and forth

Spontaneous also gave me quite a lot of problems: the previous ideas I had were too similar to lyrical or nonsensical. So I tried to go with (literally) a more spontaneous and loose approach, with the entire drawing only made up of a single stroke done in one sitting.

Assignment 1 “A line is a dot that went for a walk” – Part 1

Process: With each emotion, I first mapped out a mindmap to plot out the keyword I associated with each emotion, then tried to represent them physically with lines and/or dots, typically doing 2-3 variations until I was satisfied with the result.

Emotion: anxious

Emotion: anxious

Anxious: High tension(knotted rope), antsy(ant trail), irregular pattern, scribble/tangles, nervous/jumpy, shaking hands, trembling motions, ball of nerves

I tried to use scribbles of lines jumbled together to convey the nervous, jumpy energy that comes from being anxious. I ended up doing a lot of variations as the first few versions of scribbles didn’t feel nervous and jittery enough to me.

emotion: embarrassed

emotion: embarrassed, distracted

Embarrassed: Low energy/simmering energy, confidence>embarrassment transition, sheepish, mortification, blushing(crosshatch), shy/hesitant, wanting to find a hole to crawl into(negative space), clouding embarrassment

For embarrassment, I tried to do something different – I wanted to convey the change of emotion state from confidence to mortification when someone gets embarrassed/does something embarrassing in public, so I tried to do that by using the contrast between the thick bold lines at the beginning to the soft scratchy lines at the back.

Distracted: Irregular, truncated paths, hopping from one thing to another, jagged lines,irregular weight

emotion: bizarre, psychotic

emotion: bizarre, psychotic

Bizarre (closeup) Experimenting with ink blot effect

Bizarre (closeup)
Experimenting with ink blot effect

Psychotic (closeup)

Bizarre: fluctuating energy, weird, unpredictable, random, oddity, clownish, eccentric, going off on weird tangents Rorschach pattern(ink blot test)

Psychotic: Bullseye (people staring at you), lunatic, mad, manic, frenzied, paranoia, crazy energy

For me this was a very interesting experiment – I was initially experimenting with the eye concept for Bizarre but eventually realized that it looked really psychotic instead – so I decided to do that for Psychotic and instead went with the Rorschach ink plot concept for Bizarre.

emotion: exhausted, sensual, fragile

emotion: exhausted, sensual, fragile

Fragile (closeup) Experimenting with ink (blown through straw)

Fragile (closeup)
Experimenting with ink (blown through straw)

Exhausted: worn out/drained, light tone/faded, tired, haggard, low energy/low battery, smudged

Sensual: flowing, indulgence, elegant, femme fatale, soft waves, locks of hair, relaxation, alluring, enticing, beckoning, flowing stream

Fragile: delicate, details, small/easily breakable, tiny, crystals/cells, lace, spider’s web, thin lines, intricate, woven, precious

Fragile was one emotion that I took many iterations to pin down – I tried to experiment with different imagery, from crystals to cells to webs, but they all didn’t have the kind of feeling that I wanted to fragile. Then, I tried blowing ink across the paper with a straw to emulate tendrils and it worked! So I decided to layer that over the web idea.

Assignment 1 “A line is a dot that went for a walk” – Project Prep

Part 1: Personal Prep

Tools of the trade

Tools of the trade (brain juice not pictured)

experimentation with toothbrush and ink

experimentation with toothbrush and ink

experimentation with brush

experimentation with brush

My initial preparation for this project was primarily with experimentation – I tried out various methods of creating dots and lines with different tools. In doing so, I tried to my strokes in terms of size, texture and tone so as to bring about different moods and emotions, also to serve as a reference point when penning down the 18 different emotions.

Part 2: Research

Through the class’ presentations on the first lesson and my favourite artists, I narrowed down my inspiration to 2 artists: Agnes Martin and Yayoi Kusama.

Agnes Martin, Untitled #10, 2002. acrylic and graphite on canvas, 60" x 60" (152.4 cm x 152.4 cm).

Agnes Martin, Aspiration, 1960. Ink on paper, 11 3/4 x 9 3/8 inches (29.8 x 23.8 cm)

Agnes Martin, Untitled #10, 2002. acrylic and graphite on canvas, 60" x 60" (152.4 cm x 152.4 cm).

Agnes Martin, Untitled #10, 2002. acrylic and graphite on canvas, 60″ x 60″ (152.4 cm x 152.4 cm).

I liked Agnes Martin’s use of very subdued and understated hues, lines patterns that were simple and yet felt complex and whole in its mood. In fact, I felt that the simplicity of the images lent them more weight, as the elements that were in the image became even more important.

 

Standing on the Riverbank of My Hometown I Shed Tears, 2009 Acrylic on canvas, 145.5 x 112 cm 57 1/4 x 44 in

Standing on the Riverbank of My Hometown I Shed Tears, 2009
Acrylic on canvas, 145.5 x 112 cm 57 1/4 x 44 in

 

In contrast, Yayoi Kusama’s work is bold and striking, filled with bright colours (not relevant to the assignment unfortunately) and vibrant imagery. I really liked her use of abstract shapes like mosaics to create big, bold images, making them seem tangible yet abstract.