Week 2 Review

This week I expanded my research by responding to the illustrators and designers that I had researched last week. On Monday I created some initial illustrations of motifs that related to my theme, such as planets, satellites, and rockets, in the style of Brooke Weeber. I then cut these out and began to collage them together to come up with ideas to create a surface pattern.

To develop this I began researching into figurative illustration, which I will research further by taking photographs of people and using the Airfix model astronauts to draw from. I then did some further research into examples of prints and drawing techniques that I could use.

I also thought about what final pieces I would make, and with the help of other students I came up with a mind map of ideas for products I could make or design, such as notebooks, badges, wrapping paper, gift tags, greetings cards, writing paper, envelopes, pen/pencil covers, lunch boxes, tape, stickers and postcards.

At the weekend I went to the Ouseburn Open Studios, and had the opportunity to meet some of the artists that work there and to view their work. I particularly enjoyed meeting Jim Edwards and looking at his paintings of the North East, and I thought I could experiment with the way he paints stars and lights in his paintings. I also liked the strong colours he uses in his paintings, which I think will work well for my theme. As well as Jim Edwards’ studio, I visited the Northern Print studio, and I bought some samples of wrapping paper and notebooks as visual research for my sketchbook. I also picked up a leaflet as it contained information about different types of printing, and workshops that they offer at the studio.

 

I also researched into book binding methods that can be done by hand, either by sewing the pages together or using a piece of wire to create a ring-bound notebook. I enjoyed learning how to create a book using Japanese Binding, and I think that it looks very decorative when it is finished, however if I made my notebook like this it would have to have a very wide margin as the stitching takes up quite a lot of the page and it is difficult to open fully. I think that my notebook would have to be ring-bound as it would allow the pages to be opened fully and the notebook could be bent back on itself, which is useful when writing in it.

 

Week 1 – Research Review

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.

Bibliography

Google Images, 2016. Google Images. [Online] Available at: https://www.google.co.uk/imghp. [Accessed 04 March 2016]

Hadfield, C. (2013) An Astronaut’s Guide To Life on Earth. London: Macmillan.

Paperchase, 2016. Paperchase. [Online] Available at: http://www.paperchase.co.uk/. [Accessed 04 March 16]

Patternity, 2016. Patternity. [Online] Available at: https://patternity.org/. [Accessed 04 March 16]

Plinth. (2016). Crack Magazine

Powell, R. (2016). Rachel Powell – Wallpaper | Fabrics | Prints | Ceramics – racheljpowell. [online] Racheljpowell.com. Available at: http://www.racheljpowell.com/ [Accessed 14 Mar. 2016].

Print and Pattern, 2016. Print and Pattern. [Online] Available at: http://printpattern.blogspot.co.uk/. [Accessed 04 March 16]

Riddle, L. (2016). FMP. [online] Pinterest. Available at: https://uk.pinterest.com/lizzy_1897/fmp/ [Accessed 5 Mar. 2016].

Riddle, L. (2016). Hubble Telescope Images. [online] Pinterest. Available at: https://uk.pinterest.com/lizzy_1897/hubble-telescope-images/ [Accessed 28 Mar. 2016].

Riddle, L. (2016). Motifs to draw. [online] Pinterest. Available at: https://uk.pinterest.com/riddcharlie/motifs-to-draw/ [Accessed 5 Mar. 2016].

Riddle, L. (2016). Typography. [online] Pinterest. Available at: https://uk.pinterest.com/lizzy_1897/typography/ [Accessed 26 April 2016].

Ridpath, I. and Tirion, W. (1984)  Stars and Planets. 2nd ed.Hong Kong: HarperCollinsPublishers, p293, p297.

Scott, L. (2016). Lily Louise Scott. [online] Cargocollective.com. Available at: http://cargocollective.com/lilylouisescott [Accessed 14 Mar. 2016].

Urban Outfitters (2015). SHEET Magazine (Issue 9)

Weeber, B. (2016). Brooke Weeber. [online] Brookeweeberillustration.tumblr.com. Available at: http://brookeweeberillustration.tumblr.com/ [Accessed 14 Mar. 2016].

YouTube. (2016). Japanese Bookbinding Tutorial: 4-Hole. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-r6c_trSxY [Accessed 13 Mar. 2016].

YouTube. (2016). Japanese Stab Binding Tortoise Stitch. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TIo5s8yF8A [Accessed 13 Mar. 2016].

YouTube. (2016). Bookbinding Supplies, Substitutes & Tips – YouTube. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL179BD249EB2CF650 [Accessed 13 Mar. 2016].

1973. (2016). Nineteenseventythree. [Online] Available at: http://nineteenseventythree.com/. [Accessed 04 March 16]

 

 

Proposal and Time Plan

FMP Project Proposal Lizzy

Tutorial Discussion

In my tutorial I presented my three main ideas and my tutor agreed that the stationery design idea was the best to go with. She suggested I combined my idea of stationery and card and gift with my pop-up book idea, by making a pop-up greetings card. My feedback in my tutorial about Specialism work highlighted methods I need to work on in my sketchbook, for example using more collage in my work and working in a less controlled way, which I will work on in this project. My tutor also suggested that I use primary sources in my work by using rock formations and crystals to create drawings and mark making pieces that I could scan in and use as textures to create motifs.

FMP Initial Ideas

For my FMP I came up with 3 ideas in my sketchbook which I thought I could develop.

My first idea was a pop-up book, targeted towards children, which would illustrate the alphabet using animals or objects to represent letters. I collected primary research by taking photographs of shops in Newcastle that sold pop-up books or cards, such as Paperchase, Waterstones and Jolie Papier, or that had stationery or cards in the style I wanted to work in. I then did secondary research using Pinterest and collected images that had the content or style I was interested in. I downloaded a template of a pop-up house that I found on Pinterest, which I used in my sketchbook, however if I developed this idea I would create my own template to use.

 My second idea was to create an illustrated recipe collection, so I began by collecting primary research of recipe books in shops and at home. I then researched on Pinterest different styles of illustrated recipes, and I enjoyed responding to these in my sketchbook and creating my own illustrated recipe for a Dark Chocolate and Orange Cake.

My last idea was to create a stationery collection, which would also be targeted towards children. I took photographs in Waterstones and Paperchase for primary research to look ago how they used motifs and repeated patterns. I also researched into different examples of stationery design and card and gift designs from secondary sources. I came up with three themes for this idea – animals, plants and space. I prefer the space theme as it is gender neutral and is fun and engaging for children.