the design workshop (week one)

{11/11/13 - 15/11/13}

DAY 1 - POETRY AND CALLIGRAPHY

For the morninig portion of the first workshop, I was introduced to what is calligraphy and was given some examples of different calligraphy. Before I started to create my own, I thought it was fairly easy to do although I had no experience with it. But given a guideline, ink and my flat brush, it was very difficult to adapt to make it seem flowly and at first I didn't learn which turns create a thin line and so I had problems adapting.

To overcome my problem, I continued to write the guideline over and over again to get used to the individual letters and somehow give me ideas to create my own calligraphy. My first attempt was good as I expected it to be very messy, I learnt the relationship of the curves and lines when it goes thick and thin and with that I can experiment.

I also drawn some lines to further expand my learning, the places where there is less ink shows a gradient from black to grey. I think it will add a faded effect to the overall calligraphy, and using grey and black as a combo, it will add dimension and shade to the look.

For the body of the calligraphy, I used 'Tanka' which is a classic Japanese form, with a syllable pattern of  5-7-5-7-7. I used Tanka because I recently watched an animated Japanese movie called 'Kotonoha no Niwa' translates to The Garden of Words, and the movie featured the use of Tanka and I liked how it was short but also meaningful. I researched more Tankas and find some from booksie.com by the username Bitter Irony.

Tanka is a classic Japanese form, with a syllable pattern of 5-7-5-7-7.
Read more at http://www.booksie.com/poetry/poetry/bitter_irony/tanka#EOZrzTtQx69zrbWZ.99

Tanka is a classic Japanese form, with a syllable pattern of 5-7-5-7-7
Read more at http://www.booksie.com/poetry/poetry/bitter_irony/tanka#EOZrzTtQx69zrbWZ.99

Tanka is a classic Japanese form, with a syllable pattern of 5-7-5-7-7
Read more at http://www.booksie.com/poetry/poetry/bitter_irony/tanka#EOZrzTtQx69zrbWZ.99

Tanka is a classic Japanese form, with a syllable pattern of 5-7-5-7-7
Read more at http://www.booksie.com/poetry/poetry/bitter_irony/tanka#EOZrzTtQx69zrbWZ.99

Tanka is a classic Japanese form, with a syllable pattern of 5-7-5-7-7
Read more at http://www.booksie.com/poetry/poetry/bitter_irony/tanka#EOZrzTtQx69zrbWZ.99

Tanka is a classic Japanese form, with a syllable pattern of 5-7-5-7-7
Read more at http://www.booksie.com/poetry/poetry/bitter_irony/tanka#EOZrzTtQx69zrbWZ.99

Tanka is a classic Japanese form, with a syllable pattern of 5-7-5-7-7
Read more at http://www.booksie.com/poetry/poetry/bitter_irony/tanka#EOZrzTtQx69zrbWZ.99

Tanka is a classic Japanese form, with a syllable pattern of 5-7-5-7-7
Read more at http://www.booksie.com/poetry/poetry/bitter_irony/tanka#EOZrzTtQx69zrbWZ.99

Tanka is a classic Japanese form, with a syllable pattern of 5-7-5-7-7
Read more at http://www.booksie.com/poetry/poetry/bitter_irony/tanka#EOZrzTtQx69zrbWZ.99

During the workshop I was furstrated at times because it wouldn't go the way I wanted it to be, I kept trying and trying to achieve the look I want, because of this I had a pile of work which I selectively chose the best and created a booklet of my best calligraphy.

My task was to create a logo/brand for a drink/wine using our calligraphy skills, I wanted to be safe and used words I have already done before. I chosen the words 'Moonlight' and 'Lightning' because both shows a mysterious feel to what a drink may taste like, simply because we can't taste either things in real life, I personally like my 'Moonlight' calligraphy in the middle because it looks like a real typeface as it's consistent and structured yet flowly at the same time. For 'Lightning' I tried to in co-operate the lightning into the type somehow.

[in progress]

DAY 2 - USING INDESIGN AND PHOTOSHOP

For the second workshop I had a introduction of photoshop and indesign and I was told that I will be creating a movie poster called 'The 33' which is about the 33 miners that was trapped in the copper and gold mine in Chile, because the movie was released in 2014 I had no reference at all other than googling the actual event that happened in 2010. I also researched some movie posters from Pinterest and other sources until I have a folder of inspiration and images from the event that I can possible use, from this folder I created thumbnail sketches and annotated what I wanted to do.

In the end I chose an image of a memorial or shrine praying for the miners because it sparks emotions and shows curiosity whether the miners survived or not, my initial idea was to fade the portraits of the 33 miners into the background but it looked mismatched and confusing to the viewer and so I removed that image and stuck with the memorial. Because it was faded into the black background, I took advantage and enlarged the image to fit the A3 size. I slightly changed the brightness and added some scribbles for texture. This portion into creating the poster into photoshop was easy because I had a general knowledge of using it in the past.

For the text element I placed the photoshop file into indesign.

Overall I like the poster in terms of how the images blends well with the background and how it gives an ambigious impression to the viewers, the curiosity will be the drive of the purpose to watch the movie and it doesn't give too much of the movie itself. The chipped type visually showing the hardship and undefined state of the miners, I think it shows that idea to the viewers once they see it. However I wasn't entirely complete the poster and so if I had more time, I would change the credits placement and perhaps change the colour and type to fit the poster better.

DAY 3 - STUDY ZONE (BOOK COVER)

The third workshop was based in the Study Zone and my task my to create a book cover of a topic from the given list, I chosen typography because I enjoy this topic. I was completely confused on what to research on typography and so I chose two different books called 'Typography' by Denise Gonzales Crisp and 'Using Type' by Michael Harkins.

From these books I learnt what typography is and further understanding of the topic, from the examples on the book, I sketched out some possible covers for my book. Later I thought that this book will be about my own typography and explaining what it is and this book may inspire readers. I chosen 3) because it looked very playful and fits to my intentions of the contents, I wanted to reflect the contents with the cover in a visual way. To create this, I used felt tip pens and done the cover on the paper template.

My idea was to draw the word typography and layer the letters with different colours and added colour by adding strips, I think it worked well personally because it shows a colourful and playful side and it's something I want to explore when I go into a degree after my foundation course. I photo copied the original cover onto the back to save time but also make both covers link to one another.