DESIGN PRINCIPLES / PROJECT 2 - SENSE OF PLACE
11/10/2022 - 01/11/2022 / Week 7 - Week 10
Chew Zhi Ern / 0358995
Design Principles / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media / Taylor's University
Project 2 / Sense of Place
Chew Zhi Ern / 0358995
Design Principles / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media / Taylor's University
Project 2 / Sense of Place
INSTRUCTION
<iframe src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OIM4tYsZAdpgfMrFR6bjpiNX8D0I90_M/preview" width="640" height="480" allow="autoplay"></iframe>
LECTURES
Lecture 7: Sense of Place - The Importance of Observation
(In the simplest description) A designer's role is to solve problems with effective visual communication.
"Problems" that a designer solves are numerous - including everything from personal objectives to community events and from corporate functions to world-changing projects. All through creative, visual communication means.
For examples:
- This app for meditation is designed for individual use.
 |
| An app |
- This is a poster that is designed to inform and encourage public participation in recycling e-waste.
 |
| A poster |
- It is a poster that is designed to encourage participation for the betterment of the earth.
 |
| A poster |
THE IMPORTANCE OF OBSERVATION
- How does a designer 'know' what imagery or content to include in the design?
- We understand that the client informs the designer of the purpose of the project. But, when it comes to visual ideas, how do designers work?
- This is where observation comes in. Being observant means to be attentive to your surroundings, to pay attention to the details and to be analytical about them.
- For a designer, observation can be an effective way to get ideas. Sources of observation can stem from artifacts, daily happenings, physical surroundings and such.
Some design is inspired by nature. Biomimicry, the emulation of the modules, systems and elements of nature, for the purpose of solving complex human problems, is one example of how the result of the observation of nature is implied to design.
In fact, in the design work of traditional cultures art and crafts, we can see what is observed in nature is put into amazing beautiful visual form.
8 ways to improve the powers of observation:
- Know your subject: You will notice more if you understand it.
- Slow down and look outward: Use mindfulness to focus your attention on your surroundings.
- Try something new: Choose an activity that will engage your senses and heighten your awareness.
- Improve your concentration by cutting out distractions: Turn off your phone, log out of social media, or go somewhere quiet where you won't be disturbed.
- Challenge yourself to a mental workout: A smarter, more agile brain will help you to observe with greater insight.
- Test your observation by playing a memory game: Describe a photograph, or list everything in the room you're in right now without looking. Practice makes perfect.
- Record and consider your observations: Go beyond the things you see. Note down the smells and sounds you experience too.
- Stay inquisitive: Question and analyze your observations. Doing this will add value to your work.
- Observing is an active act of acquiring information, through the senses, of a subject matter in its natural setting.
- Our senses are important for us to know, feel, understand, analyse, and even plan what we want to do.
- Observation is important to designers as it enables them to see 'problems', as well as getting ideas for solutions to those problems.
SENSE OF PLACE
- As shown in the example of the Island Bazaar, we can get the hint of an island life, the cool breeze of the air, the warmth of the sun all through careful observation and documentation of the designer's surroundings.
- Besides that, you will also observe that suitable design principles are applied to create effective visuals in those Instagram feeds of island Bazaar.
- How do you express your sense of that place?
- Start by documenting your observations - photographs, diary, talking to relevant people, etc.
- Creating a mindmap to work out the ideas.
- Island Bazaar's Instagram posts are just an example of how a sense of place can be expressed - photograph. There are other mediums you can explore, such as collage, illustration (manual/digital), scale model, the possibilities out there are endless.
Week 7: Project 2 Briefing
Dr. Jinchi briefed us on Project 2 - Sense of Place. Students are to conduct some visual research and some brainstorming to determine the content for this project and produce 2-3 sketches in Week 8 which is the Independent Learning Week.
Week 8: Independent Learning Week
- No Class!
Week 9: Discussion selected 'Place' and Preliminary Ideas
This week, Dr. Jinchi has gone through the sketches that have been produced by us and provided some general feedback to us as well.
Week 10: Introduce to Final Project - Visual Analysis & Final Blog & Finalise Idea for Project 2
Dr. Jinchi has briefed us on the final project and final compilation. We were asked to review the materials that have been posted on Teams about the details of the project. What she expected to see in our work next week is the blog for the final project must be ready and show the progress of Phases 1 & Phases 2 which respectively are observation and analysis. Subsequently, the finalized idea for Project 2 session started.
RECAP
Below are some examples of work:
 |
| Pinterest - Veerle |
 |
| Earth Island Journal - Maureen Nandini Mitra |
 |
| https://www.courtyardarts.org.uk/exhibitions/past-exhibitions/a-sense-of-place-8th-february-5th-march-2022/ |
VISUAL RESEARCH
 |
| A dolphin show when I was young |
 |
| References for dolphins jumping out from the water |
 |
| Visual Reference for Sense of Place |
After some research and references, I decided to express my 'place' in a form similar to a three-dimensional paper-cut illustration. Hence, below are some examples of it.
 |
| Example 1 |
 |
| Example 2 |
IDEA EXPLORATION AND DESCRIPTION
Dolphins in the sea make me feel calm, free and relaxed, even happy. To add to the ambiance, I set it to night mode, because at night is the moment when I have my own space and time to think more, but the addition of the sun let me feel warm instead of lonely. Using the 'layers' method is like recalling my past. Below is my progress on this task.
 |
| Figure 1. A very roughly sketch |
 |
| Figure 2. Figure out the background that I want |
 |
| Figure 3. The element of sunlight added |
 |
| Figure 4. Refined work |
 |
| Figure 5. Added a dolphin |
 |
| Figure 6. Replenish the shadow of the dolphin |
 |
| Figure 7. Adding the "paper cutting" technique |
I think that changing the colour order from dark to light makes the subject stand out more. Thus, below are my outcome.
 | |
|
 |
| Figure 9. First Outcome |
At the suggestion of Dr. Jin Chi, I made some changes to my design.
 |
| Figure 10. The atmosphere brightened |
 |
| Figure 11. Outcome in progressing |
 |
| Figure 12. Final Outcome for Sense of Place |
FINAL OUTCOME & RATIONALE
 |
| The final outcome of the project |
FEEDBACK
Week 8: Independent Learning Week. No class!
Week 9: The idea of the ladder (Figure 9) climbing into the memory is quite interesting. But, the centerpiece (Figure 6) can be improved by making it brighter and happier, as right now it looks lonely. Also, should study more on how the dolphins jump out, which have splashes of water to give more life to it as mine is not having a lot of life there. The sky should be brighter too, instead, just have one small light in the dolphin. In fact, it also doesn't have to be a ladder, it can be the steps to make it more organic. The steps can be built by the lines there and then the people can sit at the edge. It is an interesting idea but the feelings need to be more.
Week 10: One of the dolphin‘s positions needs to be readjusted. Additionally, it would look better if I can depict myself sitting on the steps, either I'm looking at the centerpiece or just facing the front, hands on the chin, as though I'm contemplating something to show a kind of peaceful expression. The depiction is way better now and it flows well compared to the previous one.
WEEKLY CHANGES & REFLECTION
Weekly Changes
Week 7 & 8: I have done some research and gone through some references for my idea exploration. Then, I started to begin my journey for this task (Figure 1 - Figure 9).
Week 9: Changes were made and the outcome is in progress (Figure 10 - Figure 11).
Week 10: Slightly changes were made after Dr. Jinchi's advice. Completed and refined the work.
Reflection
During this task, I found that I lacked the necessary expressive abilities. Every once in a while, I get an idea for something new that I want to add, but when it comes to being practical, I can't articulate it or how to articulate it. And so, through this task, I think I should learn more painting skills and techniques.
Comments
Post a Comment