This week I collected Primary and Secondary research into my theme of space. I began by walking around Newcastle and taking photographs and collecting things that caught my eye. I bought some wrapping paper from Paperchase which I felt strongly showed the style I was working towards in this project. Urban Outfitters give away a free magazine called ‘Crack’, which had a lot of visual inspiration in. I also had a magazine from Urban Outfitters that I collected for the Branding project last year, which was called ‘Sheet’, and featured samples of wrapping paper from upcoming young designers which I thought I could use as inspiration. I took photographs of rocks and crystals, which I used in a two day mini-project to produce a set of two surface pattern designs for my portfolio.
At home we had an Airfix model of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module ‘Eagle’, which had models of astronauts and space equipment which I also took photographs of. I will use these to draw from next week. I had taken photographs of the ‘supermoon’ in August 2015, and I used these as part of my Primary research as I wanted to use the moon as a motif in my designs, so I thought I could draw from this photography. I also looked at books which related to my project, and I photocopied these for my sketchbook. I was influenced by Chris Hadfield’s autobiography about his experiences as an astronaut, and I will use his photography from space as inspiration for my illustrations. I also looked at the Collins Pocket Guide to ‘Stars and Planets’ which contained a lot of information and imagery I could use.
I visited the Hancock museum to look at the crystals and minerals section, but to further my research I could view one of the shows at the Planetarium, either at the Hancock or the Life Centre, and I could also visit the ‘Robot’ exhibition at the Life Centre to take more photography of robots and elements related to space, which I can use as a motif in my designs.
I collected secondary research into stationery designs that I thought were relevant and illustrators and designers whose style I thought could influence this project. To further this research I will look more into how illustrators draw figuratively, and I will respond to this in my sketchbook. This will be helpful when I come to drawing characters to use in my designs.
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