Applied Arts Taster

For the first part of the taster session for 3-D and Applied Arts we worked alone or in pairs and chose from a list of words and tried to show that word via a sculpture made of card. The word we chose was Insert. After coming up with some ideas we decided on what we were going to create and then once we started creating the piece we decided to make a few changes to make the piece look more abstract.

Overall, i think the piece went quite well. I liked the changes made as i think it worked a lot better than our original idea so i think it was a good idea to alter he piece slightly. However, I do think we could have tried different styles on each of the sail type shapes instead of the same idea, but overall I think it worked well together as a piece.

Thomas Heatherwick

Thomas Heatherwick

Thomas is an English Designer. He is well known for his work in architecture and sculpture, which is what stood out to me from his work. I liked the style of the pieces he creates and to the scale in which he does so. One of my favourite pieces is the Angel’s wings sculpture. Although the detail is quite limited and the colours are shades of grey I think this is what makes it appealing and also what makes it stand out. The triangle shapes that are on the sculpture, although simple, I think make the sculpture much more effective and eye catching. What appeals to me about his work is that it is in no way ordinary. A bridge he created in London for pedestrians, he made so that it rolled into a ball to let ships through.

Another piece of work by Thomas Heatherwick which I found interesting was the Sheung Wan Hotel in Hong Kong. I loved the square detailing on the side of the hotel, almost making the hotel look like it has been made from paper, this was the effect it gave me. I also like how simple the shapes are but when layered up together they make a very detailed piece of work. Also a thing that stands out and makes the piece eye catching is the depth of the squares, some stand out and others appear to be quite deep into the side of the building.

The Olympic cauldron, also designed by Heatherwick, stands out as one of the iconic parts of the Olympic ceremony. Using hundreds of small torches that then all move to form a larger torch I think was quite symbolic, like all the countries coming together. I liked the simple style of his piece, just hundreds of the same style torch together to make a dome shape. I also liked the design of the piece overall and the shape.

Letterforms final Pieces

After researching various letterforms and typography, I planned out what I wanted to do for my final pieces. I used the phrases 'I will whisper' and 'You will listen'. 

Overall i think the pieces went quite well.I especially liked the 'i will whisper' one as i think the ground worked well within the piece. If i were to create this piece again i think i would have used a different font for the word whisper to make it stand out from the rest.

I think the 'you will listen' sign worked well but I think i could have improved on it. Maybe by making the word listen more hard hitting and harsher looking to make it look like a command, however i still like the piece, especially as i think it works well with the other as a set. 

I also added the word so to connect the two pieces which were originally the lyric 'i will whisper so you will listen'.

Visual Communication - A Review

After my introduction to visual communication I have realised that there are is a lot more to it than I first thought. There isn't just graphic designers, illustrators and animators but there are hundreds of other things involved in each one. I have definitely been inspired by the work I've been shown, especially the letterforms and the idea of making my own type, which I find really interesting as you can create works of art from simple lettering and different shapes, like the pieces I went on to create. 

I will definitely observe the area differently as when you see a simple logo on a piece of packaging it makes you realise just how much effort and time goes into making these things.

Tactile Phototgraphy

Here are some of the images I took for my tactile photography pieces (see earlier post). These images needed to show texture and tone when converted to this high contrast black and white style image and I think these worked quite well.

R.Crumb - Article

An interesting article on two cartoonists who work together and started out in the 60's creating comic books aimed at an older audience. Their detailed style struck me when first looking at their work. I liked the detailing in every one of the drawings for each of their comics. 

Letterforms Piece

after practicing with drawing type and lettering, I created an A2 piece working with found type of different packaging and labels, creating four grounds first on my piece of paper.

Using different media (graphite, oil pastel, fineliner, ink) on the piece i worked with quick three minute line drawings in the four sections to create my larger piece.

I think the piece worked quite well overall. I liked the styles and I think the colour used worked well within the piece. i also think the pieces worked well in placement chosen on the page. however I agree with my feedback that I could have made some of the lines a little neater as a few are quite rough, I could do this by taking more time over my lines and being sure that the lines are exactly where I want them the first time.