Studio Brief 1 - Wayfinding - Printing and digital experiementation

Feather experiments and processing techniques

To print with the feathers printing ink was applied to a roller and then rolled across the individual feathers these were then places on paper and another piece of paper was placed on top of the feathers. This was rolled over so the ink transferred from the feather to the paper. Printing with feathers created a rustic and natural appearance with some parts faded, whilst in other parts detail and clarity was maintained. As black photocopies they took on quite a graphic shape in their natural form this was also the same when photocopying the original feathers which had printing ink on them.

When photocopying the feather many of them already had a natural triangular shape which could be used as the top of an arrow or be used as a directional indicator. Some of the photocopies with the feathers had a morphing appearance and looked similar to wings but were also quite sinewy, giving the images quite a dark atmosphere. By dragging the feathers across the photocopier this created some interesting lines which could be used as paths to follow in my wayfinding system. These I thought retained their feathery tips and therefore bird association, whilst also acting as a recognisable ‘line’.

As an initial idea, creating a feather pile beneath the owls was supposed to indicate the locations of the birds and then make the viewer look upwards to see where they were from. When multiple feathers were placed on the photocopier they still retained their detail and softness. The feathers could also act as a spot to stand on for the best viewing point of the owls.

By photocopying, photocopies over and over again, this created lighter and more faded versions of the originals. When these were collaged together with some of the original photocopies it created a sense of depth, whilst also creating better silhouettes of the feathers.

The straw material that I found I thought could be used to reflect the nesting material that owls use. Printing with this material was much harder as it stuck to the roller, because of this I adapted the technique and let it get tangled in the roller which created a textured pattern across its surface. The prints created could be used as trail.

When using the feathers as brushes I was able to create strokes with the ink. By using multiple feathers stuck together this allowed for better ‘feathery’ ends. However when drawing lines with the ink they quickly turned into more fragmented strokes and lost their feather like appearance.

By using the Adobe Capture App I created brush strokes that I could use in Illustrator, I also vectorised my feathers using this tool. 

The brushes created from the feather ‘strokes’ were useful in creating symbols to mimic flying birds. The stroke ends captured the feathery wing tips well as they had retained the detail from the feathers best.

The feathers also digitalised well providing a vectorised format that would be versatile.