Design Principles Final Project
WEEK 11-14
Chan Meiling 0337771
Design Principles/ Bachelors of Design (Hons) in Creative Media/ Taylor's University/ Final Project
INSTRUCTIONS
For this Final Project, we are required to utilise our understanding of design principles found in the design work with regards to audience, purpose, cost, effect etc. to understand the impact the design has on the community visually, environmentally, commercially, etc. and after analysing the chosen artwork, we will have to express our understanding towards the artwork.
Part 1 (Visual Analysis)
•Phase 1: Observation
•Phase 2: Analysis
•Phase 3: Interpretation
However, after observing her artwork I realised that since all of her work is abstract and quite minimal, it will hard for me to write the analysis later on. Hence, I have decided to choose from one of Alexandra Morawiak's digital collage artworks because I find it easier to elaborate and I really like the colours and compositions in her artworks.
Progress and Explorations:
In the beginning, I tried to use an image that I have found to create a figure of a girl sitting on a fence wall. Even though the outcome was very different with my initial sketch idea I actually like how it looks and the surrealistic feel.
Since it is pretty hard for me to just choose an artwork I like randomly, I have decided to choose the artworks from artists I like which is Ash Holmes and Alexandra Morawiak.
Artworks by Artist, Ash Holmes (Artwork 1- Artwork 4 from Left to Right)
Artwork 1
Title: Sands of Time
Descriptions: Ink, calico material, acrylic, charcoal, oil pastels on canvas framed in Tasmanian Oak
Artwork 2
Title: This must be the place
Descriptions: Ink, calico material, acrylic, charcoal, oil pastels on canvas
Artwork 3
Title: Bottle of Nice
Descriptions: Acrylic, pastels, oil paint and spray paint on transparent linen.
Artwork 4
Title: Grounded
Descriptions: Mixed medium on canvas framed in oak
Artworks by Artist, Alexandra Morawiak (Artwork 1- Artwork 4 from Left to Right)
Artwork 1
Untitled
Series: Series of three geometric collage posters
Descriptions: Abstract geometric colourful minimal collage posters
Artwork 2
Untitled
Series: Collage postcards for KUKBUK Magazine
Descriptions: Abstract geometric colourful minimal collage posters
Artwork 3
Title: Dreams of Sustainable
Descriptions: Printed in pigment printing technology on high-quality Hahnemuhle archival paper
Artwork 4
Title: Summertime
Descriptions: Poster design for wall-being collection
Chosen artwork for visual analysis
VISUAL ANALYSIS:
Phase 1: Observation
First of all, this collage artwork is in a portrait format. All the images used are organic and related to nature, for example, the leaves, human being, mountain, lake and flowers. Moreover, most shapes and images that are cut out are in organic shapes as well. For example, the four tiny circles and the manner the elements are arranged. The mood and tone in this artwork are pretty calm and the colour palette used is mainly split complementary colours which are orange, green and tint of blue with a lighter gradient.
Phase 2: Analysis
The main design principle that I observed from this artwork is balance, movement, harmony and unity. Despite having many images and elements that are different in shapes and colours, it is well balanced asymmetrically. The tiny circles found in this collage art make those diagonally-arranged images to feel more balanced, thus creating a sense of oneness. Therefore, it is able to bring out a sense of unity while creating a better composition. Besides, the tiny circle in blue at the bottom right acts as a centroid and a point that is diverging out. The use of harmony in the colour scheme is visible and the elements that are used are also able to bring out the sense and feeling of harmony, for example, the use of images of leaves, flowers, ponds and rivers. Also, you can observe that there is also a flow of movement that is found in this collage art diagonally from the top right to the bottom left. In this collage art, the lady is arranged horizontally with a pond right below it. The movements of water flowing down are presented through images, for example, the image of body parts of the human and the image of the cloth that is crinkled is connected in a way as if they were following down to the river at the bottom. The positions of the two flowers at the side which are facing towards the right also seem like it is contributing to the upward movement of the larger flower.
Phase 3: Interpretation
In this artwork created by Alexandra Morawiak, I think it is presented in an imaginative and surreal manner by using existing elements in reality. Besides, this artwork holds a strong bond between human and nature and I find this collage art subtle, dreamy and philosophical. In my point of view, the concept of this artwork is to indicate a lady crying a river by observing on how the lady is arranged in a horizontal position followed by a sense of movement of water flowing down through the images. Besides that, I think the theme of this painting is possibly related to the bond between human and nature. The artist could be a nature lover who is sad about all the damages and destructions have been caused to our planet as the figure of the lady on the top right doesn't seem to be happy. The small human figure with a shadow looks like it is trying to express loneliness to me. Perhaps, it could be telling a message about our earth is dying but sadly there are not many people that are willing to care about mother nature and take actions to make a change. Last but not least, I think that the minimal usage of colours in this piece allows the audience to focus on the story of the artwork itself.
Part 2
Collage Art Moodboard
Collage kit
Idea Sketches
Idea Sketches Explanation:
For the first sketch on the top left, it was inspired by a scene in one of the movies I have watched as a kid. However, I can't recall what is the name of the movie and I all I could remember was the main character was a girl sitting on a wall fence while waiting for her friend from the other planet to meet her.
The second sketch on the top right was inspired by the message of the collage art that I have chosen to analyse on which is about mother nature crying. I thought it would be interesting to make use of a giant mushroom as a shelter for us human to avoid getting drenched from the rain and decided to include that in my sketch.
For the third sketch on the bottom left, it was inspired by watching a Netflix documentary titled "The Great Hack". In this documentary, they talk about how the internet is constantly 'watching' and 'listening' to us through the cookies we accept on the internet, what we watch and type on our social media platforms to get data and information of our personality, emotions and etc.
For the sketch on the bottom right was inspired by watching a Korean drama with my family. In this drama, the main lead turned from a kind-hearted and naive man into someone who is thirsty for power and social status after going through hardships. Hence, I got this idea of a hand squeezing lemon juice to represent the quote 'when life gives you lemon' and a vinyl cd to represent the story of how people choose to be after going through something bad.
Progress 1
Progress 2
Since it was my idea is to make my collage to have a very flat and smooth effect, I did not want to add any background that is too complicated. Therefore, I have decided to choose a solid colour for my background. Since it looks very empty I have decided to add more images on the left to fill up the spaces.
Progress 3
Outcome
Since I am quite ahead of time by completing my collage art earlier, I have decided to explore more by trying out another sketch idea so I will have an option to choose for my final work.
Collage Progress
Explorations:
Further Explorations:
Inspired Design:
Final Outcome
Rationale:
This design is inspired by a collage art created by Alexandra Morawiak, which I have analysed in part 1 of this assignment. I was inspired by her ability to tell a story through collage artworks. This inspired me to create a collage art of my own, titled ''When Life Gives You Lemon''.
The story behind this artwork is about how people adapt to hardships and hurdles in their lives. The lemon at the top in this collage art represents hardships, while the 2 circles at the bottom make up a vinyl record which symbolises the stories of these people being told. The dragonfly in the middle of the pink circle of the vinyl record symbolises change, transformation and adaptability in life.
Firstly, the man at the bottom with a snake which is trying to eat the moth represents evil. The reason why I have chosen a moth is that moth symbolises vulnerability and weakness spiritually. This man could be someone who takes advantage of people that are weaker than him for his own good.
The man at the left of the vinyl record is a wealthy man who is able to get away from most of his problems because of his wealthy background. The oranges symbolise prosperity and wealth while the bird on the man's collar symbolises freedom.
The third man on the top which is right bellow the lemon juice droplets is a man that remains kind despite going through hardships. The gardening fork, shovel, watering can and gloves represent the character of a gardener which are patience, persistent and hardworking.
Last but not least, the last man on the right of the vinyl record with a fish, knife and agapanthus plant is a man who became cruel and selfish. The fish in this collage art represents a cold-blooded personality. The agapanthus plant symbolises toxicity while the knife at the back of the man's head symbolises cruelty.
FEEDBACK
Week 11
This week, I showed ms my selected artwork and visual analysis that I have done. She explained that some of the descriptions that I have written are not in the right category. Besides, she also stated that it is important to have the artwork credits stated for all of the artworks that I have shown.
Week 12
Dr Jinchi looked through my visual analysis writing and pointed out a few mistakes that I have made. Besides, she suggested elaborating more on my interpretation for some of the statements written.
Week 13
I showed ms my idea sketches and work progress and she reminded me to put down the source for the images that I have used in my collage art.
Week 14
Dr Jinchi said that she thinks that the first composition for the vinyl record collage suits the message of my idea more. She stated the black colour brought out the contrast compared to the colours that I have explored and the representation of the dark side of my collage idea. Besides, she suggested replacing the circles that represent the lemon juice droplets into an actual shape of a water droplet and trying out with more lemons at the background.
FINAL REFLECTION
Throughout all the exercises and projects, I have learned a lot and it was honestly fun doing these assignments. At the beginning of this module, I was quite clueless about how design principles work and couldn't really understand how these principles are to be applied in an artwork. Even though watching the recorded lectures and lecture notes did help a lot, I still struggled a lot on thinking of ideas based on design principles we are required to do for the first few weeks. However, after doing lots of research and as we get to practice more, I slowly have a grasp on how to analyse and apply these principles that we have learned while doing our assignments. Especially for the artwork analysis for project 3, I was quite surprised that I am able to observe and analyse much better than before.
Besides, one of the reasons why I enjoyed this module is that we get to expose to many different mediums which I think is really interesting and fun to do. Since we are not being limited by any means, I think that allowing us to choose from our own ideas and the type of medium that we want is very beneficial as we all get to explore so much more on things or medium we are interested in while doing our assignments.
What I have learnt about myself throughout all these practices is that I am quite indecisive when it comes to deciding my idea and choosing the type of mediums. Though I do think that being able to explore and try out more is a good practice for now, I still think that it can quite time consuming and it will not be practical if I have much more on my plate later on or in the future.
I would say that the thing that I have not changed throughout my learning journey is the way I sketch out my ideas. I think I can visualise better by doing smaller sketches by following the same ratio of the size of artboard. On the other side, one thing that I've changed in my learning journey is my observations towards my surroundings. I realised that I will try to apply the design principles that I have learned subconsciously while creating an artwork, or even taking pictures.
To be honest, this subject is one of my favourite subjects throughout this semester. I think that Dr Jinchi did a really good job on being our lecturer and I like that she is able to keep the class fun and engaging. Besides, I like that she is able to explain things clearly and in detail, especially while giving us feedback to our work. Overall, this module has been a fun one and I am looking forward to create more good work by applying all these knowledge that I have learned and the experience that I've had.
Image Sources: Pinterest
Comments
Post a Comment