Finally got a new scanner and ‘m able to scan the illustrations 1200dpi! There were a few accidental scan errors though which I thought turned out quite nice hah.
Still struggling with the layout of the A3 pages. Have been collecting ideas along the way..I should start looking at pop up books too.
Yesterday I made myself a little corner in my house to start working on clay. It’s been ages since I touched any clay!
Spent the afternoon (about 3+ hours) and managed to give birth to this little guy here — my Dog Guard.
The finishing is still a little rough and needs touching up. I am still thinking if I should make these kind of figurines of the different types of workers at my doggy wonderland and display them on a shelf? Anyway the building is more crucial and ‘d probably work on that first. So many things to do and so little time!!!! And my brain is currently in a mess now too. Still lots of things to figure out and illustrations to be done and finalised.
Things to be done:
Questions in my head now:
Anyway, today my brother brought this little puppy named Truffles home and I can’t stop playing with her. A new addition to my family and she’s Pepper’s relative! My happy distresstion. (:
Aaaand my #casestudy just cause it makes me feel less guilty for playing.
One day Walt Disney had a vision. It was a vision of a place where children and parents could have fun together. The more Walt dreamed of a “magical park,” the more imaginative and elaborate it became.
Walt once said “I could never convince the financiers that Disneyland was feasible, because dreams offer too little collateral.”
Main Street, U.S.A. — Just inside Disneyland’s entrance gates is this re-creation of the main street of a small town in the early 20th century. There’s City Hall, the Cinema, turn-of-the-century vehicles, and a variety of small shops.
Adventureland — This exotic land combines elements of many foreign locales like jungles, bazaars, and tiki gods. One of Disneyland’s most thrilling attractions, The Indiana Jones Adventure, is located in an ancient temple.
Frontierland — Along the banks of the Rivers of America the wild, wild, west comes to life with attractions like Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and the Mark Twain Riverboat. Young and old alike can explore the mysteries of Pirate’s Lair on Tom Sawyer Island.
New Orleans Square — Stroll the streets of New Orleans’ picturesque French Quarter, dine on gumbo and Monte Cristo sandwiches, and listen to the sounds of a Dixieland band. New Orleans Square is home to two of Disneyland’s best known attractions: Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion.
Critter Country — Splash Mountain and the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh make every day a zip-a-dee-doo-dah day!
Fantasyland — In this land of enchantment and make-believe most of the attractions are based on a classic Disney animated film, like Dumbo, Peter Pan, Snow White, Alice in Wonderland, or Pinocchio.
Mickey’s Toontown — Visit the homes of Disneyland’s most important citizens – Mickey and Minnie, Goofy, Donald and Pluto. Attractions include Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin and Gadget’s Go-Coaster.
Tomorrowland — Experience exotic planets on a thrilling Star Tours adventure, an undersea voyage of discovery with Nemo and friends in Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, battle the evil Emperor Zurg at Buzz Lightear Astro Blasters, or take an exhilirating space coaster ride on Space Mountain.
Personal reflections:
I have always been a fan of Walt Disney since my younger days, and Disneyland was just an absolutely amazing creation by the pure genius. It is a miniature world of fantasy planted in the middle of reality and it never fails to make one feel like a child again upon entering this paradise. What inspires me was Walt’s vision to build this “magical park” and his persistence and belief in his idea although it initially seemed far-fetched and irrelevant.
My ideal Wooferland encapsulates this element of a fun fantasy miniature world just like Disneyland — just that now it’s for our dogs’ turn to have fun! Wooferland is a theme park cum day care for all urban pet dogs, and its mission is to be a lively ‘companion’ to them during their lonely hours just as they have been the best companions to us when we feel lonely or bored.
Sources:
http://www.justdisney.com/disneyland/history.html
http://epcotexplorer.tumblr.com/post/55787010347/a-bevy-of-baxter-disneyland-expansion-during-the
Because Pepper loves me for being myself and he inspires push for what I want my end product to be…
The purpose of my project in short:
While attempting to be the solution for a real-life problem, it also challenges the viewer’s pre–conceived notions of what reality is or can be.
Since it is a play between reality and fantasy (ideal), here are some architectural visual references for my doggie land that ‘ve gathered over time:
One week late but here it is!
Summary of Presentation
Introduction
Inspired by my late pet dog, Pepper, to redesign a city landscape that would be more inclusive of dogs. The reason being is because I felt that when he was still alive, he did not have the luxury of enjoying a life outside of the house due to many limitations that I face in reality. Time, money, and a city landscape and system that was not dog–friendly in many ways.
As a result, Pepper lacked the physical and social environment that is essential in every dog’s life. Although he had no obvious separation anxiety, he often showed boredom even when my family is at home.
This project is dedicated to Pepper who could have led a more fun and fulfilled life, to my future dog, to every urbanised dog, and to all dog lovers out there.
Problem
In the past, dogs had functional jobs such as shepherd dogs, that allowed them to run around freely in huge areas and be close to nature. However, there is a change in the way we perceive dogs and our relationship with them. Nowadays, although there are still many working dogs, majority are kept as pets and are seen as stay-home collectable objects. Because their presence gives us joy in the comforts of our home, we don’t see a need to bring them out of the house anymore.
The number of dogs being imported and registered in Singapore is on a rise. However since majority of us are living in high–rise apartment, there is very little room for our dogs to run.
Research
There are many existing pet–friendly places in Singapore such as cafes, parks, beaches, dog–run areas, daycare centres, spa and grooming centres.
On the other hand there are still many limitations that dogs and owners face in reality. (i.e. high cost and lack of transport)
Solution
Wooferland aims to create an ideal city environment for dogs to have more freedom outside of the house, to allow them to live their own individual lives in the absence of their owners and be able to socialise with other dogs and humans. The goal is to enable these urban dogs to live more fulfilled lives during this short amount of time they have on earth.
Style —
Whimsical, child–like, fantastical, fun, innocent — to reflect the playful, light–hearted, innocent nature of dogs
Deliverables —
Showroom (Installation)
Feedbacks
Response to Feedbacks
Personal Thoughts
Should Wooferland be either:
So I’m currently still in a dilemma as to whether I should stay somewhere in between fantasy and reality, or just go full–out fantasy. ):
Advice from a friend
The compromise between reality and fantasy — conceptual. Propose a concept for this and say that this serves as the basis for expansion in the future. The concept of Wooferland is both physically as a place for dogs to live their lives as it should be as well as a symbol for dog owners to realise that their living conditions at home is not ideal for dogs. Also it serves as a symbol to spark ideas and awareness in people about the living conditions of dogs and their needs.
“Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.”
— Carl Sagan
References
Books
How Dogs Think, Stanley Coren
Websites
https://www.longmonthumane.org/?q=lonely-dog
http://www.totallyvets.co.nz/bored-and-lonely-dogs.html
http://www.petexpo.sg/about_petexpo2014
Documentaries
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/dogs-decoded/
Dogs Decoded reveals the science behind the remarkable bond between humans and their dogs and investigates new discoveries in genetics that are illuminating the origin of dogs – with surprising implications for the evolution of human culture.
Other research is proving what dog lovers have suspected all along: Dogs have an uncanny ability to read and respond to human emotions.
Humans, in turn, respond to dogs with the same hormone responsible for bonding mothers to their babies.
How did this incredible relationship between humans and dogs come to be? And how can dogs, so closely related to fearsome wild wolves, behave so differently?
Mattias Adolfsson is my all–time favourite illustrator. His works are insanely detailed and whimsical and his characters have such a unique feel and personality. It is so fun to be able to see what is going through in his bizarre mind and I can spend all day just scrolling through these images. I am so amazed and speechless that ‘m starting to think he is not human.
I admire illustrators who have their own strong, unique illustration styles that they can stick to. Having a own personal style really defines who you are and makes you stand out. I hope I am able achieve and define my own unique style of illustrations too by the end of FYP. (:
Warning: Breath–taking images ahead, not for the faint hearted.
More illustrations found on his blog.
Almost every dog lover has at some point dreamed of being able understand exactly what canines are saying with their barks and growls. Doing its dog-ged best to fulfill that fantasy—or at least profit off it—is the manufacturer of the BowLingual Voice, an electronic dog-to-human language translator.
The BowLingual Voice was unleashed by Takara Tomy, a Japanese company (because, really, no marketing department of native English speakers would assign a product such as this a name that starts with “bowel”). The company claims that their BowLingual can translate a hundred (aka a hound-dred?) different barks.
To understand the reality of the BowLingual it helps to know that Takara Tomy is a toy manufacturer, not a pet-related company.
The BowLingual consists of a dog collar and a handheld controller/speaker. What this gadget does is assign each of your dog’s noises one of six moods: happy, sad, content, needy, frustrated or anxious. The BowLingual then comes up with a phrase that matches that mood. It is here that the accuracy of the translation seems to go off the rails. Because, according to the BowLingual, everything your dog says is some odd, cutesy Japanese~esque phrase such as:
Try saying my name.
– or –
You make me smile.
– or –
I’ve got a funny feeling.
(Full article here)
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Thoughts: When I saw this I was like wait whaaaat, there’s such a thing?! But too bad it is preset phrases not an exact translation of what the dog is saying. If only such a thing really exist like those in the movie UP!
Came across some a–mazing (technical) sketches by artist Chris Armstrong.
Note to self: stay away from the computer and use a sketchbook instead!!
