For this four week module – A Ways of Seeing – our aim was to develop the ability to explore ideas using drawing and other 2D communication skills. We have been encouraged to explore visual language as it is universal and can be understood by all and it will help us develop our methods of producing 2D designs.
Part 1 of the sketchbook tour:
Part 2 of the sketchbook tour: Vid 2-10uortk (Both of these videos have been uploaded to Vimeo).
Week 1
As an introduction to the module we completed a set of blind line drawings using three different colours of marker. This helped us get to know the facial features of our peers and it allowed us to embrace rough, quick drawing which probably intimidated people before. I found this task quite difficult at first because I tend to be a perfectionist when it comes to sketching and sketch booking.
We then looked at incorporating circuits into drawings by using conductive ink. This helped me explore layering as I looked at building up faces with varied emotions with the different coloured ink like we did the day before. I used washi tape to incorporate more colours to allow the different faces to stand out against the grey background.
The following day we were asked to interview one of our peers but ensure that the questions were open-minded and they allowed us to probe different issues in depth and by doing this we have do create a drawing/artwork based on this person. I interviewed and recreated Mina Hafsaas in a collage.
Week 2 – Reading week
Over the reading week we were given daily drawing tasks to encourage our visual learning and to keep us creative. We were to draw 5 A3 drawings of a space, a place, an activity, an object, or person, etc. from each day of the reading week and 5 pictorial representations/maps of each day of the reading week. We were advised to explore different types of maps and what “maps” are to be able to complete this project. I started the project a little early to ensure that I’d leave myself enough time to get the work completed and I was eager to begin.
The first day of the reading week (12/10/18), I didn’t leave the flat as I was waiting on parcels to arrive. My boyfriend surprised me with flowers and since they made my day, I decided to paint them using watercolour to practise with them for possible future projects. To accompany this, my “map” is an obscure plan of the room.
Day two: I went out for a lunch in a cafe and drew some of the customers in the one line style and for my map i did a quick sketch of the cafe.
On day three, I went for a wander about the city centre of Dundee. I did a sketch looking up a street on my way into town with black marker pen. As my “map” I did a mindmap of the places I visited that day and different things Dundee is known for.
On the fourth day, I sketched as I walked to work. The first sketch is the view through different buildings as I was walking down the hill, I wanted to capture the views that people might dismiss or look past on their way to work, and my “map” is the bandstand of Magdalen Green.
I went home to Broughty Ferry for the next day’s work. I experimented with different media and decided to paint on a stone outside since the weather was pleasant. I also collected different images that I hoped would be useful for future projects and collated them into a collage for the map section of this project.
Week 3
This week were to create a journey map to reflect on our lives and to show how we got to Dundee University. This project helped me become visually confident in my work and it was to help us consider getting a placement for next summer. The mapping aspect blended in well with the reading week’s maps and it also influenced me to created a CV which is shown below.
To start, I made a list of things I’ve accomplished from my qualifications to volunteering and fundraising, this proved helpful when it came to sketching and planning where things would go.
I trialled a few layouts for the journey board and came up with a few simple ideas to help everything flow smoothly.
The final result
I didn’t want to include too much as it would look too busy. It wasn’t until I finished this mock-up I realised that I left out a few important things I’ve done with my life: I visited India in 2016 to go volunteering around different schools and community centres; and I also forgot to include that I did a 10,000ft sponsored skydive for a children’s cancer charity.
I have included a page about people who influence me and what they have done for the world. I try and reflect some of their styles in my work as I find them quite striking. They are all different in some ways and they all work in different fields of design.
CV
Week 4
The final project for A Ways of Seeing is to explore the relationship arduino and LEDs could have with paper models. We are to create a simple character out of paper or card, incorporate LEDs that change colour and create a story board about the processes we went through to make the models and what your character’s story is.
I have decided to make a bee that is flying around to find the perfect flower to pollinate.
The Bee – I have looked at a few different design ideas for my bee design. The first idea was using the LED as the bee and have it flash quickly to simulate the flight path and the “buzzing” of the bee.
Link to video demonstrating idea: Blinking bee-130abus
I also had an idea to stick a little bit of yellow tissue paper to an LED and have it flash so there is a constant bee there and the light is just the wings flapping.
Link to video demonstrating final idea: Blinking bee (random)-xkpcm7
Flowers – I have created a cylinder out of tracing paper with flowers drawn on and I had the idea to spin this around and have my bee look to pollinate these.
I have also made some flowers out of tissue paper to demonstrate how delicate flowers are and because it is transparent.
I have a third flower which is made by quilling paper – rolling it very tightly into circles to create different things.
I have decided to use the cylinder of flowers along with a turntable to assist my bee in pollinating his flowers. I have coded an RGB LED to flicker to simulate flight and to make the little bee stand out.
My tester arduino board looks like this:
My real-life circuit looks like this and the wires are colour coded to prevent people that are viewing it (and myself) from getting confused:
I have created a little loop to attach my little bee to the LED.
I have created a storyboard explaining how I made every piece (shown below).
My final idea
I decided to use the blink coding along with a random feature to allow the light to flicker at a “random” rate. This allowed the bee’s light to look a lot more organic. Here is a screenshot of the code I used:
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