Final Project

Research images/Inspirations

Documentation

Reaction Paper

For the final project, I decided to make a dress constructed entirely out of newspaper. One of the requirements for the final project was that it had to be a reflective and bibliographical piece. My dress relates to myself because it is representational of a garden and the garden represents my childhood and growing up. More specifically the texture on the dress is representational of flowers and the type of dress represents a young and up beat feeling.

The way I constructed the dress was that I first started with a pattern. The pattern acted as a base for the dress. I wanted to get the basic shape of the dress and then keep adding more and give it more personal touches. Since the dress is made out of newspaper, I reinforced it with duck tape so it would be less likely to rip. The top and bottom were constructed as two different pieces then later put together. After making the basic shape of the dress and putting the two pieces together, I then started with details. The crumpled newspaper on the dress is representing flowers. I chose to add the crumpled newspaper for two reasons, one is that I wanted to give it texture and secondly it goes with concept of my reflective piece. The flowers on my dress gradually become less as it goes up the dress. I decided to do this as a design point of view. It gives the dress unity. Without the flowers on the dress, the dress does not look complete. The texture gives it a finishing touch and adds to the piece that much more.

Through out the three weeks we were working on the dress, I encountered many design problems and construction problems. One design problem I had was the pink sash. At first there wasn’t supposed to be a sash at all but once I put the two-piece together it didn’t look ascetically right. I also had a hard time figuring out what color to make the sash. In the beginning I had it pink but then I kept on looking at it and thought it was too distracting. However, once I changed it to white, it blended too much with the dress. I went back to my original idea of a pink sash and glad I stuck with it because it separates the dress from the top and bottom. Another set back that I encountered while making the dress was that it had no stretch to the material. I forgot that while measuring you have to make sure to leave a lot of room because the newspaper will not budge. I had to keep adding panels to the dress because I kept on making it too small.

Overall, I really enjoyed this final project. Out of all the projects we were assigned this semester, this one was by far my favorite. I went through some design and construction problems but I learned from my mistakes and know for next time what to do and what not to do.

Polyhedral structures and package designs

Research Images

Phase I

Phase II

In the beginning of phase one of the project i was inspired by bubbles. I liked how the shapes stacked on one another and how it took a organic shape in the end. When it came time to make the polyhedral i wanted something inspired by bubbles but still had a a definite shape. I put different size holes in the polyhedral so one could see through it at all different angles. After constructing the polyhedral structure, i chose to do watercolor. I wanted the effects of watercolor on the polyhedral structure because it looks like liquid spills to continue with the bubble inspiration. I also added ink to the project because it gives the same effect and it gave more depth. For phase two we had to create a a packing design out of polyhedral structures. I decided to do a water color palette and turn it into a soccer ball. Each shape on the soccer ball is a different color palette. I decided to turn it into a soccer to make it more appealing and eye catching. For each side of where the water color palette i cut into the shape to make an dent to place the palette.

Project II: Serial Planes

Phase A: altered book

Sketch

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Photographic documentation:

Phase B: White planes serial sculpture/object

Sketch:

Photographic documentation:

Reaction Paper:

In this project, the study of serial planes, I have learned a lot through out the whole experience. In both phases of altering a book and creating a serial plane sculpture, you had to have an imaginative and conceptual thought process. For example, what would the book look like in the end when you fold each page every other way? For the serial plane, what kind of shape would the sculpture take after you cut the pieces? That process had a major role in both phases of the project. And that was one part that I had trouble visualizing. However, after creating phases one I learned from my mistakes and tried not to continue it into phase two.

After watching the video on the artist Maya Lin, It helped me a lot with the concepts of serial planes. In the video she stated that "art act as a catalyst" and that art is everything you ever known. She takes everything around her and use it for inspiration for her pieces. She doesn't let anything stop her to creating her pieces of art. She is a conceptual artist that visualizes everything from start to beginning. For example, when i was altering the book I had to think about what would it look like from start to beginning, and the shape it would take. Also when i structuring the serial plane in phase two, I had to keep in mind what would the shape look like after a continuing the planes. Learning about her as an artist, helped me visualize the project.

Through out the whole project, I learned a lot from the process. I learned that sketching is a part to the overall project. Without a good sketch or a fully thought out plane, there can be complications. By having a developed sketch and plan, the whole building process can be much easier. Also there are less chances to run into complications in the building process. For the next project, I will take that process more seriously so I do not encounter the same problem.

Outside the box

Artists' videos

Richard Serra

• Doesn't sketch before creating a piece, he sketches after he has designed a piece
• He is more worried how each of the elements will work together.
• Finds most of his inspiration from the sea.
• Practices drawing to keep in touch with himself.

Doris S.

• Creates pieces and turns them into reality.
• Works on all aspects of pieces.
• She likes to subtly hint messages in her pieces.
• Her inspiration comes from other peoples experiences, not just her own.
• Uses common elements to make her pieces.

Sketch

Steps of the Process

Reaction

"The world is but a canvas to the imagination" were once words stated by Henry David Thoreau. One can go online or look in the dictionary and creativity comes up as the use of the imagination or original ideas. However, creativity is something that cannot be defined as one single definition nor can it be taught or learned. It comes from the mind in which you imagine things. Someone's idea of creativity can be vastly different than another person and can still display the idea of creativity. Creativity can not be defined as a definition but as the expression of different people.

For example in the videos of the two artist Richard Serra and Doris S. they both had two widely different concepts of creativity. While Richard Serra based his pieces of industrial shapes and geometrical form Doris S. pieces came from experiences and turned them into reality. Even though they had different ideas and concepts of creativity, both still displayed a highly effective concept and idea.

I decided to pursue a creative career because I couldn't imagine myself doing anything else but that. In the beginning when I was deciding my major, I had to ask myself "would I be happy twenty years from now?" And nothing else made me say yes. To have a career where you are always using your creativity and imagination is something more than a job, its a lifestyle that no one can take away from you but yourself. To say that I am using my imagination for my career is something irreplaceable. Using my creativity is something I can never be confined as.

About the process

The assignments problem was to create a whole different structure from just one single box and to have no left over pieces. My inspiration for my design came from the thickness of the box and the colors that were on the box. I saw that the box was very malleable and the colors off the cereal box had an ombre effect. I got the idea of a lotus flower because I saw that the cereal box could easily be bended. I also wanted to add pyramids to the structure to mix up the idea of organic and geometrical shapes. However, while constructing the structure I ran into numerous of design problems. The flower was not taking the right shape that I originally had imagined and from there I had to steer away from the original design. After going through this project, I have learned many things for future projects. Such as making sure you have a clear concept and to sketch out everything. Without a clear concept and idea, the project can quickly take a turn into the wrong direction.