Day 1: creating our own alphabet
Evaluation of the exercises done today:
How did this morning's image presentation change the way you think about type/lettering?
This morning’s image representation made me think about type/lettering in a much different way: I never really enjoyed lettering but looking at other artist’s work encouraged me to take on this week’s project with an open mind. I also learnt about the history and different contexts of how the fonts were created which helped me understand how to contextualise my work for this week.
You have worked with several restrictions today (material, process, time..) describe how you feel you dealt with that - positives and negatives
At first I felt like the restrictions that were given to me were very limiting as I thought that I would not be able to create very letters and fonts: I struggled because I didn’t know how to approach the task but after asking the tutors for advice I was able to use the restrictions to create more interesting work; I challenged myself to create the opposite of the things I was creating and looking at the techniques I was using in a different way and at the end I think the restrictions helped me understand how to work well with less.
What have you learnt by looking at other student's work?
Looking at other students work helped me give me more ideas, especially when trying to create 3D, sculptural letters. Before looking at student’s work I never considered creating anything 3D but looking at how some students approached the task encouraged me to go out of my comfort zone. I found it very interesting and inspiring to look at how different people approached the same task and had different outcomes than mine.
Creating the Letters digitally
Do you think the letters you translated in digital form reflect the ones you created physically the day before?
Yes, I think the digital letters are quite similar to the ones I created on day 1 because the shapes of the letters are very angular and geometric and that is one of the features that my first letters of the alphabet had too.
However, I think that the main challenge I encountered when I was creating the letters on Illustrator was that I did not know how to add depth and contrast to the letters: with the alphabet I created on the first day the letters almost look like sculptures because they are slightly 3D and I feel that they are effective because the viewer can see them by positioning a light source from different angles. My idea was to translate this feature digitally but I don't think I have done it effectively this time as the digital letters are not really controlled by the light.
What do you think you could do next time to improve your digital work?
I think a deeper knowledge and understanding of how Illustrator works could help me improve my alphabet and my letters as I would learn more about how to create a light and shadow contrast which would be more effective in my outcome. Also perhaps trying to work with lines that have different widths could help translate what I wanted to create.
Reflection of Alphabet Sculpture
Making the 3D sculpture
What technical problems did you encounter today in making your 3D outcome? How could these have been avoided?
One of the main technical problems that I encountered whilst making the 3D sculpture was trying to find a way of making the sculpture stand on its own feet: after planning and creating a mini model by using some paper I thought it was going to be easy to replicate it on cardboard but because the two materials work differently I reached a point where I did not know how to make the sculpture stand unless I used some tape or strings. Because we were asked to use as little materials as possible, I decided to draw the different options and the best one turned to be cutting a piece of the cardboard and fitting the second part in the empty space so that the sculpture would not need any tape or other material to stand.
As I decided to do that I found it difficult to find the right angle in which to cut the piece so that it would stay together: I clumsily tried 3 times and the 3rd time it worked. However, I think these mistakes could have been avoided if I would have planned more how to make the sculpture stand before creating it.
What type of locations in which to photograph your outcome would be appropriate? (give reasons)
What are you trying to achieve?
I think locations that are quite minimal and mostly black and white would be the most appropriate for photographing my outcome as I think they would highlight the design of the sculpture and its very simple features. Perhaps a studio with a white background could the best option as a location as I could have full control over the light and where to place it in a way that brings out the best of my 3D sculpture. Perhaps having full control of the light could help me experiment with the contrast and the shadows just like I started experimenting with it when creating the 2D alphabet by folding paper and focusing on the shadows created from the creases.
As i am not yet sure of this I think I am also going to try locations such as stairs or places where the architecture and design is similar to the sculpture as it could help bring out the object and visualise it in a public or private space better than a photograph taken in the studio.
I want to achieve a cohesive outcome that follows the idea of shadow and contrast that i explored in my 2D outcomes as I think this could be the main feature that could link the whole project together.
What were the challenges of translating physical form to digital - how did you overcome them?
I think the main challenge of translating physical form to digital was trying to find a way of portraying the shadows on my digital letters. I found this very difficult to do because I only learnt how to make straight, bold lines on illustrator. At the end I liked how my digital letterforms came out as I think they reflected the simple design that I chose for both the physical form letters and the 3D sculpture but I think I could have overcome this challenge my perhaps learning how to fade colours on Illustrator.