Design Principles/ Project 2

18/05/2021 - 04/06/2021 (Week 8 - 10)

Ngu Kah Shin / 0347666

Design Principles / Bachelor of Design in Creative Media / Taylor's Design School

Project 2: Sense of Place - Any materials, medium or programme

LECTURES

Week 8 & 9:

From the prerecorded lecture by Dr Jinchi, she mentioned how observing the things around is important when it comes to designing. Inspecting nature can produce good designs catered to the ease of human needs.

During the lecture with Dr Charles, he first asked us some fictional locations for discussion. We chose Hogwarts and other location in a fantasy game. To understand a sense of place and perspective, we need to first determine:

1. Distance and depth. Objects that are nearer should appear larger, and further, smaller.

2. Shape and lines. Shape and lines are the fundamental structure of constructing an artwork as it can be a guide for correct proportions.

3. Texture, material and ambience. Successfully replicating these elements could bring a drawing/painting to life.

Week 10:

This week, Dr Charles brought on a field trip, virtually! We were lucky enough to travel to his front yard. Dr Charles showed us his favourite mango tree and many other of his potted plants. There were hibiscus, Tulsi, Japanese roses, jasmine, wild ferns, spinach, aloe vera, rosemary, snake plant, and many others which I could not jot down quick enough because there were just so many different variety. He mentioned how to capture the ambience and feel of a place and how to make statements through composition. Not to mention to observe the littlest details of nature, where we will be able to find all the design principles present. One such example would be the Golden Ratio which can be found in flowers.

Towards the end of the lecture, he then sat down on a bench in his yard and made sketches on his iPad. He brought us along the journey on how he developed his artwork by observing all the little elements present in his garden.

Fig 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 Lecture on Sense of place

INSTRUCTIONS

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PROJECT 1: Sense of Place

The requirements of this project were to observe your surroundings - the people, vehicles, buildings, plants, signage, nature and activities. However, in my situation, I have just recently moved to KL and have been living in a tiny four-walled box with a window facing other buildings. With not much view, I went on Pinterest to look for inspirations. I stumbled upon this beautiful, quaint and cozy kitchen which was everything I wanted. The photo even had 2 cats in it! After consulting Dr Charles, he said we were allowed to use images we found online instead of photos taken by ourselves, given our dire situation. However, our interpretations should be based on the real space and we have to justify our choices. So, I went ahead with this image.

The main reason why I chose a photo of a kitchen was because I love cooking and I spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Cooking has always been a personal therapeutic activity for me. To my despair, my current kitchen is tiny and shared among a few other housemates. It is illogical and financially unwise for me to make changes to a temporarily rented apartment. It is a small goal of mine to have a nice little kitchen one day, it doesn't have to be fancy and equipped with all the expensive appliances. Turning my dream kitchen into an illustrated piece was rather exhilarating. I should also mention that I have made careful observations in my own kitchen and included many of the real-life items that I have on hand in the piece as well.

Fig 2.1, 2.2. Reference photo and visual research on Sense of Place work

Referencing the images shown in Fig 2.1, I first sketched out my kitchen space with simple line work. I made sure to follow what Dr Jinchi had mentioned in the lecture, about how objects nearer should appear larger. I carefully applied this principle with the help of perspective drawing guides. I then filled in the base colour with the appropriate warm colour palette. As for the visual researches, I wanted to try out this particular art style with elements drawn with sharp, distinct shapes. I also made sure to use a colour palette with warmer tones, which would give off a balmy and mellow impression.

Fig 2.3, 2.4. Sketches and process on crafting Sense of Place work

As I progressed, I started adding more minor details whilst keeping all the design principles in mind. I used repetition for plants of the same species. Different foliages have different colour palettes, some colder and some warmer. They also consist of their very own leaf shapes. Balance was achieved by using similar colours throughout the whole piece. The colour red are evenly distributed across the canvas, from the thermoflask bottle on the left, to the fridge, to the hand towel, and to the pot on the shelf on the right. The colour yellow can also be seen equally scattered from the frying pan, to the rug and then the kettle. Other than that, movement of the eyes starts from the brightest object which is also placed in the middle of the canvas, the cat. The sunlight guides the eye to the sink, which can then travel to the next brightest thing, the kettle, even though it has no direct sun ray landing on it. Overall, I believe the whole piece has a sense of harmony and unity, attained through the pertinent objects found in a typical kitchen and also the texture achieved through the use of similar brush strokes.

FINAL DESIGN OUTCOME

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Ellis Ngu Kah Shin [0347666]

Design Principles/ Project 2 - Sense of Place

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