Locale Zine: Process (Little India)

Imagination of Space

After much contemplation, I decide work on the idea of combining both prints and pigeons in my zine. Although at the beginning of my research, henna prints were my main focus. I felt that the pigeons were more unique and I could hardly find any research on it online, therefore I decided to focus more on the pigeons.

When I first step into Little India, I was welcome by a flock of pigeons. I thought that was really interesting as I could hardly find so many pigeons anywhere else in Singapore.

Every street has their own unique pigeons. However one thing I realised is the amount of pigeons goes according to how populated the area is. The more the pigeons there seemed to be. As this isn’t a tourist attraction like ST. Mark’s Square and its famous pigeons, I imagine instead that its because these pigeons are a lucky charm for the community. The crowds flock here simply to be in the presence of their lucky animal in hopes that some of that good fortune will rub off on them.

While walking down the streets of Little India, I noticed alot of wall arts and it all represents the Indian culture. Therefore I thought I could incorporate some Indian culture elements.

And Henna prints struck me in a good way to represent the liveliness of Little India. As it represents the India culture and is a used for celebration.  I thought by adding these henna prints on the bird it would be clearer to identify that they are the lucky charms of Little India.  Therefore, the patterns illustrated are inspired by the henna prints.

 

 

 

* I came across this image online. And I thought it emphasis my concept of pigeons being the lucky charm. Elephants are known as the lucky animal in hindu culture.

 

Zine/ Artist Research

Zine Process

Process 1: I felt that the third pigeon is distracting. The focus seems to be on it instead.

Final: I remove the third pigeon on the cover page as I thought it was a little distracting. I want to keep the cover page simple, as the focus is the prints on the pigeons. I added some dots at the back cover to make the entire book more consistent.

Process 1 : After printing, I realised that the fonts are way too big. And that there should be hierarchy. If not everything looks too flat.

Final : I add geometric shapes as part of my design elements. I play with the different sizes and line weights to create hierarchy and to show more contrast in the images. I make changes to the font size.

Process 1: The image is spread across both spreads. After consultation, I realised that the block number is too distracting and the focus is not on the pigeons.

Process 2: I zoom into the pigeons so that audience can focus on the main object. I also added more shapes that are similar from the previous page so that it will have the same consistency throughout and to make the layout more fun and interesting.

Final : I tilt the words to make it in line with the heading. After much adjustments, I am satisfied with the layout.

Process 1: I felt that the last spread is do not have the same consistency as the previous pages, because it is too packed. I thought by reducing it to 3-4 patterns would be better.

Process 2: The placing of words needs some minor adjustments.

Final:  The main focus in this page is the patterns. However, I still want the same consistency therefore I use lesser shapes to avoid drawing too much attention away from the image.

Takeaway

 

Locale Zine: Project 2A (Little India)

For this assignment, I went to Little India. The areas covered are main Little India, Serangoon Road and Farrer Park. I visited Little India 3 times, once on a weekday and twice on a weekend. And I group the spaces according to how populated it was.

I found lots of interesting and unique things along the way. After visiting Little India, some of my thoughts and impression of Little India changed. I felt that the place is very colourful and vibrant. There is strong spice smell. And something that surprise me and change my perspective was that the people there are very friendly. I talked to some of the people and shop owners there,  they were very nice and. It is very different from what I imagine it to be.

I found lots of wall art in the streets. These wall arts are mainly the Indian culture. Like the lady making the garlands or the cow with henna prints printed on it.

Most of the shops in Little India are shophouses. They sell a widely range of items. Like fashion wear and food. All shop sells colourful and vibrant looking items. Like almost impossible to find any black, white or grey items.

One thing very interesting I noticed was that there are a lot of pigeons in Little India. It is like a mini bird park. They are mainly sitted  in a row and on top of the buildings. And I realised that the amount of birds goes according to how populated the area is. More populated areas, the more pigeons.

During the weekends, there are a lot of people gathering.  They are normally in groups of 3-4.

I have 2 imagination of the space. From my research, I found out that there are more pigeons in the populated areas. So i imagine it as the pigeons bring happiness and crowd to the space. For this idea what I intend to do is the merge like photography and illustration. Ill take photographs of the birds in the populated areas and draw henna prints on them. 

And the reason why I choose to draw henna prints on them is because henna is used for a happy occasion and is something more traditional. I thought is could represent happiness in this case.

For my next imagination, I intend to do like a full illustration of things in Little India. Then ill add henna prints to them. Some examples will be the fruits and vegetables. 

PROJECT 1 : IMAGE MAKING THROUGH TYPE

For the first assignment, we were to create typographic portraits by using initials that describe our future occupation.

I have lots of jobs in mind, however I narrow it down to 4 jobs which I thought will be more interesting to work with.

Maze Runner
Fish Expert
Surgeon
Horologist

RESEARCH ON TYPOGRAPHY

ARTIST RESEARCH

I found several Instagram artists that inspired me.

RESEARCH AND PROCESS

PROCESS

When I think of surgeon. I think of surgery. Where surgeons are contact with wounds and fractured bones. I thought of incorporating these elements into my type.

I started drawing in out of Ai. However, I felt that the type is plain and flat. It needed some shadows.

I add shadows and I am pretty pleased with the result. However, when I ask my friends for their opinions, they felt that the legs are too straight. Skin should be more curve and not so rigid.

After making the changes, it look more like ‘skin’. I am glad I ask friends for their opinions. I also added splash of blood as the background to represent what the surgeon face daily. After consultation, the feedback that I get was that the splash of blood background makes it looks more like a murder and was a little to bloody. And that I should change it to something that is more related to my occupation.

Creating my own surgical cloth

As I could not find a suitable image of cloth for my background. I decided to create my own! I cut up a unwanted top and took photo of it. Then I edit the colours on photoshop. I also added more shadows and textures to my cloth.

FINAL

For my final work, I tried to arrange the letters in the form of the open wound. Wounds are normally in different sizes, therefore I increase and decrease the size of letters. By doing that, it also gives the name a little more dimension and depth.It will not looks so flat.

I when on the research more on surgeon. And I thought maybe I could use surgical cloth as a base. With the shade being darker at the tear open wound.

The main colour used in this composition is green, red and beige. I made used of like complementary colours. So that my name will start out more.

 

PROCESS

Some of the elements that I have pulled out from the clock is gears, screws and the knob. I wanted to try out a different style, therefore I hand drew the entire work. It actually turn out better that what I image it to be.

 

I added some dots to create depth to it. Which helps to make the letters stand out more.

FINAL

My final work, I scan my drawing and tried to create a perspective. The main colours used was brownish, as it gives off a vintage effect.

 

PROCESS

How I define a fish expert is someone that know everything about fish. Like the parts of the fish, the different segments of a fish. How many bones they have and the dimension. So I thought of doing like a see through of fish bones.

I started by sketching out my idea. I drew it out and scan it to ai and Image trace the image. I like how it creates a more structural edges.

After I add in the colours, I feel that it looks more a caterpillar instead. So I receive some feedbacks that maybe I could add in the fish head.

FINAL

I place the tail at the start of the composition and the head comes after they tail. However, we could still clearly identify that it is a fish. Our brain will naturally arrange and form the fish.

I placed the fish bone in a lab setting, Because  I am a fish expert. I have to study on the fish. So the I have to exact with the dimensions and measurements.

 

SKETCHES & IDEATION

PROCESS 

I started forming the maze of my name with Ai pen tool. It gives me a better ideas of where should be the positive (grass) and negative space.

I add grass to the background. However, I felt that my name does not stands out. It is not very obvious. I asked my friends and some comments given that there were to little grass.

FINAL

For my final work, I added more grass to the background. I chose to use a darker and thicker line for the name so that it will stand out more.

PRESENTATION

OVERALL

The challenges that I faced for this project was the interpretation of jobs. I misunderstood it and produce many wrong compositions. However, after the first consultation, I was clear of what was expected to be done. I felt that it was a lot easier after that. So, consultations are very important! Secondly, it is very important to test print. The first day I printed, the colours came out darker than what I expected. After editing the images, I had to head back to Bugis to print again. But after printing it for the second time. This time the colour was too light. I suspected that the printer ran out of ink, so I went to another shop to get it printed.

Through this project, I thought it help me move out from my comfort zone. I explored with different mediums. Instead of just sticking to one, I tried out ai, ps and also hand drawing. Although I am familiar with ai, this project allows me to explore with more tools and techniques that I am unfamiliar off.

And thank you to my friends, as I kept asking them for opinions. They always give me very truthful and useful feedback!